Vice President deserved some courtesy

I was raised in the Flathead Valley and visit my family here frequently, and for love of my hometown, I keep up to speed with the issues at hand.

Although I chose to leave the Flathead Valley due to the fact that my education and professional skills could not be realized to their fullest potential here, my heart is always in Northwest Montana.

I am appalled at the limited mindset that I witnessed not so long ago regarding the greeting of Vice President Dick Cheney in the Flathead Valley.

That type of flagrant rudeness and lack of diplomacy by those who disagree with the vice president was childish at best.

At worst, it falsely portrays Montanans as politically ignorant, intolerant people who haven't the slightest clue as to what interacting with government truly means, not only as Montanans but as American citizens.

I cannot understand why, given the present world political climate, the same people who believe extremism in some forums is unacceptable, find it perfectly acceptable to simultaneously contradict themselves by their own extremist behavior.

The lessons we should take away from historical evidence, as well as the current state of our world, is that extremism in any form not only discredits the cause, whatever the "cause of the day" may be, but more importantly, it alienates those who have the power to listen and act.

I applaud Flathead County Commissioner Gary Hall for having the good grace, diplomacy and Montana hospitality to meet Cheney at the airport, and I am deeply embarrassed by the behavior exhibited by those few protesters who certainly do not represent the opinion and actions of the many.

In my eyes, it obviously indicates that the rude individuals have absolutely no conception of hospitality or manners, be they Republicans or Democrats.

I would expect nothing less from a commissioner of Flathead County, and for that, I thank you Mr. Hall.

Nicole Shoshenskiy graduated from Flathead High School andnow lives in Chicago.