Thank You

The eight letters that make up the words - Thank you - do not seem like much when someone does something for someone else that can't be repaid. BUT - I want everyone to know how I and the other's involved with the library feel about this paper.

The Jocko Valley Library of Arlee is a very small, sometimes struggling, but working library. As the director I feel that our library is priceless to our community. When I feel that things with the library are just getting to hard and that the efforts of all of the volunteers just seem to never be enough, something and/or someone comes along and perks me up. (For example you and your paper!)

I am focusing this letter back to the newspaper that is publishing it. I want to thank the Editor, the reporters, the staff and the many more who I am sure are involved in getting it out to us every week. Thank you for thinking of the small little library sitting down in the southern most portion of our county. Thank you for driving here to visit us and to take the time to write such wonderful words about us. With the help of this newspaper and the people who read it, I believe that the Jocko Valley Library is going to make it. Thank you for not giving up on us. Thank you for finding interest in the library in the basement. Thank you for reporting on the things that we are doing in our little corner of Lake County. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

I hope that your readers have read the wonderful stories you have recently published about our library and I hope that they will stop in to see it for themselves. I hope that we will have news worthy stories yet to come. If we don't have anything exciting going on and your paper has people in the Arlee area, I hope they will stop in, cool off and say hello. You will always be welcome!

Thank you very much for supporting this very valuable resource in our community. You are greatly appreciated.

Kim Folden, Director Jocko Valley Library of Arlee

Well, I'm off to the mid-west for a few weeks, but I'll leave the Flathead Lake area with this: Have you ever considered that voting for a person just because he or she is running as a Republican or Democrat is possibly not the wisest thing to do?

I say this because as I look at both of these major parties, I see, within each party, such divergent views, battles, disagreements, and conflicts that I wonder just exactly what each party stands for. Do you know exactly what they stand for?

The Republican party, for example, is supposed to stand for less government involvement in our daily lives. Yet in the past 8 years our government has grown 60% under a Republican administration. And you could make similar and accurate charges of how the presumed values of the Democrats have been emasculated by actions and votes over the past few years.

This leads me to mention one particular comment which I feel transcends the bulk of political rhetoric or policy discussions which we hear and read in the maze of campaign rhetoric and analysis by the media.

This was said by Senator Barack Obama during the primaries, and was said in response to insistence for more explanation on his stance with the war in Iraq, bringing the troops home, etc.

This was his very cogent and telling comment: "I don't want to just end the war; I want to end the mindset that got us into the war."

This comment is not just following a political party line. This is not just political rhetoric to please a certain audience. This is not just the usual surface stuff we hear over and over again. This goes much deeper to the level of the full character of a person. This addresses a much more fundamental concern which we, as a nation, should have toward any conflict. This challenges our thinking in a way which has the hope of making change a change of mind-sets and values, rather then just a change of characters in the positions of power.

Bob McClellan

Polson

I have been hearing one candidate for Presidency claiming that he passed "such and such" a bill. Who is this anyway who claims power to do what only both houses of legislature and the president or governor can do? If he introduced a bill, the legislature has to pass it. If he was the deciding vote on a bill, everyone who voted for the bill was too.

This dude expects to fill the highest chair in the nation without evidencing even the simplest understanding of the legislative process. I'd like to hear him be explicit on change. It seems the only change he's really interested in is grabbling the high office for the worshipers of mother earth.

Ernest Seablom

Ronan

Nine U.S. soldiers killed in remote eastern Afghanistan today, Sunday, July 13. This same day BBC had this headline: "Social disparity, corruption and instability plague Afghanistan."

The reports, of course, name Taleban in Afghanistan, as if by the name that explains just what is going on, what to expect, and who the enemy is. Do you know what the Taleban is? Do you understand just what makes up this group? Do you know who their leader is, or leaders? I doubt that you could get much of an informed answer to these questions from our leaders.

What is terrorism? Is terrorism an organization? Is it an ideology? How is it funded? Is it many organized militant groups? All reasonable questions to know the answers to if you are going to fight them, right?

How to you fight hate? Can you eliminate it by military means, by invading armies? How do you fight ignorance? By bombing and conducting military patrols? How do you stop the spread of terrorism? By focusing your full attention with military means on the last place they raised havoc?

To ultimately eliminate a problem, one must get to the source of the problem. Simply reacting to each evidence of the problem will accomplish nothing.

The source of terrorism is anger, hate, and ignorance in the hands and minds of groups of people bent upon killing and destruction to advance their belief systems.

Without new recruits and financing a terrorist group dies. You cannot bomb them to death. They simply hide, move, pop up somewhere else, and continue their diabolical ways. Can you see in all this a terrorist movement from Iraq to Afghanistan? Do you know what we are beginning to hear now from the media tuned into Washington? We hear this: "It appears we will be drawing down our troop level in Iraq before November now. And they may not be coming home, at least not all of them. We need more troops in Afghanistan."

Isn't this great? After making an unholy mess of Iraq with invasion and the so-called troop surge, we are now thinking that with more troops in Afghanistan we will 'win the war' there. What war? Do we know who the enemy is? I see the whole cycle starting all over again.

As I have written before, we must have international cooperation in taking on terrorism. We must infiltrate cells. We must do education. We must hold certain nations 'feet to the fire' on rooting out these terrorist groups at their source and cutting out the funding. And I mention, again, a couple of our 'buddy nations' we need to come down on hard are Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. And this MUST be an international effort.

Bob McClellan

Polson

My name is Robert R. Stokes.

I am from Polson and my crime was commited in Lake County, so concerned citizens might be familiar with my case.

I am trying for an executive clemency — pardon.

When I was 18 years old I returned back to Lake County to attend the funeral of my mother, Sheila K. Stokes Mitchel. During this time, I went to a party, got intoxicated and some of the kids there suggested we steal a school bus.

In my drunken stupor, I was the one who stole the bus. Some people may find that funny. Well, I don't.

I went to jail and was charged with criminal mischief. I was scared, so I gave the police a false name, thinking that would trick them.

I then bailed out of jail for $1,000 and went back to Washington, where I was living. The police caught up to me some time later and I was taken back to Montana.

I was then charged with felony bail jumping. I have been under the thumb of the department of corrections for over 6 years now.

I have been to several different DOC institutions, including prison and treatment facilities.

I still have a three-year commitment to the DOC.

I am 25-years-old now. Seven years is a long time for a young man to grow up and change.

I have been to many different schools to speak about my past of alcohol and drug use.

I have a very strong passion for trying to help other people.

Now, I am asking for your help.

I feel that six years under the thumb of the department of corrections is a substantial punishment for the crime.

I want to get on with my life and not have this prevent me from reaching my future goals.

I am not trying to avoid accountability for what I did. I am asking for a chance to better my life.

So, I am filing an application for an executive clemency — pardon. Part of the application is collecting letters form reputable members of the community (you).

This is where I need your help. I am asking people who do or do not know me to send letters of recommendation and opinion to me. I will submit these to the Board of Pardons and Parole Board.

I thank you for your time and support.

Robert R. Stokes

AO#2060686

700 Conley Lake Road

Deer Lodge, Mont. 59722