Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/14844
6A – Daily News – Monday, August 16, 2010 Opinion Our wayward Wrong-way Wally 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 There is one thing that Repre- 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. Letters will be edited. Letters are published at the discretion of the editor. Mission Statement We believe that a strong com- munity newspaper is essential to a strong community, creating citizens who are better informed and more involved. The Daily News will be the indispensible guide to life and living in Tehama County. We will be the premier provider of local news, information and advertising through our daily newspaper, online edition and other print and Internet vehi- cles. The Daily News will reflect and support the unique identities of Tehama County and its cities; record the history of its com- munities and their people and make a positive difference in the quality of life for the resi- dents and businesses of Tehama County. How to reach us Main office: 527-2151 Classified: 527-2151 Circulation: 527-2151 News tips: 527-2153 Sports: 527-2153 Obituaries: 527-2151 Photo: 527-2153 On the Web www.redbluffdailynews.com Fax Newsroom: 527-9251 Classified: 527-5774 Retail Adv.: 527-5774 Legal Adv.: 527-5774 Business Office: 527-3719 Address 545 Diamond Ave. Red Bluff, CA 96080, or P.O. Box 220 Red Bluff, CA 96080 sentative Wally Herger does right -- consistently vote with the right wing of the Republican Party. We might as well replace him with a parrot that simply repeats their conservative talking-points, irre- spective of whether or not they apply to the people he represents. After 24 years of such poor lead- ership it is time we elect someone that thinks for himself and will capably develop and sponsor leg- islation to serve the people of the north state. At the very least we should expect someone of Wally’s seniority to bring more bacon to his district, but apparently Wrong- way Wally would rather see us suffer than part ways with his par- tisan camp. His most recent e-update is true to form – replete with the tired hypocrisy of the Republican Party. Wrong-way Wally is spon- soring a bill sure to fail in Con- gress entitled the "Reform Ameri- cans Can Afford Act" which would repeal the newly enacted health care law and deprive over 50 million Americans of afford- able health care. What is afford- able to a millionaire congressman with gold plated health insurance benefits is far different from what is affordable to the average Amer- ican family. Rather than take responsibility and pay the freight for personal health insurance the Republicans apparently feel that they should not be required to pay for their own health insurance while denying affordable and accessible coverage to others. Wally complains that the aver- age family’s federal taxes are set to spike next year while at the same time deriding the Obama administration for the size of our deficit spending. Wrong-way Wally fails to realize that the huge tax reductions enacted for the wealthiest Americans during the Bush years are the reason for this spike as they are set to retire and restore balance and financial sta- bility to our federal budget. Fur- thermore his simplistic calculation of average taxpayer collections fails to reveal that the major source of increased revenue will come from those that most bene- fitted from the Bush tax relief -- that is those that earn more than $250,000 per year after deduc- tions. Anyone but the wealthy, like millionaire Representative Herger, can appreciate how unfair the Bush tax breaks are, and that Wrong-way Wally’s characteriza- tion of correcting this injustice is grossly misleading. Next Wally believes that the federal ruling to strike down Proposition 8 as a violation of constitutional civil liberties is "simply another example of judi- cial activism and legislating from the bench. The will of the people, made clear at the ballot box, has been complete- ly ignored." What Wrong-way Wally fails to realize is that amend- ments to the U.S. Con- stitution are required to deny minorities of their civil rights, not simply a slim majority of a single state’s misguided elec- torate. He goes on to pontificate "This fight is just beginning and we will do everything in our power to ensure that the will of the people will be upheld and that traditional marriage— defined for millennia and across the world as the union of one man and one woman—remains uncompro- mised and the central institution of the family in our society." Wrong-way Wally is in league with his Muslim enemies by act- ing as if gay and lesbian members of his electorate are second class citizens. Wally concludes his e-update by patting himself on the back for his ongoing efforts to assist in fighting the issue of marijuana cultivation on federal lands by Richard Mazzucchi Positive Point introducing a resolution calling on the Office of National Drug Con- trol Policy (ONDCP) to develop a coordinated strategy to permanently dismantle Mexican drug traffick- ing organizations responsible for this cul- tivation. My how cre- ative, to suggest that we develop a strategy for programs that are already underway. When we normalize laws regarding the use and cultivation of mari- juana in California this November we will remove the incentive for international crime syndicates to ply Cali- fornians with harmless contraband. Wrong- way Wally doesn’t seem to realize that prohibition of marijuana is far more egregious than the prohibition of alcohol that was repealed decades ago. I encourage the voters of Cali- fornia’s Second Congressional District to learn more about Wrong-way Wally’s democratic challenger this November, Jim Reed, by visiting www.reednow.com. 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. On being a hater and warmonger Commentary Writing with my tongue firmly placed in my cheek, it just struck me that what’s been called "the silly season" of political campaigns had started rather early. These writ- ers ascribing foul motives of hatred, bigotry and, of all things, warmongering, are kidding, aren’t they? I mean, if there were the slightest of substance to such charges, I could write a headline for Congressman Herger’s visit to the Republican Women Federated luncheon, "Congressman embraces hateful warmongers." He did, after all, give me a hug (if only that liberal loon, Keith Olberman, would call me "worst people in the world"). The problem was, Herger also hugged a few of the women, who think like me, so I guess, to some on the left, it was just a bunch of hateful warmongers getting together to provide mutual support for, well, our hateful war- mongering. I think most readers appreciate my satire on the subject. The truth, of course, is that nei- ther I, nor the assembled Republi- can women, nor Wally Herger, nor conservative letter-writers, nor the local Tea Party Patriots, hate any- one, wish anyone harm, or love war. But, regarding those carrying on the struggle to shape public opinion with such fallacious, erro- neous, even malicious, propagan- da, it’s hard to think they even believe it themselves. It’s also hard to be magnani- mous toward some on the left when they clearly do not know anyone that they write about, nor will they provide quotes to support their inflammatory statements. It is called, after all, the "Opinion" page for a reason, and I therefore give myself leave from civility to state that those making such untoward, disingenuous accusations are sim- ply idiots. You will not find a more inci- sive refutation of these reprehensi- ble political tactics than a column by Victor Davis Hanson titled "Everyone a Bigot?" which is post- ed at Polecat News and Views (blog section of the Daily News). You can also enter the title in a search window. It starts: "Anti-His- panic, anti-gay, anti-Muslim, anti- black – it is hard to keep track of all the recent charges of alleged big- otry." It turns out that every controver- sy separating the vast center/right of America from the liberal left, the media and political elites, devolves (at least by the left) into intimidat- ing aspersions thrown at those they disagree with, rather than serious engagement on the issues. They seem to dwell on de-legitimizing the very beliefs of their ideological opponents. It is backfiring, and massively so. Disapproval of the liberal political and media elites is off the charts, has shown up in polls, elections, and propositions, and will manifest itself with mas- sive losses by Democrats in November. The Tea Party move- ment is only a symptom; the left attacks it out of desperation. For example, hatred over illegal immigration is not found among supporters of Arizona’s 1070 law – except that we hate being lied about as has happened even on this page. Many of us hate the fact that we are just supposed to accept that our laws mean next-to-nothing to the properly described "open bor- ders" crowd – those will- ing to turn America into a population and economic relief valve for the world’s dysfunctional poor nations. Many of us also hate the idea that intrusions and crime by gangs and drug cartels from south of the border (Any sightings of Canadian gangs?) are tolerated to an unaccept- able degree. That is what not building a fence and adequately staffing bor- der security means. And we hate it for the innocent lives lost and diminish- ment of American sover- eignty. No, we don’t hate Hispanics as people, but we do hate our laws being flouted by people overstaying their visas, no matter where they come from. Hatred and bigotry against gays and lesbians is not what motivates Proposition 8 supporters; but many of us are really getting resentful and starting to hate having our devotion to the civilization-sustain- ing institution of traditional mar- riage being mischaracterized as such. And I’m starting to feel a jus- tifiable anger towards judges giv- ing legal legitimacy to such mis- characterization. I wish them no further harm beyond their removal from the bench for their arrogance and disrespect of citizens’ right to self-governance. Regarding the accusation that Don Polson The way I see it hateful racial epithets were shouted at Congressional Black Caucus members in March, by Tea Party health care protesters in Washington, the New York Times has joined Politico in acknowledg- ing the utter absence of proof. And, since every step and second of their march through the crowds was recorded, that means it never hap- pened – the accusation was made up – racism narrative inoperative. Opposition to the Ground Zero Mosque has been reduced to and mischaracterized, by President Obama him- self, as some sort of failed test of our devo- tion to American values of tolerance and free- dom. However, mainstream and conservative Americans rightly disapprove of only this mosque, headed by an imam that hates America (anyone that believes that America "was an accessory to 9/11" hates our country), within a stones-throw of Ground Zero. There are plenty of mosques in New York City, but its as wrong to place one there as it would to place commercial development next to sacred Civil War sites. Or a Japan- ese cultural museum near the USS Arizona memorial in Hawaii. Don Polson has called Red Bluff home since 1988. He can be reached by e-mail at donplsn@yahoo.com.