Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/385480
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 Whatifweheldpoliticianstothesame standards as football players? When football players break the law, Americans demand they be benched, cut, or suspended before they get due process. But when politicians are indicted they get to stick around, spending our money until a jury of their peers—there's a terrifying thought—passes judgment. It's possible that Americans have misplaced priorities. Let's get something straight: Getting cut from a football team is the least that should happen to those who punch women or whip children. I'm all for Amer- icans declaring that vio- lence against women and children is unacceptable and demanding justice. De- laying action to let the le- gal process play out is a moral dodge and a game for lawyers. We call balls and strikes on the field, and we should call right and wrong off the field. So why are we so easygo- ing when politicians are in- dicted? When Rick Perry was indicted on two felony counts for abuse of office and coercion of a public of- ficial, suddenly he became the poster boy of the Repub- lican-of-the-Month club, cel- ebrated in Iowa and New Hampshire for standing up to those liberals in Austin, by gum and by God. In New York, Rep. Mi- chael Grimm got hit with a 20-count indictment re- lated to his past business dealings, and he's not only running for re-election in a swing district, but accord- ing to sources quoted by Po- litico, he's winning. And before you say, "Oh, but we're unforgiving about the sex scandals," take a look at Mark Sanford (R-Ap- palachian Trail) and his fel- low congressman Scott Des- Jarlais, the Tennessee doctor who got a patient pregnant and then pressured her to have an abortion. Both are locks to return to congress— and in deeply red districts, at that. It's not like Americans are walking around with a general feeling of satis- faction about government. Barack Obama's approval ratings are nothing to write home about, but they look like bragging material next to the low esteem in which Americans hold Congress. Congress has a 13 percent approval rating, lower than cockroaches, head lice, and colonoscopies. It's not all bad: Congress is still better liked than meth labs, gonor- rhea and the Ebola virus. But will Americans re- elect Congress, leaving the same people in charge? Yes, because Americans don't really care. I mean, we're not talking about football here. Herein lies the problem: Americans are far more in- terested in football than we are politics. And by "inter- ested" I really mean "liter- ate," because when it comes to acting like a democracy, most of us are a bunch of slobbering fools who never knew we held the title to this government of the peo- ple, by the people and for the people. Want proof? Are you sure? This is going to hurt: The Annenberg Public Policy Center recently found that only 36 percent of Amer- icans can name all the branches of government. Ap- parently Perry isn't the only one who has trouble count- ing to three. What does this ignorance mean for holding politi- cians as accountable as we demand Goodell holds foot- ball players? The Annenburg Center also found that only 38 percent of Americans know that Republicans con- trol the U.S. House of Rep- resentatives. You can't fire someone if you don't know they hold a job you didn't even know existed. Maybe the Scots had it right when they decided to stay in the United King- dom, because I'm not sure self-rule is working out in a country where "as high as one in three voters are unable to comprehend the very news they depend upon for their voting deci- sions when forced to read it," according to Chris- topher McDaniel in Poli- cyMic. Is it too late to ask England for take-backs? So go ahead, America, let's focus on the boorish, il- legal and sadistic behav- ior of the gladiators in the arena. Pay no mind that the Roman senate is perfectly happy to make a mockery of our democracy while we distract ourselves with mil- lionaires in colorful tights. After all, we get the gov- ernment we deserve, even if we can't name all three branches of it. JasonStanfordisaregu- lar contributor to the Austin American-Statesman, a Dem- ocratic consultant and a Tru- man National Security Proj- ect partner. You can email him at stanford@oppresearch.com and follow him on Twitter @ JasStanford. James Stanford We are all Roger Goodell Cartoonist's take JOHN COLE In honor of the five-year an- niversary of the local Tea Party Patriots, I'll share some of my Oct. 5, 2009, col- umn that in- formed readers of the first meet- ing, on the previ- ous Wednesday, Sept. 30: "Red Bluff now has another pro- test movement… Last Wednesday, about 75 folks gathered for the first Tea Party Patriots meeting. The move- ment began last spring with a call by a Chicago Mercantile Ex- change trader calling for a 'Bos- ton tea party' type of resistance to unrestrained spending, def- icits, tax increases and govern- ment bailouts. Its mass appeal caught fire as the generally si- lent majority came to realize that one-party federal govern- ment was careening toward an all-intrusive, statist model ut- terly foreign to bedrock Ameri- can principles of liberty, self-re- liance and Constitutional gov- ernment. "Defying the sneering, cyni- cal approbation and name-call- ing by Democrat office-holders and media talking heads, cit- izens across America have de- termined that their government is becoming no longer of, by or for the people. (Then, as now) If you believe in 1) Limited gov- ernment, 2) Fiscal responsibil- ity, 3) Adherence to the Con- stitution, you should consider joining this growing grass-roots movement." So, tonight at 6 p.m. at the Westside Grange, return for the camaraderie or make a first visit for curiosity's sake. The Pa- triots continue to bring those in government, or seeking elec- tion to government, together with informed and concerned citizens to help self-governance prevail. On another topic, I would like to profile two prominent African American leaders and compare and contrast what we know about them, and what they say about themselves. Next week, I'll write about Dr. Ben Carson, author of several books, most recently "One Na- tion—What we can do to save America's future." Today I pres- ent the Rev. Al Sharpton, who "has survived and overcome disgraces and scandals galore, without accounting and with- out apology…He remains an un- surpassed racial hustler." (Pow- erlineblog.com, "Sharpton's Shape," 8/25) You may be aware of his reg- ular show on MSNBC. You may not have known that he has a vital role to play both for and with the Obama White House, as has recently been on nause- ating display over the Michael Brown shooting and subsequent racial protests and riots in Fer- guson, Missouri. Sharpton functioned both as a "source of information and a go-be- tween" for the White House, which worked extensively be- hind the scenes to maximize his self-styled role. His go to person was top advisor to President Obama, Valerie Jarrett, who was vacationing in her condo in the exclusive Oak Bluffs section of Martha's Vineyard, close to Obama's palatial digs. "So Sharpton is working the back channels on the admin- istration's behalf. That means MSNBC, through one of its most prominent hosts, is in ca- hoots with the White House. Plenty of pundits at the lib- eral-leaning network defend Obama, but when Sharpton does it, viewers may not real- ize that they've forged a politi- cal partnership…When a racial controversy erupts, Sharpton is there. He has a vested in- terest in keeping it alive (and) him in the spotlight." (Howard Kurtz) Before we condemn both the Democrat Party and Barack Obama for Al's cozy, even ab- surdly respected role there- with, let's summarize his abominable behavior and ac- tions over the decades: Sharp- ton single-handedly promoted the accused rape of a young, disturbed black woman, Tawana Brawley, a hoax that was eventually disproved but not until after white officers Steven Pagones and Robert Abrams suffered irreparable defamation as the supposed rapists. Only in the last decade has Sharpton admitted the ob- vious—he perpetrated a fraud- ulent and despicable phony charge, refusing to apologize to those whose reputations were destroyed. Sharpton more recently con- tributed to the miscarriage of justice surrounding the dis- missed rape charges brought against the three Duke lacrosse players—no regrets or apologies there either. He agitated over the rape charges in the "Cen- tral Park wilding" assaults of a young, white female jogger, at- tacked by a horde of black men, charges and convictions irre- futably proven in court but suc- cessfully overturned in a legal and racial circus orchestrated by Al Sharpton. "He inflamed angry mobs in Brooklyn's Crown Heights, leading to the murder of Yan- kel Rosenbaum. He incited an anti-Semitic pogrom against a Jewish-owned clothing store in Harlem, Freddy's, ending in a blaze of bullets and a fire that left several employees dead… Sharpton goes around creating personal tragedies." (Ann Coul- ter, "How to Talk to a Liberal") He has yet to admit, let alone retract this taunt: "If the Jews want to get it on, tell them to pin their yarmulkes back and come over to my house." "In 2010, Sharpton appeared on Bill O'Reilly's Fox News show peddling the Democratic Party's line tarring opponents of Obamacare and Obama's pro- gram of national socialism as racists. Sharpton told O'Reilly that he had seen the (non-ex- istent) tape showing Tea Party protesters abusing black con- gressmen with racial epithets." (Scott Johnson, Powerlineblog. com) Sharpton is easily one of the vilest men in American pol- itics; however, such a record may have simply been a resume enhancer for Democrats as he was a speaker at the 2004 Dem- ocratic National Convention. As they say about "birds of a feather," they stick together. Don Polson has called Red Bluff home since 1988. He can be reached by e-mail at donplsn@ yahoo.com. The way I see it Tea Party Patriots in year five The Annenburg Center also found that only 38 percent of Americans know that Republicans control the U.S. House of Representatives. You can't fire someone if you don't know they hold a job you didn't even know existed. Sounding off A look at what readers are saying in comments on our website and on social media. It was a fire waiting to happen from neglect by the property owners and the city of Red Bluff. Time to enforce our weed abatement ordinance and hold property owners responsible, before the whole town and county burn up from neglect. Pat Johnston: On a fire that gutted a vacant residence at 237Main St. This event is my favorite. Looking forward to next year. Name: E Denise English: On coverage of Saturday's Beef 'n Brew event in downtown Red Bluff Don Polson So , t on ig ht a t 6 p .m . a t t he We st si de G ra ng e, re tur n f or t he ca ma ra d e ri e o r mak e a f ir st v is it fo r c ur ios it y' s sa ke . Assemblyman Dan Logue, 150 Amber Grove Drive, Ste. 154, Chico 95928, 530 895-4217 Senator Jim Nielsen, 2634 Forest Ave., Ste. 110, Chico 95928, 530 879-7424, senator. nielsen@senate.ca.gov Governor Jerry Brown, State Capital Building, Sacramento 95814, 916 445-2841, fax 916 558-3160, governor@governor. ca.gov U.S. Representative Doug LaMalfa, 507 Cannon House Office Building, Washington D.C. 20515, 202 225-3076 U.S. Senator Dianne Fein- stein, One Post St., Ste. 2450, San Francisco 94104, 415 393- 0707, fax 415 393-0710 U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, 1700 Montgomery St., San Francisco 94111, 510 286-8537, fax 202 224-0454 Contact your officials OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Tuesday, September 23, 2014 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6