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4A – Daily News – Wednesday, January 5, 2011 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 Vick is an 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. 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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 abuser Editor: I feel very strongly that Michael Vick has shown in the past that he is an animal abuser and I do not thing he should every have another animal. He has forced dogs to fight to their deaths, hung innocent dogs and drowned dogs. And now he wants a dog? Come on, people. I only wish I were man enough to give him some of the treatment he gave the ani- mals. The dogs didn’t get a sec- ond chance, why should he? Betty Unger, Red Bluff Thank you Tehama County Editor: PATH. Sale House — Tran- sitional Living for Homeless women and children — with tearful eyes and grateful hearts would like to thank the following for making this hol- iday season such a wonderful one. Sugar Shack Cafe, Rhonda Meadows, Karen Miller, Sun- shine Rotary, Steve Overall, Family Resource Center, E.C.Ross, Fred Poor and, of course, Santa. Jodi Cordial, Red Bluff It is not conservatives who are to blame Editor: I am always intrigued, and sometimes entertained, by Mr. Mazzucchi's writings. In his column of Jan. 3 he invites all Americans to rally around our United States of America Pledge of Allegiance including the "Under God" sentence. I do not know if he has a very short memory span, or he hopes his readers will. Over the years of his writings he has been a very strong advocate of what we refer to as the liberal point of view on life and politics. He sometimes discusses, as he did on Jan. 3, the need for all of us Americans to get along together and compro- mise on those issues where our points of view differ. Liberals almost always say they are willing to compro- mise, but their definition of compromise always means their side gains something and we conservatives lose something. I would point out a few facts: It is not the conserva- tive side of the political spec- trum which has challenged the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in our classrooms. It is not we conservatives who have challenged the "In God We Trust" statement on our currency and coins. It is not we conservatives who have blocked the display of Nativity Scenes at Christ- mas in our schools and public buildings. It is not we conserva- tives who advocate for same sex mar- riages. It is not we conservatives who have advocated that law abid- ing citizens of our nation do not have a right to be person- ally armed to protect our- selves from evil. Your Turn and nothing has been solved because the liberals do not, overall, preach the need for personal responsibility for ones own actions and the need to become an edu- cated, honest, hard working and involved citizen. We have high school graduates who cannot read It is not we conservatives who have raised unwed moth- erhood from the status of egregious sin to becoming a semi-respectable occupation to be rewarded with increased income for each new baby delivered. It is not we conservatives who have advocated for laws and regulations to so hinder business and employers that we have seen millions of jobs go overseas. Since the time of FDR the liberals have inculcated their constituents with the belief the USA owes them a living, that they are entitled to it, and if they keep voting the right way the liberals will see they get it. The liberal solution to every perceived social prob- lem since WWII has been to throw money at it. The results have been the waste of billions of dollars their diploma and are totally unprepared to be positive contributors to society, yet any effort to judge teacher's success or failure based upon the knowledge they have been able to impart to their stu- dents is met with great dis- may and opposition by the very liberal teachers unions that infest our educational system. The net result of the liberal point of view over the last 60 + years is that we have far too many drones m the hive with an ever decreasing number of workers who are expected, by the liberals, to keep paying the bill for their "pie in the sky" and "smoke and mirrors" programs. There are far, far too many in our society today, most, but not all, on the liberal side of the fence or supported by the liberals, who's only contribu- tion is to provide the justifica- tion for employment of an ever growing army of social workers. This needs to change. Walter Mansell, Red Bluff Your officials STATE ASSEMBLYMAN — Jim Nielsen (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 6031 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 319-2002; Fax (916) 319-2102 STATE SENATOR — Doug LaMalfa (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 3063 Sacramento, 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. Fascinating, not famous Commentary Every year about now, the media introduce us to the most fascinating people of the prior year. They always overlook people like Joe Horne. A tailgunner in the Army Air Corps during World War II, Horne and his crew enjoyed 11 successful missions. They didn't expect to survive their 12th: orders to bomb a heavily guarded munitions plant in Munich. As they approached their tar- get, Horne fought off German fighter planes. German flak was another matter. Heavy flak hit the plane hard. It lost altitude so fast that its windows shattered. The landing gear was destroyed. Their only hope was to make it across the Swiss border for a crash landing. As the plane's belly hit the ground -- as uprooted earth and stones whipped through the bro- ken windows -- the pilot told the crew to evacuate before the plane exploded. Horne dived out a window and was bruised and cut as he tumbled along the ground -- but he survived. The Swiss would detain him in internment camps in Adelbo- den, Switzerland, for six months -- camps, writes Cathryn Prince in "Shot from the Sky," that were a dark secret of World War II. So long as he did as told, he was free to move about the town. He learned to ski and even had time to fall in love with a beautiful Swiss girl. But he and a few others crossed the line when they got into a fistfight with Nazi sympa- thizers. They spent 30 days in the Wauwilermoos military prison in Lucerne, where they received little food or water and occa- sional beatings. After his release there, he and his crew were about to attempt an escape from their camp when word arrived that all Americans detained in Switzer- land were being repatriated. On leave in Pittsburgh, Horne attended a dance. He fell hard for a striking woman across the room -- love at first sight. Her name was Dorothy Kvederis. He would marry her four years later. He joined the post office in 1946, when he was discharged. After two and a half years of attending college at night, Horne decided to suspend his studies. He was happy with his life. By 1954, he and Dorothy had saved enough to buy a house -- the house in which he still lives. He and Dorothy would be blessed with a daughter and two sons -- a teacher, den- tist and corporate exec- utive, respectively. He loved his job. During the last 40 years of his 46-year postal career, he deliv- ered mail in a predom- inantly black section of Pittsburgh, PA. Despite numerous opportunities to take over cushi- er routes inside air-conditioned high-rise buildings, he loved his route and would give it up only when he retired in 1992. He and Dorothy finally had time to enjoy life. They trav- eled. They attended church every morning. They spent time with family and friends. Their carefree existence ended on Oct. 4, 1992, when Dorothy suffered a stroke. Horne would spend the next 14 years caring for her -- getting no more than two hours of sleep every night -- until she died in 2006. Now 85, he misses her des- perately, but his days are full. The old Irishman (his grand- father changed the family name from "Horan" to "Horne," hoping it would help him find work at a time when the Irish faced "need not apply" signs) is a pas- sionate Notre Dame fan. He has a zest for Tom Purcell living, a fine wit and he puts a spring in the step of anyone lucky enough to cross his path. Yeah, he was never famous or rich, but he was sure- ly influential. Great civiliza- tions are built on the shoulders of such giants. 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. If only the media featured more people like Joe Horne at this time every year. ———