Trump divided Americans by tapping into the worst of the human condition: GOP must dump Trump

Echo opinion letter published in the Billings Gazette, in Billings Montana:

Trumpism (definition):  "The quality of repeating lies so that eventually someone will believe the false statements over truth."

Look Trumpzi went off the rails with the 2022, midterm election losses, blaming, everyone even his poor wife.

Whining Republicans are crying fraud again. 

No surprise. When they win, it's a fair election, when they lose it's fraud. 

But, the red wave never happened because lots of us Republicans/Independents voted blue, not because we support Biden, but because we don't want the lunatic MAGA fringe in Congress.

Beginning in 2016, we watched how Trump divided the country by tapping into people's hatred, rage and fear and bringing it to a fever pitch. We watched his rallies where he not only condoned violence but instigated it by creating an us vs. them hostile mob mentality.

We don't believe the election was stolen because we don't believe much of what Trump says. We watched him cry fraud every time he didn't get the results he wanted. We also remember him crying fraud when his reality show, "The Apprentice" didn't win an Emmy and he then attacked the show that won. Who does that?

Look how he went off the rails with the midterm election losses, blaming, everyone even his poor wife.

Democrats, Republicans and Independents can make American great again! 
Trumpty-Dumpty! Dump the Trump.

Donald "I love myself" Trumpty is a full-blown malignant narcissist who will never accept defeat or accountability. 

It is time to dump Trump and all the MAGA/Qanon crazies.

From Molly Malone in Bozeman, Montana

Republicans are dismantling our Republic

An echo letter opinion writer is describing a political process going on in Montana to replace the experienced Justice Gustafson, appointed to the Montana Supreme Court, with an inexperienced lobbyist!  Is this trend indicating a trend to destroy our Republic? Letter published in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle:

No one can argue democracy is perfect. Those who study history argue it is better than dictatorships like Putin’s and Hungary’s Orban.

For two hundred years Americans have expanded democracy. Now we have a #Republican political party working to limit voting by passing laws making it harder to vote and by putting extremists in charge of state and local elections who are not committed to fair elections.

These same extremists are even working to subvert Montana’s Supreme Court by supporting an industry lobbyist, James Brown. The fact he has no judicial experience is unimportant. 

What matters is he’s willing to ignore the Constitution and do the bidding of special interests in making judicial rulings and who could care less about hard working Montanans. 

Their target is Ingrid Gustafson an intelligent and hardworking incumbent justice who has a record of deciding cases without bias or a political agenda.

From Sue Beland in Bozeman Montana

Russians must learn the truth about the unprovoked Ukrainian atrocities

Not all Russians support the Ukraine invasion

Echo letter published in Bozeman Daily Chronicle in Montana:

Many Russians are appalled with the invasion into Ukraine. I have been communicating with Russian friends who want all of us outside of Russia to know that Putin alone is invading Ukraine. Russians are not invading Ukraine. They have friends in Ukraine. They have relatives in Ukraine. My friends are adamant that I spread the word that they do not support the actions of Putin and are fearing for their own liberties as social media is being shut down — Facebook, Instagram —news is being cut off — BBC, CNN and more. Protesters are being arrested and thrown in jail.

Those who can, are considering leaving Russia, so they do not have to live in the Russia of the past, which they fear is what is next. 

They fear that Putin will take the country backwards to a police state in which they have no freedom. The situation in Ukraine is nothing less than tragic. People in Ukraine are paying with their lives. 

As well, the Russian people will pay the price for Putin's egregious actions. Tragedy all around because of one man's demented aspirations for power.

From Kathryn Hiestand, in Bozeman, Montana

Trump is the root of the national emergency- Lock Him Up!

It’s difficult understanding why all the Trump people, and Trump himself, have not been taken to court. We’ve been told and shown for months, how Trump people lied in their attacking of the building, injuring 140-plus workers, terrifying thousands.

Why do we wait? We’re hearing often about various law firms spending months being certain about ultimately hostile actions of Trump’s “army.”

"Former President Donald Trump the seditionist is still on the loose instead of being in jail where he belongs. The Justice Department should have indicted him months ago...."  Richer Striner in The Capital Gazette.

Echo opinion letter published in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, a newspaper in Montana. 

Why, therefore, isn’t Trump in jail? Didn’t we think, and for some time, see, that it wouldn’t take this long? He is, for starters, the  defendant in 29 lawsuits. Many investors did criminal investigations in addition to those attorneys, obtaining the Trump tax returns. 

At the very least, there’s often mention of his own understanding that prison awaits him.

Richer Striner asks the question, disturbing many of us — plus millions all over the country: “Why is Trump, the seditionist, still on the loose, instead of in jail where he belongs? The Justice Department should have indicted him months ago! Look at the massive crimes Trump committed. What he’s doing to his Republican Party, is fascism!”

Bill Kennedy: “Our then supposed National Leader presided over, aided and abetted, the worst violent attack on...our government in more than 150 years, thus recommending Trump as President is quality of both Treason and Sedition!”

Jamelle Bouie: “As with the entire effort to overturn the result of the election, Trump’s behavior was as clumsy as it was in earnest.”

 Trump to Justice Department: “Just say the election was corrupt, and leave the rest to me.”

Trump being — as he was — an absurd figure, doesn’t mean we should treat his drives and desires as non-threatening; True when in office, and true now!

This Democrat in Montana, as I deal with Republican friends and strangers — will still delight in Trump’s knowingly eventual demise.

From Dan Lourie in Bozeman, Montana

Republic conservatism has abandoned government - opinion letter from Montana

Bozeman Montana echo opinion letter to the editor:  Republicans have abandoned conservatism and have abandoned their working class base.  This letter was published in the Montana newspaper on line edition of the Missoulian, in Missoula Montana.  

I don't know why the letter isn't in the print edition, but I'll try to spread the message through this blog, on Twitter and other on line platforms.

Republicans like Lindsey Graham were once conservatives but now they've caved to Trumpzism. What happened? (A New York Magazine graphic)

In my 44 years, I have never been so disgusted with politics. In the last presidential election, I could not bring myself to vote for either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. Both were so obviously disconnected from the typical working American’s needs, although Trump and his crony-capitalist and hyper-nationalistic promoters played the better con game. 

Complete Republican control of our federal government has clearly revealed that this incredulously hypocritical party has lost all connection to its purported conservative roots. (We somehow cannot afford socialized medicine, but don’t you dare touch the corporate welfare state.) Beyond coddling the 1 percent, disaffected white males, overt racists, Saudi princes and the military industrial complex, all the Republicans really offer to the struggling white working class is victim-shaming and the fear and hatred of others. This is a convenient distraction as their disconnected, authoritarian and downright incompetent governance bankrupts the country morally and financially.

It’s sadly comical how the Republicans actively undermine the functioning of government, then turn around and claim that we cannot trust our government because it’s so dysfunctional. 

While I may still have my concerns about the corporate Democrats, this fall I will wholeheartedly vote for Jon Tester and Kathleen Williams.

Mark Campanelli,
Bozeman