Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/16357
6A – Daily News – Thursday, September 16, 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 Drugs trickle down into crime Editor: 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 In the months past, I have written many letters of con- cern of the growing problems Tehama county is encounter- ing with drugs. Marijuana being number one on the list. After all, how often is a marijuana incident not men- tioned when you unfold your newspaper over a hot cup of coffee or a meal? Now I am being accused of being in a bubble, racism, religion basher, and narrow minded. So I must ask this handful of people straight up, when have I ever mentioned anything other that the finan- cial burden, crime and the effect drugs in a community has on the people of our com- munity and county. Look Georgia Scott, Anita Fishburn and those others with no clue, if you want drugs in your schools, crime in your neigh- borhood, theft from your houses and the fear that tak- ing a walk could end in a deadly confrontation, then get the hell out of our county. I moved from Sacramento 20+ years ago, where on more than one occasion I was forced to defend myself against just the violence this drug and others created when introduced to communities. I never said a Jew, African American or medically approved persons where the reason or cause. I will explain this again. I, as a father, hus- band and friend to many, do not appreciate drugs being pushed in upon me or the streets that I have tried so hard to keep my family safe on. Do as you wish behind your doors on your property, and deal with the problems you bring on yourself, by yourself. My point again being, drugs trickle down into crime, whether it be driving, fighting, dealing or theft to support it, you can- not deny it. Steven Ismail, Red Bluff 9/11 service Editor: This past Saturday was Patriot Day and I attended a 9/11 Remembrance Service held at the Tehama County Courthouse. You could not have asked for a more beautiful day to hold this humble gathering of fellow Americans, many clad in red, white and blue and waving huge American flags in the gentle breeze. I looked around and felt so proud to be an American and to be a part of this observance of the ninth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on our coun- try that took place Sept. 11, 2001; attacks that claimed the lives of 3,000 innocent people who we promised “we will never forget.” The Tehama Coun- Anthem while the Young Marines Color Guard raised and lowered the American Flag to half-staff. ty Young Marines in their military uni- forms looking so sharp yet still so innocent, the many uni- formed members of CalFire and the Red Bluff Fire Department who lined the sidewalk, surely remembering the hundreds of fellow fire- fighters who lost their lives on 9/11, and the gentlemen of the Marine Corps League Honor Guard looking so dig- nified and proud as they raised their rifles for a firing sequence while we listened as their bugler played the most captivating rendition of “Taps” that I have ever heard. My heart just wanted to Your Turn Humbled as I listened to the prayer by Dave Rotten- berg, followed by his comments of how 9/11 personally touched him and his family. CalFire member and bagpiper Monty Messinger gave us a beautiful rendition of “Amazing Grace” followed by Carla and Chad leading the crowd in “God Bless America.” The ceremony closed with Chad singing Merle Hag- gard’s “The Fighting Side of Me”…I could have listened to that young man sing all day. Thank you, thank you to all who participated and all who attended. What a glorious showing of American pride and love of God, country and mankind. burst with pride as local coun- try singer Chad Bushnell sang several patriotic songs fol- lowed by my husband, Greg, opening the ceremony by recounting the tragic events that took place on that day nine years ago. I felt so grateful as I lis- tened to my dear friend Carla Fultz sing our National A special thanks also to Dan Massie of Sky River Music for use of the sound system, and to Red Bluff Yamaha for supplying the power source. And a big hug to my husband Greg who felt the need five years ago to make sure locally that “we will never forget” the victims of 9/11. Vickie Latourell, 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. The Enthusiasm Gap: He’s just a president Commentary Disillusionment implies at some point you were illusioned. You believed something that turned out not to be true. I watched a documentary where young people in the early ‘90s thought their music was "alternative," and then they were disillusioned when grunge became mainstream. "It’s like…what can you believe in anymore, man." The point is: Disillusion- ment means you’ve had a fall from grace…but it was mostly your fault for believing a false- hood in the first place. Case in point: The lag in support for President Barack Obama. I’m not talking about those who could see a John McCain presidency from their house and think serious people could describe anyone or any- thing as "Kenyan Nazi." I’m talking about the hordes of folks who believed in hope, empathy and America’s turning a corner. The ones who in November, 2008, turned out en masse to give the Senator from Illinois a landslide victory. Some Americans voted for an ambiguous "change" and now see some imprecise things are "the same." These Ameri- cans are now suffering from what beltway people call the "enthusiasm gap," and what everyone else calls being disil- lusioned with Obama. "He’s just not lived up to my expectations." This all started with the Pur- ple Ticket holders at the Inau- guration. Obama supporters and volunteers were given either purple or blue tickets to watch the ceremony just behind the honored and seated guests in the silver section. The Purple Ticket holders were (you guessed it) on the left of the Capitol, and security was tight for this unprecedented event. More than two million people packed into the mall that day to see the new president sworn in. If they were Republicans it would have been counted as 20 million. Regardless of what ticket you had everyone stood in the frigid air for several hours wait- ing to get in, but there was a snafu at the Purple gate. Some with Purple Tickets were stuck in the Third Street Tunnel unable to get to the Capitol. It was estimated 5,000 Purple Ticket holders (if they were Republicans it would have been 50,000) didn’t get to witness the ceremony at all. During the following week on blogs and Twitter Purple Ticket holders kvetched about their plights. "Obama, you owe us!" The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Cere- monies, chaired by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, even floated the idea of giving souvenir packets to pouting Purple Ticket holders. So the "everything didn’t go perfectly and now the president owes us" theme was born. Because Obama is just that good of an orator, he created the illusion that he really is your buddy. Not something you’d ever accuse Bush of being, some- thing Bill Clinton had to a certain degree. "Obama’s cool, he’ll fix this Purple Ticket mess." As if the moment after Obama took his semi-botched oath, every tiny annoyance should be eradicated for those who voted for him, or they would be — unhappy. Disillu- sioned. him. He’s not the villain the insane Right says he is, nor is he the do-nothing turncoat the insane Left says he is. Pulitzer winning Tina Dupuy Obama is just a president. A leader of a (still) rich and (still kind of) powerful country. Poli- tics is tedious, grinding, petty and — unless you’re complete- ly twisted beyond all reason (like myself) — kind of boring. Presidents don’t cure all ills and make everyone get along — no one does that. Ever. The fact is: Obama is a good president. He’s a centrist who is somewhere between what mouth-foamers on either extreme say about him. He does listen to all viewpoints, which makes people of some view- points — ironically — dislike fact-check site Politi- Fact.com has diligent- ly kept track of what this president has done and not done. By their count Obama has currently kept 121 promises. He’s com- promised on 39 and broken 22. Currently, 81 are stalled, and 240 are in the works. According to their calculations he’s kept way more than five times more promises than he’s broken. We aren’t on track to go back to the Moon by 2020, but he did fully fund the Veteran’s Admin- istration as promised. Don’t Ask Don’t Tell wasn’t repealed two years ago, but the deficit is down 8 percent from last year. There’s still a 9.6 percent unemployment rate, but the economy is creating (as opposed to losing) private sec- tor jobs. Most importantly, America voted for and got a president – not a mythological character. Tina Dupuy is an award- winning writer and the editor of FishbowlLA.com. Tina can be reached at tina@cagle.com.