Jim Smith’s column, “Tilting at legislative windmills” (Jan. 15), is more a work of fiction than anything Cervantes wrote. First, Smith missed the point that Don Quixote was a work of satire for those of his time wanting to return to an era of chivalry both in action and behavior.
Secondly, all people, including politicians, operate from their personal world view. In fact, that is why people vote for them. I personally prefer candidates with a world view based externally, such as religions, than a situational world view that changes based on a person’s mood that day.
Smith also chooses wording to manipulate the conversation from logic to emotion. “Pseudo-Christian Nationalism,” “reproductive freedom, transgender rights,” etc.: Why can’t liberals use factual terms — Christians, abortion, and grooming minors to sexual lifestyles in public schools?
He also makes a spurious argument about America not being founded on Christian principles. Reading founding documents and quotes from our nation’s founders, such as the Mayflower Compact and the Declaration of Independence, shows that the vast majority had a solid basis in Christianity.
Finally, Smith’s rants about judicial reform are ludicrous. The Montana Supreme Court is meant to reconcile legislation to the original intent of our Constitution. If justices begin legislating from the bench by reading their intent into the Constitution, then they must be reined in. Their obligation is not to the people of Montana but to its Constitution.
Smith’s diatribe seems more fit for Sancho Panza’s donkey, Dapple, than a thinking readership.
