UM move would bring real competition
Well, fans, football season is here. We will watch the Griz will all their games and then, at playoff time, watch them fall flat on their faces. Never fails.
So I got an idea. You say University of Montana is not a big school, we don’t have enough students, but add new seats to the stadium and do all kinds of improvements to your school. Why don’t we move up a division?
Come on, Griz, move it. It’s no fun to go see you win, win, win just to go to finals to see you lose. It’s not fair to your fans. Start playing Michigan, BYU, UCLA, LSU, etc. You will make lots of money at games and be able to make your stadium bigger in time, and when you start winning against some of the big boys then watch n then you will be good. When you are losing, the true fans will come watch you and it will give us a chance to get a ticket to your games, ’cause the fans right now will let you down and stop coming.
I rest my case. I will stop writing and making you mad. Just give it a thought before you hit the field next week. Would you like to just see a game where you know who will win, or see a game where you have to do some homework before you start laying down your bets?
Eddie Freeman, Alberton
McCain is almost what this country needs
George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and others framed the documents that set this nation on a course of freedom. They also expected our citizens to be individually responsible for their livelihood. They did not enact social legislation to cover every need of the populace.
How things have changed! We expect government to bail us out whenever we have financial problems.
The two presidential candidates have bought into socialist health insurance for all, taxes to support their social programs, and more and more government regulation.
Ron Marlenee said it. Vote for the candidate who will do the least damage, and that, folks, is not Barack Obama. If you want higher taxes (he is not honest to deny he will raise taxes) then support his socialistic agenda. That equates to money from you middle-class Americans and college students as you enter the business world. The “rich” cannot possibly support it.
If we continue to buy into socialism we will eventually learn like Russia that it does not work. If that’s the kind of government you want vote for Obama. For less intrusion in our lives John McCain trumps Obama although he is far short of the Ronald Reagan type we need.
The Democrats loudly criticize the Bush unjustified Iraq war. Memories seem very short. Many big-name Democrats in Congress supported the Iraq invasion but they don’t ’fess up now. Politics!
Dale C. Smith, Cut Bank
Vote for the best presidential candidate
No, I’m not one of the mad female Hillary Clinton supporters the press would lead you to believe is carrying the “angry vote” in revenge for Hillary’s fall in the primaries. Those women are a myth created by the press. In fact, I’m not even female. I’m a 62-year-old middle-class male. Although my November vote will not be in anger, I am mad. I’m mad Hillary is not the nominee of the Democratic Party. I’m mad she didn’t run a better campaign. I’m mad the press manipulated the American political process in their sensationalization and orchestration of the Democratic primaries to a point where Obama became the Democratic nominee. I am mad Obama was able to manipulate the caucus process to wrest the Democratic nomination from the will of the popular vote.
Although I am disappointed and angry at the “political process” that resulted in the nomination of the wrong Democratic figure for president, I am not voting in anger in November.
Democrats want and insist that Hillary must “fix” and “heal” the Democratic Party. Democrats! There is nothing for her to fix! Will words from Hillary heal Barack Obama to be capable and presidential? I don’t think so. But, my political choices were never within the realm of Obama vs. Hillary. My political choices are to vote for the candidate with the experience and ability to be the best U.S. president n that candidate is Sen. Hillary Clinton. Obama was never an option. So, now that he is the Democratic nominee, does that make him more capable and experienced? I think not. In November, I must vote for the person I think will be the best President of the United States n John McCain.
Charles Berger, Missoula
Failed policies are on Democrats’ shoulders
Regarding Bob McClellan’s letter of Sept. 2:
In 2000 through 2006 things in the United States were great. People were buying houses, SUVs, trucks, motor homes, etc., like they were selling for $2 each.
Your so-called “failed policies of the last eight years” is a crock. Your policies began to fail two years ago when the Democrats took over Capitol Hill.
Larry Dillree, Ovando
Torture should not be McCain’s answer
At the Republican National Convention we heard a lot about John McCain’s character. We heard that his character was proven by his reaction to torture during his experience as a prisoner of war. I believe John McCain knows more about torture than I do. I just don’t understand why John feels that we should torture our prisoners.
Charles Widdicombe, Missoula
Energy dependence has endangered U.S.
Have you ever thought about the wealth this country would have, had they become energy independent during the Reagan administration, as he urged? Lower taxes and a booming economy.
When you vote this year, think about who has nearly plunged our country into third-world status.
Ellen L. Inabnit, Missoula
Comprehensive program protects youth
Sarah Palin has demonstrated the failure of government-funded abstinence/ignorance-only sex education in schools. Does she think we have a pre-industrial tribal society where everyone abstains until marriage at the age of 14? How many of Montana’s young people will delay their dream of a college education because they were not given the information they needed about human reproduction?
Those who want to reduce teen pregnancy and the number of abortions will promote comprehensive sex education. I am grateful for the physiology teacher I had in high school in 1964. He taught us more about human reproduction than most adults know today. Many of his students thanked him years later for saving us from making bad mistakes.
If you hope your child will go to college and get a bachelor’s or master’s degree or doctor’s degree, don’t teach ignorance-only. Give them a comprehensive sex education.
Jerald Cogswell, Eureka
Missoula needs actual equal housing
When I read all the talk about affordable housing that is currently going on in both Missoula and the nation today, I think about what is missing from the discussion: access to affordable housing for people with disabilities.
Sometimes wheelchair access is mentioned, and there is limited supported living for people with developmental disabilities. The needs of people with chemical sensitivities, though, are always left out.
Someone with a chemical sensitivity reacts to things like new paint, perfumes, pesticides, air fresheners and any other product that is scented or chemical-laden. Symptoms are both cognitive and neurological as well as physical, and range from mild to very severe.
Multiple chemical sensitivity is recognized by the Social Security Administration, HUD and several other government agencies.
This issue is of particular interest to those who live in Montana because of the many train derailments dumping toxic chemicals that we have had. This has been shown to lead to debilitating chemical sensitivities and other health issues, increasing the need for this type of housing.
Housing developments for the chemically sensitive have been built in San Francisco, Florida and one is planned for Ontario. It would be wonderful if the same could be built here in Missoula?
I am personally affected by this illness, and have been looking for a place to live that is chemically safe to me for many months. I may have to leave the area if I cannot find a place soon. If anyone knows of a suitable place, either with a roommate or in an apartment (preferably an in-law apartment kind of situation), please e-mail me at (KGoldfie@gmail.com.)
Let’s all do our part to make equal housing access a reality for everybody.
Kate Goldfield, Missoula
Death penalty too good for Joseph Duncan
To me, in many instances, the decision for the death penalty has a lot of “wiggle room.” A passionate wife shoots her adulterous husband, a drunk waits outside of a bar for a fellow drunk to get the last word or even murders committed during the commission of a felony.
But in the case of Joseph Duncan there is absolutely no decision to be made. This animal does not deserve the courtesy, speed and immediacy of the flip of an electrical switch, the sleeping sensation of injected drugs or even the painful 30 seconds at the end of a rope.
This entity of evil deserves to be brutally tortured for a few weeks prior to his permanent residence in Hell. If a lottery were held in Montana to see who gets to “flip the switch” on his death, there would be more people queued up than for a Stones concert and I’d be first in line.
Bruce Fuglei, Missoula
Teachers deserve better than comic rants
As a former student, a former teacher and a parent whose two kids received an outstanding education in Missoula’s public schools, I find Mallard Fillmore’s recent attacks on teachers and, by association, our nation’s public school system both disgusting and offensive.
Teachers, at all levels, are an integral component of our society’s foundation and future. They deserve our praise and admiration and much better pay.
The repugnant “Fillmore” rants are a disservice to your readers and to our community values. Please find something more constructive, something with at least a smidgen of humor and insight, to fill the space.
Bill Carey,
Missoula
Waldron’s foresight saved homes
On the anniversary of the Black Cat fire, I feel there is no better time to express our gratitude to Scott Waldron.
He, along with the Frenchtown Fire Department and countless other departments around the state and possibly neighboring states, saved our home.
We were in Missoula eating dinner when we saw all the fire trucks coming over the Reserve Street overpass, not knowing the fire would eventually end up at our home located on Mill Creek Road late that night.
The next morning, waiting to be allowed to go up to our home, and thinking we had lost our house, Scott drove by the crowd. He stopped and spoke with our daughter, telling her he tried to get up to our house but our cat was blocking the driveway. That was comforting for two reasons: 1. our cat was OK (we were not able to locate him before evacuation) and 2. we still had a house.
Over the next few days we had fire crews from Canyon Ferry, Geraldine and Stevensville helping. When we thanked them for coming they all professed one thing: when they heard Scott Waldron needed help there was nothing that would stop them from helping. It was not the Frenchtown community as much as their appreciation of Scott. He had always been there when they needed him and his force.
Scott has spent years building relationships with these departments, helping them with Frenchtown equipment and manpower. He probably knew if Frenchtown ever had an incident such as Black Cat, our community could perish without help.
Because he had the foresight to build these relationships, Frenchtown residents were better off.
Therefore, every time I see Scott I send a blessing his way. My family will always be grateful for his dedication and his advance management of the Black Cat Fire.
Sandra Brosious, Frenchtown
Pair of heroines deserve high praises
Dawn Merrill and Q DeHart should receive the highest award and recognition available for their heroic efforts in the rescue of the four horses in the Big Creek incidence of Aug. 1.
These two women are truly heroines in every sense of the word. Due to the torture, starvation and suffering endured by these four horses, one of the penalties that Curtis and Craig Hayden should receive is that they should be forbidden by law to own any animal anywhere for the rest of their lives, especially horses.
Thank you Dawn Merrill and Q DeHart.
Buzz Ramsey, Hamilton
|
 |
 |
Add your comment now! Write your comment in the form below.
(Email address is for verification only. If you'd like to email a story, look for the link above)