Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/519312
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@ redbluffdailynews.com Fax: 530-527-9251 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 Idon'tcarehowpopularthe Duggar family and their TLC re- ality show "19 Kids & Counting" is with Christian conservatives. I don't care how many Repub- lican presidential hopefuls Josh Duggar posed with in Iowa, or how important his celebrity was to the Family Research Council, the conservative Christian lob- bying group. When the Duggar family's oldest son admitted he had molested and fondled five lit- tle girls — including some of his own sisters — when he was 14, it was time for conservative Christians to hold Josh and the Duggar family accountable for their actions. Most didn't. Also, I noticed, most of those who want to be the GOP's pres- ident in 2016 bit their tongues and pretended they hadn't heard the shocking news. But not Mike Huckabee, the ordained Southern Baptist min- ister. He really blew it. Rushing to his Facebook page, he said he and his wife affirmed their support for the Duggar family. He said what Josh did was "inexcusable" but not "unforgivable." "Good people make mistakes and do regrettable and even disgusting things," Huckabee wrote. Almost 70,000 of Huckabee's Facebook followers "liked" what he said, but he was completely wrong. Child molesting is not a "mis- take" you make when you're young. It's a crime against the innocent that should be prose- cuted — and one I believe that should have no statute of lim- itations. In fact, the statute of limitations is only there to pro- tect the guilty, not protect the innocent. As we wait for more shoes to drop in this scandal, I have some uncomfortable questions people should be asking. Let's start with Josh, who's now 27, has three kids and is no longer the executive director of the Family Research Council. Was he a born a molester? Was he molested as a child? Were other members of Josh's huge family molested? Should he be in therapy now? Are his own kids safe? Child molesting is evil, sad, disgusting stuff. I know. I was molested by a camp counselor when I was eight. Though my father wanted to kick his butt when he found out 34 years later, my molester never paid for his "mistake." But I did. Child molesting is often cov- ered up — and most often it's the family itself that protects the molester. Did Duggar's parents put their commercial success ahead of holding Josh accountable? Were they afraid to lose the na- tional platform TLC gave them for their strict brand of Chris- tian family values? And speaking of TLC, shouldn't we be asking its ex- ecutives what they knew about Josh's "mistake" and when they knew it? Did they care more about ratings and revenues than doing what was right? Republicans and conserva- tives should be asking the peo- ple who run the Family Re- search Council the same tough ethical questions. If it turns out they knew about Josh's past and were still willing to hire him because of his celebrity, the FRC's credibil- ity is finished. Everything it be- lieves in and has fought for will be lost.This scandal was a good time to do more than just fire Josh Duggar from the FRC and put the TV show on hold. It was also an opportunity to hold Josh accountable for his actions. But that didn't happen. As for Huckabee, I also have some questions. If you found out tomorrow that Barack Obama had mo- lested his young nieces when he was 14, would you call that "a mistake" and say you were willing to forgive him? What if teen-age Barack had been caught molesting, was rep- rimanded and was then caught molesting again a year later? Would you still say no pur- pose would be served by dis- crediting Barack Obama or his family by "sensationalizing" the story? I bet not. We all know why Huckabee blew it. He had Iowa on his mind, not God. He didn't want to lose the support of the Duggar family or his Christian base, so he de- cided to call Josh Duggar's child molesting a "mistake." But child molesting is never a mistake. No matter who does it, it's always a felony. And it's not something a cable network or a family is ever entitled to cover up. MichaelReaganisthesonof President Ronald Reagan, a political consultant, and the author of "The New Reagan Revolution" (St. Martin's Press). Send comments to Reagan@caglecartoons.com. Follow @reaganworld on Twitter. Michael Reagan Conservative Christians miscount Cartoonist's take Sources say there are approxi- mately seven billion inhabitants on earth, and they conduct their lives in over seven thousand lan- guages. However, by the end of this century, as many as 50% of the world's languages will only exist in archives. If the historical rate of loss is averaged, a language dies about every 4 months. The majority of people speak, in order of use, Mandarin Chi- nese, Spanish, English, Hindi, Arabic, Portuguese, Bengali, Russian, Japanese, Javanese, German, Korean and French. My grandson, 18, is taking a course in Russian. I suggested he learn Spanish, as the influx from the south will set the lan- guage of the future in the U.S. But he said "Nyet," and that was that. ••• During a screening of the new film "Fifty Shades of Grey" a man was attacked by three rowdy women. The responding police officers handcuffed the women, so their plan worked perfectly. I did not read the book but it ap- parently dealt with consensual bondage of some sort. ••• S. Statham writes an intelli- gent column in this paper and has a penchant for frankness that eludes many writers. In his recent effort he wrote, "I have paid for a good deal of profes- sional therapy in the past 30 years because of my failed first marriage." Assuming he was not referring to physical therapy, the well known former TV anchor must have been referring to his sessions of psychoanalysis. Although readers may have suggested it was warranted, I have never experienced couch therapy, nor to my knowledge, have any of my acquaintances. And yet, confessions and biogra- phies of the rich and famous are full of such sessions. Why is that? Perhaps they have too much time on their hands and they ei- ther pay big bucks to analysts or join a church. In either case, they want to be led. Sheep prefer to be led. Take for example "The Lord is my shepherd." I rest my case. ••• Talk about "generation gap," entertainment calendars note that well known bands will be performing in our area, namely "Smash Mouth," "Toad The Wet Sprocket" and "Tonic." It is ad- vertized that these groups have been around for over 20 years. In my day, the band leaders named their bands after them- selves. Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Count Basie, Stan Ken- ton. Woody Herman might have tagged one edition of his bands as "The Thundering Herd," but usually it was just "Woody Her- man…the Band That Plays the Blues." Even smaller groups were named after their originators: The Dave Brubeck Quartet, The Oscar Peterson Trio and so forth. True, The Modern Jazz Quartet got a lot of mileage out of its title, but it was certainly the exception to the rule. ••• Not clear on the concept de- partment: The DN reported that, "The Marine Corps League, Detach- ment 1140, Tehama and Red Bluff conducted the opening cer- emony May 16 at the Elks Lodge in Chico with rifle volleys and "Taps" as requested, at the Chico Gun Show." This is news to me, that any retail venture can get the Marine Corps League to front for them, and thereby add cred- itability to such a business ven- ture. There are a few folks who think there are enough guns in circulation already. Does this suggest that we could get the league to do their drill in front of our real estate office to promote a new subdivi- sion? The only good thing a vol- ley of rifle fire downtown would ensure would be a scattering of pigeons from nearby roofs. ••• Also in the DN this week, a re- port of a bicycle accident in An- telope which sent the rider to the hospital. However he was not left unattended for long. Cal Fire, Tehama County Fire and a St. E. ambulance all arrived at the scene in apparently a dead heat to see who would be the first re- sponder. But it does seem a little over-kill so to speak, doesn't it? ••• A phrase that should be ut- tered by prudent presidential candidates when asked about their foreign policy regarding Iran, Iraq etc: "Washington be- lieves it can manage an unman- ageable region. I know better." ••• Big Word Alert: An ex cor- porate head was described as being "defenestrated by her board." It sounds like that would hurt, but it means "re- move or dismiss (someone) from a position of power or authority." But it also means "throw somebody out a win- dow." Now, that would hurt. ••• Regarding the question- able practice of tying ribbons around downtown trees, I gar- nered a surprising response from City Hall: There does not seem to be an ordinance to that ef- fect…meaning that any well in- tentioned person could just slap a burlap bag on a tree with im- punity. That's not likely to hap- pen, of course, but it does open the door for lesser acts…such as a wrap commemorating a prom- inent downtown person's birth- day, for example. A person at least over 85, I mean. ••• Last week's quiz was first an- swered again by N. Rick stating that Jimmy Carter was the first President to be born in a hospi- tal, and that the President for- merly a King was Gerald Ford who was once Lesley King before a parental switch of some sort. As for this week's quiz, I de- fer to the author of the column "William Tells" as he is also pru- dently adapting to the 3 dot col- umn mode, thus giving him one more chore and me one less. Good show. ••• Hillary Clinton was walking one day when she saw a small boy with a box of newly born puppies. "They're so cute." "Yes Ma'am," said the lad, "they are all Democrats." "Well," said Hillary, "if you have any left next week, I will buy one." The next week she saw the boy had two left and said, "I'll buy one of your Democrat puppies." The boy corrected her, "They're Republican puppies." Hillary snapped, "Last week you told me they were Demo- crats." The boy replied, "Yes, but now they have their eyes open." 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 Use it ... or lose it Did Duggar's parents put their commercial success ahead of holding Josh accountable? Were they afraid to lose the national platform TLC gave them for their strict brand of Christian family values? Sounding off A look at what readers are saying in comments on our website and on social media. RBFD has a special place in my heart. I always have had such respect for all of them. Bless you all and I will pray for your family. Larry Stevens: On the death of Red Bluff Fire Capt. Larry Snell They need to decide what they want. This back and forth about speed of trial is making him look stupid. Sheri R. Borg: On the scheduling of the murder trial for Quentin Ray Bealer Robert Minch 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 OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Friday, May 29, 2015 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4