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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 Youcantellit'spresidential election season. Once again, politicians and the mainstream media are be- ing stupid and irresponsible. They are wasting our time on minor issues that get both sides of the conservative-lib- eral divide riled up at each other, but prevent us from fo- cusing on what really matters. We have a mess of serious problems we have to fix or deal with at home and over- seas. And what have the media, the politicians and the whole country been yapping and ar- guing about for two weeks? The symbolism of a 150-year-old Confederate bat- tle flag. Jeb Bush — as predictably as Donald Trump and the oth- ers — said on Monday that the flag is "a racist symbol" from the past that divides people and causes disagreement to- day. He said the Confederate flag should be removed from South Carolina's statehouse grounds, just as he removed it from Florida's capitol when he was governor. I agree. Though it was originally de- signed to prevent southern sol- diers from killing each other in battle, the flag has been a symbol of both heritage and hate since the beginnings of the civil rights movement. Sadly, it took a horrible tragedy in Charleston to make the country and our leading politicians realize that a state government has no business giving the Confederate flag a place of honor. Like it or not, in 2015 the Confederate flag we all saw on the roof of those 1969 Dodge Chargers on the "Dukes of Hazard" is no longer so inno- cent. Now it symbolizes two to- tally different and incom- patible things to whites and blacks. Many Southern whites still see it as a symbol of the bat- tlefield bravery of their ances- tors, or as a romantic symbol of their Southern heritage and culture. Meanwhile, for obvious rea- sons, the exact same flag is an insult to blacks. Many of their ancestors were slaves when the flag was first waved in bat- tle. And then, though freed, for the next 100 years their grand- parents and parents were treated as second-class Amer- icans by racist state govern- ments that incorporated the Confederate symbol in their official flags. If you can't understand why the black citizens of the South might consider the old Confed- erate battle flag an insult to- day, ask yourself how a Ger- man Jew would react to seeing a swastika fluttering proudly in front of the Reichstag in 2015. The Confederate flag de- serves no place of honor on government property in America. It never did. But, as usual, some have gone overboard with political correctness. Amazon and Walmart made fools of themselves when they announced that be- cause of the Confederate flag flap they were going to stop selling products that carry its image. The TV Land channel was just as idiotic when it pulled episodes of "The Dukes of Hazard." NASCAR hasn't banned Confederate flags at its races, but it still might. At least the Confederate flag hasn't been outlawed. And the First Amendment hasn't been repealed. If Confederate flag wor- shippers want to fly their col- ors, they are still free to do so on their own property. Or they can make their own flags and put them on their T-shirts or pickup trucks or sell them at flea markets and gun shows. Meanwhile, let's try to get back to things that really mat- ter in this election season. Our economy is still a wreck. We have too few good full-time jobs and way too many people on unemploy- ment, food stamps and wel- fare. We have to come up with sensible ways to reform immi- gration, health care and Social Security/Medicare. High debt and heavy taxes are going to turn us into Greece. We don't know yet how our presidential wannabes plan to fix immigration or health- care. Or how they plan to defeat ISIS or get the economy back on track after eight years of Obama. All we know for sure so far is what they think about the Confederate flag. MichaelReaganisthesonof President Ronald Reagan, a political consultant, and the author of "The New Reagan Revolution" (St. Martin's Press). Visit his websites at www.reagan.com and www. michaelereagan.com. Send comments to Reagan@ caglecartoons.com. Follow @ reaganworld on Twitter. Michael Reagan Debatingthe Confederate flag flap Cartoonist's take A recent Supreme Court de- cision makes same-sex mar- riage the law of the land. How do you feel about this split decision from the highest court in the land? If you feel this decision is a long time coming, you are a liberal or at least a born- again conserva- tive. If you find this decision is "rewriting the constitution" — as do some of the major Presi- dential candidates — then you are a conservative who con- siders Supreme Court judges as fallible and mere mortals who came to the court with plenty of prejudices. If the lat- ter is true, it suggests that the laws of the land are subject to change when the court itself changes. Judges retire, judges die, judicial life continues in myriad forms. However, in this landmark decision, if re- versed, thousands of weddings would be nullified and make the Watts riots of yesteryear merely a bonfire compared to the potential attacks on City Halls around the country. Ergo, those in opposition to the decision, get over it. The sanc- tity of marriage has not been compromised. Your mind set needs adjustment. Think of a guy kissing a guy on the mouth or a gal kissing a gal likewise as a beautiful testimony to love being a many splendored thing…and move on. ••• Regarding the above per- sonal analysis, if a reader feels offended by my remarks, I ask you to heed the following state- ment by Joshua T. Caldwell who wrote, in part, "Politi- cal Correctness Is Censorship" and begins with a quote from Voltaire: "To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criti- cize." Caldwell continues, "You say that I offended you. I say that is impossible. I cannot of- fend you. Being offended is something that happens in your head, and I have no con- trol over that. I can push you, strike you, and I can do all sorts of things that will injure you, but I cannot offend you." Caldwell's statement is much too lengthy to quote in its en- tirety, but well worth heeding. ••• There were debates back in the '60s between William F. Buckley and Norman Mailer. A writer named John Golden wrote a book about these two combatants. However, in a pro- logue he wrote that he had dropped his own given name of "Robert" in favor of "John" be- cause, he avowed, "I've never known a Robert who got very big." Ouch. But, John, how about Frost, Graves, Kennedy and, of course, Minch? Tsk, tsk. ••• Here's a little vignette that daughter Maralyn says that I, as do most politicians faced with possibly damaging re- ports, should "get out in front of." Last Sunday my pants fell down. To clarify, let's agree that many gentlemen of ad- vanced age suffer from poste- rior reduction — a diminished butt. Their butts downsize as they get older, and therefore their pants, even with a belt, lose anchorage and support of their vanishing butt. I had to drive into town late Sunday to dump trash from a barn garbage can into our trash bin in the alley behind our office. I had changed from my shorts at home into my slacks for the trip into town, but did not bother to cinch the pants up tightly, and so, when I raised the garbage can high above the trash bin in the alley, my pants fell to my ankles. I lowered the can and hoisted my pants about half mast and attempted the maneuver again, only to have the pants cascade down once again. I re-hoisted once again and this time the pants stayed in place and I was able to complete my task. As I drove away down the alley, I hoped the incident had gone unnoticed by people possibly assembled at the bus stop. If it did not, eye witnesses need not write a letter to the editor. As you note, I got out ahead of the story and it has therefore be- come a non story. Sure. ••• Douglas Sale was honored last week at the Wilcox Oaks Golf Club, and justly so; not so much for his golfing as for his overall accomplishments in the field of athletics. All present agreed that he is a fine chap as is his wife, Suzanne, she being a classmate of ours in the class of 1947. I first encountered the large Sale family sitting at their dining room table in the still standing Sale house on Gilm- ore Road about 80 years. Their phone number was party line 9-F-2, and you had to use a crank to ring out. Ritchie, the patriarch at the head of the table, his legs still clad in leather leggings from his orchard chores, carved a beef roast and passed the slices around the table. Mrs. Sale sat at the far end and nodded with approval or disapproval at the remarks from their many seated sons and daughters. Doug mentioned that the roast was from Vestal's Meat Mar- ket rather than Minch's, this bringing a flush to my face. El- eanor said that Lindley was getting a new car because his present one needed washing, and so it went about the table with jokes and wisecracks. The above named are now long gone except for Doug and myself. Virginia, Lela and Mar- garet years ago, Eleanor and Latane more recently, and then my close friend David. Only Doug remains to remind us of those happy bygone days. ••• From Red Bluff Police Logs: "25100 block of 2nd Avenue. A goat is stuck in a fence with its horns hung up. The goat was removed from the scene." It is stories like this, with a happy ending, that fill the pages of the DN. You just need to know where to look for them. You may need, of course, a magni- fying glass because the font is small and the print is light. ••• A lady with a young child was approached by a drunk who shouted "Lady, that is the ugliest kid I've ever seen." She told a nearby policeman of the man's remark. The po- liceman replied kindly, "There there, lady, ignore him, he was drunk. Here's a banana for the chimp." 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 On the Supreme Court's same-sex marriage ruling Like it or not, in 2015 the Confederate flag we all saw on the roof of those 1969 Dodge Chargers on the "Dukes of Hazard" is no longer so innocent. Sounding off A look at what readers are saying in comments on our website and on social media. Congrats Erin. Love seeing your passions used so creatively and helping others. Cindy Wilson: On Cook in Red Bluff being named Business of the Quarter. How amazing is this. I look forward to our new library. Becky Sebree: On the county receiving a $500,000grant for its planned new library. Robert Minch StateandNational Assemblyman James Gallagher, 150Amber Grove Drive, Ste. 154, Chico 95973, 530895- 4217, http://ad03.asmrc.org/ Senator Jim Nielsen, 2634 Forest Ave., Ste. 110, Chico 95928, 530879-7424, senator. nielsen@senate.ca.gov Governor Jerry Brown, State Capital Building, Sacramento 95814, 916445-2841, fax 916 558-3160, governor@governor. ca.gov U.S. Representative Doug LaMalfa, 507Cannon House Of- fice 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, 1700Montgomery St., San Francisco 94111, 510286- 8537, fax 202224-0454 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 Corning City Manager, John Brewer, 824-7033 Your officials OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Friday, July 3, 2015 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A8