Letters to the editor April 24

Enemy within

I don’t want to be a downer, but I just want our people to reflect on how close our country was to total destruction the last four years. The previous four years of our federal government and administration almost got the job done.

By far our worst enemy is from within, more than China, Russia or whoever, because our own people, government leaders and the media are entrenched into our country more than an outward physical enemy.

I hope we learned something about how easy it can happen. Be more vigilant and aware next time.

We have a future again,

— Robert Gansel, Rexford

Pay it forward

I encourage you to vote yes on the Kalispell Public Schools high school levy.

I am so very grateful for the education that my daughter and my son received at Flathead High School. The warmth and dedication their teachers displayed, to a person, was amazing and inspiring.

Many of their excellent teachers still teach at Flathead High School and Glacier High School.

Flathead High prepared my kids to go on to excellent colleges and careers. Twenty+ years later, my daughter leads a local nonprofit. My son runs his own startup business in Dubai.

Even though I am retired and my kids are no longer in school, I am very proud to pay it forward to the next generation by voting yes. Join me and ensure our community’s children continue to benefit from a great public school system. Please mail your ballot by April 30. 

— Noel Drury, Kalispell

Smokescreens

The February firing of 1,000 probationary national park staff by Elon Musk’s DOGE unleashed a torrent of criticism by national park lovers, forcing Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum to respond.  

His Order 3426 declares that its purpose is to ensure that all national parks and historic sites remain open and accessible for the benefit and enjoyment of the American people and to ensure that National Park Service will provide the best customer service experience for all visitors. 

However, what looks like a great victory for park lovers is sadly nothing more than a smokescreen. Most importantly, it does not do anything to hire back the fired 1,000 probationary Park Service employees. Instead, it mandates the Park Service director to somehow to ensure that “all park units remain open and accessible during the specified hours of operation posted on the respective park unit’s public websites.” 

A smokescreen won’t work. The question is how, then? What happens when a superintendent no longer has the staff to keep a campground open or to monitor the whereabouts of grizzly bears on hiking trails?   

In situations where a superintendent has run out of options, Burgum’s order mandates that any closures or reductions to operating hours, seasons or any visitor services (including trails and campgrounds), in whole or in part, must be reviewed by the Park Service director and the assistant secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks prior to any reduction action by the individual park units. 

I wonder how long a superintendent’s request might take to process and, once processed, what its chances would be for approval?   

Park lovers, don’t be fooled by the smokescreen. Let Burgum and our local politicians know we need a real solution. The probationary staff fired by DOGE need to be reinstated.

— Charles Zucker, Columbia Falls

Do unto others

I grew up Catholic. I believed that Jesus died for us so that we would live for his teachings of love and forgiveness. That we live forever when we live for each other. That our wounds and mistakes are there to teach us that we are all perfect in the eyes of God, for after all, we are made in his image. 

I worked in family practice for 40 years. In that practice, we helped women have wanted children, and we offered safe abortions for women with an unwanted pregnancy. Those women were Catholic, Protestant, Atheist, Born again Christian, young and old. I cared for women who picketed my office because I did abortions, and then come to me for an abortion when they needed one. I learned so much about love and forgiveness and non-judgment in my 40 years of family practice. My work helped me understand deeply that we all have wounds that we can all help heal by loving and accepting one another.

As we celebrate Easter, my heart feels so very heavy with so much division and cruelty our country is expressing and experiencing. I awaken in the middle of the night, worried about Kilmar Abrego Garcia and his family, and I pray that he is OK. Here is a man who was legally in the U.S., working full time as a sheet metal apprentice, with a wife and three children, and he was arrested and illegally sent to a prison in El Salvador. I put myself in his wife’s shoes, and my heart breaks. If you think that this could never happen to you, you are mistaken. 

This Easter, let us feel deeply the true teachings of Jesus. Let us come together to listen and support each other. Let us demand that we “do unto others” as we would have others do unto us. Together, we can help heal each other and our world.

— Susan Cahill, Kalispell

Art of the deal

Donald Trump doesn’t negotiate like most politicians. He begins with an outrageous demand, not to get what he asks for, but to control where the conversation starts. It’s a tactic straight from aggressive business negotiation playbooks: anchor high, dominate the narrative, and make everything else look like compromise.

The 2018–2019 government shutdown over border wall funding is a perfect example. Trump demanded $5.7 billion for a border wall — a project with little realistic support or planning. Democrats refused, but the shutdown dragged on for 35 days. Why? Because Trump had successfully reset the debate.

This is how his strategy works:

1. Start with an extreme position. Demand something impossible — like the entire divorce settlement — so the opposition is forced to react.

2. Shock and disrupt. The extreme demand creates chaos and forces attention. Suddenly, everyone is responding to your terms.

3. Shift the middle ground. What once seemed unreasonable now feels like compromise. Trump made billions in wall funding seem modest by anchoring so high.

4. Normalize the absurd. Media and politicians debated the “wall” as if it were practical. Even opponents had to reference it constantly, validating the frame.

5. Control the dialogue. Trump cast himself as the only one fighting for security. The actual facts became secondary to the spectacle.

Trump doesn’t play by standard rules — he rewrites them through sheer force of narrative. To beat that, you have to recognize the game he’s playing: not negotiation, but psychological warfare.

— Garrett Epperson, Kalispell