Letters to the editor
Post office closure
Our Dixon Post Office is on the list for closure, as you may know, and we are in the midst of writing letters to try and change the minds of those pushing for it. Our deadline for submitting an optional comment form is Nov. 15.
For those Dixon residents with either post office boxes or who are on the route, who have not yet responded, we need your help! And any others who use our post office while on the road from Thompson Falls to Missoula, you can write, too.
You can pick up the optional comment form at the Dixon Post Office the senior center, or call Mariss at 246-3586 for more information. We need them to know it would cause us great hardship, as we are a community of limited resources, made up of many tribal members, elderly folks, veterans and young families with small children.
Thank you for any support you can give.
Mariss McTucker
Dixon
Thank You, veterans
As a person who strongly believes in freedom for this great country, I honor those who serve, those who risk their lives to protect that which our forefathers provided us long ago.
Many of those who have served were killed, and there will be no end to that. Many have been injured and many have suffered the tough circumstances of being a prisoner of war.
Death, when visited upon our comrades when we are fighting beside them, is heartbreaking. Not withstanding, as Plato predicted “Only the dead have seen the end of war.” I am convinced that is correct.
Thank you for your service and your sacrifices.
William R. Ingram
Polson
Power of dreaming
Power of Dreaming brings past highlights to life. Ronan’s Performing Arts Center was packed with magic last Friday and Saturday nights as four dozen children performed Rita Tingey’s stunning “The Power of Dreaming.”
Tingey’s original tribute to Walt Disney began with Walt’s modest background and showed how his dreams took him to the top of America’s entertainment industry and brought his wholesome entertainment into nearly every American home.
Assisted by the multi-talented Cammie Maughan, the children brought Tingey’s script to electrifying life. Beginning with the 1928 animated “Steamboat Willie,” the production stitched together an ambitious collection of Disney hits, including soloists with talent beyond their young years.
During intermission, we baby boomers shared remembrances of our dedication to the Mickey Mouse Club, and the day we saw our first color TV. The performance was a technical and visual tour de force. There were flying fairies, glowing flowers and of course Stokowski’s music for the Fantasia sketch.
The stage became an underwater scene as the Little Mermaid’s colorful companions swam around her solo.
Thank you, all, for your hard work in giving Walt his deserved credit, and for bringing all those fond memories to life!
Carmine Mowbray
Polson
The Iraq experience
[As we are now hearing all the talk about pulling troops out of Iraq by Christmas, and all the media and talking heads suddenly assessing just what the whole Iraq experience has gained for America, read the following letter which was composed and submitted to local papers on Jan. 3, 2005, almost seven years ago.
The assessments, especially in paragraph four, were certainly not my own. They were based upon the same information available to everyone, including our leaders in Washington, D.C. You may find this interesting; you may not. But facts are facts.] I weep for our military in Iraq. The latest estimate of the resistance strength in Iraq is more than 200,000 insurgents. This from General Mohamed Abdullah Shahwani, Iraqi Intelligence Service Director in an interview ahead of the Jan. 30 elections.
Bruce Hoffman who served as an advisor to the U.S. occupation in Iraq and now works for U.S.-based think-tank RAND Corporation said: “I believe General Shahwani’s estimation, given that he is referring predominately to active sympathizers and supporters and to part-time as well as full-time active insurgents, may not be completely out of the ballpark.”
Our government has been trying to put a favorable spin on this occupation for over two years now!
Do you recall both President Bush’s and Donald Rumsfeld’s statements about not letting a small band of bad guys, criminals and Saddam’s men shake our resolve? Well before we ever invaded Iraq, so many Middle East scholars and terrorism experts were predicting that what would happen is exactly what is happening right now. And it all hinged on the knowledge of both the religious fervor in the Middle East and the spirit of the Iraqi people.
This build-up of tremendous anger has taken place over many, many years of U.S. foreign policies in the Middle East... not the least of which has been our unwavering support of Israel. Terrorists don’t hate democracy! They hate how a mighty nation has imposed its economic, political and military influence upon their region of the world for self-serving purposes. This is the way we are viewed, whether you think this is right or wrong.
These are the attitudes and resentments which we are facing right now in the Middle East, and not just in Iraq where it involves daily killings and guerrilla-type warfare. By our ill-advised venture, militarily, into the hornets nest of Iraq, we have unwittingly elevated the entire Middle East terrorist movements... al Qaeda being simply one of them. It is time for the American people to speak out and let it be known that “the emperor is wearing no clothes!”
Bob McClellan
Polson
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