Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/479983
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 By Jason Stanford The Republican opposi- tion to striking a nuclear deal with Iran puzzled me, until my friend Truman explained that it's exactly like the famous trac- tor scene from Kevin Bacon's 1984 class movie, "Footloose." "There's that expression, 'I'd rather be lucky than good,'" said Truman as he sipped on a frozen margarita. "Not so with the politics of nuclear weap- ons." This is the kind of analysis you get when you meet your D.C. insider friend over drinks at Tortilla Coast, a popular Capitol Hill Tex-Mex joint. Tru- man—not his real name—can't talk on the record about what he knows, which is a shame be- cause when he explains things, you realize how smart folks in Washington are behind their talking points. In his telling, Kevin Ba- con is Secretary of State John Kerry, and on the other trac- tor is Iran's President Hassan Rouhani. If you're a God-forsaken mil- lennial whose education did not include the classics of the western canon, let me catch you up. City kid Bacon moved to a tiny rural town. The lo- cal preacher said dancing was sinful, and since he sat on the city council he was able to ban dancing. Bacon started dating the preacher's wild daughter, and they threw a dance out- side city limits where every- body went footloose. OK, maybe "Footloose" was no Shakespeare, but for chil- dren of the 1980s it was a big deal. In the tractor scene, Ba- con's character is goaded into a game of chicken against the lo- cal tough guy who used to date the preacher's daughter. Bacon wanted to bail early, but he was wearing sneakers and his shoe- laces got caught in the pedals. He was forced to take the hard line, and the local tough guy chickened out. According to Truman, that's what congressional Republi- cans and Israel's Benjamin Ne- tanyahu are after. "They think Iran will swerve into the ditch just like the smarmy guy in the movie, if only we pass ad- ditional sanctions and hold out for a unicorn of a deal. Just stay tough like Kevin Bacon and his tied shoelaces. You'll get the girl," he said. A "unicorn of a deal" in this case would be Iran getting rid of its entire nuclear power pro- gram. And under the prevail- ing Republican theory, if we couldn't bully them into this politically impossible capitula- tion, we could just bomb 'em. Problem solved! Unicorns! The problem with uni- corns is that they don't ex- ist. If we turned up the sanc- tion heat against Iran, we'd lose the support of Russia and France. Iran's President would strengthen his political situa- tion by standing up to us. The Republican position ignores re- ality, but what else is new? Take the politics out of the Iran nuclear talks, and we're left with a simple choice: If we can make a deal with Iran, they won't have a nuclear bomb. If talks fall apart, Iran will get a nuclear bomb as quickly as pos- sible, and we'll be drawn into yet another war in the Middle East. Which brings us back to the tractor scene. "People might remember that scene differently, at least for its foreign policy lessons," said Tru- man. "Namely that brinkman- ship is a dangerous gamble, that one should fight for a peaceful resolution first when it's possi- ble. Otherwise you might find yourself tied to a tractor on a collision course. That once you get on the tractor, survival isn't guaranteed. And ultimately, that Kevin Bacon got lucky." There's a fair trade to be made here. Iran needs the sanctions lifted. We need them to not make nuclear bombs. If we do that, we will move mea- surably away from a man-made apocalypse. If we screw this up, the world will become a more dangerous place. To those like my friend who do this work everyday, it's that simple. "It's better to be good than lucky. Keep negotiating while it's still possible," said Truman. "And stay off the tractor." JasonStanfordisaregular contributor to the Austin American-Statesman, a Democratic consultant and a Truman National Security Project partner. You can email him at stanford@ oppresearch.com and follow him on Twitter @ JasStanford. Jason Stanford 'Footloose' can teach us about Iran Cartoonist's take Take the politics out of the Iran nuclear talks, and we're left with a simple choice: If we can make a deal with Iran, they won't have a nuclear bomb. If talks fall apart, Iran will get a nuclear bomb as quickly as possible, and we'll be drawn into yet another war in the Middle East. Sounding off A look at what readers are saying in comments on our website and on social media. God is so faithful, even when we think we can be like our little 2-year-olds, "I can do it myself." He loves us so much he lets us try, and we try it our way, try to make it happen, but to no avail, we finely give in, and he is there, as ever, waiting with open arms. All we need to do is trust and obey. Even for Christians this is an ongoing growth. Dollarene Button: On a God Talk column written by Marilyn Adams, titled "Invasion" It would be nice but the drug cartels grow is polluted with pesticides, many of which aren't even legal in the US. They bring it in with them. Patients can't use polluted and corrupted meds. As a cancer patient, I won't use it even if it was tossed at me as a freebie. Kelly Walen: On letter suggesting confiscated marijuana be given to patients StateandNational Assemblyman James Galla- gher, 150 Amber Grove Drive, Ste. 154, Chico 95973, 530 895- 4217, http://ad03.asmrc.org/ 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 La- Malfa, 507 Cannon House Of- fice 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 Fran- cisco 94111, 510 286-8537, fax 202 224-0454 Local Tehama County Supervisors, 527-4655 District 1, Steve Chamblin, Ext. 3015 District 2, Candy Carlson, Ext. 3014 District 3, Dennis Garton, Ext. 3017 District 4, Bob Williams, Ext. 3018 District 5, Burt Bundy, Ext. 3016 Red Bluff City Manager, Rich- ard Crabtree, 527-2605, Ext. 3061 Corning City Manager, John Brewer, 824-7033 YOUR OFFICIALS If you are a conservative, a Republican, a Tea Party devo- tee, or even a Libertarian—ba- sically, if you are anything other than a leftist Democrat—I have a way to show your support for your beliefs. On Saturday, March 28th, the annual Red, White and Blue Republican dinner will be held at the Veterans Memo- rial Hall on Oak Street. Doors will open at 5 p.m.; the pro- gram and dinner will com- mence at 6:30. You can call to make a reservation—which is really necessary for the ca- terer to plan the meal count— with Ken at 529-1226 or Linda at 865-2666. This year's event stands out for several reasons: 1) The featured speaker will be our newly elected local Assembly- man, James Gallagher, 2) The recipient of a new recognition, the Chairman's Award, will be announced in addition to the Republican of the Year, 3) A marvelous piece of inspired art by a "pint-sized" hero, Jes- sen Whelchel, will be auc- tioned to the highest bidder, 4) local talent will be presented in song and performance, and 5) a scrumptious dinner by CK Catering, California Kitchen & Company. I don't know about you but, in my case, eating out just isn't on my dietary menu any longer so I love having a chance to sidle up to a buf- fet of slow smoked pork shoul- der, top sirloin, baked beans, corn on the cob, green salad, fresh baked bread or rolls and (what could be more Ameri- can than) apple pie a la mode. Some folks like a plate pre- pared and placed in front of them in a sit-down manner but I will take a serve-yourself buffet anytime I have a choice, which, as I said, is not very of- ten. Something about calories or other such nonsense. Assemblyman James Galla- gher deserves a few words. He was overwhelmingly elected last November to represent us in Sacramento and try to fill the shoes of Jim Nielsen. He is an agricultural attorney which, truth be told, is a com- mendable area of law consid- ering how important it is to have legal beagles on our side of the ideological table. When you think about how deter- mined are the environmental wackos and their liars/lawyers to attack agriculture through- out this state, that incredibly important part of our econ- omy needs the talents and de- votion of people like Assem- blyman Gallagher. He is working to create jobs and improve California's busi- ness climate by fighting the liberal tax-and-spend policies in Sacramento. He is a strong supporter of the 2nd Amend- ment, an advocate for pro- tecting our North State wa- ter rights and an opponent of the Governor's dangerous pub- lic safety realignment pro- gram known as AB 109. Who says nobody is still married to their high school sweetheart— James Gallagher is, that's who. Anyway, he's a real easy guy to get to know and talk to. Indi- vidual seats are $40; tables of 4 or 8 are available if you have a family, personal or business group you'd like to dine with. Tickets are not sold at the door; call ASAP. A big part of the Tehama County Republican annual budget—much of which de- rives from the dinner reve- nue and sale of silent auction items—is devoted to awarding scholarships to deserving high school students. The num- ber and dollar amounts vary from year to year but this year will build on previous annual awards that recognize the role of community service in good citizenship among our rising youths. "As a committee, we felt this was one way we could invest into the future," said Michael Holtsclaw, Tehama County Republican Chair. "Most scholarships reward those students who stand out academically, and that's im- portant, but we also want to honor those who do a lot in or- der to better the community in which they are a part." From the press release: "All qualifying high school seniors in Tehama County may ap- ply for the scholarship. Appli- cants must be a member of the current year graduating class from any public, private, charter or home school lo- cated in Tehama County who has maintained at least a 2.0 grade point average in high school. Students will also be asked to complete an applica- tion, provide two letters of ref- erence and to submit an essay detailing their community ser- vice and why community ser- vice is important in being a contributing citizen. "The scholarships will be awarded to worthy recipi- ents who will pursue a course of study leading to a post- secondary degree or certifi- cate from a college, univer- sity, community college, or vo- cational school. The school where such studies are to be pursued shall be accredited and/or approved by the appro- priate State Department of Education. Scholarship appli- cation forms may be obtained from the Tehama County Re- publican Central Committee website, www.tehamagop.org. Completed applications must be submitted on or before April 15 to be considered." I can't leave the subject of the Red, White and Blue din- ner without a few words about the to-be-auctioned artwork by young Jessen Whelchel. He says his artistic mission is to be an "agvocate" whose art- work "serves as a voice pro- moting agriculture and shar- ing positive images and per- ceptions of farming." I am looking at his face in pho- tos from a flyer by California Women for Agriculture, which auctioned some of his art, per- sonally created to reflect his vision of various aspects of farming: fields, tractors, crop dusting airplanes, animals and orchards. His smile is so bright, so full and infectious that I sim- ply can't help but smile to see him; knowing of his personal health challenges only boosts my attitude on life. He has "plowed through treatment" and devoted himself to a con- stant, positive focus. "Jessen takes joy in sharing with oth- ers the inspiration that got him through difficult days in the hospital: his love of agri- culture." 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 Come and get it — dinner time Don Polson OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Tuesday, March 17, 2015 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6