Letter To The Editor: Rebuttal to Don Seifert Letter
Author: Sheila Stenzel
Rebuttal to Don Seifert Letter
Don Seifert wrote a passionate letter in the 9/27 MT News as to why we should all back Jon Tester. He compared his Montana heritage and work ethic to Sen. Tester’s and mentioned several “items” that Jon is responsible for backing, but those that he mentioned are for grants and pet projects by liberals, for liberals, in Gallatin County. None were actual legislation for which Sen. Tester would have to answer during an election season, and none benefited Broadwater County.
I was raised in Gallatin County, way back when it was a simple farm community with a rodeo-oriented university and middle-class was an aspiration. I don’t recognize that home anymore, thanks to Mr. Seifert and his elite “educated-with-no-common-sense” pals who think they know more than the rest of us about everything. Sen. Tester has voted party lines nearly every vote during his time in the Senate, and has only strayed when he thought it politically advantageous. He knows if he did what was right for Montanans, national funding and PACs would stop giving him a dime, and in a fair world, he would be back to bucking bales. But it’s not a fair world, and even if not reelected, he will retire a millionaire while his “fellow Montanan’s” continue to struggle with inflation and lack of cost of living increases for our seniors. I believe the definition you are seeking is hypocrite.
What disturbs me the most about this letter, however, is that Mr. Seifert signed as a “Former Gallatin County Commissioner”, as if that title holds any weight in our county. I don’t recall Broadwater County commissioners, present or former, trying to influence votes in another county. His use of the title appears to be an attempt to influence election results in Broadwater County. What Don Seifert is doing is not illegal, but it is unethical and informs us of his true intentions. If he is a voting resident of Broadwater County, he should not invoke his Gallatin County ties.
Broadwater County is not subservient to, nor an extension of, Gallatin County. Even if you can’t stomach the alternatives, write-in a Disney character. Please reconsider your vote for Jon Tester, if for no other reason than to reinforce to Gallatin County that we will never be their lap dog.
Sheila Stenzel
Townsend
