Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/631707
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 ThepoisoningofFlint,Michigan,isana- tional disgrace — and some of the people reacting to it have been disgraceful. Here's an abbreviated list, going from bad to worse: Bill Ballenger, veteran Michigan Republican com- mentator On the radio, Ballenger, a former state legislator, said, "This has been a vastly over- blown crisis .... It's just a crock." In his estimation, the lead-laced water has only hurt "like, two to three per- cent of the population." The population of Flint is 100,000. So even if Balleng- er's math is correct (the guy is not a scientist), it means that he's writing off 2,000 or 3,000 people as no big deal. "I live [in Flint] half the week. I've been drinking the water consistently without a filter all during this past two years... and I have no effect from drinking the water," Ballenger also said. "I had my blood tested just yester- day, and I have no elevated blood-lead level." Good for him. Hey, if one adult Republican pundit feels fine, how can there be a cri- sis? Thing is, the Flint fiasco is really about the kids — and the science of kids. Accord- ing to the medical stats, the share of kids with dangerous lead levels in their blood has nearly doubled since 2014, when the city — in a state-or- dered effort to save money — switched from Detroit water to the Flint River. The World Health Organi- zation says that lead is par- ticularly harmful to young children, and notes, "the neu- rological and behavioral ef- fects of lead are believed to be irreversible." Hence the problem with Ballenger's remarks: An anti- science mentality is hazard- ous to public health. L. Brooks Patterson, county executive of Oakland County, Mich. It's bad enough when a commentator spouts non- sense; it's even worse when a prominent public official tries to give it credence. Patterson is the elected leader in predominantly white Oakland County, a short car ride from predomi- nantly minority Flint. At a luncheon the other day, Patterson cited Balleng- er's anecdotes ("he drinks the water, he showers in that water") as evidence that the Flint crisis might be "a hoax," and that it's always impor- tant to consider the other side" of the story. "Let's wait and see what the facts show," Patterson said. Unfortunately, there is no "other side," unless one be- lieves anti-science denial warrants equal status. But this is also coming from a man who wants to turn De- troit into an Indian reserva- tion, "where we herd all the Indians into the city, build a fence around it, and then throw in the blankets and corn." Dennis Muchmore, chief of staff to Republican Gov. Rick Snyder In an email to his boss last September, when the crisis was at full boil, Muchmore crafted a phrase that will live long in the annals of govern- ment fecklessness: "I can't figure out why the state is responsible... " Maybe it's because the state — under a Snyder-ap- pointed emergency man- ager — made the decision to use the Flint River as a cost- saving measure? Maybe be- cause, even after the Flint City Council voted to go back to Detroit water, the Snyder- appointed manager said no dice? By the way, the full quote from that email is even worse: "I can't figure out why the state is responsible ex- cept that (state treasurer Andy) Dillon did make the ul- timate decision so we're not able to avoid the subject." Oh well, "we're not able to avoid the subject." Or, as Homer Simpson would say, "D'oh!" Marco Rubio, Florida Sena- tor and Republican presiden- tial candidate Of all the candidates on the Republican trail this week, Rubio had the most fully articulated remarks about Flint. "That's not an issue that right now we've been focused on," Rubio said. "It's just not an issue we've been quite frankly fully briefed or ap- prised of." There's the party mentality in a nutshell. Since the woes of impover- ished cities are rarely on Re- publican radar, why would briefers bother to "apprise" the candidates of a burgeon- ing health crisis? "The truth is that Flint, where 40 percent of residents live below the poverty level, was never on the Republican agenda," said Matt Latimer, a lifelong conservative Repub- lican and former George W. Bush speechwriter. " I don't believe it's impossible for conservatives to help a place like Flint. But first you have to show up." In the spirit of fiscal aus- terity, the Republican gov- ernor's emergency man- ager switched Flint's water because, over two years, it would save $5 million. Care to guess the salary of Jim Harbaugh, the Uni- versity of Michigan football coach over two years, paid by the taxpayer? $14 mil- lion. Our society is defined by the choices we make. Just saying. Dick Polman is the national political columnist at NewsWorks/WHYY in Philadelphia (newsworks. org/polman) and a "Writer in Residence" at the University of Philadelphia. Email him at dickpolman7@gmail.com. Dick Polman The most idiotic reactions to the poisoning of Flint's water Cartoonist's take You will find your enter- tainment time and money is well spent if you go to see "13 Hours: The Secret Sol- diers of Beng- hazi," still play- ing in Red Bluff. My only caveat is that some folks can be emotionally overwhelmed by such realistic, intense, heart-pounding and sound- enhanced portrayals of com- bat. If you found "Saving Private Ryan," "Act of Valor," "We Were Soldiers, Once" or "American Sniper" uncom- fortably graphic or violent, skip "13 Hours." Like "Soldiers" and "Sniper," this movie has the advantage of being true; you'll have a deep sense of ad- miration for the heroism and sheer tactical abilities of the former Marines and special operations fighters. It accu- rately follows the events from the disarmingly quiet begin- ning of the day on Septem- ber 11, 2012, through the over- night assaults. It is factually based on the book, "13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Hap- pened In Benghazi," by Mitch- ell Zuckoff with the Annex Se- curity Team. It takes under- standable dramatic license in compacting what transpired literally over 13 hours that night into a movie-length fea- ture. Many have, from that date forward, taken positions over the attacks. Political over- tones, responsibility, even culpability, have accrued to Barack Obama and then-Sec- retary of State Hillary Clin- ton for their roles and deci- sions before, during and after the attacks. What has now been estab- lished, at least if one believes the military contractors that were on the ground (with sub- stantial additional corrobo- ration), who contributed to the accuracy of the book and movie, is that 1) there were no protests over an anti-Islam video that then morphed into coordinated military-style as- saults on the diplomatic facil- ity, 2) the Benghazi CIA an- nex station chief, his denials aside, delayed allowing the military response by the con- tractors under his command, whether framed by a "stand down" order or not; 3) American military and armed contractors in Tripoli were delayed and held back from going to Benghazi to as- sist in defending the CIA out- post, and 4) repeated calls and requests for assistance were made to elements of the U.S. government and military from the beginning—calls left unresponded to and unan- swered. It is also undeniable that an unarmed drone provided real time over-flight observa- tion and that F-16 assets were within hours of Benghazi at Aviano Air Force Base and Naval Air Station Sigonella (Italy). If you doubt that, please look up "Benghazi-The Mystery of the Missing Air Support," at passionforlib- erty.com, from June 16, 2013. Permission to use Italian and Libyan air space would have been routine and granted im- mediately upon request given the military attack on Amer- ican soil at Benghazi. Not a limiting factor. Refueling F- 16s from Aviano should also not have been a limiting fac- tor due to the 4000 sorties re- cently flown out of NAS Sig- onella for Libyan "liberation" operations. If you read that article and the comments follow- ing, as I have, you can read- ily understand why conflict- ing testimony before Con- gressional committees must be decided in favor of (Dep- uty Chief of Mission) Greg- ory Hicks' insistence that 1) "a fast mover flying over Benghazi at some point… might very well have pre- vented some of the bad things that happened that night", 2) "had we been able to scramble a fighter or air- craft or two over Benghazi… there would not have been a mortar attack on the Annex in the morning because the Libyans would have split" and 3) "the Defense Attaché said to me that fighter air- craft in Aviano…would not be able to be over Benghazi before two to three hours." "Did we ever ask for per- mission to fly anything other than an unarmed drone over Libya during the attack?" (Rep. Jason Chaffetz, House Oversight Committee) Hicks: "No." Chaffetz: "Would you have known that?" Hicks: "Yes." I want to quote Rep. Chaf- fetz from a radio interview. Hugh Hewitt: "Why do you think we had proximity and capability?" Chaffetz: "Be- cause days after the attack, I was the first member of Con- gress to get my butt on a plane. I went with General Ham to Stuttgart. I flew with him in his plane into Trip- oli. I met with the people that were on the ground. I spent time with General Ham, who was the four-star general in charge. He was there with the President when they made that decision. And he was un- equivocal in telling me that they had capability, proxim- ity, and they were not ordered to go in." Chaffetz went on to cite Secretary Leon Panetta's ini- tial comments on Oct. 26 when he admitted to having a ship off the coast but hes- itated due to lack of intel- ligence. "He said that they could have done it…They said it at the time. Now, they're changing their story." Hewitt: Has the question been asked and answered why fighter pilots were not dis- patched to fly low over the terrorists…even without ar- maments over bad guys in or- der to scare them. And clearly we could have sent a fighter pilot or two from Aviano, couldn't we?" Chaffetz: "We had assets and NATO allies that were less than an hour away. You fly an F-16…you're going to scatter people…With all the assets we have, the $600 bil- lion dollars a year, and in 12 hours, we can't get a plane over Northern Africa? Bull crap. I don't buy it. They're ly- ing about that, and that's why Trey Gowdy and what they're doing is the right thing, and why I feel so passionately about it." Go to donpolson.blogspot. com; open the "Libya" tab for 179 articles, 10 since Decem- ber. Don Polson has called Red Bluff home since 1988. He can be reached by e-mail at donplsn@yahoo.com. The way I see it Benghazi heroes, political liars "That's not an issue that right now we've been focused on," Rubio said. "It's just not an issue we've been quite frankly fully briefed or apprised of." — Marcio Rubio Don Polson StateandNational Assemblyman James Gallagher, 2060 Tal- bert Drive, Ste. 110, Chico 95928, 530 895-4217, http://ad03. asmrc.org/ Senator Jim Nielsen, 2634 Forest Ave., Ste. 110, Chico 95928, 530 879-7424, senator. nielsen@senate.ca.gov G overnor Jerr y Brown, State Capi- tal Building, Sacra- mento 95814, 916 445- 2841, fax 916 558-3160, governor@governor. ca.gov U.S. Representative Doug LaMalfa, 507 Cannon House Office Building, Washington D.C. 20515, 202 225- 3076 U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, One Post St., Ste. 2450, San Fran- cisco 94104, 415 393- 0707, fax 415 393-0710 U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, 1700 Montgom- ery St., San Francisco 94111, 510 286-8537, fax 202 224-0454 Local Tehama County Su- pervisors, 527-4655 District 1, Steve Chamblin, Ext. 3015 District 2, Candy Carlson, Ext. 3014 District 3, Dennis Garton, Ext. 3017 District 4, Bob Wil- liams, Ext. 3018 District 5, Burt Bundy, Ext. 3016 Red Bluff City Man- ager, Richard Crabtree, 527-2605, Ext. 3061 Corning City Man- ager, John Brewer, 824-7033. 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