Letters to the editor Oct. 5

Stand up to this abomination

For the last two years, we have had a Congress who have had no checks and balances on our president. 

He has shot down innocent fishermen off the coast of Venezuela. He has demolished the east wing of the White House overnight. He has doubled the national debt. He has started a war with Iran with no idea how to end it while people are dying and gas prices are rising. Trump and his administration have removed 740,000 people from the Affordable Healthcare Act benefits with plans to remove 400,000 more. Just this morning, 170,000 pounds of foreign beef entered the U.S. in detriment to the Montana ranchers, while Montana elected Republicans assist Trump’s every call.  

It is imperative that we have Montana senators who are willing to stand up to this abomination.  

Seth Bodnar, running as an independent, has proven he is capable with many different experiences.  He graduated first in his class at West Point. Bodnar served as an infantry officer in Iraq and a Green Beret patrol leader, leading combat missions. While in charge of soldiers in Iraq, he turned around tough missions while protecting his men. Bodnar was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford. While working at General Electric, he oversaw development of locomotive and railway technology. When Bodnar became the president of the University of Montana in 2018, declining enrollment was a huge problem. By 2024 the university recorded a 5.6% increase in first-year students, the largest number since 2009. Bodnar initiated cost-cutting measures and made tough decisions to balance the budget. There was one woman as the department head when he arrived, and when he left, there were seven.

A democracy depends on leaders working together, not one head who expects to lead without questioning his authority.

Seth Bodnar is a proven leader to represent Montana as our United States Senator for the great State of Montana.

— Dianne Grove, Kalispell