Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/559706
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 IsDonaldTrumptheRepublicanParty's "Music Man"? Is he the celebrity con man who's going to lead the GOP's parade of candidates from now all the way until next November? Ihopenot,butsofarthat's exactly what the 2016 script is looking like. Trump – a political nov- ice -- has been leading the Re- publican's presidential march- ing band all over the politi- cal landscape. His campaign's theme song should be "Sev- enty-Six Trombones." He's been calling all the tunes, attracting all the me- dia attention and the big- gest crowds, killing in all the polls and making a lot of pro- fessional politicians and their campaign managers look like a squad of high school baton twirlers. Over the weekend Trump fleshed out his awful immigra- tion policies. They include erecting a "strong, strong" wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, making Mexico pay for its construction by docking remittances, de- porting all illegal immigrants from the States and revoking birthright citizenship guaran- teed by the Constitution. Trump's policies for achiev- ing "real immigration reform" have a populist appeal. They are music to the ears of GOP hardliners, too, but they're im- practical, unrealistic, stupid and unconstitutional. Yet when members of the Republican Party's elite corps of presidential wannabes were contacted by the media earlier this week, not one of them had the courage to really go after Trump or his bad policy ideas. Chris Christie, the tough- guy governor from New Jersey muttered something like "Ev- erything's on the table." Scott Walker, the brave union-busting governor of Wisconsin, dodged a question about ending birthright cit- izenship for kids born in the U.S. to parents who came here illegally. Carly Fiorina turned un- characteristically soft, say- ing she agreed with some of Trump's tough positions on immigration but questioned his ability to implement them. John Kasich, Ohio's no non- sense governor, didn't bash Trump personally, but at least he pointed out that hunting down people who are here ille- gally is not doable, right or hu- mane. At first Jeb Bush, a virtual liberal on immigration, barely took issue with Trumps' fool- ish and impossible promise to build an impenetrable wall along the Mexican border. But on Wednesday Jeb came out against "anchor babies," proving that Trump is set- ting the agenda and changing things. No candidate I heard noted that deporting millions of ille- gal immigrant families would take years and cost billions in court costs, since every de- portee would be entitled by law to a hearing and an ap- peal. No principled conservative- libertarian candidate pulled out his pocket-size copy of the U.S. Constitution and pointed out that ending the birthright citizenship would mean hav- ing to first pass a constitu- tional amendment. Republicans and conser- vatives are running out of time. Trump is already too off-the-charts to be hurt by anything he says, and he's too rich and egotistical to fade away. He's going to be around next fall causing trouble for the GOP. Some Republican presiden- tial candidate – Ben Carson? Carly Fiorino? Rand Paul? — needs to stand up now and separate themselves and the Republican Party from the Party of Trump before it's too late. Some gutsy candidate has to step out of the GOP's march- ing band and pound home the truth about "The Music Man" – that he is an idiot and he and his ideas do not represent the Republican Party or con- servatism. MichaelReaganisthesonof President Ronald Reagan, a political consultant and the author of "The New Reagan Revolution" (St. Martin's Press). He is the president of The Reagan Legacy Foundation. He can be reached at Reagan@caglecartoons. com. Follow @reaganworld on Twitter. Michael Reagan It's time to take on Donald Trump Cartoonist's take Candidate D. Trump has per- fected a self-satisfied smirk or grimace, which suggests he practices it in front of his mir- ror. The down side of this is that he looks like a fool and certainly someone not to be trusted. The up- side is that when one confronts him and comes up with a relevant question, Trump may decide to break into a grin, the recipient can feel rewarded and believe he is talking to someone of sincer- ity and merit. I once knew a fellow who adapted such a visage. He had a ranch down south and had been interviewed by a Chico newspa- per person who discovered that the rough and tumble cattleman quoted Shakespeare, which ap- parently was designed to boost his ego, meaning he was more important than just a fellow with cow manure on boots. Thus the reporter found his hook, and the Shakespeare spouting cat- tleman was conjured up for the reading public. This was back in the late 1970s when I was first getting my bear- ings in the real estate business and had volunteered to go with Lyle Hansen, a former school teacher and a crackerjack sales- woman, to meet with this cattle- man who had expressed a desire to sell his ranch. We drove to his ranch and in- troduced ourselves. The guy im- mediately displayed his patented grimace and let us know he was not a man to be trifled with. While Lyle quizzed him about his ranch and the personal prop- erty thereon, he gave short terse answers…but invariably slipped in a Shakespearean quote or two to demonstrate his acumen. However, when two boys of 12 or 13 ventured by, with their heads drooping he shouted out, "Hey, you sonsabitches, I thought I told you to clean out the barn!" This startled us and we were surprised to learn they were his sons. I thought to berate him by asking if Shakespeare ever cre- ated a character that referred to his own sons in such a man- ner, but held my tongue for fear it would cause Lyle to lose a list- ing. But I should have called him on it, for that is the only kind of response a bully like him would understand. And so goes it for Trump. When he opens his mouth for his inane remarks, the gloves of the press should come off, and he should get as good as he gives. However, leave it to Will Durst for the last say in the mat- ter: "Trump's presidential cam- paign is like a baboon's butt. The higher he climbs, the harder it is to look. ••• I am mailing a lengthy article to a friend. It comes from The New Yorker regarding Cuba and how the country and the people will be affected by the new nor- malization created by President Obama. The recipient is a long time client who spends several months each year in that coun- try via a devious route through Mexico. He will digest the arti- cle and then give me his take on the matter. He loves the place. He admires the people, the pace, and when he bicycles about the place, day and night, he never fears for his safety. To hear him tell it, Cuba has benefited from the Castro regime. I tell him that we are told the people are repressed and suffer from the dictatorship, and he says non- sense. We shall see how he responds to the article. ••• Sources say a reading of the Bible can generate for the skep- tical a bit of humor. For exam- ple, a letter to a Dr. Laura from James M. Kauffman, Ed D. Pro- fessor reads: "Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I've learned a great deal from watching your TV show. For example, when some- one attempts to defend the ho- mosexual lifestyle, I simply re- mind them that Leviticus clearly states it to be an abomination… end of debate. However, I do need your advice on other ele- ments of God's Law. Please clar- ify. 1) Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves. As they ap- pear to be hard to come by these days, I'm thinking getting them from Canada. Your thoughts? 2) When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord. Lev. 1:9. The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them? 3) I have a neighbor who in- sists on working on the Sab- bath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it? 4) A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination, Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homo- sexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this? Are there 'degrees' of abomination? ••• Last Saturday was the open- ing of Kevin's Doughnuts at 228 S. Main St. I don't know if it was their grand opening, but it was plenty impressive with the larg- est array of doughnuts, fritters and what have you that I have ever seen. Gerardo and Elena Sustaita Ramos are the pro- prietors and bakers, and they named the new enterprise after their son Kevin. ••• Brian was a happily married man whose only complaint was that his wife was always nursing sick birds. One night he came home to find his wife tending to a shivering wren. He stormed about the kitchen where his wife was wrapping a towel around the little bird. "I can't take much more of this," raged Brian. "You've got to get rid of all these damn birds." "Sssh. Please, dear," inter- rupted his wife. "Not in front of the chilled wren." Now , you may agree with the critics that the pun is the lowest form of humor, but I say there is a time and place for every- thing…and this is the place for a pun to start readers off for a good weekend. 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 A bully like Trump should be called to account Trump's policies for achieving 'real immigration reform' have a populist appeal. They are music to the ears of GOP hardliners, too, but they're impractical, unrealistic, stupid and unconstitutional. Sounding off A look at what readers are saying in comments on our website and on social media. I walk there daily. Kids will be kids. No fear. Geno Silk Hobbs: On the arrest of an 18-year- old for a July shooting near the Diversion Dam There definitely needs to be more bicycle lanes in Red Bluff and the bicycle law needs to be enforced to prevent accidents like this, but truthfully there's not nearly enough room on the main roads for bicyclist to ride their bikes, so it really leaves them no choice but to ride on the sidewalks. Sara Slack: On a vehicle vs. bicycle collision at Main and Willow streets that le cyclist injured Robert Minch StateandNational Assemblyman James Gallagher, 2060Talbert Drive, Ste. 110, Chico 95928, 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 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, 1700Montgomery St., San Fran- cisco 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, August 21, 2015 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4