Red Bluff Daily News

May 02, 2017

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ChipThompson, Editor 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: Daily News 728Main St., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS What did he think he was signing up for? In a surreal interview with Reuters at the end of last week, President Donald Trump admit- ted that he missed driving and conceded that being the Leader of the Free World is much, much harder than he thought it would be. "Ilovedmypreviouslife,"he told the wire service. "I had so many things going on. This is more work than in my previous life. I thought it would be easier." He added, later: "I do miss my old life. This — I like to work. But this is actu- ally more work." Leading a nation of 321.4 million people in a world that is becoming increasingly complex and, in some sectors more dan- gerous, is, by definition, hard work. And if it's not, you're not doing it right. For evidence, look no further than the before and after pho- tographs of Trump's predeces- sors. Virile and youthful by the start of their four- or eight-year terms of office, the cares and worries and burdens of the job are fairly etched into their faces by the time they leave. Every president faces a steep learning curve upon taking of- fice. But, unlike Trump, every president since Dwight Eisen- hower has come to the table with substantial political and governing experience. Beyond watching presi- dents on TV, presumably on Fox News, Trump did not possess such a breadth of experience. During last year's presiden- tial campaign, the Republi- can was content to skate along the surface of policy, offering bromides and slogans and vi- cious attacks — rather than the mundane specifics of policy to cheering throngs who filled his rallies in basketball arenas across the country. And like some superannu- ated high school football player still yearning for the glory days of the gridiron, Trump contin- ues to seize upon any excuse to relive the caffeinated days of the campaign. Indeed, during his interview with Reuters, Trump "paused to hand out copies of what he said were the latest figures from the 2016 electoral map," Reuters reported. "Here, you can take that, that's the final map of the num- bers," Trump said. "It's pretty good, right? The red is obvi- ously us." But with Trump's first 100 days in the rearview mirror, this White House is under- standably sensitive about the fact that it is woefully short of legislative accomplishments when compared to its prede- cessors. Trump's promised border wall has been put off for the time being. A push to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act is in disarray amid opposition from Democrats and moderate Republicans. Trump's two travel bans have been stayed by federal courts. And efforts to deny fed- eral funding to so-called "sanc- tuary cities" have also suffered a bad case of judicial whiplash. Writing in The Washington Post, former George W. Bush administration speechwriter Michael Gerson noted that Trump's only decisive win, the elevation of Judge Neil Gor- such to the U.S. Supreme Court only invited unfavorable com- parisons. "Trump's one unquestioned achievement consists of ap- pointing another man who ac- tually has thoughtful convic- tions," Gerson wrote. And that's from the home team. So perhaps it's not surpris- ing that Trump, who once prowled Manhattan by limou- sine, winning adulation from restaurant crowds and reality television buffs alike, might be pining for his not-so-long-ago good old days. "And, while I had very little privacy, in my old life because, you know, I've been famous for a long time. I really — this is much less privacy than I've seen before. This is, you know, something that's really amaz- ing. At the same time, you're really into your own cocoon because there's such massive protection, that you really can't go anywhere," he commented to Reuters of the 24-hour Se- cret Service monitoring of his every move. Trump's interview comes on the heels of a sit down with the Associated Press, where he seemed surprised to discover that his actions have conse- quences on the lives of every day Americans. "You have to love people. And if you love people, such a big responsibility," he said, in part. In that same interview, Trump complained that he thought his decisive win over Hillary Clinton last fall would result in more favorable cov- erage, instead of the intense scrutiny that comes with hold- ing the highest elected office in the land. "I used to get great press. I get the worst press. I get such dishonest reporting with the media," he lamented to the AP. "That's another thing that re- ally has —— I've never had anything like it before. It hap- pened during the primaries, and I said, you know, when I won, I said, "Well the one thing good is now I'll get good press." And it got worse. "(un- intelligible) So that was one thing that a little bit of a sur- prise to me. I thought the press would become better, and it actually, in my opinion, got more nasty." What, exactly, did he think he was signing up for? Anaward-winningpolitical journalist, Micek is the Opinion Editor and Political Columnist for PennLive/The Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa. Readers may follow him on Twitter @ByJohnLMicek and e-mail him at jmicek@ pennlive.com. JohnMicek What did Trump think he was getting into? Cartoonist's take A stand-out item from last week's news (not North Ko- rea-related) had to be the poll- ing that talking heads seemed all too adamant in proclaiming to be bad news, omi- nous and depress- ing for President Trump and his supporters. Ex- cept that it really wasn't, as some analysts had to admit, when put in the con- text of a deeply divided elector- ate and a nearly tribal political class that easily—some would say justifiably—has been re- duced to "our side, our guy or gal, our party good; their side, guy or gal and party bad, even evil." (Psst—Trump's gotten a lot of good things done.) It's gotten so polarized that Republicans and conservatives simply refuse to subject them- selves to mainstream or ca- ble news; they know it's skew- ing every story and news item to put Trump and our side in the worst possible light. I know I can't spend more than a few minutes watching the NBC/ ABC/CBS nightly news casts; before they even come on the air, they can be relied on to ig- nore facts and elements of a news story—already available in online reports—that show a different narrative than that taken by their anchors, editors or reporters. Just one example: I have seen reporting that refuses to distinguish between legal and illegal immigration and im- migrants. Their elite group— broadcast/cable/print news em- ployees—votes for, contributes to, and socializes exclusively with fellow Democrats. A re- cent Politico analysis revealed that they live among fellow lib- erals in major cities on the east and west coasts where they likely never meet someone who voted for Trump, or owns a Bi- ble, gun or pickup truck. No- body they know wants a wall on our southern border, thinks illegal immigration is a prob- lem, or believes "sanctuary" cities and states are wrong to flout federal immigration law. Back to the polling, the ones that I heard about seemed to agree that nearly 100 percent of Trump voters still support him (96% rounded up); Dem- ocrats and other non-Trump voters haven't been persuaded to change their minds. Yet, not only would Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton again but, if the election reflected these polls, he would get more pop- ular votes than she got, about 43 percent to 40 percent. That translates—if you dismiss the other voters or assign them in the same proportion—to Trump 52%, Clinton 48%. This is significant: 15 per- cent of Hillary's voters wouldn't vote for her in a re- match. The popular vote ad- vantage Hillary enjoyed never meant anything—it came en- tirely from LA and SF Bay counties; our Constitution set up a state-based system, which Trump masterfully won. To the extent that Democrats and the collective left believe Trump lacks legitimacy, they're de- luded. To the extent that Democrat office holders and bureaucrats engage in sabotage and sub- version of duly enacted laws and executive orders that con- form to our Constitution, they undermine our democracy. To the extent that Democrats in our intelligence agencies vio- late their oaths and engage in unlawful, improper leaking of secret, confidential and priv- ileged surveillance for the ex- press goal of trampling on the privacy and rights of political opponents, they commit egre- gious crimes against our Con- stitution. Witness violent, left wing "antifa" mobs threatening and committing violence against Trump supporters and other conservatives and shutting down their "right to assemble." They even effected the cancel- lation of a traditional "Rose Festival" parade in Portland by emailed statements of in- tent to riot and assault Mult- nomah County Republicans if they participated. They bring into our nation and civic cul- ture the shameful political ac- tivity seen in Hitler's "brown shirt" brigades against oppo- nents of his regime, as well as other left wing thugs serving socialist authoritarian despots from Castro's Cuba to Chavez's and Maduro's Venezuela. In Cuba (as well as the So- viet Union and other Com- munist regimes), the Castro's were and are known to un- leash state-sanctioned militias on anyone having the temerity to protest their dictatorial rule. In Venezuela, after disarm- ing the citizens, Maduro has formed and armed vigilante- type groups to attack freedom- loving "enemies of the state." Finally, I'd like to summa- rize the abomination to our constitutional system of free elections and a fair transfer of power that took place through- out the last election: We know much from dozens of main- stream and conservative news reports—including on-the-re- cord statements by Susan Rice and Evelyn Farcas. We know about how America's national security agencies were enlisted (and directed by Obama) in il- legal, improper activities to surveil, to leak confidential in- formation from surveillance, and to malign—through those leaks or by lying about those leaks—the reputation and le- gitimacy of then-candidate Trump and now his presidency. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and its courts, electronic spying, "wiretap- ping," and illegal sharing of private communications of Americans, without due pro- cess, was all enlisted—not by a foreign government or actors— by members of Obama's admin- istration, in ways that could only have involved Barack Obama himself. He effected the spread of illicitly revealed re- ports to 16 agencies so as to fa- cilitate Trump's impeachment. It is, as I see it, an over- reach and abuse of power that, were it committed by President Trump and his people, at the end of his term, to undermine the candidate that opposed Trump's Republican successor, Democrats would rightfully call for hearings and inqui- ries and demand grand jury subpoenas, FBI investigations, charges, trials and convictions. They would not stop until they achieved a Watergate-like con- clusion with Trump's people in jail, Trump dishonored and impeached (or convicted post- term) and the Republican Party forever stained with the mis- deeds of Trump and his peo- ple. Why should anything less now apply to Obama, Hillary, Mills, Farcas et al until punish- ment prevails and the crimes are never repeated? 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 Polling divide; resistance shame During last year's presidential campaign, the Republican was content to skate along the surface of policy, offering bromides and slogans and vicious attacks — rather than the mundane specifics of policy to cheering throngs who filled his rallies in basketball arenas across the country. Sounding off A look at what readers are saying in comments on our website and on social media. California played a big part in the civil war and it had a huge effect on every person alive in the 1860s. Maybe we learn a little more about history before we spout off. And we don't dress up and play soldier we teach living history , which is something that is not taught in schools anymore. Maybe you should come watch and learn something. Chris Smith: On the Battle of Dog Island Civil War era reenactment I never understood doing this here. California was not even involved in the civil war. Ann Taylor-Minch: On the Battle of Dog Island Civil War era reenactment Don Polson John L. Micek OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Tuesday, May 2, 2017 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6

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