Not ever hearing back from our U.S. senator, Jon Tester, in answer to my latest e-mail to him, I am writing this op-ed in order to have his local staff person send it to him. He tells me he does receive and read them.

Dear Jon:

I hope you are well in preparation for your new role as a minority member of the U.S. Senate. I actively wrote in support of any and all real Democrats who shared my vision and mission.

Jon, it has been several years since you provided me with your personal e-mail addresses for your home and U.S. Senate office. For many years now, I must go through the screening and filtering process for e-mails intended for you and only receive replies back from your staff anymore. I miss the good old days when I could be in touch, and you personally answered me.

What I need from you now is the names of other U.S. senators and House members who share my interests and might be willing to represent those interests... since you do not. 

Namely: Defense of wildlife in their national forest habitat from hunting and trapping and logging; support and enforcement of the Endangered Species Act; understanding science and saving the planet we all must live on through the reduction of global warming from CO2 and CH4 greenhouse gases; abandoning the Keystone XL pipeline and mining “dirty” Montana coal and fracking; et al. 

These are my personal missions but you do not share my goals or hear my voice, so I need to find someone in Congress who does. Are you willing to help me? 

I have split with the few environmental organizations who have abandoned their moral compass and original ideological stances and who now prefer to rub shoulders with you for the fame it brings them rather than be true to my causes they once stood for. I remain connected to the true environmental groups that you never consult with or bring into your decision-making process. You call us “fringe extremists”… for wanting to care about wildlife and save the planet.  That is NOT very collaborative of you even among your own Democratic Party loyalists.

News coming out of Washington, D.C., from prominent journalists is that you are being labeled as a conservative Democrat. My feelings are they got that wrong… you are actually a moderate Republican who could not win a Republican primary election against conservative Republicans so you ran as a Democrat and won that primary election using your natural charm and charisma.

Very clever of you because it gained you the Democratic vote, due to the “D” next to your name, while retaining the moderate Republican vote, since they know one when they see one, and you did a good job of winning enough independent votes to win the general election against all of the conservative Republicans. Congratulations Jon!

For my personal benefit, please supply names and e-mail addresses of those politicians who share my core belief system. I need to find those that care what I think. Thanks Jon.

Baum is a resident of Martin City.