Opinions

In intersection of liberty and common sense

Pretty soon it looks like we are going to have to add a new group of people to the increasingly long list of those who can’t be discriminated against.

The bomb and me, 75 years later

It’s been a decade since I reflected on radiation, both the kind emitted by nuclear tests and the radium inserted up my nose to shrink swollen adenoids.

Shut up, cowboy up, mask up, stop COVID and keep Montana open

Wearing a mask and keeping six feet apart from others is the best way to stop the spread of COVID-19 and to ensure Montana businesses remain open during this challenging time. We all have a role to play during this pandemic to keep our loved ones, families, neighbors, communities and businesses safe. COVID-19 has created a new motto to help keep businesses and their clients safe: No shirt, No shoes, No mask, No service.

Climbing walls while sitting in a chair

Reclining in my favorite chair recently in vanishingly small Inez, Wyoming, I found myself close to tears. My wife Maria sat beside me to ask what was troubling me.

Candidate vows to protect constitutional rights

For years we have sat silently as those in power have worked tirelessly to erode our Second Amendment rights. Often acting under the guise of safety and security, those in power have escalated their attacks on the Second Amendment in response to mass shootings, claiming they want a greater level of safety and security for Americans, despite historical evidence that makes clear connections between a disarmed people and an oppressed people.

The good and the evil of American history – and American greats

“The evil that men do lives after them, the good is oft interred with their bones.” – William Shakespeare

Stumbling over statues

Many of us in the area like President Donald Trump’s policies, but we are still struggling with our history of slavery, oppression and racism. Like the leaders whose statues across our nation are crumbling, he tolerates no opposition. That leadership style has been memorialized in some of our statues of civil war, genocide and slavery commanders. Trump stumbles on with them this week with rulings over school openings and foreign students.

We either lie about them or omit them

Finally, "Black Lives Matter" gains traction. Showing videos and telling stories that bring attention to the large numbers of deaths by police and cases and deaths by COVID-19 among African-American has led to this long-delayed confrontation with our prejudiced society. What we see with own eyes can no longer be ignored, which makes this seem a historic moment that could bring about real change.

Facing my own racism

It was 1960, and a friend of mine and I were playing pool and drinking beer in a bar in South Florida. We were both 17, and should not have been in the bar, nor were we wanted in the bar, but we were not asked to leave.

Wildfire is meaner these days

As I look out my window, the smoke from the Bush fire is belching upward behind the fabled profile of the Superstition Mountains. The fire has closed Highway 87 that joins the Phoenix metro area to Payson, one of its exurbs. Some small communities are evacuating.