Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/337841
GregStevens,Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EDITORIALBOARD 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 500words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section will be published. Email: editor@red bluffdailynews.com Phone: 530-527- 2151ext. 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 HIT TheMake-A-WishFoun- dation was in town this week to grant the wish of 9-year-old Al- lie Winn, who wanted nothing more than a castle playground. Allie lives with a rare muscular disease but was transformed into a princess Thursday be- fore touring a former shed that was turned into a castle and filled with toys. Hats off to all the businesses and individuals that chipped in to make Allie's dream a reality. MISS The closure of Our Lit- tle House day care center op- erated by the Red Bluff Joint Union High School District may make fiscal sense, but it's unfor- tunate that people will lose jobs — probably those further down the seniority scale than employ- ees of the center — and a hand- ful of young children will have their routines disrupted. HIT Expect More Tehama launched the inaugural Senior Send-Off this week to help pre- pare recent graduates for suc- cess in college and generate en- thusiasm surrounding what can be a difficult transition for some young folks. It must have been reassuring to the teens to know so many others just like them have the same ques- tions and concerns about the next stage in their lives. Expect More does so much to help lo- cal students achieve the dream of attending college, sending graduates off confident and equipped for academic and so- cial success is a natural. MISS A magnifying glass that started a small fire at a Trainor Street estate sale business was certainly a miss for the busi- ness' owner, but should be a useful reminder to the rest of us that fire season is here and we need to be extra careful, in- cluding how we store items out- doors. HIT The local unemployment rate dropped to its lowest point since 2008 in May, sinking into single digits. While just higher than 9 percent is still too many without work, it's nice to see the economy continuing to recover, albeit much more slowly than it collapsed six years ago. MISS The Tehama District Fair board has scheduled a stakeholders meeting for July 16 to gather input from those who utilize the fairgrounds regard- ing a new direction for manage- ment of the facility. This comes six months after former CEO Mark Eidman was forced to re- tire because the board was in- terested in going in this new di- rection. Whatever direction the board decides to take the fair- grounds, we hope it will include better communication with the community regarding ma- jor changes — the stakehold- ers meeting is a good start, but long overdue. HIT Elephants continue to march toward Tehama County. Despite some minor changes along the way, including the working name, the Tembo Pre- serve, previously the Ndovo Foundation, is moving forward with plans for a 4,900-acre fa- cility west of Cottonwood that at peak capacity would house around 50 African elephants cared for by the Oakland Zoo. The group has purchased the Diamond Ranch and put down a $200,000 deposit to pay for the planning process and any legal expenditures that could arise. While we don't expect to catch a glimpse of these ani- mals from the road, the facility could bring both notoriety and revenue to the area through re- search and tourism. MISS Clouds that rolled in Wednesday and out Thursday looked promising for at least a brief downpour, but they passed as quickly as they came and left Tehama County every bit as dry. We enjoyed a few cooler days, but it sure would have been nice to have a few sprinkles head- ing into the Fourth of July week and fireworks. Hits and misses 9-year-old's wish comes true By Joe Gandelman Hillary Clinton looks like the person to beat for the 2016 Dem- ocratic Presidential nomination, and any Republican who could get the GOP nomination can't defeat her in a general election. She is also a flawed and over- hyped candidate who carries enough baggage to overwhelm several TSA inspectors, and she'd be vulnerable due to Bush and Clinton fatigue, not to men- tion her age. Welcome to dueling narra- tives about former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's 2016 Presidential chances. Each nar- rative is stated with great cer- tainty by analysts. The reality is more complex. What's certain is this has been a bad few weeks for the former Secretary of State. First, she got testy in an in- terview with NPR's Terry Gross when asked about how she changed her position on gay marriage. She later offered a slicker answer in a different in- terview. Next, in promoting her new book, she said she and Bill Clinton left the White House "dead broke," sparking late night jokes, partisan derision and reports about how much money they had when they left (in debt) and made later (a ton). The two Clintons spent time de- fending her remark. Then critics had a field day questioning her commitment to women when her 1975 role in defending a rap- ist became an issue. But these issues will recede by 2016. The larger issue: have the Clintons learned from their 2008 mistakes? Will the highly-popular-in- polls Bill Clinton stumble po- litically as he did in 2008, and (again) give the impression that he dreams of a backdoor Bill Clinton Restoration? Will Hill- ary Clinton manage a cam- paign organization that isn't chaotic and dogged by bitter in- ternal political wars? Can she come across as she did during the final part of her 2008 cam- paign and as Secretary of State as a tough, sincere fighter, and a thoughtful policymaker? She started the 2008 cam- paign as the person to beat, but then Barack Obama came out of the blue. Can that happen again? Vermont's independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, the socialist whom Salon calls "every liber- al's favorite radical," has made noises about challenging her from the left. He'd apparently run as an "independent Dem- ocrat" and wasn't considered coincidental when he headed to primary-state New Hamp- shire for a speaking engage- ment. He recently raised eye- brows in an interview with The Huffington Post's How- ard Fineman by suggesting Clinton might be like House Majority Leader Eric Can- tor, whose primary night loss at the hands of Tea Partiers shocked everyone. Political wildcards have de- stroyed prevailing media nar- ratives before. Could Sanders become the Eugene McCarthy of the 2016 Democratic nom- ination race, making a good showing by painting Clinton as a corporatist Democratic es- tablishment centrist not suffi- ciently dedicated to help work- ing families? Most likely pos- sibility: he wouldn't get her to jettison her positions, he wouldn't win, he'd weaken her, and some angry Democrats who supported him wouldn't vote for her in November if she did head the ticket. At best, he'd be a spoiler. Her gender and age? Amer- ica remains in the Fred Flint- stone era compared to many countries (Israel, Great Brit- ain, Canada, Germany, India, Pakistan, Argentina, Brazil, Sri Lanka) who have had women in the top job. Many countries also had older leaders — and you might recall that an at- tempt to use age against a cer- tain California Governor who became President failed miser- ably. America is long overdue in joining the world's t-w-e-n- t-i-e-t-h century. If she runs, Clinton would have the "Clinton machine," plus a virtual army of support- ers who still feel she was more qualified in 2008 than Obama, whose message of hope, change, positioning to her left in the Democratic Party, and appeal as an African-Ameri- can who could win the White House kept her from shatter- ing the "glass ceiling" in her Oval Office bid. Throughout her public ca- reer Hillary Clinton has con- sistently been blessed by being underestimated, by the pas- sion of her supporters — and by how the foaming-at-the- mouth-rhetoric of her political foes and haters consolidated her support in the country's center and solidified her image as a serious political figure. The betting? If she gets the Democratic Presidential nod, these three factors will kick in again. A shoo-in? Nope. Highly for- midable? Yep. Joe Gandelman is a vet- eran journalist who wrote for newspapers overseas and in the United States. He can be reached at jgandelman@the- moderatevoice.com. Independent's Eye Are the dueling Hillary Clinton narratives correct? Cartoonist's take Supervisorsshouldreceive respectable pay Editor: I am not sure why the vot- ers of Tehama County did not vote to give the Board of Su- pervisors a raise. I assume most have never been to a meeting or realize the time and effort each board member puts in to make sure the people of Tehama County are safe and to make sure we have sufficient police and sheriff officers to keep us that way. They actually do a lot more than most voters realize. The five members of the Board of Supervisors serve as the legislative and execu- tive body of Tehama County and provide policy direction for all branches of county gov- ernment. The Board of Su- pervisors has the overall re- sponsibility for the function of county government. They adopt all ordinances and res- olutions governing the county, and are responsible for seeing that mandated functions are properly discharged. The board adopts the an- nual county budget, sets em- ployee salaries, approves con- tracts for public improvement projects and other services, makes important land use de- cisions and exercises super- visory authority over a wide variety of local government services provided to county residents, including roads, health and welfare programs, fire protection, parks and rec- reation and many others. — Bobbie Jones, Corning State of the best known progressive ever Editor: Our Constitution is a pro- gressive document, defining the progression from an au- thoritarian society of rule by kings to a free society ruled by the people via a represen- tative government. Progressive thought recog- nized that man had certain rights that may not be alien- ated from him by any ruler. The progressives generally ex- pressed these ideas under the concept called Natural Law. The originators of our Con- stitution were composed of both these progressives, and the non-progressive thinkers who envisioned a conservative rule of the many by the few. I suggest that our Constitu- tion was, and is, the most pro- gressive document ever envi- sioned and created. Thomas Jefferson believed in Natural Law. Because Thomas Jeffer- son, the progressive, believed in Natural Law so much, he fought to include the Bill of Rights to affirm definitely the unalienable rights recognized under the progressive concept of Natural Law. Of course, there has been criticism of this liberal, pro- gressive idea of a Bill of Rights because some people say that the rights are already in the Constitution and spell- ing out any specific rights in- fers that rights don't exist un- less they are specifically men- tioned. And that criticism would be correct because that is exactly what has happened as the fas- cist, conservative, non-pro- gressive, non freedom-loving elements distort the mean- ing of a progressive Constitu- tion into fascistic, authoritar- ian rule. So, what can you do? Jefferson revealed as a classic, bumbling, "I'll fix it for you" liberal. And then the fact that Aaron Burr, the progressive, killed the fascist Alexander Hamilton in a duel, providing the first evidence that liberals are more violent than conser- vatives. Add to that the worse hu- miliation to Republicans who love guns. Liberals are bet- ter shots. Nobody gets away unsullied or unscathed in to- day's chaos. Everybody must get stoned. So there you have it. The ul- timate contradiction. Consti- tution loving, progressive hat- ing people want to create a business-dominated fascist state and name it after the best known progressive that ever lived. If you can cross your eyes far enough, I guess it makes sense. — James Bryant, Red Bluff Your opinions She started the 2008 campaign as the person to beat, but then Barack Obama came out of the blue. Can that happen again? Tembo Preserveis moving forward with plans for a 4,900-acre facility west of Cottonwood that at peak capacity would house around 50 African elephants cared for by the Oakland Zoo. I assume most have never been to a meeting or realize the time and effort each board member puts in to make sure the people of Tehama County are safe and to make sure we have sufficient police and sheriff officers to keep us that way. They actually do a lot more than most voters realize. OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, June 28, 2014 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B4