My ancestors fought conquerors. We should not become like them | Opinion

Trump and Greenland

At what point is the American Public along with our representatives of Idaho going to wake up?

My great grandfather fought in World War I. My father served in World War II. Their service was to fight for freedom and the right for nations to govern themselves.

What gives us the right to disregard our past sacrifices to overtake a sovereign nation because the lunatic we have as a president thinks it is a good idea? Trump has no regard for the Constitution and no regard for history and the lessons we should have learned from the sacrifices the people served to save the world from dictators who thought they could overtake the world or slaughter innocent people. Again at what point do we stand up and say no!

Randal Hetz, Boise

America is in a dire state

NATO and Greenland are gearing up for an attack from the USA. ICE agents, masked with unmarked vehicles, are terrorizing cities, dragging people out of cars, pepper spraying high school students, throwing women to the ground, hassling people for speaking their mind and now, even murdering one of them. The justice department has given the killer absolute immunity as well as making daily threats to politicians who disagree with this authoritarian regime.

The Epstein files are still not delivered. Our president has kidnapped Venezuela’s president, taken over the oil supply and has even asked CEOs of oil companies to pay for his ballroom in exchange for a share of it. Blue and sanctuary states are being threatened with cuts in funding.

Stephen Miller claims the way of dealing with world politics is to exert power. We no longer embrace green energy and the government has reinstated the use of banned pesticides on farms. The ACA subsidies have not been renewed and millions will lose their health care. What does it mean when a president wears a pin of his own image and hints at asking somebody for their Nobel Peace Prize? Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Elaine Menger, Eagle

Picking on trans athletes

What a waste of money! Idaho has less than 10 trans athletes, but we are spending millions to block them from playing sports. Good thing we have excess money in our state budget, to punish these young Idahoans.

Allen Wenger, Boise

ICE out of control

The Trump administration’s response to the recent shooting of Ms. Good in Minnesota brings to mind something I have read:

“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” - George Orwell, 1984

Any sane person, regardless of party, should recognize ICE is out of control.

Glenn Anders, Meridian

Delegation subservient

President Trump is both out of touch and out of control while our congressional delegates sit on their hands and do nothing to rein in his madness. Americans — Idahoans — need relief from Trump’s tariff driven hyper-inflation, job losses, manufacturing declines and his policies favoring billionaires over ordinary people including the doubling of health care premiums for millions.

And we are on the verge of multiple new long-term wars abroad! Yet when you engage Idaho’s delegation, you get a form letter response blowing you off.

Washington’s focus is on new wars and imperialistic expansion abroad, new wars at home, building billion dollar ballrooms and the newly-announced Arc de Trump, and renaming everything else Trump. We care about affordability, freedom of speech, security, and common sense and dignity. Our delegates do not care about these important things and their ambivalence speaks volumes.

It’s time for Idaho to move on from Risch, Crapo, Simpson and Fulcher.

Jon Ingalls, Coeur d’Alene

Hope for Iran’s freedom

As an Iranian-born legal permanent resident of Caldwell, I watch with hope and horror as my former countrymen risk their lives to overthrow the Islamic Republic. This regime is not just their enemy; it is an enemy of the United States, responsible for decades of terror and hostage-taking.

A historic window has opened: the regime is crumbling economically and facing a nationwide insurrection. But they have cut the Internet to hide their massacres.

Sens. Risch and Crapo hold key positions on the Foreign Relations and Banking committees. They have the power to fast-track the Maximum Support At (H.R. 2614), which would use seized regime assets to fund labor strikes and provide satellite Internet to the opposition, that endorses a secular democracy in Iran aligned with U.S. interests.

We need American maximum support” for the Iranian people to finish the job, and I urge Idaho’s senators to lead this charge. A free, secular and Western-friendly Iran is the ultimate America-First solution; it permanently neutralizes one of America’s most persistent adversaries, ending decades of state-sponsored terrorism and nuclear proliferation threats without requiring U.S. troops.

Fereydoun Memarzanjany, Caldwell

Who is the terrorist?

When asked by the New York Times if there were any limits on his global powers, Trump responded: ”Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”

Disastrously for our country and for the world the physiologically impaired man-child who scandalously occupies the Oval Office hasn’t the slightest clue about morality. His insidiously demented thinking and actions can no longer be considered just a matter of political ideology; it has now become a horrifying reality as to the extent of peril Trump eagerly inflicts on our national/international communities, just to serve his self-absorbed/exploitive self.

Recently, Renee Good, age 37, mother of three children, was fatally shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Immediately after the shooting, surely before “facts” could be plausibly obtained about this tragedy, it was Trump, Steven Miller and Kristi Noam who announced that Good was a “domestic terrorist.”

Contrary to these false allegations, Good was recorded on the ICE assailant’s cell phone saying to him: “I’m not mad at you” as she was attempting to safely drive away. Seconds later she was fatally shot. Factually, who is the “Domestic Terrorist?”

Joel A. Price, Boise

This story was originally published January 18, 2026 at 4:00 AM.