Dear Editor:

I feel as if your front-page story of Oct. 29 was written just for me; a metaphorical health-check, if you will. Thank you for your concern. I want to assure you I’m still here, and doing as well as can be expected under the circumstances.

There is so much to unpack in the governor’s speech a book could be written. I don’t have the time and you don’t have the space. But it occurs to me my perspective can be summed up in the phrase “preventive maintenance,” a topic upon which I’ve built a career.

On the subject of grizzly bears, Aldo Leopold said it best when he wrote, “To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering.” In other words, if we lose pieces of our environment, it could break. What are the consequences? We don’t know but usually when something’s broken it’s bad news.

The governor gave himself a pat on the back for fixing the irrigation tunnel that collapsed in eastern Wyoming but really, what choice did he have? The Bureau of Reclamation built that thing in 1917 (thank you, federal government!) but it was the irrigation district’s responsibility to maintain it. Was that work getting done? Maybe — I don’t know. But ultimately, a comprehensive preventive maintenance program would have recognized that after 100 years of operation under increasing pressure (yes, climate change is real) old infrastructure might need to be upgraded.

But the biggest preventive maintenance issue the governor raised, and got wrong, is one of maintaining our democracy through the removal of President Donald Trump. We can see his attacks on journalistic institutions such as yours, or on anyone who disagrees with him. He’s already stated that he should be allowed to serve more than two terms. Elements of his constituency have threatened an armed rebellion should he be “deposed.” The most transparent example of the danger he represents can be found on T-shirts reading, “I’d rather be a Russian than a Democrat.” If the president had his way, he’d do what Putin does and put people like me in jail. That might suit some of your readers but it’s not a democracy.

Mark Gordon says, “Re-elect Donald Trump and take control of grizzly bears!”

I say, “Elect someone else and take control of democracy!”

Phil Anthony

Powell