Losing patience while talking politics

To the Editor:

This letter to the Editor could be an apology of sorts, but it’s not. 

Lately I’ve found myself losing patience when talking politics on the street, grocery store, work place, etc. It may sound dramatic, but I feel the fate of our nation hangs in the balance with the upcoming Presidential election and it’s my civic duty to open my trap, uncomfortable as it may be at times.

I’ve heard so much lunacy and just plain stupidity the last few years, it boggles the imagination. Just when you thought things couldn’t get any wackier, the Super Bowl fix by mega-star Taylor Swift so she could endorse Biden takes the cake. The crazy part is right wing pundits shamelessly spew this insanity and MAGA fans desperate for any nonsense to attack “The Left,” buy it.

Where it began, if and where it will end, who knows? Probably with the campaign of Donald J. Trump in 2016, when the “tell them what they wanna hear” crowd got the ball rolling, with shameless lies and disinformation. Especially with social media and newscasts (programmed for entertainment, not news) there hasn’t been much accountability. 

Some notable exceptions making headlines recently are: FOX News had to fork over almost a billion dollars for Tucker Carlson’s chronic bogus “news” reporting, Rudy Giuliani is on the hook for $83 million for slandering Georgia election officials and The Donald himself got tagged for $83 million and change for lies about reporter E. Jean Carroll, with more on the way. About time!

That’s the good news. The bad news is I don’t see the rudeness, incivility and stupidity subsiding, as our critical 2024 election draws nearer. The “F… Biden” flags and signs are proudly displayed as some sort of macho, in-your-face expression as an assault on civil discourse and decency, not to mention intelligence. 

Down the road from where I live is a big sign on the side of a barn that says, “Joe and the Ho Gotta Go.” Personally, I think it should read, “I’m a piss-ignorant racist and want the world to know it.” 

I’d like to see Mr. Big Stuff fly his banner in downtown Detroit or Atlanta. Could get ugly.

Of all the things I find most offensive these days (besides the usual conspiracy theories, flying American flags upside down, ignoring facts, etc.), is the spineless representatives who know (or should know) better, but still tow the party line for their personal agenda and political gain, i.e. our Montana Republican delegation. 

Rosendale believes Trump won the 2020 election, throwing the U.S. Constitution and reality out the window; Zinke would rather hold up a bipartisan bill to address the border crisis and provide critical aid to Ukraine, all because his fealty to Trump is more important than doing his job; and I believe Daines was not being honest when he took an oath to be a “fair and impartial juror” in the Trump impeachment hearings. Sad.

And Governor Gianforte along with his Republican legislature brag how they lowered our taxes with some smoke and mirrors arithmetic formula, I still haven’t figured out. 

All I do know is, I’m paying more for less.

Let’s all hope and pray our nation makes it another 248 years.

Tom Horelick, Libby