Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/627264
WhatboxerSonnyListon'smanagersaidof him (Sonny had his good points, the trouble was his bad points) is true of Marco Rubio. His strengths include intelligence, articulate- ness and, usually, cheerfulness. Hismisjudgmentsinvolve, in ascending order of impor- tance, the Senate immigra- tion bill of 2013, sugar, Libya and S-590. To- gether these re- veal a recurring penchant for ill- considered un- dertakings. Rubio's re- treat, under withering political heat, from the immigration bill was un- dignified but not reprehensi- ble. The bill had 1,197 pages because the 906-page Afford- able Care Act had not slaked the congressional appetite for "comprehensive" solutions to complex problems. The immi- gration bill solved everything, down to the hourly wage of immigrant agricultural sort- ers ($9.84). Rubio shared this serene knowingness. His sugar addiction is a reprehensible but not star- tling example of the routine entanglements of big gov- ernment and big business. He has benefited from the support of Florida's wealthy sugar producers, who have benefited from sugar im- port quotas and other cor- porate welfare that forces Americans to pay approxi- mately twice the world price for sugar. What is, however, startling is Rubio's preposter- ous defense of this corporate welfare as a national security imperative: Without our gov- ernment rigging the sugar market, "other countries will capture the market share, our agricultural capacity will be developed into real es- tate, you know, housing and so forth, and then we lose the capacity to produce our own food, at which point we're at the mercy of a foreign coun- try for food security." This promiscuous invo- cation of national security brings us to Rubio's enthusi- astic support of the Barack Obama/Hillary Clinton inter- vention in Libya, which Ru- bio faults for having been in- sufficiently enthusiastic. This 2011 plunge into a tribal so- ciety's civil war, this eight- month assassination attempt using fighter bombers, this supposedly humanitarian im- perialism appealed to Sec- retary of State Clinton and other progressives precisely because it had no discern- ible connection to any vi- tal U.S. interest. Rubio sup- ported this third adventure in regime change in the Mus- lim world since 9/11, perhaps on the principle that practice makes perfect. Today, his sensible com- plaint is that the Obama ad- ministration (like the previ- ous administration regarding Iraq) had no plans for pre- venting chaos after the Lib- yan regime was decapitated. His not-at-all sensible implica- tion, however, is that America should have buckled down to nation-building there. Rubio's misjudgment re- garding Libya indicates a sus- ceptibility to slapdash foreign policies. His support of S-590, the Campus Accountability and Safety Act, indicates a susceptibility to trendy temp- tations, carelessness regard- ing evidence, and indifference to constitutional values. Wielding irrelevant laws, spurious social science and fi- nancial coercion, the Obama administration is pressuring colleges and universities to tra- duce standards of due process when dealing with students ac- cused of sexual assault. Claiming that a 1972 law prohibiting sex discrimina- tion in education somehow empowers the government to dictate institutions' disciplin- ary procedures, the admin- istration is dictating that a mere "preponderance of the evidence," rather than "clear and convincing" evidence, be used in determining a life- shattering verdict of guilt. Stuart Taylor Jr. and KC Johnson — a lawyer and an academic, neither Republi- cans — write that the admin- istration justifies this by cit- ing a single "resoundingly discredited" study purport- ing to prove an epidemic (in- volving one in five women) of campus sexual assaults. The administration opposes al- lowing accused students to cross-examine their accusers, and favors a form of double jeopardy — allowing accusers to appeal not-guilty findings. Rubio is one of 12 Republican senators collaborating with the administration by co-sponsor- ing legislation that would cod- ify requiring improvised cam- pus disciplinary proceedings to supplant law enforcement and the criminal justice system. Proposed by Democrat Claire McCaskill of Missouri, the legis- lation is, as Taylor and Johnson say, "designed to advance the administration's agenda." The legislation's language radiates prejudgment: By repeatedly re- ferring to accusers as "victims," it presumes the guilt of the ac- cused. Taylor and Johnson write: "America's universities are in the grip of a danger- ous presume-guilt-and-rush- to-judgment culture. ... An entire generation of college students is learning to disre- gard due process and the dis- passionate evaluation of evi- dence. And dozens of clearly or at least probably innocent students, whose cases we will detail in a book we are now writing, have been branded sex criminals, been rail- roaded out of their univer- sities, and seen their hopes and dreams ruined." By co-sponsoring S-590, Ru- bio is helping the administra- tion sacrifice a core constitu- tional value, due process, in or- der to advance progressives' cultural aggression. The next Republican president should be someone committed to promptly stopping this dis- grace, not someone who would sign S-590's affirmation of it. GeorgeWill'semailaddressis georgewill@washpost.com. GeorgeWill Rubio'srecord of misjudgment Cartoonist's take Surprising how many present people have called and stopped by to complain about a recent decision by some of the firmly en- trenched members of the Tehama County Board of Supervisors Last week the Board elected offi- cers for 2016. For many years the tradition has been for the elec- tion to rotate through Supervi- sor Districts so all districts have equal representation in Board leadership. On Tuesday, how- ever, the rotation of officers was changed with Supervisor Carl- son being skipped over for the office of Vice Chair with Su- pervisor Chamblin nominating Dennis Garton and Supervisor Bundy seconding the nomina- tion, followed by the 4-1 vote for Garton as Vice Chair. Is it possible that some Su- pervisors are avoiding having a woman in a leadership role? Would this not be a good time for potential candidates to de- clare their intention to run against incumbents coming up for re-election? Can we hope for a woman or two to challenge the incumbents this year? These are not rhetorical questions. They re- quire response and participation in the running of our fair county. I'm suggesting someone under 85 gets off their backside and runs. It would be encouraging to see, for example, three women on the Board. ••• On page 3 of a recent Daily News was a column that sug- gested "Start your new year off on the right foot by walking your dog." However, on the front page was the story about a local man who was walking his dog on the highway in Dairyville when he was struck and killed by a pass- ing motorist. The reporter did not report what happened to the dog, but happenings like this convinced me early on not to consider the life of a newspaper reporter. On a happier note, scientists have discovered the existence of four new elements: Uut, Uup, Uus and Uuo thus completing the missing bottom row of the periodic table. I was never very proficient in chemistry in high school. I didn't even know there were any elements missing. ••• Viewers are now into the sec- ond episode of the final series of Downton Abbey on Master- piece Theatre. But after view- ing many behind-the-scenes teasers, I find it hard to sus- pend disbelief. This is necessary to fully appreciate drama on the telly or on the silver screen. Each time I see a close up and fade to black, I expect the cam- eras to pull back to show peo- ple operating hand held cam- eras with script checkers at the ready. We know it is just a glo- rified soap opera with accom- plished actors, but still. ••• Possible ideas for those col- umnists obviously in need of subject matter: Is atheism a non-prophet or- ganization? If man evolved from monkeys and apes, why do we still have monkeys and apes? Is the main reason Santa is so jolly that he knows where all the bad girls live? If a deaf child signs swear words, does his mother wash his hands with soap? If someone with multiple personalities threat- ens to kill himself, is it con- sidered a hostage situation? What do you do when you see an endangered animal eating an endangered plant? Would a fly without wings be called a walk? ••• Sightem: A guy parked on Main Street was standing in the rain try- ing unsuccessfully to unlock his car with his remote con- trol. Exasperated after pushing various buttons he retreated to the sidewalk. Sensing his frus- tration I leaned out our front door and asked if he needed to use our phone. He replied, "I just bought this wonderful car yesterday…and now I can't get the ~!%#$ remote to open it." I asked if he tried the key. He said he had but it didn't work either. I then asked if that told him anything. He thought for a moment… and then said, "Cripes! Wrong car?" I said yep and pointed to a car down the street the same make and color. He urged me not to tell anyone and I indicated my lips were sealed. Although readers may rely on national polls to deter- mine who is leading the Pres- idential candidate races, I am reminded of a remark of Mervin Field's, the onetime dean of California pollsters and founder of the Field Poll. I met him once at the Silverado Country Club. He was there for golf and I there for tennis. Anyhow, when I asked, how re- liable are the polls, he replied, "It depends upon how you ask the questions." His response suggested we should not put too much stock in polls. For example, two weeks before the Iowa caucuses in 2008, the eventual GOP nominee, John McCain polled in fourth place nationally, Hillary Clinton was still the prohibitive favorite over Barack Obama and Newt Gingrich was beating Mitt Romney nationally in same on New Year's Day, 2012. Polls may be useful, but they can of- ten be misleading. ••• In letters to the editor last week from S. Gallagher, she, in one fell swoop demolished an article in the Daily News which appeared to be news but in re- ality was a promo for a march on the Capitol by proponents of the State of Jefferson. She con- cluded, "The State of Jeffer- son article implies that up to 24 counties support them, when only six are on record. Does it make you wonder about the claim that thousands and thou- sands have joined the move- ment? I have come to expect mis-truths and exaggerations from the separatists." Regarding subsequent letters to the editor from those who dispute Sue's findings, I trust her statistics above the inane mutterings of the separatist. ••• The IRS returned a tax re- turn to a man after he ap- parently answered one of the questions incorrectly. In re- sponse to the question, "Do you have anyone dependent upon you?" The man wrote "9.5 million illegal immi- grants, 1.1 million crack heads, 3.4 million unemployable scroungers, 80,000 criminals in over 85 prisons plus 650 idi- ots in Washington." The IRS stated that the an- swer he gave was unaccept- able. The man responded back, "Who did I leave out?" 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 Actions of supervisors should prompt changes to the board Rubio's misjudgment regarding Libya indicates a susceptibility to slapdash foreign policies. His support of S-590, the Campus Accountability and Safety Act, indicates a susceptibility to trendy temptations, carelessness regarding evidence, and indifference to constitutional values. 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 George Will 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@sen- ate.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, 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 Robert Minch OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Friday, January 15, 2016 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6