Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/458035
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 First,letmesaythatfor whatever reason, I believe we Americans basically trash our Presidents. We somehow expect Mr. Reagan, Mr. Obama or any of our other leaders to make our lives more perfect. Many Amer- icans disliked Ronald Rea- gan because his administra- tion ignored the advice from Congress not to provide mili- tary aid to the Contras in the 1980s. Many citizens now ap- parently dislike Barack Obama because of Obamacare, to say nothing of the fact that, when departing his Marine One he- licopter in New York recently, he saluted the Marines as he stepped off the aircraft and still had a cup of coffee in his hand while doing it. What was he thinking? The controversy- hungry press named that Mr. Obama's "latte salute." Second, I have believed for some time that no human be- ing really has sufficient qual- ifications to handle the job of being the most impor- tant and powerful person on earth. President John Ken- nedy was once quoted as say- ing; "No one has the right to grade a President." I think we should ask our good cit- izens to cut our Presidents some slack. And third, I often forget that our great country has already assassinated four of our Presidents; Abraham Lincoln in 1865, James Gar- field in 1861, John McKin- ley in 1901 and John Kennedy in 1963. One has to seriously wonder why being President is so desired. This particular power has to be more than desired. I have had the great priv- ilege of meeting five Amer- ican Presidents; Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Ger- ald Ford, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Each occa- sion was in a political setting and each man was very nice. I was also impressed by their intelligence. But as citizens, I still think we expect too much from each one of them. Very quickly, I met Mr. Nixon in San Luis Obispo at a county fair, Mr. Reagan just outside the oval office as he appointed me to his Presiden- tial Commission on Drunk Driving, Mr. Ford as he ad- dressed the Bakersfield Busi- ness Conference shortly af- ter the 9-11 attack, Mr. Clin- ton in the White House along with two dozen other mem- bers of the California Legisla- ture and Mr. Obama at a Sac- ramento fundraiser only two months before he won that Democrat nomination over Hillary in 2008. At the time Mr. Obama was still a United States Senator from Illinois. As I look back, one of the emotions I feel is being very lucky to have been living in circumstances that allowed me to meet these remarkable people. Part of the problem is our penchant of turning our American elections into a pop- ularity contest — i.e., what a break it was when Barack Obama got that public support from Oprah Winfrey in his 2008 race. Another part of our challenge is probably our rat- ing and polling of everything our Presidents do. I don't be- lieve anyone can survive under the scrutiny we give our high- est leader. I believe our press today also adds, I hope unwittingly, to our negative political atmo- sphere. Maybe they get bored if they cannot find a contro- versy about which we can all argue. Tragically, I know that adds to radio, television and newspaper ratings, which di- rectly relate to the amount of money they can make as they charge advertisers for all those commercials. From the famous lyrics of Johnny Mercer; Let's all "Ac- centuate the positive, elim- inate the negative, latch on to the affirmative, don't mess with Mr. In Between." Let's not be so negative about our Presidents. I would really like to know if you agree or disagree with me. As always, I promise to personally respond to you. StanStathamserved1976- 1994 in the California As- sembly and was a television news anchor at KHSL-TV in Chico 1965-1975. He is presi- dent of the California Broad- casters Association and can be reached at StanStatham@ gmail.com. My take Ournegative attitudes about the presidents I believe our press today also adds, I hope unwittingly, to our negative political atmosphere. Maybe they get bored if they cannot find a controversy about which we can all argue. Citynotfollowingitsown rules Editor: The city of Red Bluff once again has shown us they do not have to abide by their own pol- icies, codes, ordinances or state laws. At a special City Council meeting the subject city em- ployees should not have to work under hostile and harassment conditions. This is how its written: "City's Legal Obligation to Provide Workplace Free of Harassment: 1. The City has a legal obligation to take reasonable steps to pro- vide work place free of harass- ment; or, (A) Stated differently, a work place that is not a hostile work environment. (B) Discuss- ing confidential employee com- plaints in a public meeting." My way of thinking is the City Council should have placed Po- lice Chief Paul Nanfito on paid administrative leave while they do their investigation just like they would of done if it were an officer who caused the problem. The council should respect the officers enough to allow them to do their job without be- ing under these abusive con- ditions. Their job is stressful enough. Follow through with your legal obligation to provide a workplace free of harassment and a hostile environment until the investigation is done. — Kathy Nelson, Red Bluff What makes a good neighbor? Editor: Why is it our fellow dog walking neighbors in many neighborhoods feel that they are exempt from being a good neighbor? Many seem pretty okay with allowing their dogs to make unwanted deposits on lawns and yards that are not theirs. If that were not bad enough our neighbors are also okay with not cleaning up the same doggy deposits. Maybe these neighbors feel justified because their yards are spotless and clean and maybe they just dare another neighbor to do the same. If we are to live next to one another or in the same neigh- borhood, next to or close to our fellow humans doesn't it just make reasonable and friendly sense to be kind and thought- ful of your fellow neighbors? Shouldn't being a good neigh- bor mean what it sounds like? Maybe this is one reason why neighborhoods are less and less friendly to live in. Shouldn't neighbors respect one another's property enough that if a dog makes a deposit in a yard that doesn't belong to them be friendly enough to also scoop up these deposits and throw them in the nearest trash can? Is this difficult? Is a Power Point presentation required? We usually have plastic bags handy for these oblivious or rude neighbors. I will say that when we do call our neighbors on it as they walk and stop by our yard, they have been kindly enough to clean up after them- selves, well, their dogs anyway. We provide good service to our neighbors by providing them the plastic bag. Plastic bags are easy enough to carry. Whenever we walk our dogs we always carry plastic bags for this small chore. Our dogs are small so maybe a me- dium sized would help get it all for larger deposits. Please be a good and thoughtful neighbor, carry a plastic bag or two and take care of your puppy's poop. Now, how do we get our neighbors who drive by to turn their music down? It'll probably take more than a plastic bag. — John Minton, Red Bluff Free junior college tuition makes sense Editor: The program initiated by the Republican Governor of Ten- nessee ending tuition for ju- nior colleges makes sense. This idea has now been discovered by Obama. My then hometown of Bel- leville, Ill. had free tuition for all county students for my Associ- ates Degree from 1953 to 1955. Students only paid for engineer- ing lab fees and books. In that era, most students were from poor families, academic scholar- ships were rare and there were no government subsidies such as Pell grants. The classrooms were at the corner of the public high school campus, and WW2 sur- plus steel Quonset huts ere used. The current Tennessee free junior college program relies on the $3,500 Pell grant to pay for 75 percent of the tuition costs, and states will be asked to fund 25 percent. Expensive campuses are not needed for classrooms. Junior college tuition is cur- rently very inexpensive and the proposed Tennessee program further reduces the total cost of an associate degree. This makes lots of sense. Hopefully the free tuition will be limited to those maintaining 3.0 grade point av- erages and graduate within two years. — Joseph Neff, Corning Warnings missing from announcements Editor: Why do public service an- nouncements say, "Don't drink and drive," "Don't text and drive," and surely coming soon, "Don't smoke 'medical' mari- juana and drive?" Why don't these messages also advise against these behav- iors while dating, parenting, gambling, running a business and such? Combining these ac- tivities may not immediately re- sult in physical, financial, and emotional injury. However, with time, they almost always have destructive, if not devastating, effects. That is, not just to the users themselves, but also to their loved ones, friends, and innocent bystanders. — Nathan Esplanade, Corning Your opinions Cartoonist's take The Internet is really wasted on me and wife Melissa around Valentine's Day. If you do a news search for "Valentine's Day," there are tips, hints, reminders, suggestions, pointers and guilt trips aplenty — but none that really mesh with our lifestyle. Surely you've seen the breath- less suggestions of "getaways" to mountain bed-and-breakfasts or tropical resorts. In my fam- ily dynamic, "getaways" are more along the lines of "Get away from those cookies; they're for the school bake sale! Get away from that website; you don't know where that woman has been." Numerous stories tout "mak- ing memories" on Valentine's Day. This will be our 28th Valentine's Day since we started dating, and those occasions sort of blur to- gether. I know some couples have a freakish "Rain Man" talent for recalling every detail of every Val- entine's Day, but I can live with- out ever-present images of moon- lit walks and carriage rides. At my age, I just want to remember why I entered the kitchen carry- ing a toilet brush, a jumper cable and a Monopoly top hat. Seasoned journalists take time away from practicing their Pulitzer Prize acceptance speech in order to advise us on the best decorating plans for Valentine's Day. Hey, just getting the Christ- mas tree down was an engineer- ing feat comparable to the com- pletion of the Transcontinen- tal Railroad. Why should I rush out to decorate my home with a mixture of flowers and internal organs? To me, love means never having to say, "Hey, Hannibal Lecter would love this place." Countless articles recommend splurging on Valentine gadgets, jewelry and fine dining. All of these expenditures can produce heavy breathing and anticipation — on the part of the credit card companies. ("This is the month the Tyrees will forget to pay their bill on time and wind up paying a lot of interest.") Since we have a joint checking account, we know there's no such thing as free bling. Do-it-yourself gifts, reporters gush, tell your Significant Other how important they are to you. ("Melissa, can you drive me to the E.R.? That origami rose proj- ect took a nasty twist...") Some stories try to coax you into buying your pets Valentine's Day gifts. I already spring for food, veterinary care and flea control year-round for my cats. Buying cute widdle Cupid jump- suits would only confuse them — and create unreasonable ex- pectations for Cinco de Mayo. ("I want to march in and out, in and out, in and out to the tune of my personal mariachi band.") If I shy away from putting Val- entine's Day on a pedestal, it's be- cause my Bible quotes the psalm- ist as saying, "This is the day the Lord has made; I will re- joice in it," not "This is one of the days that the Man Upstairs has phoned in, but wait until Febru- ary 14 gets here! Hubba hubba." With our little gestures, emo- tional support, sacrifices and re- iterations of "I love you," Melissa and I try to make every day Val- entine's Day. (Judging by some of the stuff growing voluntarily in my man cave, I also try to make every day Arbor Day, but I di- gress.) Maybe we pioneered "It is what it is." If Valentine's Day is indistin- guishable from February 13 and 15, fine. If our schedules, finances and health let something special happen, well, that's just gravy. "Hey, get away from the gravy. You know what that does to your cholesterol..." *Sigh* Danny Tyree welcomes email re- sponses at tyreetyrades@aol. com and visits to his Facebook fan page Tyree's Tyrades. Danny Tyree Valentine's Day — when 'tipping' meets lifestyle realities Stan Statham To me, love means never having to say, "Hey, Hannibal Lecter would love this place." OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, February 5, 2015 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6