By Mike Weland
Boundary County is Trump Country according to a sign on Highway 95 leading into Bonners Ferry that so proclaims, the assertion given credence by the many U.S. flag-flying pickups, “Go Brandon” and “@!$* Biden” signs proliferating here through this era of Trump, and mostly by the overwhelming support this county has tendered the most divisive president ever to have held the office each time his name has appeared on a local ballot.
And for most of the decade he’s been in U.S. politics, very few in Boundary County who questioned his contrary ways dared speak out … it wasn’t received well, especially if you owned a business or served the public. To lend a contrary opinion disputing contentions that the Lyin’ King was and is the best president ever was frowned upon by most MAGA.
For a liberal heretic to point out proof backed by evidence was (is) to subject oneself to ridicule and threats at best, boycotts and ostracism both overt and veiled at worst, from people who answered pointed criticisms based on empirical truth with far-fetched conspiracy theories and/or “you got TDS.”
Trump derangement syndrome.
But there is a growing contingent who question if Trump’s actions better reflect those of a tyrannical and self serving would-be king enamored of the perks and powers of office rather than those of a U.S. president with the responsibility to serve his constituents.
On Saturday, while Trump was looking glum as his birthday parade of military might rolled down the streets of Washington, DC, churning million-dollar rut in the streets with negligible numbers yawning alongside the sycophants obligated to show proper obsequiousness, out in the hinterlands, millions said “enough.”
It is good to talk straight, to make promises. It is not okay to lie and/or break the law in the attempt to live up to your promises.
People in Boundary County seem to be waking to the fact that the divide isn’t about conservative or liberal, right or left — those being distinctions made up and applied by Trump — but about right and wrong.
And they are no longer reticent to say so.
Most civics books teach us that there are three equal branches of government; the legislative, the executive and the judicial. On Saturday, peaceful protestors in their millions, including many who challenged the Trump Country thesis walking on the Kootenai River Bridge, sent notice to those of the judiciary who’ve lost sight of the law, to legislators who’ve forgotten to what they swore fealty and to a criminal executive who thinks he’s above the law and that he’s suborned the government by emasculating those branches with constitutional oversight over his overreach …
There is a fourth pillar of government to which all U.S. citizens belong, even he declared wrongly above the law by a supreme court made subservient to his attempt at tyranny and the Deep State machinations of the Heritage Foundation, a group dedicated to overturning every hard-earned gain in equality wrested through honest protest from a cabal swathed in an unearned and unmerited idea of supremacy.
Under our constitution, unlike any other, it is we, the people, who have the ultimate authority, for it is we who elect representatives, not rulers … we subject ourselves not to fallible men but to an infallible ideal laid down in a living constitution by which we dedicate ourselves not to power or privilege, but to ever forming a more perfect union. For all men, not a privileged few.
We, the people, stood peacefully on a bridge in Bonners Ferry Saturday, on streets, lanes and boulevards in cities and towns across our nation, asserting our constitution, our rights … being right.
Thank you, Mike, for covering the No Kings Protest on our bridge and for speaking up on behalf of those of us who have been drowned out before now.
Thanks, especially, for standing up for good journalism and not covering the ugly, hateful lies spewed by the other side during our Protest.
I learned to be a journalist in Eastern Washington University’s old Journalism School taught by actual working journalists including KHQ’s Dick Hoover and humorist Patrick McManus. We need more of Pat’s humor these days.
Mike, this is a small town and we all know each other…..I recognize only about half of our local Democrats turned out for this one…….the same old faces and a different day. We, the people, elected Trump and he is doing exactly what he promised he would do, which is why we voted for him again. I will at least give these “peaceful” protesters a thumbs up on the fact that they are not like the other “peaceful” demonstrators, as in Los Angeles, Portland, and other towns that are throwing bricks at policemen, burning cars, and looting minority businesses. I guess they know our dedicated local police officers and towns people wouldn’t put up with it. I don’t know why you are always trying to stir it up in our good and peaceful town. Maybe if you went to Portland or Los Angeles, you could be their poster boy and have a greater effect on the downfall of our country. And as for me and my house, we will not only serve the Lord, but the country that gives us the freedoms that we enjoy to even stand on a bridge and support leftist socialist views……….
Mr. McCollum, I concur this is a small town, but I question how well we know each other since the latest influx has brought a disaffected group here to “be among like minded people” not with the intention of fitting in, but of taking over, of saving us from turning our communities into what you fled by turning our communities into what you fled.
And yes, we the people elected Trump, but by a whisker thin margin, and I contend Trump isn’t doing what he promised, though he is pretty spot on with what I predicted he would be doing.
Now, I appreciate the fact that we differ in our points of view. But I do believe we have a vastly different idea of what constitutes “we the people.” By the tenor of your argument, the people you refer to as “we” are those who voted for the Donald again … about 77-million as I recall. That is a lot of folks. But there are about 347.8-million U.S. citizens at present, around 174 million eligible to vote.
So what I hear is that your count of “we the people” doesn’t include around 270.3 United States citizens, about 97-million of them eligible voters who did not vote for Trump.
So I am left to infer that your “we the people” is limited to about 77-million folks, about 22-percent of card-carrying U.S. citizens.
Fair enough, I guess. Now for my big question: what exactly is it that Trump is doing that he said he would that you like so much you’d vote for him again?
Better and simpler, what is he doing now to “Make America Great Again?” Be specific — what is he doing to give you the freedoms that you enjoy? What is he doing that the Lord you and your house serve would approve? And just for giggles … what are the freedoms you enjoy?
Just what is it you’re accusing me of always trying to stir up in our good and peaceful town, Mr. McCollum?
I’ve been asking for ten years — enlighten me. I look forward to your response.
Mike, one thing Trump has done is put an end to illegal aliens voting for communist presidents. Another thing he did, Mike, he overrode communist governors from destroying their states from anarchists throwing bricks at policemen, burning cars and putting an end to the looting of minority businesses. And Trump has the unique ability to distinguish a man from a woman, given there are only TWO genders. I could go on and on, but we both know that you live in a socialist bubble unable to distinguish truth from fiction, which anybody reading your ridiculous replies could discern in about three minutes. Over the past 10 years, I haven’t responded to your absurd comments because you are your own worst enemy…. anyone reading your responses usually gets a chuckle at your expense. But rage on, Mike, the sky is falling but it is on the Democrat party…….. the rest of us are doing okay……. God bless America and President Trump……….Love ya anyway Mike…..Ron
I rest my case.
Mr. McCollum…..What Mr. Weland does not realize is there are more of us than the hand full that was on the bridge.
For really really?! Well, duh.
Mr. Weland….What ever became of your apology for the past 10 yrs. for bashing MAGA and Trump? I’d say it was quite insincere.
It’s right here, Mr. Shwarts … https://9b.news/2024/12/29/i-humbly-ask-forgiveness-i-may-have-been-wrong/ … I humbly ask you to read it again with your head in clear air outside your schwartz nether regions. Nice play misspelling — allow me to offer this for your edification: “”Schwartz” is a surname of German origin, meaning “black” or “dark.” It is derived from the German word “schwarz” and was originally a nickname for someone with dark hair or complexion. It can also refer to a place named Schwarz, or in some contexts, be related to the Yiddish word “shvarts,” meaning black or dark.” Seems a good choice for you to take for a pseudonym, Kirk Dixon. Enjoy the editorial in the light of day and with a clear head! ~ Mike Weland
Thanks for the education. Even though your apology is there, you failed to explain why you posted it in the first place only to prove how insincere your apologies can be. I know this because I’ve witnessed it before. Seeing that your TDS still exists and feel the need to bash the populist opinions of the American people kind of makes you shallow.
Sorry schwarzkopf, it was by no means an apology. It was tongue in cheek affirmation that I’ve been right since I began writing about Trump … and I’ll leave it you to read it yet again, even more slowly this time, sounding out the big words and taking time to look up those you don’t quite ken. Better yet, take a copy of it to your koffee klatch or to your Bible study, have your elders sound it out to you. Seeing that you still don’t get it and that you assume I care about the populist opinions of MAGA, Fox, Infowars and folks like you kind of makes you stupid.
Yes there are!
Ironically, if you lived in a land of kings you couldn’t even have a peaceful protest against the king.
Before disparaging someone or some place, we should at the very least get to know them, personally.
I lived in Portland for 12 years, the last five while I was a full-time substitute teacher for Portland Public Schools in K-12 classes all over the city and parts of three counties.
My daughter-in-law has taught in North Portland’s high schools and my granddaughters each graduated with, among other studies, a bilingual program in Southwest PPS. My son is a doctor affiliated with Oregon Health Sciences University and practicing at Adventist Hospital in a low-income area of the city.
I also was Secretary of our Cathedral Park Neighborhood Association and decision making by the City Council and Mayor is done from the ground up with the help of citizens in the neighborhoods.
So when MAGAs began spreading lies about terrible unrest and crime-filled disorder online and in the media, I was highly skeptical. To be sure, though, I had a talk with my son who said no one they knew was experiencing any problems.
He said the unrest was tiny and isolated (much like the recent LA situation that Trump involved himself in). I remember being proud of the mayor for addressing the issue first hand where it was happening soon after our conversation.
Still, MAGA lies about Portland persist as they will about LA and all other “blue” areas of the country.
I moved here for a job and home with lots of potential 28 years ago. I’ve been blessed to live out my dream in one of the nation’s most scenically beautiful communities.
I’ve been part of four local churches during nearly three decades, and my best times and memories have come at the United Methodist Church as a part of the musical ministry and now with many other lay people, helping lead worship.
So I have first-hand knowledge of the most loving and forgiving aspects of Christianity.
Long may the love and forgiveness of Jesus’s message live in our hearts.
Well you are just a big fibber, aren’t you? These stories are all over the national news. At least, Mike Weland makes his fabrications more entertaining. The rest of us look at a newspaper now and again, maybe you should give it a try, but then again, you aren’t really interested in truth, are you?