Red Bluff Daily News

December 17, 2015

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Suicideiscounterproductiveandmurderis against the law. However, I know they are o en both premeditated and uncivilized. And, on top of it all, I have been told that suicide is very selfish. Apsychologistoncetoldme that some people can get so de- pressed they actually try to kill themselves, just to teach every- one else a lesson. I am sure that is occasionally true, but certainly not wise. Speaking harshly, I con- sider it a very sad decision. The recent rash of white cops killing young black men — or vice versa — has led me to think of these two forms of death — suicide and homicide. However, they do have a big thing in common. The result is that dead is dead. As I used to say, you can take that to the bank. You can even think of it as a final one way trip. I should probably apolo- gize for writing that. My wife, Roleeda, thinks I make too many jokes about everything including death. My solution on this morose subject, or any other, is to cram as much fun into my life as I can. Sometimes when I discuss death I even refer to Dr. Death, a character in Seth MacFar- lane's TV series Family Guy. As you know, Dr. Death always has the ultimate power. When I was an anchor man on Channel 12 in Chico years ago, we would of course high- light all the news stories involv- ing fatalities. There is now a new law in California that gives our cit- izens more power over their own lives. It is called the Right to Die Act. It was last October when Governor Jerry Brown signed that new law. He said he placed a lot of his decision on what options he personally would like to have available "in the face of his own death." An- other friend of mine, Califor- nia Senator Dianne Feinstein, agreed with him. I agree with them both. When Dr. Death gets too near, I would personally want to consider that option for my- self as I leave this third rock from the sun. This new law says that the patient must have the agree- able cooperation of at least two physicians. They must be will- ing to prescribe the appro- priate medicine to do the job. And, most importantly, that "medicine" must be adminis- tered to the patient by the pa- tient. A few states now have a similar law, including Oregon. I think the process of the right to die is very civilized and ap- propriate. In my world this represents "one small step for man," as we evolve into a bet- ter total health system. Af- ter all we are all heading in the same direction to the same destination. By the way, California is also looking at its death pen- alty law. Is it cruel and unusual punishment or simply justified payback for the most heinous crimes? I am looking forward to doing an opinion column on that subject soon to keep you up to date as that process pro- ceeds. Governor Jerry Brown has always stood in opposi- tion to capital punishment, but what and how will he will proceed this time is anybody's guess. I will be doing another column on any movement or changes to California's capital punishment law that are pres- ently in the works. Mytakeonthemovies I saw "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2." This film is well done, but made for the now generation. However, among its redeem- ing values are Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Woodie Harrelson, Jennifer Lawrence and Donald Sutherland. Stellar casting if you are into fantasy. StanStathamserved1976-1994 in the California Assembly and was a television news anchor at KHSL-TV in Chico 1965- 1975. He is past president of the California Broadcasters Association and can be reached at StanStatham@gmail.com. Mytake Meeting Dr. Death, we all will do it There is now a new law in California that gives our citizens more power over their own lives. It is called the Right to Die Act. It was last October when Governor Jerry Brown signed that new law. He said he placed a lot of his decision on what options he personally would like to have available "in the face of his own death." Cartoonist's take That's the tweet I sent to Jeb Bush the other day, when virtu- ally the entire planet was united in bashing Donald Trump's call for a temporary ban on Muslim immigration to the USA. I also tweeted another obvious truth, "If the Republican Party doesn't dump Donald Trump, the American people will. Trump's outrageous "Muslims Keep Out" plan — apparently his policy answer to last week's ter- rorist attack in San Bernadino — is an embarrassment to our coun- try and what it stands for. It's also a serious threat to the Republican Party, because it's be- ing used by Hillary, Democrat hacks in Congress and the Big Liberal Media to smear the GOP as the party of bigots and idiots. Completely shutting down Muslim immigration is the lat- est — and probably the worst — idea in a series of awful ideas that Trump throws out whenever he feels he's not getting enough me- dia attention. He launched his po- litical career by promising he'd "solve" the immigration problem by rounding up 11 million Hispan- ics and other illegals and tossing them out of the country. Now he's attacking 1.2 billion Muslims. Who will be his next target? Three billion Asians? Trump is awful — for America and for the Republican Party. But we've known that for months. What bothers me even more than the stupid things the billion- aire says, however, are the cheers I hear from the crowds at his packed events. I know those hardcore Trump Yahoos are not all Republicans or conservatives. But when they go nuts over something as idiotic as Trump's plan to keep out Mus- lims, it's scary to me — very scary. Someone needs to tell the Trump Yahoos we're not in a war against the world's 1.2 billion Muslims. We're in a war against radical Islam and the barbaric terrorists who've decided that their 8th Century interpretation of their religion gives them the duty to declare a bloody holy war on Western Civilization. By the way, most Muslims are at war against the radical Is- lamists, too, mainly because they're the ones who are getting killed by ISIS in the biggest num- bers. Many Trump Yahoos are just as confused about what con- servatism really is. If one more person comes up to me and says, "I loved your fa- ther and I'm supporting Donald Trump," I may hit him. Trump is nothing like my fa- ther. My father united people. That's why he won elections. Trump doesn't unite anyone but confused white people. Republicans are always the mi- nority party. The only way we ever win a general election is by bringing people together — Ron- ald Reagan Democrats and con- servative Latinos, blacks, Asians and Muslims. Yes, there are conservative Muslims. Or at least there were. In 2000, nearly 80 percent of American Muslims voted for George W. Bush. If the Republican Party nomi- nates Donald Trump, it's certain that Hillary will become the next president and we'll all lose. Trump is in the process of kill- ing what's left of my father's GOP. He spends most of his time throwing people off the Republi- can bus, not inviting them on it. The GOP has to find a way to stop Trump. It has to nominate a real Republican, a real conser- vative, who can unite the party around its core principles and show the country that Republi- cans are nothing like the Donald. If the Party of Lincoln can't dump Trump and go back to its conservative roots, by next fall we'll be hearing my father say from his grave, "I didn't leave the Republican Party, they left me." Michael Reagan is the son of 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 There is no such thing as a Trump Republican Another view By Danny Tyree If you're like most people, you get a warm holiday glow from donating to a Toys For Tots pro- gram, tossing money into the Salvation Army kettle or shov- eling the snowy sidewalk of a neighborhood widow. But to a large extent, churches, civic groups and individuals are merely treating the symp- toms with their Christmas char- ity. There are things we can do 365 days a year to get at the root causes of poverty and helpless- ness. Yes, as an adult, that baby in the manger assured us, "The poor you will always have with you." Sometimes bad things hap- pen to good people. And sadly, "you just can't help some (self- destructive) people." But cer- tainly there are lots of little long- term and short-term measures to decrease the number of peo- ple who wind up needing Christ- mas charity. If you could refrain from speeding, texting while driving, driving under the influence and exhibiting road rage, you just might prevent a horrific accident. One or more families could be spared the loss of a breadwinner and the arrival of mountains of medical bills. Taking a little pride in your work could make things more merry and bright for others. If you assemble a car, wire a house or mix food ingredients conscien- tiously, you're less likely to cause a fatal accident. No matter what you think you yourself can "handle," if you have a friend with an addictive per- sonality, don't do anything to get him started on substance abuse, porn or gambling. Enablers have a poor track record for bringing true joy during the holidays. Per- haps a few more early interven- tions by friends and co-workers could prevent someone from be- coming a burden on society. Too many teenage girls get pregnant just so they'll have someone (the baby) to love them. If you're a teacher, neighbor or relative with a chance to inter- vene, let them know you care be- fore they do something drastic. I always get choked up when I hear the Merle Haggard song "If We Make It Through Decem- ber." I know, I know: "Nobody enjoys laying people off." But I would still challenge employers to measure twice and cut once when contemplating leaving workers without a paycheck for an extended period. Bite your tongue and count to ten before saying something that will tear a permanent rift in your family, thus leaving the most vul- nerable members with fewer re- sources. Churches must strive to be welcoming places. Network- ing should never be the primary draw of a place of worship, but it is nonetheless a valuable tool. The church family can help with transportation, babysitting, job tips and moral support before a troubled member hits rock bot- tom. But if a congregation is cold and judgmental, the neediest will be driven away. With kind words and deeds, we can help the down-on-their- luck develop a healthy self-image. That means less pressure to hook up with an abusive partner, turn to drugs or rule out going back to school. The media alert us to all sorts of charity cases at Christmas time, but I wonder to what ex- tent they've contributed to the problem. Surely glamorizing cas- ual sex, daredevil stunts and contempt for authority leads to a host of diseases, injuries, un- wanted children and arrest re- cords. Thank God there are always generous hearts at Christmas. But a little year-round planning can keep those hearts from being overworked in a single season. Danny Tyree welcomes email responses at tyreetyrades@aol. com and visits to his Facebook fan page Tyree's Tyrades. Plan now for Christmas 2016 GregStevens,Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EDITORIAL BOARD 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 StateandNational Assemblyman James Gallagher, 2060Talbert Drive, Ste. 110, Chico 95928, 530895-4217, http:// ad03.asmrc.org/ Senator Jim Nielsen, 2634Forest 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 916558-3160, governor@governor.ca.gov U.S. Representative Doug LaMalfa, 507Cannon House Office Build- ing, Washington D.C. 20515, 202 225-3076 U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, One Post St., Ste. 2450, San Francisco 94104, 415393-0707, fax 415 393-0710 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 Corning City Manager, John Brewer, 824-7033 Your officials By Michael Reagan Stan Statham OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, December 17, 2015 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6

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