Letters to the editor, Aug. 19

November nods

The 2008 election was in many respects a call for change from existing policies. The election of 2010 can, and in my view should, be another change from what resulted from that election.

This November, the voters of Lake County will have an opportunity to elect a new representative on the Public Services Commission. I will be voting for Bill Gallagher.

Bill was a businessman in Polson a number of years ago. He owned and operated the Polson Days Inn and the Farm Bureau Insurance agency. Following those experiences, he enrolled in law school at the U of M and is now a lawyer with a private practice in Helena.

He will bring to the PSC an understanding of the challenges and demands of private business and entrepreneurship as well as an understanding of the applicable utility and land use laws. In my conversations with Bill it is clear that he is a conservative with a no-nonsense appreciation for the challenges facing the PSC. His belief is that the rates authorized should be the lowest possible for the consumer with an appreciation of the difficulties faced by the producers.

I encourage Lake County voters to cast their ballots for Bill Gallagher this November.

Bob Fulton

Polson resident

Mosque

Having just returned from a three-week trip to the Midwest and being mostly out of touch with the news, upon my return on Aug. 14 I was appalled to hear the great controversy, right up to the oval office, regarding Muslims wanting to build a mosque near ground zero in NYC. And now I am hearing all the talking heads on TV and radio weighing in on this ad infinitum.

What better structure to build near ground zero than a place of worship? Why are we hanging on to this idea that all Muslims have a terrorist mentality and motivation? Why are we so blind to the true foundation of all major religions, which is love-based, that we allow ourselves to fall into this wave of anger and fear which only breeds divisiveness and goes totally against everything I have ever learned in my Christian upbringing. 

If a person of the Christian or Jewish faith commits a horrible crime against humanity, are all future Christian churches and Jewish synagogues being built held to the same standard of prejudicial scrutiny as this mosque? Shouldn’t they be?

Is it not possible that after this mosque is built, the people worshipping there are being encouraged toward “brotherly love,” “love your neighbor as yourself,” “peace, harmony, and balance in life,” and all manner of compassion and love?

Is the Muslim faith the only one where some factions of the faith break away from the basic teaching and form very radical and destructive followings?

Just a few questions rattling around in my mind as I read about, listen to and watch this most curious display of arrogant righteousness and pointing the finger at the other guy instead of looking at our ourselves.

Bob McClellan

Polson resident

First amendment questions

The first amendment to our Constitution reads: 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.  

Let these words sink in, and then consider these questions:

Do entitlements and subsidies stifle freedom of speech because people receiving those government checks choose to keep quiet in the face of tyranny rather than speaking out against it?

Does a non-profit designation from the government to churches muffle their message and render them impotent?  Has this had an impact on such things as our citizens’ honesty, integrity and morality?

Does political correctness in our country serve to destroy and marginalize the Christian principles upon which our country was founded, at the same time forcing Americans to be tolerant of other religions that are intolerant of our own?

Is the mainstream media in our country impartial?  Does it serve as a watchdog for freedom to help the American people stay vigilant, or has it served to advocate for big government and to push a progressive agenda on our country’s citizens? 

Have the unfounded attacks against the tea party movement with regard to racism and far right extremism served to strengthen or destroy freedom of speech and the right to peaceably assemble in our country?

Educate yourself now before our republic is destroyed. www.brushfiresmt.com.

Get involved and speak out against tyranny.  It’s your civic duty to do so. 

Terry Backs

St. Ignatius resident