Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/405547
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 I wasn't in favor of shutting of travel to Ebola countries until Rwanda and Tanza- nia started screening travelers from Texas. You never know what kind of crazy viruses could spread. The last thing developing nations need is an epidemic of Yee Haw conservatism from the likes of Texas con- gressman Louie Gohmert. People have gone a lit- tle nuts in Texas over Eb- ola, even though more peo- ple have played quarterback for the Washington Redskins this year than have died from Ebola in the United States. Navarro College in Texas refused to admit a Ni- gerian student over Ebola worries even though there is no Ebola in Nigeria, which is more than Texas could say. If this is an epidemic, it's one of fear, and it presents as an aggressive strain of stupidity. And when it comes to dumb in Texas, Louie Gohm- ert is Patient Zero. The Texas congressman raised the alarm that "undocumented Democrats"—AKA, Central American refugees—were bringing Ebola across the border. His reasoning is that Obama wants all these refu- gees to come, so a bunch of terrorists are going to sneak in with them, and they had Ebola. Because Obama. "And, gee, since they're coming across our border, and you know, they don't get checked, and most of them don't get really thoroughly checked, they could be com- ing in with disease that we simply do not need," he said. "It's silly not to be more careful." Well, he's not completely wrong about it being silly. When the President didn't immediately adopt the Gohmert Doctrine and im- pose a travel ban from coun- tries from which there were no direct flights, Gohmert detected partisan motives, which is where he reached Peak Gohmert. Obama, Gohmert specu- lated, sent 3,000 troops to the Ebola zone as part of a secret deal to intention- ally import Africans infected with Ebola. Because Obama. "I can't help but believe, just based on the way we've got all these nebulous ex- cuses why not to have a travel ban. This president, I guarantee you, we're going to find out, he has cut a deal with African leaders. They're going to bring people in," he said. Gohmert, who is perhaps most famous for lecturing CNN's Anderson Cooper that terrorists were sneaking in pregnant women into Amer- ica to give birth to anchor babies, was not completely unaware that the midterms were nigh. After all, he did say that the two nurses in- fected with Ebola in Dallas were victims of the Demo- crats' "War on Women." And it wasn't all Ebola for Gohmert. He also warned us how gay backrubs can lead to terrorism. "I've had people say, 'Hey, you know, there's nothing wrong with gays in the mil- itary. Look at the Greeks,'" he said. "Well, you know, they did have people come along who they loved that was the same sex and would give them massages before they went into battle. But you know what, it's a dif- ferent kind of fighting, it's a different kind of war and if you're sitting around get- ting massages all day ready to go into a big, planned battle, then you're not going to last very long. It's guer- rilla fighting. You are going to be ultimately vulnerable to terrorism." You probably thought I was kidding about the link between gay backrubs and terrorism, didn't you? I don't joke when it comes to Louie Gohmert. The man gets a vote in Congress just like any other United States Repre- sentative, just like Sam Ray- burn, "Good Time" Char- lie Wilson, and Abraham Lincoln once did. So I treat Gohmert with the respect due his office, and when I want to make fun of him I just write down what he says and put it in the newspaper. Nowhere in anything Gohmert said during the Great Ebola Freakout of last week displayed the leader- ship we need during a cri- sis. All we got from Gohmert was a fountain of partisan- ship and conspiracy theories. Despite muddling bureaucra- cies, we are dealing with Eb- ola in the United States. The epidemic we can't handle is one of fear and ignorance. 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. Jason Stanford GOP freaking out over Ebola, gay backrubs Cartoonist's take There will be a fascinat- ing and important program on DVD tonight at the Tea Party Patriots meet- ing. Titled "The Border States," it was produced by the Tea Party and promises to be part analy- sis and part solu- tion to the horrendous reality that America effectively has no southern border under this President. That's at 6 p.m. at the Westside Grange. This is probably the best week to let people know for whom I'm voting and why; to each their own, as they say, so readers can take or leave my preferences. I don't think the pain pills I'm taking for my injured knee are having any dilatory affect on my political judgment but it is a bit chal- lenging to string the words together properly. There is an- other bottle of stronger medi- cation for after the surgery so it remains to be seen if next week's column will write it- self or not. Again, I don't presume to know what others may be de- ciding but it comes down to a fairly simple equation, the way I see it. There is no lon- ger any such thing as a "mod- erate" Democrat politician (as opposed to your more typical reasonable Democrat voter). Those who have, or had, level heads, such as Presidents Kennedy and Truman or Sen- ators like Henry "Scoop" Jack- son and Daniel Patrick Moyni- han, are gone from the ranks of Democrats much like Ron- ald Reagan and many others who left a political party that talked, walked, trended and lurched its way to further left- ward extremes with each new issue. Democrats that have ush- ered in the era of hard core progressivism—culminating in Barack Obama's, Harry Re- id's and Nancy Pelosi's as- cent to the Presidency, Senate and House leadership respec- tively—would not be recog- nized by party leaders and rank and file Democrats half a century ago. Even as re- cently as the 1990s, Presi- dent Bill Clinton and many in his party could proudly claim membership in the moderate, business-friendly Democratic Leadership Council. Today's Democrat core constituencies are so beholden to ideologi- cally pure leftism that they think Hillary Clinton is in- sufficiently liberal enough to carry out their radical redis- tribution agenda. Some Democratic candi- dates, like the ones we see vy- ing for office here in the ru- ral parts of northern Califor- nia, can talk like moderates, call themselves moderates and even take a stand now and then that veers away from the uber-liberal posi- tions held by party leaders. However, when ideological push comes to shove they will toe the left side of the line. They may even flat-out lie to the public and then wink and nod to their core supporters who know that you can't get elected in, for instance, coal mining areas while support- ing efforts to destroy coal as a source of inexpensive electric- ity. They can't be honest with voters if you know that their Democratic party agenda is going to continue to jack up energy prices, make it more expensive to hire employees and staff a business, cut "we, the people" off from using our collectively owned resources, and fail to provide the wa- ter that is essential to a rural economy. I have therefore come to the conclusion that there is no way to vote for any Dem- ocrat for any office, high or low. When I look at the bal- lot sheet and see "Party Pref- erence: Democratic," that can- didate's qualifications, ac- complishments or ethical strengths are irrelevant to what must be done locally, in Sacramento or Washington, DC, to restore an abundant and free America. One might find differences with a belief or position of any particular Republican candidate but a vote for anyone but a Repub- lican is essentially a vote to empower and legitimize the undermining of our Consti- tution, our liberties and our economic system. That may be a harsh judgment but un- til Democrats come to their senses, that's going to be my stand. I'll gladly work to make the Republican Party con- form to the maximum degree with what is best for Amer- ica, its people and our system as envisioned by our Found- ers through the Declaration of Independence, the Consti- tution and Bill of Rights. For those reasons I have no hesi- tation in voting for Doug La- Malfa, Jim Nielsen and James Gallagher for their respective offices. I know that Doug will carry out my desires and vi- sion in Congress and that Jim and James, although badly outnumbered in Sacramento by the leftist Democrat major- ity, will do their best to pro- tect our interests and way of life. In the "Judicial" section, I've been informed by sources I trust that Kathryn Mickle Werdegar, Vance W. Raye, An- drea Lynn Hoch, Ronald B. Robie and William J. Mur- ray, Jr. deserve a "Yes" vote. I've marked all the others with "No." For Superintendent of Public Education, I'm vot- ing for Marshall Tuck; I con- cluded from reading that the teachers' union gives their support to Tuck's opponent that the best choice would be the candidate not supported by the union. Tuck has appar- ently earned the unions' ire by favoring charter schools and reform generally—that's kind of like holding up a cross in front of a vampire. Likewise, if you see that the unions sup- port any of the candidates for any school district, vote for the other ones. On the propositions, I've concluded that none of them— 1, 2, 45, 46, 47 and 48—should be passed by voters. I don't trust that any of the high- sounding goals and purposes will ultimately pan out as in- tended and that money raised for bonds will just unneces- sarily add to California's fis- cal burden. Don Polson has called Red Bluff home since 1988. He can be reached by e-mail at don- plsn@yahoo.com. The way I see it Democrats no longer moderate like Truman, JFK, Moynihan Navarro College in Texas refused to admit a Nigerian student over Ebola worries even though there is no Ebola in Nigeria, which is more than Texas could say. If this is an epidemic, it's one of fear, and it presents as an aggressive strain of stupidity. Assemblyman Dan Logue 150Amber Grove Drive, Ste. 154, Chico 95928, 530895- 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, Sacra- mento 95814, 916445-2841, fax 916558-3160, governor@ governor.ca.gov U.S. Representative Doug LaMalfa 507Cannon House Office Building, Washington D.C. 20515, 202225-3076 U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein One Post St., Ste. 2450, San Francisco 94104, 415393- 0707, fax 415393-0710 U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer 1700Montgomery St., San Francisco 94111, 510286- 8537, fax 202224-0454 Contact your officials Don Polson Democrats that have ushered in the era of hard core progressivism—culminating in Barack Obama's, Harry Reid's and Nancy Pelosi's ascent to the Presidency, Senate and House leadership respectively— would not be recognized by party leaders and rank and file Democrats half a century ago. Even as recently as the 1990s, President Bill Clinton and many in his party could proudly claim membership in the moderate, business-friendly Democratic Leadership Council. Today's Democrat core constituencies are so beholden to ideologically pure leftism that they think Hillary Clinton is insufficiently liberal enough to carry out their radical redistribution agenda. OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Tuesday, October 28, 2014 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6