Dear Editor:
I found that Pete Ketcham’s Letter to the Editor last week, like most Trump supporters, tried to place the blame on the media and Democrats for Trump’s current troubles (now that Hillary isn’t around to bash) while trying to instill hope for what Pete calls “revolutionary” miracles.
In his letter, Pete said, “God chooses the men he will use to lead this nation, and the miracles to assist them.”  Pete “believes in God’s concern and intervention in our nation’s affairs” and points out several “revolutionary” miracles.  Historians will tell you that not all leaders are good leaders.  What about the miracle that brought Hitler and his right-wing Nazi party to power?  Did God intervene when Hitler murdered six million Jews?
Pete’s letter was from a Grangeville outsider—someone who wasn’t raised Catholic and who didn’t grow up in Cottonwood.  Some of us who grew up in Cottonwood, but moved away to places like Washington, DC, Europe, California and Seattle, remained proud to say we grew up in a small town in beautiful Northern Idaho, where we knew good, honest, hardworking, prayerful people.  We don’t consider ourselves to be the “godless left,”and still care deeply about our hometown and the views which tend to perpetuate there.
I work in an office with two “godless right” staunch Republicans who aren’t naïvely hoping for a miracle from Trump because praying for a miracle from Trump is like praying for a lost cause.  Instead they fear Trump will get us in a war with North Korea and not only will the stock market and our retirement funds go down if that happens, but our lives will be changed forever.
You can’t equate the nuclear war with North Korea with the revolutionary war in 1776.  We must be vigilant and think long and hard about our leaders and their actions and what effect they have on Americans, other countries, and the human race.  The era we live in today is different from that in 1776 and calls for higher, diplomatically-skilled leaders, not leaders who tweet threats.
That the media and the Democrats have some sort of a conspiratorial agenda is a myth dreamed up by people frustrated with Trump’s lack of ability to keep his campaign promises and change the bureaucracy in Washington, DC.  There’s no need for a conspiracy or a siege.  Trump, with his tweets, is bringing it on himself by his relentless lies, missteps, and inability to lead Congress to act on his campaign promises.  You should be discouraged by his behavior if you voted for him.  
Joan Kopczynski
Spokane

Editor of Cottonwood Chronicle 
A recent letter by Wayne Wimer to the Chronicle appeared to simultaneously castigate the Cottonwood people as well as bemoan the lack of statues of two Prairie native sons. The implication being the local electorate’s conservative leanings (82%--his figures) prevented this from occurring. 
As to the statuary on the Prairie, one needs only to regularly attend some of the local churches to witness the greatest heroes anyone would do well to imitate. Yet, these noble figurines ofttimes face ridicule and condemnation in the larger public arenas. Like, for example, Seattle, WA which boosts a 93% liberal left leaning populace. Readily threatened and actual lawsuits rear their ugly heads claiming these statues in public threaten, intimidate or otherwise offend others. Shame on the legal system and its purveyors for pandering to and fomenting such feckless issues.
(Suggest watching:https://www.youtube.com/embed/jFz4uUfPfN8?rel=0&autoplay=1)
The letter writer used the liberal template of innuendo stating the KKK, neo-Nazis, and specifically David Duke supported Trump, ergo, the President must necessarily be one of them. Such logic wouldn’t hold sway in any court of common sense. If a cattleman walks through a feedlot and accidentally steps in some bovine exhaust, must he be considered part of the herd? Only in the eyes of the mainstream media and its minions. Shame on the fourth estate and its supporters for their biased intolerance.
Questions: If the letter writer watched the Berkley, Charlottesville, etc., riots, did he see the masked Antifa (Anti-fascist) hatefully busting heads, damaging property, etc., throughout the riots? Interestingly, this group shows up at most protests and wages war on businesses and anyone not accepting their message while the authorities order the police to stand down. With roots and funding in the United Kingdom, their hateful mayhem seldom elicits media response. Besides the Nazi/Confederate flags, etc., in Charlottesville, did he see opposing Chinese Communist flags, or the banners “Be ungovernable”? Did this bother him? Does the deceased former Grand Wizard of the KKK Robert Byrd, a Democrat Senator, deserve the same condemnation as the Confederate statues/flag? Self-imposed myopia seemingly creates a tunnel vision that prevents objectivity.
Lastly, riots prove that any emotional passions invested in destructive protests seldom lead to intellectual dividends no matter which side of the street you occupy.
G.A. Terhaar

Redneck Review!
No. 124 – 9/4/17
Time goes by, crises come and go, new generations replace the old, but rarely do we find recorded periods of total peace and harmony.  Every generation is forced to deal with a particular crisis or two.  And a careful analysis ordinarily reveals that the situation has started far in the past, but grows over the years until it reaches a critical stage at a particular time.
Lets take a close look at a pending crisis in our day that  has been building up for more than the lifetime of most of us living today.  Many topics could be selected, but for now, consider our U.S. national debt, discuss its possible significance, and how it might have originated.
To begin, can we even comprehend it?  We are told it is near $20 trillion today, and is going to get even larger. Today it is a source of contention as our national legislature must soon decide to raise the debt limit or not.  Not doing so, means the national budget must be cut severely, or the government will run out of money and be unable to pay its monthly bills. On the one side are those who are determined to hold the line on spending, while opposed to the many who are convinced that more government spending is necessary in many areas.
Hmmm!  To think that at one time everyone was impressed with a million dollars!  How times have changed!  After all, a million dollars does require a 1000 thousand dollar bills! And one billion dollars requires a 1000 million dollars!  Think about it!  One billion dollars is reached only after a 1000 million dollars are accumulated!  Well, then, what is a trillion?   Simply put, it takes 1000 billion dollar bills to make a trillion.  And our debt is 20 trillion of these dollars!
What does this mean to each individual in the U.S. today?  Checking the current population, it means that every man, woman and child in this country would have $61,000 to repay, if it were spread evenly over the population! Is there any way this debt will be repaid or even reduced?
Does it matter whether it is paid or not, or it continues to grow in the future?  For some insight into the question, why not consider personal debt?  Is it not safe to say that using debt today improves your current standard of living, but requires a reduced level in the future when it is time to repay, with interest normally?  Of course, if it never is repaid, then it is no problem! 
Does careful thinking not suggest that debt should be avoided UNLESS for major items like a home or a business that lasts a lifetime, or can generate added income in the future?
And really, is the situation with a nation's debt really any different than a personal one?  Both cases involve living better today and paying for it later, or investing today somehow with  the potential to increase income tomorrow!  Does it not suggest that adding substantial debt in a nation for the sole purpose of improving standards of living, or even possibly to simply "buy votes" is a dangerous practice?  And should national expenditures and debt not essentially be limited to keeping the peace at home and abroad, improving the national infrastructure, and guaranteeing a level playing field for all citizens to live on and compete?  
Let's face the facts, folks!  One reason for our debt today can be traced back to the "politically correct" economic theories of John Maynard Keynes.  In a nutshell, our nation and the world has bought hook line and sinker, that governments should control the economy, increasing the money supply when times are tough, and tightening it when inflation threatens or the economy gets out of control!  Does it work?  History proves Keynesian experts are quick to kick start economies with more money when recession threatens, but fail to exercise the politically unpopular tools designed to slow it down when it threatens to get out of control!
(More next week!)
Jake Wren

Home

Classified Ads