Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/274183
Greg Stevens, Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor Editorial Board How to have your say: Letters must be signed and provide the writer's home street address and home phone number. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and no more than two double-spaced pages or 500 words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section will be published. Email: editor@red bluffdailynews.com Phone: 530-527- 2151 ext. 112 Mail to: P.O. Box 220, 545 Diamond Ave., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FaCEbook.CoM/ rbdailynEwS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @rEdbluFFnEwS A sure harbinger of the approaching Political Silly Season is candidates for public office mak- ing modern-day comparisons to Adolf Hitler. On Tuesday, former Secre- tary of State Hillary Clinton, an all-but-certain candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, made such a ref - erence regarding the actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Ukraine. Not to be outdone, Repub - lican gubernatorial candidate Tim Donnelly posted a Twit- ter message Tuesday that compared President Barack Obama's gun control policies with those of Hitler, Josef Sta - lin and North Korea's Kim Jong Il. Whew! Those are mighty strong words and, in our view, neither advances the public discourse much. Clinton made her statement in a speech at — of all places — the Boys & Girls Clubs of Long Beach's annual fundraiser. A day later, Clinton wisely "clarified" her remarks after a speech at UCLA, where she offered a far more measured tone. "I just want people to have a little historic perspective. I'm not making a comparison, cer - tainly, but I am recommending that we perhaps can learn from this tactic that has been used before," she said. Donnelly, on the other hand, made no attempt to temper his statement. "Tyranny is the daily pur - pose of dictators," he said in a statement, "and I will not apol- ogize for pointing out that our current president acts more like a dictator than a leader of a free people in a Constitu - tional Republic." There are a few names that are so toxic that their mere ut- terance in any form of compar- ison can create an uproar. Hit- ler is one of them. We include Stalin on that list as well. Both men were nothing short of despotic murderers. It is true that credible re - ports continue to circulate of Putin's abuse of human rights within Russia, and now he has invaded a sovereign neighbor. But he certainly is not Hitler, who tried to eradicate the Jew - ish population and to conquer all of Europe, including Russia. Mind you, we're not defend- ing Putin's actions. His incur- sion must be stopped. We be- lieve strong economic sanc- tions are needed. What is not needed is for such an experienced politi- cal figure as Clinton to utter the words "Putin" and "Hit- ler" so close together — espe- cially while diplomatic efforts to solve the crisis are afoot. We are less surprised by Donnelly's hyperbole. He's an extremely long-shot candidate running to unseat Gov. Jerry Brown. Besides, in 2012 Don - nelly pleaded no contest to mis- demeanor charges of carrying a loaded Colt .45 in his carry- on bag at a Southern California airport. Enough said. Spirited public policy de - bates are good for our nation, but when we engage in them, let's resolve to leave the char- ter members of the Despots Hall of Shame on the sidelines. This editorial was produced by the Bay Area News Group. Editorial Leave the Despots Hall of Shame behind Cartoonist's take By John dickerson Slate Last year Gov. Chris Chris- tie wasn't invited to CPAC. This year he addressed the Ameri- can Conservative Union's an- nual meeting on its opening day. The New Jersey governor didn't say anything that will keep him from getting invited back. As my Slate colleague David Weigel has pointed out, this is the least sur - prising news in politics. Christie wasn't going to get booed, and he wasn't going to do anything that might risk that reaction. For a politician trying to unite the party around the areas where they agree, there were plenty of ways he could appeal to the con - servative audience on issues like abortion, unions and a shared dislike for the media. Unity was important, Christie said, not just because it meant the party could focus on its actual accomplish - ments, but also because it kept the GOP from fighting among it- self when the opposition was so much worse. Oh, and let's not forget Pres- ident Obama. Though Christie has taken grief from conserva- tives for cozying up to Obama in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, he was clear to point out that he was no friend to the president. He never mentioned the Sandy episode, but instead talked about the supercommittee and the president's refusal to engage with its work. "If that's the atti - tude, Mr. President, then what the hell are we paying you for?" On Thursday, the political task before Christie was to get a good reception from a skepti- cal crowd without saying any- thing that might be used against him in a 2016 presidential bid. He achieved that modest goal. The Democratic Party, in its in - stant analysis of Christie's Con- servative Political Action Con- ference speech, couldn't actually find anything noteworthy in the speech. It criticized him for what he "didn't talk about." The first notable elision was Christie's defense of the Koch brothers, the wealthy backers of Americans for Prosperty, the pro-free-markets activist group. You wouldn't know that's who he was defending, because Christie never mentioned their names. In - stead he attacked Senate Major- ity Leader Harry Reid, who has been going after the Koch broth- ers by name and at length on the Senate floor. This attack on "two American entrepreneurs" was a sign of how pointless Wash - ington had become, accord- ing to the governor. Reid should "get back to work and stop pick- ing on great Americans who are creating jobs." No ad can be run in which Christie can be found praising the Koch broth - ers, whom liberals are working hard to make household names of horror. When Christie stood up for his pro-life abortion views that was recognizable enough, but he didn't make a moral point about the sanctity of life. He turned the issue into a weapon to use against Democrats. When had they invited pro-life Democrats to speak at their conventions? Never, he pointed out. It was Re - publicans who have invited Co- lin Powell, Condoleezza Rice and Tom Ridge to speak, all of whom support abortion rights. It was a sturdy partisan attack, but not one that would turn off a single pro-choice voter who might some day consider Christie. This speech was of more than just passing interest because of last year's snub — in 2013, orga - nizers thought Christie wasn't sufficiently conservative, though he'd spoken to the organization before — and because if Christie runs he'll have to find some way to woo grassroots conservatives who see him as the candidate of the establishment. A recent Washington Post poll found that 30 percent of Repub - licans say they definitely would not vote for Christie, the highest percentage for any Republican tested. Among those who iden - tified themselves as conserva- tives, 35 percent said they would not vote for him. Christie might have changed a few minds by not overtly offending anyone, but in a conference where so many speakers referred to the divi - sions within the party — espe- cially the rift between the estab- lishment and grassroots wings — there will be thousands of chances for Christie's fortunes to rise and fall among conserva - tives before he becomes the par- ty's nominee or even before next year's CPAC. John Dickerson is Slate's chief po- litical correspondent and author of "On Her Trail." He can be reached at slatepolitics@gmail.com. opinion Christie's conservative card gets punched at annual CPAC rally Sounding off A look at what readers are saying in comments on our website and on social media. There has to be at least 100 better locations than this. who owns this property that is trying to pawn it off on the city? Christina Fish: Facebook comment on prospect of new Red Bluff library at 1106 Main St. That lot is perfect for a boat ramp easy access to the river. Facebook comment about site of the former Jaime Furnells: Cinderella Motel in Red Bluff Has it really been 10 years since I wrote a heartfelt letter to my new- born son, Gideon Lewis Tyree? As Gideon reaches the decade milestone, I feel compelled to unload on him again. Son, your "absent- minded professor mode" has made "Watch your step!" a three-word phrase rivaling "I love you" for frequency. Given our experi - ence with important school documents, I can just imagine Moses on his deathbed, displaying Gideon-like selective mem - ory. ("Oy! I just remem- bered these two tablets I was supposed to show you 40 years ago!") I'm tickled by the way you become enthralled in conversations on talk ra - dio in Daddy's truck. I just worry that your math teacher will call to say that you think the solution to every problem is either "buy gold bullion" or "un - earth a Kenyan birth cer- tificate." Sometimes your perfec- tionism causes aggrava- tion for the whole family, but I hope you'll continue to maintain accuracy in media, as you do with your sporadically updated jour - nal. (Last March you wrote about visiting me at the farmers cooperative and recorded, "Now I am look - ing at the chicks. They're having a dance party in there." Nine months later, you felt obligated to re - fer back to that entry and clarify, "And when I was watching chicks, I meant baby chickens, not girls.") I hope you've appreci - ated our teachable mo- ments, even the ones that seem like teachable eter- nities. I've tried not talking down to you, because you need concepts such as "This, too, shall pass" and "Always leave 'em wanting more." It's important that you know the virtues of time management and the value of a dollar (and, con - sequently, the value of keeping the government away from the printing press!!!) My tall, slender straw- berry-blond boy, even at your most exasperating, I am in awe of your innate sweetness, sentimental - ity, unselfishness and op- timism. I pray that the slings and arrows of outra- geous fortune don't make you cynical. (What's that, Gideon? Yes, outrageous fortune probably uses Stinger missiles instead of slings and arrows now. *Sigh*) I'm proud of your (mostly) straight-A report cards, your achievements in the 4-H public speaking contest, your underdog performance in the spell - ing bee and your charis- matic magic act for the talent show. (I try to ignore the scur- rilous rumors that you personally caused the po- lar ice caps to melt so there would be enough water for your long, long showers.) I'm sorry I don't have the time, energy or tal - ent to share all your video games and other hobbies with you. Pappy didn't have time to do everything he wanted with me and Uncle Dwight. You won't have time to do everything with YOUR children. It's what Dis - ney's "The Lion King" cap- sulized as The Circle of Life Without Parole if You Don't Go to Your Room and Play Quietly! It's bittersweet to watch you outgrow your child - hood habits and preoccu- pations one by one. But I trust that when I write again in 10 years, you'll still have your voracious love of reading, still cud - dle cats, still grab the Sunday comics with glee, still crave to revisit the Smithsonian, still laugh at TV's "Green Acres" and "I Love Lucy," still dread running laps and still dis - play a flair for puns and snarky comments. As they say, the apple doesn't fall far from the Tyree. Danny Tyree welcomes reader e-mail responses at tyreetyrades@aol.com and visits to his Facebook fan page "Tyree's Tyrades." Hopes for a child A heartfelt letter to my son as he completes his first decade i hope you've appreciated our teachable moments, even the ones that seem like teachable eternities. i've tried not talking down to you, because you need concepts such as "this, too, shall pass" and "always leave 'em wanting more." OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, March 8, 2014 » MORE AT FaCEbook.CoM/rbdailynEwS AND TwiTTEr.CoM/rEdbluFFnEwS a4