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Thursday, December 2, 2010 – Daily News – 5A 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 Blessed Editor: I've been thinking how blessed I am to live in such a wonderful community. On Nov. 23 at 1:45 p.m., as I 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 was navigating the Riverside Plaza parking lot when the county car I was driving died. In the car with me was a client so I couldn't ask her to get out and push. So I phoned my current situation into my employer when a young lady in the park- ing lot asked if I needed a push. Since I was stuck in the dri- ving lane in front of Ace Hard- ware I was in dire need. Once I indicated yes she just began pushing, then a gentleman joined the fun. Unfortunately I did not get to thank them. They are good Samaritans and I would like to express my sincere gratitude to both of these individuals who assisted me out of the driving lane and into a parking place. You saved my day. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Donna S. Wenz, Red Bluff Thanks Editor: I had to go out of town, and someone was watching my dog. She left there Friday night, Nov. 5 and walked three miles home — arriving Sat, Nov. 6. I just wanted to thank everyone who stopped to let her cross the streets of Red Bluff, two main streets, Main Street and Walnut Street. This was no easy quest for her, I’m sure, as she is 13 years old, half blind, half deaf and has arthritis. When she showed up at home another kind person picked her up and took her to the pound. I also want to thank that person also because I didn’t get home until late Sunday night. So my dog was safe until my return. She’s home and all is well. Melody Chamberlain, Red Bluff Brown-out Editor: Now I remember why we had a Brown-out in California. California Attorney General Jerry Brown, who is supposed to defend our state Constitu- tion, sided with San Francisco in an attempt to nullify Prop. 209, a Constitutional provision enacted by voters in 1996, ban- ning race and sex based prefer- ences and discrimination in public contracting, employment and education. Pacific League Foundation announced in an August in an Aug. 4 bulletin that they had prevailed. The California Supreme Court rejected San Francisco’s attempt to get 209 declared unconstitutional. Why did Pacific League have to do Brown’s job? Why does Brown side with dis- crimination? Linda Richards, Cottonwood Immigrants Editor: When will this government start doing their job and start guarding our borders and proper- ly screening the immigrants that enter this country? If it has to include ethnic profiling, so be it. In downtown Portland, Ore. Nov. 26, at the annual Christ- mas tree lighting ceremony, Somali born terrorist Mohammed Osman Mohamud, 19, attempted to detonate a van he thought was filled with explosives and would kill many of the “infidels” gath- ered to start the Christmas sea- son that we as a Christian nation celebrate the birth of Christ. Fortunately, it was a dud sold to him by the FBI. The FBI was on to him from the beginning and as soon as he dialed a cell phone he thought would blow up the van, federal agents and the Portland police took him into custody. Your Turn Whether by accident or design it is this administration that refuses to secure our borders and then prevents Arizona from protecting their border. It is the sub-cultures, atheists, socialists, communists, CAIR, the new black panthers, SEIU and the list goes on, that sup- ports this administration’s deci- sion not to close our borders and to oppose Arizona’s right do so, and that makes it possible for these terrorists to infiltrate this country. Whose side is Louis Farrakhan or Jeremiah Wright on, ours or Mohammed Osman Mohamud? One flag, the American flag. One language, the English Lan- guage. One loyalty and that’s to the United States of America. God bless those that believe that, the rest can go back to where they came from or to wherever their loyalty lies and if that happens to be Kenya, Indonesia, Somali, the middle east or any other radical Muslim stronghold, so be it. Les Wolfe, 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. Sarah Palin: America’s full-time professional duelist Commentary The template for the perpetu- al Sarah Palin feud was set last Valentine’s Day. The animated series Family Guy aired an episode in which a character with Down Syndrome said her mother was the former Governor of Alaska. From her platform as a paid Fox News contributor, Palin pounced on the moment to condemn Seth McFarland. “Cruel and cold-hearted peo- ple who would do such a thing,” she said on Bill O’Reilly’s The Factor. She also used the occa- sion to demand then-Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel step down for using the word “retard.” When asked, Palin said Rush Limbaugh — who con- stantly uses the r-word — is "using satire." Following Palin’s determina- tion of what satire is, the actress Andrea Fay Friedman who played the character with Down Syndrome — who also fittingly has Down Syndrome — made a statement to the press: “I guess former Governor Palin does not have a sense of humor…My parents raised me to have a sense of humor and to live a normal life. My mother did not carry me around under her arm like a loaf of French bread the way former Governor Palin carries her son Trig around looking for sympathy and votes.” So the mold of Sarah Palin’s taking to the airwaves to blast someone using incorrect facts solidified. If she had just done a little Google research, when asked about the episode she could have graciously said, “I would be proud for such an accomplished actress like Miss Friedman to be my daughter.” Instead Palin appeared volatile, insulting and ignorant. During the same appearance in which she slammed McFar- land, Palin also pronounced to O’Reilly, “Let’s not call each other names because it invali- dates what our arguments are all about.” Uh huh. This is the same woman who refers to her critics as “jerks.” Palin called CBS-affiliates “cor- rupt bastards” in the same week she called reporters “impotent and limp and gutless.” She called the McCain campaign’s Steve Schmidt a liar and in her book said he was “rotund.” She called journalist Joe McGinnis a “pervert” and implied he was a peeping tom. She labeled femi- nists as a “cackle of rads.” She blasted Alaska bloggers as “bored, anonymous and pathet- ic.” She deemed David Letter- man “sexually perverted” after accusing him of making a rape joke about her then 14-year-old daughter. And don’t forget when she accused her opponent, enemy, of “palling around with terrorists” and still refers to him as “Barack Hussein.” How’s that not name-y because it invalidates your argu- ment thingy working out for ya? In fact, Palin is now our nation’s only full-time profes- sional duelist. She fights with everyone. Her entire post-quit- ting career is centered on flame wars, most of which she starts. They are often petty, sanctimonious, trumped-up jabs which do nothing but make the media talk about her more. And she’s mone- tized the drama. She’s gone pro. Yes, she’s found the formula Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian pioneered: shameless and shallow sells. Bernanke; Katie Couric; Senator Lisa Murkowski; Congressman Spencer Bachus; Mayor Michael Bloomberg; Gawker and Barbara Bush — just to name a few. The common denominator in all these feuds? Sarah Palin. Tina Dupuy I’m inexplicably addicted to the show Jerseyli- cious, and if it weren’t for con- flict it would just be a bunch of frosted-lipped spandex-clad women cutting hair. Instead it’s World War III in a rhinestone- studded turnpike-adjacent strip mall. That’s what makes it a show. The media loves conflict. It’s easy to cover verbal battles. And so we do. Palin has dueled with McCain staffer Nicolle Wallace; father of her granddaughter Levi Johnston; Ashley Judd; Karl Rove; Politico; Alaska teacher Kathleen Gustafson; Arnold Schwarzenegger; columnists Maureen Down, Peggy Noonan and Kathleen Parker; Reality TV mom Kate Gosselin; Ben Besides viciously accusing men with whom she disagrees as somehow being sex perverts, while at the same time granting a pass for indiscretions to men with whom she agrees — Limbaugh — Palin’s main accusa- tion is that people are lying. They are “making stuff up.” Yes, according to the trumpeter of the “death panel” canard, everyone else is a liar. It’s just a coincidence everyone Palin encounters isn’t truthful. Poor Barracuda. Palin has gotten a couple of number-one hits with the same old song. That’s why it’s all starting to sound alike. I’ve watched enough nature shows to know that if a real Mama Grizzly fought this much of the time, we’d have to assume the beast was rabid. Tina Dupuy is an award- winning writer and the editor of FishbowlLA.com. Tina can be reached at tinadupuy@yahoo.com.