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4A – Daily News – Wednesday, September 8, 2010 Opinion 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 Reinterpreting the Constitution Editor: Regarding the letter by Den- 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 “What's the matter, pal? You look down in the dumps.” “I can't help it. I've been won- dering lately -- could Osama bin Laden be winning?” “Winning? Are you nuts! After he and his conspirators attacked us on 9/11, he had to flee to a cave.” “I may not be a policy expert or historian, but hear me out. Right after al-Qaida attacked, we were united. We invaded Afghanistan because the Taliban harbored terrorists.” “We rolled right through the place, too!” “But then we overreacted and were soon divided. President Bush and the Republicans, fear- ing one of our cities would go up in a nuclear blast, invaded Iraq to kick out Saddam Hussein and seize what we were told were his weapons of mass destruction.” “Saddam flouted the rules. He had it coming!” “Invading Iraq was an idealis- tic move, however -- never the government's strong suit. The hope was to implant a shining democracy in the Middle East.” “Things are better there now than when Saddam was running the joint!” “Aside from war, America nis Wyman, "Rights vs. choic- es," in the Aug. 27 Daily News. Dennis Wyman opens his let- ter with his interpretation of the Constitution and the basic ideas that were supposedly on the minds of our forefathers when they created it. Mr. Wyman comments on those people who oppose the ban on same-sex marriage by asking, "What rights are being violated?" He then lists a num- ber of rights that are enjoyed by those in the minority and oppo- nents of same-sex marriage, such as "not being banned from jobs” (he might want to recon- sider this statement), “not denied healthcare, not denied legal representation, not made to sit in the back of the bus, not denied the right to voice their opinion and lastly, the right not to be taken out and hung." Well, I'm sure the supporters of same-sex marriage will sleep a little better tonight knowing that Mr. Wyman graciously con- cedes that those in favor of same-sex marriages won't be taken out and hung. Right after denying that any- one's rights are being violated, Mr. Wyman says, "They are denied the rights and privileges of a traditional lifestyle because they have chosen not to live a traditional lifestyle. This is not a restriction of rights, but as a matter of their own choosing." Mr. Wyman forgets to men- tion that marriage is not a reli- gious function, although two people can get married in a church if they like — they can get married on a roller coaster if they choose also — there is one thing that they cannot get mar- ried without and that is a civil marriage license from the state. This license confers a huge number of civil rights and privi- leges on those getting married. But, under the Constitution all Americans have the same rights and responsibilities. So how can the state deny a civil marriage license to one group of citizens while freely bestowing it on others, and using as the reason for disapproval tradition or having religious objections. The holy nature of marriage is often mentioned by those opposed to same-sex marriage. Notwithstanding a 50 percent divorce rate. I would venture to say that the real threat to tradi- tional marriage is traditional marriage. Mr. Wyman continues, "Today's humanistic society believes that everyone has the right not only to do what is in their 'special interest' but to force their beliefs onto society regardless if the majority believes that right even exists." Evidently Mr. Wyman feels that his majority should be able to decide on what another American's rights are, and he seems to feel that his majority are the only ones who are quali- fied to force their beliefs on anyone who does not fit their definition of what constitutes a traditional lifestyle. Larry Gray, Red Bluff PATH is thankful again Editor: Here I am again thanking so many that support PATH (Poor and the Homeless). Your Turn Last week I attended a Kiwa- nis luncheon to speak about our PATH Walk Saturday, Sept 11. I was pleased with the interest and questions that so many had. We were very thankful for the very gracious amount of money they collected for us and they even made a team to come and walk. Another surprise was a Daily News reporter was there, Julie Zeeb, who wrote a wonderful article that appeared the next day about what we are doing in PATH. She did a wonderful job conveying the message about our three programs we support, our winter shelter, men’s transi- tional living and our newly opened Sale House for women and children. My biggest thanks for her mentioning about our car wash the ladies from the Sale House did last week at Tractor Supply. This brought so many to our car wash and a lot of them came because they read the article. The one thing that is very important about what the ladies did was that one of our youngest women in our home had the idea herself to do a car wash to raise money for their team in our walk. Breanna went to Trac- tor Supply, who was very gra- cious to us, and got permission, then she got friends to come and help and she got all the ladies and their babies involved. They spent almost 4 hours work- ing very hard and always thanking people for sup- porting PATH. It was quite a sight to see some of our women washing cars, taking care of their babies,and giving back to the community because they under- stand that whatever they raise will go to help keep our pro- gram going for them and others to come. One of our mom's has twin 5- month-old boys and she would work and then go nurse her boys. They all worked very hard alongside their house manager, Jodi. I could not be more proud of seeing our ladies working not to just help themselves but for others in the future.Thank you for believing we can make a dif- ference in people's lives. One other request is for the Salvation Army. We are going to be collecting canned foods for their food pantry. We will have their food barrels at our PATH Walk Saturday starting at 9 a.m. Furniture Depot parking lot. Please help us fill their barrels. We all work together. Pam Klein, Red Bluff 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. Beating ourselves? Commentary was already in recession before 9/11, thanks in part to the burst- ing of the tech-stock bubble. After 9/11, a worried Federal Reserve began a series of inter- est-rate cuts to pump ‘easy money’ into the economy.” “Desperate times call for des- perate actions!” “That policy, combined with bad government policies to both create (Citizens Reinvestment Act) and buy (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) bundles of risky subprime loans, would lead to a massive housing bust, which would really crash our econo- my.” “You're saying bin Laden indirectly contributed to the housing bust and the economic meltdown that followed?” “By 2008, the American pub- lic was sick of Republicans, who had majorities in the House and Senate. They were tired of wasteful spending and angered by a war that dragged on, cost- ing us lives and treasure. Com- bine that with a bad economy and the public was eager for any kind of ‘hope and change.’” “Now you're saying a back- lash to the war, which was a result of overreacting to 9/11, set the stage for Democrats to take over the House, Senate and pres- idency?” “Yep. And Democrats have spent billions we don't have on programs that did little to stimulate the economy. They imposed a govern- ment-directed health care system on us that is going to send costs through the roof. They have extended the tentacles of gov- ernment more deeply into the private sector. How we will manage trillions in new man- dates and costs, as well as the trillions in liabilities we already had, is beyond anyone's guess.” Tom Purcell “So you're saying bin Laden had this all planned? He knew his attack would cause us to overreact in war and knew that the way we managed our econo- my would lead to the election of Democrats, who would weigh down that fragile economy with more burdens that would make us even weaker and more frag- ile?” “I don't want to give the jerk that much credit. But bin Laden has said loud and clear that his intent was not to fight us militar- ily, but to destroy our economy. His only hope for doing that was to divide us and get us to destroy ourselves.” “We fell into his trap?” “I hope not. But I do know it hasn't been 10 years since 9/11 -- and look at the mess we've created. If we don't get beyond this Democrat-Republican bickering -- if we don't come together as Americans to resolve the sizable problems we face -- a real world Tom Purcell, a humor columnist for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, is nationally syndicated exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate. Visit Tom on the Web at www.TomPurcell.com or e-mail him at Purcell@caglecartoons.com. of hurt lies ahead.” “I get it, pal. You worry that we're beating ourselves, just as bin Laden had hoped -- and you're beginning to depress me.” ———