As a recent escapee from the ultra-permissive left side of this state, my wife and I are thrilled to be in a small, conservative community that feels and behaves like all of America used to be. We left behind grown men dressed as women reading to young children in publicly supported libraries, a serious lack of law enforcement for crimes big and small, rampant homelessness while Portland fir fighters spent most of their time putting out fires in homeless camps, and insane traffic.

So, I was dismayed to see the quarter page opinion under Other Views, by a Baker City resident, who used that entire space to pen a sarcastic assessment of the behavior and legacy of our past president.

Trump is not a politician. He’ s a businessman. When he made the announcement that he was going to “drain the swamp,” the media and most of the federal government began shaking in their boots. The moment he announced his candidacy, a faction of the FBI and part of Congress were planning his impeachment. They knew that he would expose a lot of the corruption and subterfuge that plagued our political system. From that moment on, the powers that controlled our pricing, wages, availability to goods and services, transportation, taxation and education, were going to do everything they could to keep him out of office. That didn’t work until the second time he ran. When Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook (now Meta), spent $430 million to set up ballot drop boxes, ONLY in battleground states that had just illegally changed their election laws to allow late voting and ballot harvesting, it subverted the election process just enough to get Biden in to office; a man who didn’t leave his basement during the election cycle and couldn’t get more than 40 people at a public rally. Thousands of ballots were counted that had only the vote for president check-marked. The rest of the ballot was blank. Trump haters didn’t know then, and probably don’t know any of this now.

But I understand why the writer expressed his views.

In a big city, many of us see crime, homelessness, filth, and moral decay, while others see vibrancy, diversity, expressiveness and social freedom. The conditions are identical, but the viewpoints could not be more opposed. In those libraries, some of us see behaviors that border on child abuse while others see free expression and exposure to alternative lifestyles that help to educate young minds that stifle prejudice. While some of us see criminals getting away with crime and being released back into society to act again, they see a racist application of the law and believe that the perpetrators were arrested because of their skin color or ethnic heritage.

The traditional values of the past as exhibited by our views on child care, the sanctity of life, personal responsibility, caring for neighbors, sharing with others, and teaching the basics of education have been rejected by almost 30% of our population. This number is not created out of thin air, but is based on polling, statistical analysis and voting results. We know that approximately 30% of our citizens want to see the radical changes that this administration and others are promoting, and they are determining the social makeup of our country.

I know there’s no such thing as Mayberry RFD. But there are places close to that. Baker City is one of those wonderful places.

The media at large, Hollywood, city, county, state and federal government agencies, higher learning institutions, local school boards, big business, big tech, social media, the music industry, and all of our largest cities, are promoting liberalism, permissiveness, and soft-on-crime policies that are ruining our nation.

Liberals value intentions, while conservatives value results. A great example is Oregon Measure 110. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we didn’t spend millions of dollars on drug enforcement, persecuting all those people who simply want to get high? After all, isn’t the use of illegal drugs a victimless crime? We could clear out our jails and allow officers to concentrate on real crime. Sounds logical, right? Great intentions. Very poor results.

Winston Churchill smoked cigars, used profanity, was gruff and mean to his staff, but he saved England from the Nazis. He was voted out of office in the next election. George Patton was mean, demanding, slapped an injured enlisted man in the face for not going back to the front, and was relieved of his duties by President Eisenhower, but he saved Europe from the Axis of Evil. Dirty Harry (in the movies) was always in trouble and used questionable tactics to get confessions. He shot first, and asked questions later. But if you were in a firefight, you would want him on your side. Alan Ladd, who starred in the movie “Shane,” wanted to give up his guns and live the life of a farmer, only to be drawn into a range war. He strapped on his guns one more time and saved the town. Once accomplished, the town folk wanted him to leave as he was so unsavory. My point is you can’t always choose your heroes. Some of them are unseemly, have bad hair and post mean tweets. Look at the results, not the person.

Let’s not throw out all the principles that make our country great. And let’s entertain the idea that even though many don’t like Trump, they might pause and take a moment to find out what his accomplishments were. You will have to investigate, however, because the media you’re likely listening to, watching, and reading, will not reveal anything positive that this president has done.

Jim Lahm

Baker City