Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/473563
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 Thedeathpenalty—capital punishment — is now a legal punishment in 32 states. How- ever, through- out most of our world, this ul- timate punish- ment is losing its appeal. When I was representing the citizens of Te- hama and eight other north state counties in the California Assembly, I was often asked for my position on the death penalty. I usually an- swered simply by saying; "The punishment should be the same as the crime." This topic is back in my mind again because a Sacra- mento County Superior Court Judge, Shelly Anne Chang, has ruled that California law com- pels the state's Department of Corrections to develop a better way to execute inmates by le- thal injection. In the 39 years I have been acquainted with Gov- ernor Jerry Brown, he has been against capital punish- ment. He, like some people, in- cluding judge Chang, proba- bly thinks the death penalty is "cruel and unusual punish- ment." I am not one of those peo- ple. I would like to know if you think the death penalty is cruel and unusual. This topic always makes me ask my- self the question: Should the State of California be commit- ting pre-meditated first degree murder on those who com- mit the most heinous crimes? I think strongly the state should. Michigan abolished the death penalty shortly after be- coming part of the United States in 1837. Michigan law — ratified in 1963 — now prohib- its this ultimate penalty. As you probably have heard already, Texas performs the most executions in America by far. And, in 1967 when a mor- atorium went into effect, Utah was the only remaining state to allow death row inmates to choose between a firing squad or hanging. Hanging was also used in Nebraska until 1913. Then their law required the electric chair which has now advanced to what is supposed to be a painless lethal injection. Ne- braska's most famous electro- cution was that of a mass mur- derer Charles Starkweather. In 1958 he and his 14-year- old girlfriend went on a kill- ing spree. In two months they killed 11 people in Nebraska and Wyoming. He was exe- cuted 17 months after being caught. I believe he deserved it. His girlfriend served 17 years in prison and was then released in 1976. In the last several decades 101 countries on earth have abolished the death penalty. What's quite interesting is looking at those countries that still allow capital punishment. In order, here are those coun- tries and the number of exe- cutions carried out by them in 2013: China more than 1000, Iran 369+, Iraq 169+ and our ally Saudi Arabia more than 79. There has been an enor- mous change in Africa, where seven of its countries have pro- hibited the death penalty since 2007. They are in this order: Rwanda, Burundi, Togo, Ga- bon, Benin, Madagascar and finally the country of Chad just last year. Only Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Somalia ac- tually allowed public execu- tions to be carried out re- cently. I find myself becoming even more of a capital pun- ishment advocate as I watch today's news. I think those uncivilized and unevolved ISIS terrorists should receive more than the death penalty. They, when found, tried and convicted, should be vapor- ized, if it does not cost our government too much. Just a thought I can't seem to stop. Kidnapping and behead- ing innocent citizens from around the globe deserves immediate and extreme at- tention. All right, it's time for me to take a big breath and you can give me your strong thoughts. As always, I promise to re- spond. 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 A look at capital punishment Should the State of California be committing pre-meditated first degree murder on those who commit the most heinous crimes? I think strongly the state should. Notthemajorityofpeople Editor: In a recent letter to the editor from Bernice Cressy she stated that 57% voted yes for the State of Jefferson. I have seen the State of Jef- ferson people use this figure be- fore, that is correct , however, they were very clever to put that proposition on the primary bal- lot, in that election in which less than 50% of the people in Tehama County voted. That vote was 7,242 votes yes and 5,484 votes no. Now that is the result of less than 50% percent of the registered vot- ers, that is not a majority of the people of Tehama County. That should never have gone to Sacramento, stating the citi- zens of Tehama County wanted this. Our trusted board of su- pervisors sold us out. I will never vote for anyone that put this through. Good for the supervisors in Redding, I just wished our su- pervisors cared that much for the majority of the people of Te- hama County. You would not believe some of the comments I have heard from others that live in other counties regarding this. We are the laughing stock. I cannot even repeat what they have said about those that voted for this, but it is what were they think- ing in so many words. I am ashamed that the county where I have my home let this go through. We purchased our home and land in Tehama County, state of California, because that is where we wanted to live for the remainder of our days. Never would we have done that in a place called State of Jefferson. Receiving 57% of votes when less than 50% of the people voted is not a victory. — Roberta Lewis, Red Bluff Questions about proposed liquor store Editor: This may be a waste of a stamp, but in response to Joe Taylor when did a liquor store turn into a drive-thru bar? By the way, there once was a drive-thru liquor store in Red Bluff. It was located in what is now the Enterprise Car Rental establishment. Ac- cess was through the alley and emptied on Main Street. This negated the necessity to stagger into a liquor store for another bottle. Incidentally that corner, where the Java Detour is now located, was occupied by a Shell gas station that at the time pumped more gas than any other station in northern Cali- fornia. This of course was before I-5 and all the progress that piece of pavement brought to the lo- cal folks. If pressed I could expound upon some of the other cul- tural establishments that disap- peared with the building of the freeway, such as Red Hill, Lou's Cafe, Britt's Blue Room just to name a few. Ah, the nostalgia. — Fred Boest, Red Bluff Grateful for guest columnist Editor: Thank you Mr. James Wilson. Your column in the Daily News is certainly a necessary contri- bution to the news world. Most news people are so anxious to please the so- called Democrat in the White House that they forget hon- esty, decency and integ- rity are necessary in a world where people have rights, freedoms and loyalty to their country and their country- men and women that have been sent all over the world to protect and do the bidding of helpless nations. In the last few years Wash- ington's big shots feel and act upon their feelings to belittle America and claim we are noth- ing. We have no business interfer- ing with the elections of other nations. Using American in- fluence and tax dollars to help control their elections is a viola- tion of our own laws. I am sure a great deal of for- eign money is used illegally to help control our elections. Having to have the Presi- dent's approval to invite any- one to speak to our Congress is ridiculous. I am sure if one of the Middle Eastern leaders was asked to speak, he or she would be welcomed with open arms by Washington. The idea of destroying ev- erything Christian or Jewish in the United States is apparently coming from the White House. Our military personnel are being deprived of their reli- gious rights and our chap- lains are being removed from the services. One of President Obama's ad- visers, a Mr. Weinstein, says, and I quote, American military personnel should be charged with sedition and treason for being Christians. Wake up America. It's time for the Supreme Court, the Sen- ate and the House of Represen- tatives to take action and stop this tyranny. — Jean Clayton, Red Bluff Are we any better than the terrorists? Editor: While these acts of behead- ing are more than horrific, they pale in comparison to what we as a nation are doing to the peoples of the nations we have invaded. That young child who is slowly dying of burns suffered from US firepower is someone's child, so put yourself in that parent's place that is you whose child is dying in agony. That child and parent are human be- ings. The bottom line is all of this death and destruction stems from greed and religion. — Robert Hogan, Red Bluff Your opinions Cartoonist's take Well, the joke's on us. Remem- ber during the recent "Saturday Night Live" anniversary special when Sarah Palin conducted a faux Q&A with Jerry Seinfeld? It went like this: Palin: "How much do you think (producer) Lorne Michaels would pay me if I were to run in 2016?" (Big laugh.) Seinfeld: "Run for president, Sarah? I don't think there's a number too big!" Palin: "Okay, just hypothet- ically then, what if I were to choose Donald Trump as my running mate?" (Even bigger laugh.) Seinfeld: "Sarah, you're teas- ing us! That's not nice." Mind you, this was the fun- niest, most outrageous polit- ical joke the writers at SNL could conjure: that Palin and/ or Trump would have the audac- ity to make another run for the White House. Less than two weeks later, Trump — in all apparent, bom- bastic seriousness — tells the Washington Post that he has hired staffers in key states to lay plans for a presidential run. He met with GOP National Com- mittee Chairman Reince Prie- bus, and will appear with early front-runner Jeb Bush before the Conservative Political Action Conference. Let's be clear: Donald Trump isn't just a political laughing- stock — a "celebrity bomb- thrower" as the Post referred to him — he's generally hated by his own party. A Des Moines Register poll showed Trump with a 68 percent unfavorable rating among Iowa Republicans, with half adding "very" before "unfavorable." A University of New Hamp- shire poll has it about the same, with 69 percent viewing Trump unfavorably. "The last thing we need is an- other Bush," Trump bellowed earlier this year. It's proba- bly the most astute observation the ego-driven wannabe has made, considering that until re- cently the sentiment was echoed by none other than Jeb Bush's mom. Trump claims allegiance to the so-called Tea Party wing of the GOP, a sector that stirs pas- sion among some voters during primaries and debates, further fractionalizing the party. And that makes it virtually impossi- ble for a more mainstream can- didate, like Mitt Romney, to get elected. With all its troubles, why does GOP leadership persist in allow- ing someone like Trump to ap- pear at events with its legiti- mate contenders? One obvious reason is that Trump writes a lot of large checks to GOP cam- paigns, which buys him access. Another possibility is that other potential candidates like to be seen as relatively nor- mal and tame when positioned alongside the likes of Trump or Rudy Giuliani ("I do not believe the President loves America"). Even without Trump, the Re- publican clown car has plenty of occupants, with Wisconsin's Scott Walker ("I don't know" if President Obama is Christian), Louisiana's Bobby Jindal ("We have a president right now who is not qualified to be our Com- mander in Chief") and Texas' Rick Perry ("genetic coding" makes homosexuals similar to alcoholics), all staking out more than their share of outrageous positions. Republicans should remem- ber that Trump proved to be the party's worst nightmare in 2012, blasting Romney, the even- tual nominee, and embarrassing even Tea Party stalwarts by flog- ging the "birther" issue long af- ter most people gave up on ques- tioning where the president was born. Trump insists he has no regrets. If Republicans hope to regain the White House they should start by curbing the trash talk and barring the door to public- ity-seeking pretenders like Don- ald Trump. "People around the world are laughing at us," Trump told the Post. He didn't clarify whether that was before or after he said he was interested in running for president. Peter Funt Trump's in the clown car Stan Statham OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, March 5, 2015 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6