Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/13269
Monday, July 12, 2010 – Daily News – 5A Opinion Bigotry, hate and Proposition 8 D NEWSAILY RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 8 5 No matter how you feel about Greg Stevens, Publisher gstevens@redbluffdailynews.com Chip Thompson, Editor editor@redbluffdailynews.com Editorial policy The Daily News opinion is expressed in the editorial. The opinions expressed in columns, letters and cartoons are those of the authors and artists. Letter policy The Daily News welcomes let- ters from its readers on timely topics of public interest. All let- ters must be signed and pro- vide the writer’s home street address and home phone num- ber. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and cannot exceed two double-spaced pages or 500 words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section of those submit- ted will be considered for publi- cation. 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Never-mind that these circum- stances never occurred, nor would they occur as a consequence exist- ing law, but that didn’t stop an organized group of religious zealots from spreading specious rumors to sway the vote their way. You've probably already heard some about the Mormon Church's involvement in California's 2008 marriage ban but I think most of you would be shocked watching the documentary "8: The Mormon Proposition" and would walk out of a movie theater knowing you'll never be the same. The film uses former church members and leaked documents to make a case for how the Mormon Church evad- ed the law and orchestrated the implementation of Proposition 8. This documentary exposes what happened by showing how church leaders told members how much to donate, based on their income records, and threatened them with expulsion and disaffection from the church if they didn't contribute to the campaign. In the film, secret documents from a whistleblower show how the Mormon Church helped create a front group called the National Organization for Marriage and stayed out of the spotlight in Cali- fornia while funding a highly orga- nized and subversive campaign. The documents indicate how the Church concealed its involvement so egregiously that it is still draw- ing fines for campaign finance vio- lations. Documents also detail an anti-marriage campaign in Hawaii a decade earlier that served as a blueprint for the Proposition 8 campaign. In that instance Mor- mon Church leaders also funneled money to a coalition that masked their activities. They hid their faces, opened their wallets, and honed their strategy to manipulate an out of state electorate. The Human Rights Campaign (www.hrc.org) is now speaking out against groups with vast resources and agendas to sway public opinion with hateful and undemocratic agendas. The Supreme Court ruling removing limits on campaign contributions from corporations makes it even more important to support organi- zations such as HRC to ensure that the democratic process doesn’t devolve into a bidding war of mon- eyed interests. They are building an organiza- tion of their own dedi- cated to making mil- lions of people's lives better from hospitals to workplaces and from schools to houses of worship. On behalf of those millions of les- bian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their simple desire to be treated equally I encourage you to speak out against the Proposi- tion 8 campaign to expose those that abuse our democratic process by covertly spreading lies, half- truths and bigotry. Non-profit religious organiza- tions such as the Church of Latter Day Saints are not allowed to donate funds to influence the out- come of elections in this country. By thinly veiling their influence by strong-arming their members to support Proposition 8 the Mor- mon Church has done a disser- vice to all Californians and should be held accountable for Richard their actions. This accountability should extend to having the Mor- mon Church pay fines equivalent to 50 percent of the funds they invested in the last cam- paign to groups not sup- porting Proposition 8 in addition to funds for a repeat vote of the peo- ple of California with- out their undue influ- ence. Should this hap- pen I am confident that the laws will be restored to protect the rights of all Californians, irre- spective of sexual pref- erences. Mazzucchi Positive Point Let me finish by say- ing I respect the rights of those that supported Proposition 8 and encourage spirited debate on such important social matters, but believe ardently that the campaigns must provide balanced and factual information without undue influence from profiteers or non-profit organizations. There- fore I must conclude that the cam- paign for Proposition 8 was undu- ly influenced by zealots blinded by bigotry and hate and does not reflect the views of well-informed Californians. Richard Mazzucchi can be reached at living-green@att.net. Your officials STATE ASSEMBLYMAN — Jim Nielsen (R), State Capitol Bldg., Room 4164 P.O. Box 942849, Sacramento 94249; (916) 319-2002; Fax (916) 319- 2102 STATE SENATOR — Sam Aanestad (R), State Capitol Bldg., Room 2054, Sacramen- to, CA 95814. (916) 651-4004; Fax (916) 445-7750 GOVERNOR — Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), State Capitol Bldg., Sacramento, CA 95814; (916) 445-2841; Fax (916) 558-3160; E-mail: gover- nor@governor.ca.gov. U.S. REPRESENTATIVE — Wally Herger (R), 2635 Forest Ave. Ste. 100, Chico, CA 95928; 893-8363. U.S.SENATORS — Dianne Feinstein (D), One Post Street, Suite 2450, San Francisco, CA 94104; (415) 393-0707. Fax (415) 393-0710. Barbara Boxer (D), 1700 Montgomery St., Suite 240, San Francisco, CA 94111; (415) 403-0100. Fax (202) 224- 0454. Quartering troops, Constitutional rules Commentary "No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law" (Amend- ment III, U. S. Constitution). So reads an Amendment that may seem an anachronism to contem- porary Americans, but the Founders gave us their reason among the grievances documented in the Declaration of Indepen- dence. This was the subject presented to the Tea Party Patriots last Tues- day by the 2nd Amendment/Emer- gency Preparedness folks in their ongoing series on the Constitution. You should come to the meeting and check it out; it’s not a high- brow, polished lecture, but infor- mative just the same. Right there, in the Declaration of Indepen- dence, among the complaints, is that King George had "given his Assent … For quartering large Bodies of Armed Troops among us …" It was explained that that meant colonists’ homes were simply req- uisitioned, or commandeered, not only by British troops (for whom many might have felt sympathy as British subjects), but also by the reviled Hessians, or German mer- cenaries. That often included so- called "camp followers," or women providing various services to the soldiers, shall we say. In any case, 1) this was not a voluntary practice, 2) it deprived the owner of the use of his home, and 3) it placed his family in the offensive position of enduring rough, for- eign-speaking men carousing, drinking and bedding their whores. This is but a small vignette that rudely reminded the colonists of their subjugation to England, and became the subject of the 3rd Amendment to the Constitution. Think about it and you’ll under- stand why it came after the very personal right to "keep and bear Arms" without which they, and even we in this day, are little more than vassals to the whims of a pow- erful tyrannical government. The Tea Party Patriots’ float – using Gary’s Auto Body and Tow- ing truck to display excerpts from the U.S. Constitution and the first 10 Amendments – was proud to have participated in the Los Moli- nos Independence Day parade. Taking second place, for the first time entry from the Patriots, was an honor; many who lined the highway had copies of the Consti- tution in hand, distributed by someone who had acquired them from the Heritage Foundation. It can safely be said that the renewed interest in the Constitu- tion is spurred in large part by the justified sense that much of what people see going in national gov- ernment is a departure from the principles and laws that our Founders gave us. Although many on the left ascribe base motives to the expressed desire, by the center- right majority in general and the one-third that identify as Tea Party supporters in particular, to "take back our country," their criticism is misplaced. You can read for yourself about the departures from constitutional government by those in power by going to the Polecat News and Views blog at the Daily News web site (or enter DonPolson.blogspot.com in your search) and click- ing on the "Preserving Democracy" link. Togeth- er with the similar link to "Democracy and its Preservation," there are nearly 500 articles that you could use to inform yourself on the issues sur- rounding the undermining of our rights, the Constitu- tion, and America’s pros- perity, currently going on. What can you do about it? Find candidates that you believe stand for con- servative, Constitutional values and give them money. It’s that simple, it can be done on the Inter- net or on the phone, and it is a solution to the aforementioned threats. We have representative self-government; if you don’t sup- port candidates that agree with you, you can’t complain when the others win and proceed to tell you how to live your, and your chil- dren’s and your grandchildren’s, lives. The colonists, patriots and Founders had to assure themselves, and all who came after, that the heavy fist of government was for- bidden to force them to house and provide for military troops whose sole purpose was subjugation of citizens. Is it really significantly different when lawlessness becomes the operating effect of rule by those who have no regard for confining their imposition of mandates to what is allowed under our Constitution? When the troops are changed into nameless, faceless bureaucrats enforcing regulations and laws never con- ceived of by those who sacrificed that we could inherit freedom, I suggest it is a distinc- tion without a differ- ence. Don Polson The way I see it I would be remiss not to encourage read- ers once again to tune in at 7 a.m. each week- day to KBLF, 1490 AM, for Cal Hunter’s current version of his talk show, "The Cal and Don Show." When first promoted in this column a month ago, it wasn’t cer- tain that it would live up (on my end, anyway) to being good radio. However, the feedback has been positive; the laughs and observa- tions have been worthy listening. And how can you not find our ready supply of dumb criminals anything but hilarious. Bob Martin will be back soon enough for all of us who miss his wacky contribu- tions in the "Cal and Bob" version. Don Polson has called Red Bluff home since 1988. He can be reached by e-mail at donplsn@yahoo.com.