Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/685725
We all know by now that Republicans are well practiced at the art of magical think- ing — massive tax cuts balance the budget, human-induced climate change isn't real, Donald Trump is a normal candidate — but the delusion that tops them all is their ap- parent belief that the Zika virus will slow its pace and take its cues from the ideological cheapskates on Capitol Hill. WaybackonFeb.8,Presi- dent Obama — acting on dire warnings from the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — requested that the Republican Congress pony up nearly $1.9 billion to head off an impending public health emergency. The mos- quito-borne Zika virus was nearing American shores and imperiling pregnant women, who, if infected, could give birth to babies with abnor- mally small heads and severe brain defects. What could be more prudent than to pump sufficient money into preven- tive mosquito control, vac- cine research, and public ed- ucation? Sixteen weeks later, the Republican Congress has passed squat. With no end in sight. It simply refuses to spend the money that health experts know is necessary. I had long assumed that, for all their hostility to gov- ernance, Republicans at min- imum believed that protect- ing American families was paramount. (You know, fam- ily values.) I now stand cor- rected. Apparently, even ba- bies are to be sacrificed on their ideological altar. The Republican House wants to give the NIH and CDC only $622 million — roughly one-third of what Obama requested. That money would come from the funds that were OK'd in 2014 to fight the Ebola out- break (we're still fighting Eb- ola, in Africa). The Republi- can House also says that the $622 million would basically expire in September, and at that point Obama would have to ask for more. Meanwhile, the Republican Senate wants to provide $1.1 billion — roughly half of what Obama requested. It toyed with the idea of financing the Zika fight by taking money out of Obamacare, but it finally passed the bill without doing something that stupid. No doubt you've spotted the big problem: The Repub- lican House and the Repub- lican Senate are far apart on how many pennies should be pinched, and that stalemate is expected to last well into the summer. That should give the Zika virus more time to infect more people — unless, of course, the vi- rus agrees to abide by the Republican timetable. More than 1,300 cases have al- ready been confirmed; most are pregnant American trav- elers and citizens of Puerto Rico. Public health experts can't fathom why Congress is be- having this way. Dr. Peter J. Hotez, at the Baylor College of Medicine, recently said, "I'm very worried, especially for our U.S. Gulf Coast states ... It's like refusing emer- gency preparedness funds for an approaching hurricane." Even the GOP-dominated Na- tional Governors Associa- tion pleaded for Congress to act, warning in a statement this month that "the nation is on the threshold of a pub- lic health emergency." Best of all, we have Marco Rubio. Freed of the need to pander, the lame duck sen- ator — mindful of Zika's threat to Florida — is clang- ing the alarm. "Do we (spend) now before it becomes a crisis, or do we wait for it to become a cri- sis?" Rubio asked "Congress is going to have to explain to the people why it is we sat around and did nothing on something of this magni- tude." And let's not kid our- selves here. The main reason they've been sitting around since February is because the request came from Obama. Saving babies is a lower pri- ority than hating Obama. Two years ago, in the early days of the Ebola crisis, Re- publicans said that Obama wasn't doing enough to keep the disease away from Amer- ican shores. Yet today, with Obama doing everything he can to keep Zika away from American shores, Republi- cans don't like that, either. And if, as expected, the Zika cases mount after the virus hits here, rest assured they'll try to blame Obama. But like Rubio, a few rare Republicans prefer to be ra- tional. Earlier this month, House member Vern Bu- chanan — mindful of the vi- rus threatening his Flor- ida district — announced his support for Obama's money request, and cited medical research which shows that Zika "eats away" at the brain and "destroys the ability to think." Destroys the ability to think... Sounds like a Zika muta- tion has already infected his colleagues. DickPolmanisthenational political columnist at NewsWorks/WHYY in Philadelphia (newsworks. org/polman) and a "Writer in Residence" at the University of Pennsylvania. Email him at dickpolman7@ gmail.com. DickPolman Guesswhich party is imperiling babies Cartoonist's take Memorial Day is dedicated to those who have given the last full measure, their last breath, in causes that they may or may not have deeply understood. But give their all they did, if only on the orders from lead- ers they trusted, for the men fight- ing next to them or the women and children left back home. Great movies have often given us cause for reflection and the best sometimes leave a gem for the ages. "We Were Sol- diers," from 2002, dramatized the Battle of la Drang on No- vember 14, 1965. It was based on the book "We Were Soldiers Once…And Young" (1992) by Lieutenant General (Ret.) Hal Moore and reporter Joseph L. Galloway, who witnessed the first major battle of the Viet- nam war. (Wikipedia) A hymn, "Mansions of the Lord," played over the film's credits and served as the re- cessional in the 2004 funeral of President Ronald Reagan. If you've ever heard its somber melody, you can put these lyrics to song if only in your head. "Mansions of the Lord" To fallen soldiers let us sing Where no rockets fly nor bul- lets wing Our broken brothers let us bring To the mansions of the Lord No more bleeding no more fight No prayers pleading through the night Just divine embrace, eter- nal light In the mansions of the Lord Where no mothers cry and no children weep We will stand and guard tho the angels sleep All through the ages safely keep The mansions of the Lord Ronald Reagan once deliv- ered a moving tribute to the fallen warriors of America's wars: "We are a nation under God and I believe God intended for us to be free. We must re- alize that no arsenal or no weapon in the arsenals of the world is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. The price for this freedom at times has been high but we have never been unwilling to pay that price. Those who say that we're in a time when there are no heroes, they just don't know where to look. The sloping hills of Ar- lington Cemetery with its row upon row of simple markers bearing Crosses or Stars of Da- vid; their lives ended in places called Belle Wood, the Argonne, Omaha Beach, Salerno, and half way around the world on Gua- dalcanal, Tarawa, Pork Chop Hill, the Chosin Reservoir and in a hundred rice paddies and jungles of a place called Viet Nam. They add up to only a tiny fraction of the price that has been paid for our freedom." Another thematic song used in "We Were Soldiers" was a tribute by Joseph MacKenzie in memory of his great-grand- father, Charles Stuart MacK- enzie. "Charles was a sergeant in the Seaforth Highlanders, who along with hundreds of his brother-in-arms from the El- gin-Rothes area in Moray, Scot- land, went to fight in the Great War. Sergeant Charles Stuart MacKenzie was killed on the battlefield, at the young age of 35, while defending one of his badly injured fellow soldiers in the hand-to-hand fighting of the trenches." (angelfire.com) "Sgt. MacKenzie" Lay me down in the cold cold ground; Where before many more have gone//Lay me down in the cold cold ground; Where before many more have gone// When they come I will stand my ground; Stand my ground I'll not be afraid//Thoughts of home take away my fear; Sweat and blood hide my veil of tears// Once a year say a prayer for me; Close your eyes and re- member me// Never more shall I see the sun; For I fell to a Ger- man's gun// Lay me down in the cold cold ground; Where be- fore many more have gone. Finally, I'd like to share a poem written by "Tarzana Joe," the poet laureate for the Hugh Hewitt show, for a mom whose son has been deployed numer- ous times around the world. She prayed and thanked God every day for "putting service in the hearts of so many young people." A Memorial Day Prayer by Tarzana Joe: Let's hear it for the soldiers, our sons and daughters who are founders and protectors of everything we do. They knew about the dan- gers but by service they were steered. Despite the threats to life and limb, they bravely vol- unteered. They come from ev- ery background, from humble house or suite, but due to that decision I say they're all elite. They fight against oppression, relieve the set upon. They knew the "G" in GI Joe didn't stand for "Gen-gis Khan." They res- cue the beleaguered; they liber- ate the town, and no one better never ever tell them to "stand down." Let's let them know they're honored, that their na- tion cares. Let's hold them in our memories and keep them in our prayers. Next time you see a soldier, there's no need to be nervous; walk right up, stick out your hand and thank them for their service. And where a battle rages and then the bugle calls, may angels rush to raise them when any soldier falls. They stand defending freedom and everything it means. God bless the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Marines. Don Polson has called Red Bluff home since 1988. He can be reached by e-mail at donplsn@ yahoo.com. The way I see it To the fallen's silent sacrifice I had long assumed that, for all their hostility to governance, Republicans at minimum believed that protecting American families was paramount. (You know, family values.) I now stand corrected. GregStevens,Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EDITORIAL BOARD How to have your say: Letters must be signed and provide the writer's home street address and home phone number. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and no more than two double-spaced pages or 500words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section will be published. Email: editor@ redbluffdailynews.com Fax: 530-527-9251 Mail to: P.O. Box 220, 545 Diamond Ave., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS Don Polson Movements are difficult to manage, because they're messy. Take, for example, feminism. At the beginning, it all seemed fairly benign. Give us the vote, admit us to school, stop treating us as mar- ital property or slightly demented Miss Havishams. Common de- cency, which some call equality, is what we demand. That's fine. But then it became all about "my body" this and "your op- pression" that, and frying up ba- con while spritzing on Enjoli and making you feel like a man (as- suming you identified as one). Feminism became fetishism, where women needed to say all the right things and accept all the right principles and bow to the Uterine Goddess. The civil rights movement fol- lowed a similar trajectory. Real racism against black Ameri- cans was the justifiable source of anger and resolve, resulting in the Civil Rights Act, the Vot- ing Rights Act, Affirmative Ac- tion and the creation of other laws and institutions to pay back, slowly, the debt owed to the chil- dren of slaves by the children of white privilege. So considering all that, why does the acquittal of a white cop, by a black judge, in a black man's death prompt another black man to tweet, "The 'not guilty' verdict is also a reminder that the crimi- nal justice system is not designed to yield justice for dead black bod- ies." The author of those 132 charac- ters was Marc Lamont Hill, a out- spoken professor at Morehouse College. It's not surprising he'd have something to say about the acquittal of Officer Edward Nero in the death of Freddie Gray. In fact, it would be more surprising if he didn't. It's predictable that he'd criti- cize the system for what he and the Black Lives Matter folk be- lieve is institutional racism. Any- time you have a discussion about race on social media these days, you're a fool if you expect subtlety and nuance. It's boring to exam- ine the actual legal principles at play and inconvenient to mention that this was a bench trial with a black judge. Christine Flowers Not about race, yet still black and white OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Tuesday, May 31, 2016 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6