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4A Daily News – Tuesday, March 20, 2012 Opinion Where spring can propel us D NEWSAILY RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 8 5 Greg Stevens, Publisher gstevens@redbluffdailynews.com Chip Thompson, Editor editor@redbluffdailynews.com Editorial policy The Daily News opinion is expressed in the editorial. The opinions expressed in columns, letters and cartoons are those of the authors and artists. Letter policy The Daily News welcomes let- ters from its readers on timely topics of public interest. All let- ters must be signed and pro- vide the writer's home street address and home phone num- ber. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and cannot exceed two double-spaced pages or 500 words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section of those submit- ted will be considered for publi- cation. Letters will be edited. Letters are published at the discretion of the editor. Mission Statement We believe that a strong com- munity newspaper is essential to a strong community, creating citizens who are better informed and more involved. The Daily News will be the indispensible guide to life and living in Tehama County. We will be the premier provider of local news, information and advertising through our daily newspaper, online edition and other print and Internet vehi- cles. The Daily News will reflect and support the unique identities of Tehama County and its cities; record the history of its com- munities and their people and make a positive difference in the quality of life for the resi- dents and businesses of Tehama County. How to reach us Main office: 527-2151 Classified: 527-2151 Circulation: 527-2151 News tips: 527-2153 Sports: 527-2153 Obituaries: 527-2151 Photo: 527-2153 On the Web www.redbluffdailynews.com Fax Newsroom: 527-9251 Classified: 527-5774 Retail Adv.: 527-5774 Legal Adv.: 527-5774 Business Office: 527-3719 Address 545 Diamond Ave. Red Bluff, CA 96080, or P.O. Box 220 Red Bluff, CA 96080 This being the first day of spring it seems appropriate to consider what to accomplish and what kind of American to be in the election year ahead. With all the hullaballoo over the stupefying Republican Party pursuit of a conservative opponent for President Obama this November, it could be refreshing to consider the merits of progressive causes and the policies and people that advance them. To this end I'd like to make you aware of activities planned this month where you can get to know folks that don't buy into the Tea Party pabulum nor accept the Republican Party plati- tudes, and advance causes more near and dear to average Ameri- cans. First I'd like to make you aware of the 2nd annual Salute to the American Worker fundraiser scheduled for Saturday, March 31 at the Red Bluff Community Cen- ter, 1500 S. Jackson St., Red Bluff. The cost is $25 per person, doors open at 5:15 p.m. and the keynote address starts at 6 p.m. This fundraiser is in support of the 99 percent of Americans that benefit from policies that support the working class, albeit at the expense of the 1 percent who benefited from bank bailouts and Wall Street shenanigans to aggrandize them- selves. The keynote speaker will be John Burton, chairman of the Cali- fornia Democratic Party. Burton is considered one of the most effec- tive and experienced legislative leaders in the State of California — if not the nation. Dinner will be served from 6:30-8 p.m. along with drawings and an auction. Please don't miss this opportunity to meet with local moderates and progres- sives and add your support to their success in the 2012 elections. For tickets contact John Elshere at (530) 529-1238 or theelsheres@att.net. I'd also like to make sure you are aware of the 10th Annual Cesar Chavez Latino Graduation hosted by the Northern Hispanic Latino Coalition. The event will be on March 28 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Anderson Community Center, 1887 Howard St., in Anderson. Special guest speakers will include 26 year-old Anthony Chavez, the grandson of Cesar Chavez, who will join in a commemorative march of the movement his grand- father started 50 years ago. It was in the summer of 1962 that Cesar Chavez ended the first leg of a long organizing journey covering nearly 15,000 miles in 86 days as he picked peas, staked grapes, and suckered vines to meet with more than 2,000 farm workers in the fields, along dirt roads, and in hundreds of little barrio houses in one impoverished rural community after another. By the mid-1960s, those steps lead to the Delano Grape Strike, the longest con- tinuing strike in farm labor history. With help from thousands who joined the grape strikers in La Causa, the picket lines moved from the vineyards to supermar- kets in cities across North America where millions from all walks of life boycotted grapes and other products. What began back then produced many appropriate changes for farm workers and their families. In the process, the farm workers inspired millions of other people who never worked on a farm to appreciate laborers and to get involved in social and political activism. Through Cesar's resolve, like that of Martin Luther King, the Democratic Party gained the courage to dare change and power to create a better future for all Americans. The March 28 march, which leaves at 6 p.m. sharp, also sup- ports the Latino students of Shasta County who matriculate to higher learning. Eva Mendoza of Shasta Richard Mazzucchi Positive Point College will be a guest speaker joined by entertainment that will include the Ballet Folklorico youth dancers and Head Start singers. A tostada dinner and drink will be avail- able for $2.50, Chavez era prices, with proceeds to benefit the Northern Hispanic Latino Coali- tion scholarships - a non- profit coalition started in 2000 by a group of local people interested in building bridges between the largest local ethnic population and the general community while celebrating His- panic Latino cultures. For more information, contact Marge Crandell at 241-7833, Sylvia Yzaguirre at 225-3748 or online to www.northernhispani- clatinocoalition.org. Please take the time this spring to ask what you dare to change and get done this year for people who continue to suffer from human, civil and social rights abuses. It is my hope that by attending the aforementioned activities you will come to know where spring can propel us. Richard Mazzucchi can be reached at living-green@att.net. Your officials STATE ASSEMBLYMAN — Jim Nielsen (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 6031 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 319-2002; Fax (916) 319-2102 STATE SENATOR — Doug LaMalfa (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 3070 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 651-4004; Fax (916) 445-7750 GOVERNOR — Jerry Brown, State Capitol Bldg., Sacramento, CA 95814; (916) 445-2841; Fax (916) 558-3160; E-mail: gover- nor@governor.ca.gov. U.S. REPRESENTATIVE — Wally Herger (R), 2595 Ceanoth- us Ave., Ste. 182, Chico, CA 95973; 893-8363. U.S. SENATORS — Dianne Feinstein (D), One Post Street, Suite 2450, San Francisco, CA 94104; (415) 393-0707.Fax (415) 393-0710. Barbara Boxer (D), 1700 Montgomery St., Suite 240, San Francisco, CA 94111; (510) 286- 8537. Fax (202) 224-0454. Local guy, state dispute; Dem power play Commentary Here's something different: You might not have noticed the press release from the Tehama County Republican Central Committee Chairman that referenced a dust up with the California Republican Party over our unanimous vote (I'm on the committee but missed the meeting and vote) to endorse Supervisor Bob Williams for the Assembly seat being vacated by Jim Nielsen. Doug LaMalfa was also unanimously endorsed for the Republican Congressional race (there were several abstentions on the Williams vote). Chairman Ken Say oversaw adherence to protocol and bylaws; all candidates were given proper notice, appeared and addressed the committee as they were able. It is well within the rights and purview of a local Central Committee to exercise its judgment and endorse candidates for offices as they see fit. What could go wrong, generate controversy or invite dispute? To make a long and aggravating story short, our local Republicans were blissfully unaware that the state establishment, the California Republican Party (CRP) apparatus, had its own agenda and preferred candidates. It turns out that when local Republicans make an endorsement that isn't the anointed CRP choice, it rather complicates, maybe prohibits, said state party endorsement. I've lost track of the minutia and readers would start getting lost in the weeds, as it were, so let's get to the legal shenanigans. A furious email exchange ensued over our adherence to procedures and bylaws, with repetitive, tiresome questions about the details of notifi- cations sent to candidates. It became as ludicrous as the Laurel and Hardy "Who's on first" routine, coming down to whether seven (days notification given to candi- dates) is more than five (days required). The entire convoluted process only began to make sense upon realizing that CRP higher-ups had already settled on Dan Logue as the incumbent for the reformulated dis- trict, part of which he had repre- sented, and part of which he hadn't. Tehama County falls into that latter category; our local committee had apparently not gotten the memo to sit down, shut up and take our cues from our political betters at the CRP (which acronym is only one letter away from what I think they are full of). We, as the Republican Central Committee, endorsed Bob Williams, whose experience, record, core values and philosophy are uniquely suited to being the best choice to represent all of us in Sacramento. He is intimately famil- iar with the challenges and forces arrayed against our rural economies, lifestyles and values, not the least of which are the thinly- veiled efforts to deprive us of the use of our own collectively shared forests, roads and resources. His campaign, which I supported at last week's fundraiser/reception at the Veteran's Hall, will have to make the case to the broader voting pub- lic in his district, much of which has never heard the name, Bob Williams. I've been told that Mr. Logue has a face made for radio and a voice best suited to written state- ments; that's probably unfair to Dan, as all good Republicans will support the winner of the primary. I wish Bob Williams the best of electoral fortune; he would make us proud serving our interests in Sacramento. My opinions are my own, not the Cen- tral Committee's. Some mention is owed to the redistricting process that produced not only our reformulated district, but also an enlarged number of safe Democrat districts for Sacramento and Wash- ington. The state senate may be within Democrat's grasp to pass budgetary and tax measures (mean- ing higher and more) with- out bothering with those pesky Republicans. As reported in the Don Polson The way I see it Daily News some months back, Democrats initially vociferously opposed the so-called citizens redistricting commission. After the initiative passed, they then secretly met in Washington to formulate a meticulous strategy to manipulate the process of public meetings; they pushed a partisan district redrawing at the behest of Democrat-aligned stakeholder and interested parties. Nice work undermining the spirit of the process. In addition, Democrats were effective in pushing a narrative and talking points, which showed up on this page in another columnist's writing, shamelessly pillorying Republicans for objecting to that exact manipulation of what was supposed to be a nonpartisan and neutral redistricting. Republicans were correct to object; the mouth- pieces were merely propaganda tools supporting a political power grab. Don't expect apologies; liberals don't do apologies. You'll also not like- ly read any apologies or explanations from the columnist that was inspired to share his contempt, insults and name-calling directed at Republican and Tea Party readers through the thinly-veiled arti- fice of quoting a New Yorker liberal hack named Hendrick Hertzberg. I don't doubt that Mr. Hertzberg is well regarded and acclaimed by his fel- low left-of-center fawning sycophants, perhaps including our writer, but that does- n't get said writer off without hav- ing a bit of scrutiny sent his way over the liberal trash-talk he pro- vided. Our fair county votes over- whelmingly in support of the Republican and conservative side; Tea Party Patriots have not stooped to calling their opponents "animals" in print and, as the writer's fellow citizens, want only limited govern- ment, fiscal responsibility and Con- stitutional governance. The parade of crime, violence, rapes and prop- erty destruction inflicted by the Occupy crowd might come closer to deserving "animal" as epithet – you decide. Don Polson can be reached by e-mail at donplsn@yahoo.com.