Red Bluff Daily News

December 08, 2016

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WhenwritingaboutElectoralVotesIthink it is wise to start with a small history lesson. The framers of our constitution put this sys- tem together with the hope that America's large states like New York and California would never overwhelm the smaller ones like Nevada and New Hampshire. Thatisthereasontoday that each one of our 50 states has two United States Sena- tors speaking on its behalf in Washington, D.C. I think the Electoral system has worked well so far. A dear and close friend of mine, Sonda "Sonnie" Green of Cottonwood, had a recent private conversation with me about this sometimes contro- versial system. Sonnie handed me some research she had al- ready done on the matter. I de- cided to go ahead and do some Googling myself. I learned The Electoral Col- lege began with Article Two of our constitution in roughly 1787. In this year's race for Presi- dent we all know that Hillary Clinton actually did get more votes than Donald Trump, yet he triumphed in the battle by winning the necessary num- ber of electoral votes. In ac- tual votes Mrs. Clinton beat Mr. Trump on more than a million ballots. The recent re- count requested by Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate, might be a necessary effort in her opinion, but most experts agree that this recount will change nothing. It is debatable whether the Electoral system makes good sense today. However, to change it would be a mon- umental task. To do that our government would have to change the U. S. constitution itself. It also requires a two- thirds vote of both houses of Congress and it would have to be followed by a whooping three-quarters vote approval by each and every one of our state's legislatures. Don't hold your breathe waiting for all of that to happen. To understand this sys- tem we only have to look at the north state proposal here in California that I have al- ready tried to help with start- ing a new State of Jeffer- son. That movement is gain- ing ground again and northern California counties are con- tinuing their effort to get away from the most populated part of the state to obtain more rec- ognition. They would have fun electing their very own legis- lature. It is a huge and complicated task, but should not be easily dismissed. It could be done. Al- ready in America's history four states increased their political power by dividing themselves within their state's borders. This does not require Presiden- tial or Gubernatorial approval. There is some talk too of our golden state of California even seceding from the union. That means we would become our own nation. My take on this is that such a move would not be necessary since we are already our own nation-state. We already have more popula- tion than the entire nation of Canada. As a prime example of our size, California is one of only a few states that has its own Department of Commerce which lobbies in other states. Most California Governors travel to other nations to im- prove our business climate. I would enjoy hearing your take on the Electoral College. Please let me know if you think our election rules need some modification or should America just leave this system alone? Mytakeonthemovies The "Unmarried Wife" is an excellent film if you want to be dashed upon the rocks of emo- tional despair. This film examines adultery, betrayal and cheating. The bottom line here is that nothing good can really be achieved when intimacy runs amuck. StanStathamserved1976-1994 in the California Assembly and was a television news anchor at KHSL-TV in Chico 1965-1975. He is past president of the California Broadcasters Association and can be reached at StanStatham@ gmail.com. StanStatham Mytakeonthe Electoral College There is some talk too of our golden state of California even seceding from the union. That means we would become our own nation. My take on this is that such a move would not be necessary since we are already our own nation- state. Letter writer should stop her crying Editor: This letter is in response to the letter on Dec. 1, "Trumps Victory leads to America's de- struction." Again some of my friends and I had a good laugh at the morning coffee shop. It will make for a good lining for my bird cage. Again it is another Dummoclown crying again. One thing that this writer has not realized is that the si- lent majority of this country has spoken, and very loud and clear. Or maybe she has had some more visions of the black unmarked helicopter flying overhead again. With all of the crying that the Dummoclowns are doing, maybe they should get together and go down to the river and let all those tears fall into the river, it just might help with the short- age of water and help relieve the drought that we are having. I do have an idea for the Dummos, go find a very strong chair, set down in the shade with a cold drink of your choice, and let the man get into office and start his work. And stop listening to the worthless news media, with all of their barn yard hot air. — Robert Harvey, Red Bluff No liberty Editor: The complaint names these four defendants: Judge Jona- than Skillman, District Attorney Gregg Cohen, Deputy District Attorney Michelle Nasise and Public Defender David Nelson. This is my announcement to all the residents and taxpayers of Tehama County. The defend- ing of this federal complaint will cost this county a shame- ful, unnecessary expense. The four defendants hate to lose. I exercised my right to a jury because I volunteered to be given a citation for driv- ing with a suspended drivers li- cense. Jan. 14, 2016 the kan- garoo court and the selected jury became bastardized by the judge. I was muted and denied my right to offer my evidence to this uninformed jury. I exercised my appeal rights up to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. My decision to file in federal court was my final op- portunity to receive justice. The defendants ignored their oath. The sum of the fine was re- duced to $765. The judgment I am praying for is $5,000,000. Even if I lose, the taxpayer will also lose. Sorry folks, but that's the price of justice in this county. I asked for a new trial or a dismissal, and I was denied every time. — Don Bird, Rancho Tehama Trump versus Clinton Editor: On election night the world waited on the edge of their seats to see who was going to be the next President of the United States of America. The pundits and pollsters gave Hill- ary a slight lead over Trump and were proved sorely wrong the next morning. Trump won by a landslide victory with 302 electoral votes with Hillary getting the popu- lar vote, so some say. Now, Trump is called the President of the Divided States of America, which is the most accurate statement made by the news media in a long time and that shouldn't come as a sur- prise to anyone with an ounce of common sense. It doesn't take a mathematics major to figure this out. Hill- ary campaigned in highly popu- lated urban areas where people are more likely to be employed by one level of government or another, where the vast major- ity are liberal, those who are on welfare and those who are not smart enough to know you can't take from those who work and give to those that don't and won't work. Trump campaigned in ar- eas where people had lost their jobs because of outsourcing and extreme government regula- tions the military, law enforce- ment and he significantly in- creased the number of minori- ties that voted for him. He did this in spite of the broadcast and print media along with lib- eral Democrats and establish- ment Republicans maliciously attacking him as a bigot, rac- ist, homophobe, xenophobe and any other despicable accusation they could think of. Obama has divided this coun- try in more ways than the aver- age person can imagine and not just racially or socially. His open borders has caused a multi-cul- ture crises with immigrants pouring across our borders from anywhere and everywhere, then setting them up with seed money, then with welfare bene- fits that are costing the Ameri- can worker hundreds of billions if not trillions of dollars, which is much more than he is willing to spend on our wounded war- riors or our national security or national defense. Multiculturalism doesn't work in the way liberals have been forcing it on us. Immi- grants have to accept our tradi- tions and become an American and assimilate into our society. A good example of multicul- turalism gone bad is Europe. The fruits of their open bor- der policy are plain to see, there are streets lined with garbage, blocked off for the call to pray and mass killings by terrorist attacks. The terrorist attacks we have had here in the past few years are just the tip of the iceberg, even if you count the ones called work-place-violence or whatever benign title Obama can come up with. The solution to the problem for Trump is simple. He can round them up and move them out or simply cut off their wel- fare check and they will get back the same way they got here. Otherwise our fate is laid out by Europe. — Les Wolfe, Red Bluff Your opinions Cartoonist's take The holidays can be a curse as well as a blessing when it comes to friends and family. Who goes to whose house? Where will they sleep? What are they going to eat? These days our family members seldom live close to one another. Al- though I've read that a large per- centage of Americans have never ventured more than 50 miles from their home towns, I haven't met many families in that cat- egory. The world is now fast-paced and most young people go away to college, the military or in search of better job opportu- nities. Few seem to make their way back to their roots, unless at the end of their careers they realize they have been missing the family, friends, charm and beauty of that place. So, if a family is going to get together for the holidays, then most will have to fly. And fly- ing during the holidays is an ever-increasing nightmare for the traveler. Once I had children of my own, we decided to stay home for the holidays. I had my own family. If anyone wanted to visit us — fine. But we weren't going anywhere. Although that may sound harsh, it made for a less stress- ful holiday for all involved. And since the handful of family we did have didn't often come — it would be a nuclear family Christmas — and I don't mean radioactive. I decided that instead, we would ask folks to come dur- ing the slow times of the year, when airfare was cheaper and the crowds had diminished. Come in April instead of De- cember. Travel in spring instead of winter. It resulted in a bet- ter trip experience on both ends. And we didn't have to deal with the big meals and the drink- ing that the holidays usually en- tail. The stress of the trip and the emotions of the holidays of- ten combine to create some- thing of a pressure cooker. This increases the chances that folks will finally tell one another what they really think, or reveal some deep dark hurtful family secret. Of course, if your relatives live close-by — then those problems can't be avoided. Anytime one goes home there are always visits to relatives that you haven't seen in years. Your cousin who was a young man before now looks more like your grandfather. And who are all of these offspring? You vaguely re- member they had two or three children (whose names you may or may not remember) and they were little kids when you last saw them. Now you're hearing about the exploits of their chil- dren and grand-children. How can one possibly keep up with all of this? Who are all of these people? A significant number of my extended family belongs to that 50-mile radius club back in the Midwest. I said before I didn't know many — but my family qualifies. I've always been the mythical cousin-once-removed who actually went to California. Being so much older now also seems to add to the mystique. I recently had a cousin I haven't seen in forty years send me a video of the family when we were together after my grandfa- ther's funeral back in 1986. My mother was just a little older then than I am now, which is al- ways somewhat strange to see. Some of the relatives had passed long ago. Getting the video was quite a surprise, and I thought it was a very nice gesture. I sometimes wonder about what it would have been like if I had stayed. But if I had done that, then I wouldn't be here, would I? And I like it here. Corky Pickering and his wife relocated from the Bay Area to Cottonwood in 2014. He recently retired from the federal government as an attorney advising law enforcement. He has been a rock and roll bass player and a Marine JAG. He can be reached at thecork6@ gmail.com. Corky Pickering Visiting family over the holidays 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, 728Main St., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS Corky Pickering OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, December 8, 2016 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4

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