Special election letters
First I wish to say I do not vote. My vote has never counted because I’m poor, white, and unfortunately, an American — that’s right, I hate America because of rich politicians who have controlled this world for far too long.
I want to know why Mr. Gianforte is such a jerk. Every time he runs his campaign he slams his opponent and lies with ads. He has money and if he thinks he will win, he is insane. My wife and I will cast votes for, well, my first time, to Rob Quist.
Why? Not only does he tell us who he is, he has not belittled himself with petty slamming ads against others. Hopefully the rest of you shut the sound off on Greg Gianforte’s ads, because he really has very little to say. Wake up and act right and maybe this world has a chance.
Good luck, Rob Quist. Hopefully my first and only vote counts for someone good. —Robert Welch, Kalispell
Time to trade in failed ideas
It’s that time again when people can start thinking of trading in used, out-of-date items for fresh new ones. That might even include politicians.
In a few short weeks we will be voting for a candidate to replace Ryan Zinke in the House of Representatives. That is an easy pick. Greg Gianforte will bring fresh ideas, protect our precious Constitution and work to keep America free and our liberties sacrosanct. We hear a lot about the fact that he was born in New Jersey and is a millionaire. So what! If people would check things out they would find he made his money and created a lot of jobs as a Montanan. We should welcome people from outside the state if they are going to create jobs and increase the economy in Montana. And I speak as a native son.
And then, in just over a year, we will be able to trade in our used and worn out senator, Jon Tester. We need a new fresh set of principles wrapped in the form of someone who will stand for the rights of the people who live here. We surely need someone who cares about the Constitution, our laws and our precious state of Montana.
We will be able to elect someone who cares about the sanctity of our judicial system and won’t pretend he or she “knows how our judges think” about the issues. It will also offer the people of Montana the opportunity to swing the political environment back to center right and away from a socialist utopia like some seem to be pushing for. You can tell by the way someone votes or speaks to the issues.
There are those who feel socialism would be better named as something else. Like something that sounds more enticing or maybe a bit nicer. But, socialism is still evil no matter the name or how one tries to dress it up.
There are those who would love to establish a gun registry, set up a single payer health system or even make socialism(or whatever) the way of life for all of us.
Enjoy this upcoming season on trade-ins and may Montana and the United States thrive with each new choice. —Jerry Molen, Bigfork
A letter from the ghost candidate
Hey! Can anyone hear me? That’s what I feel like as a third-party candidate. When I accepted the Libertarian Party nomination, I knew I had an uphill battle and getting my name and ideas out would be hard, but what I didn’t expect was to be banished to the fifth dimension. What I mean by that is, I feel like a ghost that walks among everyone but when I talk no one hears or sees me. It’s like I’m in a parallel world, where the candidate without millions of dollars is sent to purgatory to wait out the election.
My opponents are careful to not mention my name or give any indication that I exist. Which is good in one respect because the imported media hit teams ignore me and I don’t have to endure the mudslinging. So the R&D candidates pretend I don’t exist hoping that people don’t get curious about me and find out what my platform is and support me.
The Republican and Democrat advisers constantly warn the candidates, “Don’t debate Wicks, don’t mention his name, if you legitimize him he’ll suck votes off you like a Hoover vacuum.” So they avoid debates like their political life depends on it, and I’m left feeling like a ghost in this election.
They also employ a second strategy of demonizing their major opponent, building up a manufactured facade of impending doom if that candidate is elected. They haven’t done their job correctly if a voter feels like they can vote their conscience. The voter must feel like there is only one candidate that can stop the end of democracy as we know it. Grandma will die if they don’t vote correctly! Her life is in the balance, it must be true, all the TV ads have proclaimed her impending death if this election is lost to anyone but the chosen one from their party.
It’s very frustrating for me, and I know the voters are fed up too. Neither party has won the seat and already they are suppressing the choices of the voters of Montana. I suppose it is good practice for rgw other two candidates to learn to ignore our voices now, so when they start taking their orders from the Washington elite, they will be old hands at ignoring Montana.
If you want to have a real choice, make sure to contact Rob Quist and Greg Gianforte and demand that they debate before the election and include all candidates on the ballot. Montana deserves to hear what every candidate has to say, so Montana can make an informed decision. Don’t let the Republicans and Democrats take away your choice. —Mark L. Wicks, Inverness, Libertarian candidate for Congress
Quist is one of us
While listening to one of Greg Gianforte’s recent ads, I found myself in disbelief that he would claim to have Montanan values. I was born in Northwest Montana after the war. My father was a lumberjack, later built a sawmill and raised cattle, while mom ran us and the books. I attended all of the local schools including both state universities. I even learned that the Earth and dinosaurs are more than 6,000 years old.
The values I learned never included attacking someone who had health issues, was out of work and could not pay their bills. For most of us our biggest fear next to nuclear warfare is getting really sick. Now both are specters on the horizon. If you get really ill, your insurance (if you have any) does not cover all of the BIG BILLS. And then there is the reality of not being able to work. (Mr. Quist’s situation was grave, and he was unable to get out of bed let alone work … nor did he have a cool billion to fall back on.) Instead, we falter on our bills and get further in debt. Some even lose their job and their home. And if you are lucky enough to live, you spend the next decade trying to dig out. The values I grew up on included lending a hand to those this unlucky. We do not attack them in a “cheap” way.
Then you go on to attack Mr. Quist for back taxes. Sometimes it happens. And you try once again to catch up. You don’t skip town, put your money in a Swiss account or claim investment losses due to overzealous greed. Nor do you run for political office while refusing to pay ANY of your tax share. Perhaps Mr. Gianforte is attacking the wrong person. Why doesn’t he run an ad against Mr. Trump for total tax evasion while bilking the rest of us on a weekly basis to cover his $3.5 million jaunts to Florida?
Marie Antoinette (French Revolution) called out from her tower window and reportedly said, “let them eat cake if they are upset.” Perhaps Donald can bring back some chocolate cake from his weekly shuffle to Mar-a-Lago and calm the masses. Marie, Donald and Greg, like others in towers and gated worlds, simply do not have a clue as to how the masses live and what we might be upset about. We live in different realities. There are those who live in gated communities with their billions, fly their private jets, send their children to private schools, and enjoy the privilege of endless tax loopholes, multiple homes and the luxury of royal health care. And then there are the rest of us: paying off student debt bigger than a mortgage; praying we will not get ill while Trump attempts to remove anything that might help; ponying up at tax time; and worrying because our retirement does not cover the doughnut. One of the nice things about Montana is that there are still a lot of us who have compassionate values. We care for others who have an illness and are struggling to keep their heads (and dignity) above water. I am glad Rob Quist is one of us and actually knows what it is like to have walked in another’s moccasins. —Marion Foley, Martin City
Gianforte has the real Montana values
In thinking about the forthcoming special electionn, my mind was brought back to my school days required reading of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s 1841 essay entitled “Self Reliance.” While a difficult read, particularly in today’s age of vocabulary erosion, Mr. Emerson espouses a scathing denunciation of what we today call “political correctness” or personal hypocrisy, and enforces the need to be an independent force in society, beholden only to one’s self.
Montana values in the folklore of the state’s image concern people of fierce independence who have withstood the ravages of weather and climate to make a living from the natural resources of the state. Timber, mining, agriculture, ranching all involve inner strength, determination and courage, which are the hard rock of Montana values. Starting a ranch, opening a mine, irrigating a field, building a sawmill, all were entrepreneurial start-ups, and only with perseverance were they successful. The power of an idea and the freedom to exploit it is what makes Montana and America unique.
Our impending election pits two candidates against one another with totally opposing belief systems.
One is the entrepreneur who has capitalized on the resources of the mind to create a great company here in Montana based on his idea of how to overcome a 21st-century business problem.
His history includes starting a successful software company while in high school, running a team of developers for an outside company while in college, working after college for prestigious Bell Labs, and then forming his own software development company. This he sold and was able to move to his first love, Montana, to bootstrap from his bedroom what became Right Now Technologies. This is the record of a self-made and self-reliant success, a model of conservatism.
His competitor is a model of Bernie Sanders liberalism. While initially successful as a band musician with some national exposure, he progressively leveraged himself beyond his ability to support his ambition, depending on his celebrity notoriety to acquire debt without adequate cash flow. Records show a 16-year debt trail, dating back well before his health problems surfaced.
Unlike the Montana value of self-reliance, he blames others for his misfortunes and uses his position as a candidate to draw a salary from his campaign funds.
His non-Montanan values include supporting Nancy Pelosi and Bernie Sanders’ views including: increasing taxes to offer more free giveaways such as college tuition; national gun-control registration which inevitably leads to federal gun confiscation; single payer socialized medicine often referred to as “death panels” for seniors; and sanctuary cities, a magnet drawing to our Montana communities people who are avoiding or have committed crimes against established American law. These Democrat socialists he supports also favor immigration of peoples who have their own laws which are in direct conflict with U.S. law, and have no intention of assimilation into our Montana way of life.
It is clear that only one candidate, Greg Gianforte has Montana values. Since the sale of his business five years ago, he has devoted his time and money to giving back to Montana by starting and financing multiple programs at the secondary and university level in computer science. He has started successful programs in entrepreneurship, personally mentored numerous aspiring entrepreneurs and given millions in philanthropy to causes which he and his wife support.
Rob Quist, his ultra liberal opponent, represents the antithesis of these values, Montana values, which have made Montana unique and great. —Freeman Robinson, Big Arm