Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/486484
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 WhenTedCruzofficially stepped into the 2016 presi- dential ring this week the boo- birds attacked immediately. But it wasn't just the liber- als of the mainstream media who threw bottles and chairs at the conservative Texan. It was Cruz's fellow Repub- licans. Is he qualified after only three years in the Senate? Where was he born again? Isn't he too aggressively Chris- tian? Isn't he too conservative to win the general election? Shouldn't we nominate some- one more moderate, someone who isn't hated by the MSM and wouldn't scare indepen- dents? Unfortunately, we've al- ready heard lots of negative chatter — from Republicans — about the political weaknesses and ideological imperfections of candidates like Cruz, Bush and Christie. There will be more. It's a shame. Thanks to Obama and his failures at home and abroad, Republicans are in a great position to re- take the presidency next year. Almost anyone who's think- ing of running in 2016 — Walker, Bush, Paul, Rubio, Christie, Huckabee, Jindal, Santorum, Kasich, Carson, Fiorina, Pataki, Bolton, even Donald Trump — has a decent chance of winning the keys to the White House. But America's most consis- tently conservative institution, talk radio, has already started stirring up trouble among Re- publicans the way it did in 2008 and 2012. Talk radio is already taking sides and trying to tell conser- vatives which potential nomi- nee is most worthy to wear the mantle of Ronald Reagan. When my father ran in the 1980 primaries he was lucky. He was a lone conservative in a sea of moderate and liberal Republicans. The moderates split the moderate vote and he won the nomination. Today the situation is re- versed. Conservatives are split- ting the conservative vote in the primaries and moderates like McCain and Romney are winning the GOP nomination. Conservatives better watch out. If what happened in '08 and '12 happens in '16, we are going to blow our chance to regain the White House once again. We need to decide early who we want to lead the GOP ticket in 2016. Unfortunately, we probably won't do that be- cause we all have our favorite contenders. When I tweeted that Cruz said something I agreed with in his speech, I got a flurry of tweets from Rand Paul people. "Why do you hate Rand Paul?" When I tweeted something nice about Rand Paul, I got a flurry of tweets from Cruz's people. "Why do you hate Ted Cruz?" This is one of the worst problems with conservatives. Liberals are led by ideology and they'll always support their nominee in the general election because of that. Conservatives are always looking for their next leader — their next Ronald Reagan. But conservative nominees are all over the ideological map and each one has too many spite- ful followers. If Rand Paul gets the GOP nomination, the Cruz people will stay home in November. If Cruz gets it, the Paul peo- ple will stay home. Ditto for the followers of Huckabee and others. Barack Obama is president of the USA today because too many conservative Republi- cans didn't show up to vote for Romney in 2012, not because too many Democrats voted to reelect Obama. The GOP should nominate a strong conservative for 2016. I prefer ex-governors, but Cruz, Paul, Walker, Perry, Rubio and Kasich all come to mind as good candidates. It'll take a miracle for Re- publicans to get their act to- gether this time. They should follow "The Buckley Rule" and choose the best conservative who has the best chance of winning the general election. In other words, not a Goldwater of 1964 but a Reagan of 1980. But no matter who Repub- licans nominate, to win back the White House they'll all have to follow my father's 11th Commandment and fully sup- port their party's presidential nominee -- no matter who it is. MichaelReaganisthesonof President Ronald Reagan, a political consultant, and the author of "The New Reagan Revolution" (St. Martin's Press). He is the founder of the email service reagan.com and president of The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Visit his websites at www.reagan.com and www.michaelereagan. com. Send comments to Reagan@caglecartoons.com. Follow @reaganworld on Twitter. Michael Reagan Republicans versus Republicans Cartoonist's take I shuddered when reading that Senator Ted Cruz, Republi- can, Texas, has announced his presidential candi- dacy. In my book, he is a dangerous and deranged can- didate. He wants to revive a strain of American evan- gelicalism that was birthed in the 1980s by the Rev. Jerry Falwell, and knowing of that narrow minded approach, it is no wonder that Ted is against abortion, Obamacare and would like to do away with the IRS. In other words he is a type em- braced by Tea Party members. Senator Cruz proudly states that "God isn't done with Amer- ica!" However, if there is a God, I hope he is done with Cruz. ••• Speaking of religious fervor, be aware of recent studies that indicate what you might choose to become if you have certain predilections. For example if you choose to worship a ton of gods, and you want to be reincarnated as, say, a black cat, you might choose to become a Wiccan. If you don't want to come back as a cat, and you prefer Indian or Chinese takeout, you would become a Buddhist or a Hindu. If you only choose to worship one god, how do you feel about bacon? If you shun it, be a Jew. If you love hummus, be a Mus- lim. If you chose to worship no god, are you rich or insane? If your answer is no, become an Atheist. If yes, be a Scientologist. But going back to worshipping just one god, if you love bacon, and if you are a naturally annoy- ing person, then be a boring ge- neric Christian. ••• Hillary — she only needs to go by one name, like Madonna — is on the hot seat for withholding personal e-mails which she is re- quired to turn over to the govern- ment. They may include informa- tion relevant to national security. That sort of thing. And she has employed a staff to read through what she has sent and that which she has not sent. Her staff in- cludes her lawyers. Plural. You know, I could use a cou- ple of lawyers to read through my e-mails — those sent and those withheld. E-mails, for the computer literate, are like tick- ing time bombs. Sent, they go off and may explode into biting and sarcastic replies, or worse. In the carpenter trade an axiom reads "measure twice, cut once." Best read one's e-mails twice before hitting send once. Hillary's staff also read her missives for typos. Think how damaging they could be if (as in last week's joke) the word "wife" was sent rather than "wifi." She might have sent a confidential e- mail to a friend years ago when Hillary might have written "Bill has been having his way with a colleague's wife" and she meant "wifi." Could have triggered the whole intern thing and other in- discretions. ••• Whew. I was forwarded what I thought to be Wednesday's DN column thinking it was by new guy on the column block Bill Cornelius when it was actu- ally by comic great Will Durst. It was so clever and on point that I thought my stuff was be- ing greatly challenged by B. Cor- nelius. Not to worry, I guess. Bill does write very well, but he does not have my total recall. For ex- ample he was thinking of the Buck Rogers serials in the old days of the State Theatre when they were actually Flash Gordon with Dale Arden and Doctor Zar- kov. And Buck never met up with Ming the Mercilles. Tsk, Tsk. ••• My favorite photo of our old meat plant two miles west of town, showed our work force out in front of the plant. The employees were aligned left to right. On the end were peo- ple like yard bird Walt Forbes and on the right our head cat- tle buyer Hank Kerber, Sr. In the middle was my father, and I was by his side age 14. Over the years I have shown this photo to any- one that had the time to reflect upon what a going concern the plant eventually became. In the photo, circa 1943, the workforce totaled 25. Prior to its closing in 1975, Minch's Wholesale Meats had a payroll of 150. But that's not the story. When showing the photo, I al- ways mentioned those who had passed and those left standing. The count finally got down to truck driver Herb Bowe, me and bookkeeper Joyce Mathis Per- rine — father referred to her as "Joycely." Then it was just Joyce and me. Over the intervening years, I would visit her at her home and then in Lassen House Assisted Living. Though increas- ingly frail, she was always sharp of mind. Now she too is gone. As the youngest in the photo at the time, I suppose it was inevitable that I would be the last standing. But I would love to revisit that group one more time. ••• And while on the subject of the demised, investor Vernon McK- ale of San Francisco went to his reward this week. He was in his 90s and led a long productive life before being diagnosed with Al- zheimer's. He was the one that really got me going in the real es- tate business, for he owned many properties in Red Bluff which I managed for him and eventually sold. I negotiated the sale of the former Clark's Drugstore build- ing at 760 Main, and convinced him to divide it into four suites with our keeping the prime cor- ner for our new office. With the exception of my father, he had the sharpest mind for figures I have ever seen and the onset of the disease would have been par- ticularly distressing for him and his loved ones. Not a way to go. ••• Two policemen — Constable Ken and Constable Bob — called into their station on the radio. "Hello. Is that the you, Sarge?" "Yes?" "This is Constable Ken with Constable Bob, and we are in- vestigating a shooting. A woman has shot her husband for step- ping on the wet kitchen floor she had just finished mopping." "Have you arrested the woman yet?" "No sir, you see, the floor is still wet. Robert Minch is a lifelong resident of Red Bluff, former columnist for the Corning Daily Observer and Meat Industry magazine and author of the "The Knocking Pen." He can be reached at rminchandmurray@hotmail. com. I say Cruz is a dangerous, deranged candidate Conservatives better watch out. If what happened in '08 and '12 happens in '16, we are going to blow our chance to regain the White House once again. Sounding off A look at what readers are saying in comments on our website and on social media. Great kid! I love his SERRF shirt!! Becky Sebree: On 5-year-old Wyatt Ferrero who raised $67to donate to the library. Wait until he gets a little older, then see what he can do. Joyce Powell: On 5-year-old Wyatt Ferrero who raised $67to donate to the library. Robert Minch StateandNational Assemblyman James Gallagher, 150Amber Grove Drive, Ste. 154, Chico 95973, 530895-4217, http://ad03.asmrc.org/ Senator Jim Nielsen, 2634Forest Ave., Ste. 110, Chico 95928, 530 879-7424, senator.nielsen@sen- ate.ca.gov Governor Jerry Brown, State Capi- tal Building, Sacramento 95814, 916445-2841, fax 916558- 3160, governor@governor.ca.gov U.S. Representative Doug La- Malfa, 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, 1700 Montgomery St., San Francisco 94111, 510286-8537, 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, Richard Crabtree, 527-2605, Ext. 3061 Your officials OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Friday, March 27, 2015 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4