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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 What a wild night in New Hampshire. In the words of one political reporter, "The voters sent a powerful anti-Washington message." A xenophobic Republican dem- agogue "stoked citizen anger against the inside-the-Beltway establishment, loudly invoking the '30s populism of Huey Long." The triumphant candidate fed off the "anxieties" of his fans. He "speaks his mind and damns the consequences." I wrote that on primary night in New Hampshire — 20 years ago. In February 1996, when the Republican winner was red-meat uber- nationalist Pat Buchanan. I guess that's my way of saying that we've heard Granite State primal screams before, and that the disgrace of Donald Trump triumph may hopefully prove ephemeral. But a win is truly a win when you've beaten your closest opponent by 19 points, and there's no deny- ing the dominance of "the most dangerous major can- didate for president in mem- ory," as commentator Ezra Klein wrote. "He pairs terrible ideas with an alarming tempera- ment; he's a racist, a sexist, and a demagogue, but he's also a narcissist, a bully, and a dilettante," Klein detailed. "He lies so constantly and so fluently that it's hard to know if he even realizes he's lying." You didn't hear that kind of reality check on TV when the returns were rolling in, as talking heads tend to sprinkle triumphalist fairy dust on whoever finishes first. Sure enough, Trump was typically described that night as "a New York real estate" guy, as opposed to what he really is. If it appears that the Re- publican voters are lurching to the raging right, it also seems that the Democrats are moving further left- ward. Bernie Sanders bur- ied Hillary Clinton so badly that when Bill came on stage with her last night, he looked as if he could barely keep himself vertical. We'll see how well Ber- nie does when he moves to the southern primaries where, unlike in New Hamp- shire, a huge share of regis- tered Democrats are black, and black voters have been loyal to the Clintons since the '90s. However you slice and dice Iowa and New Hamp- shire, it appears that the Democrats are bracing for a long slog. It feels like 2008 all over again. It's hard to know whether Republicans will tread a similar path. The other "winner" last night was Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who finished a strong second. But he's short of funds and South Carolina voters might not love his decision to par- ticipate in the Obamacare Medicaid expansion pro- gram. Jeb Bush finished a tepid fourth last night, but he'll soldier on because he still has the money and be- cause South Carolina has long been a Bush family fire- wall (1988 for his dad, 2000 for his brother). And Marco Rubio will still be around, hoping to survive his fifth place finish and his debate humiliation. Which means there are still three "establishment" candidates in the race. If they keep divvying up the sane non-Trump electorate, the easier it is for the dema- gogue to march onward. And the sane non-Trump elector- ate will arguably be small in South Carolina, because Ted Cruz will be in the mix for the sizable evangelical vote. One caveat about Tuesday night: The last three presi- dents — Obama, W, Bill — all lost the New Hampshire pri- mary. They all finished sec- ond, and recouped down the road. So it's possible that a Trump-Sanders faceoff will never happen. I stoked that hope last night when Trump came out to preen in triumph, with his phony tan or whatever that was. I've eaten orange sherbet that has less artifi- cial color than his face. At one point, he previewed what he would say in an au- tumn race. He said of Bernie Sanders, "He wants to give away our country!" And so it begins. For this, we can thank the primal scream voters. To tweak the immortal words of Marco Rubio, "Let's dispense with the fiction that they don't know what they're doing. They know exactly what they're doing." 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 New Hampshire's populist primal scream Cartoonist's take Those interested in the status of the State of Jefferson move- ment, now that petitions have been turned in to Sacramento, may want to attend to- night's Tea Party Patriots meet- ing at the West- side Grange at 6 PM. Terry and Sally Rapoza from the Redding Tea Party will have updates. Weekend events inform my thoughts today. Upon first hear- ing of the passing of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Sca- lia, I placed my flag at half- staff out of honor and respect for the towering, influential ju- rist that almost single-handedly provided an ideological and ju- dicial North Star to guide all present and future aspirants to the bench. If one places value in the meaning of the text and writ- ings of those brilliant men who conceived this nation in con- stitutional liberty, with justice under law for all, then there is simply no refutation to Scalia's arguments. Even if, as a conser- vative, you think that the Amer- ican flag ought to be protected by criminal statute against be- ing burned in protest, his rea- soned overturning of such laws cannot be ignored. After lowering my flag, I called my wife to share the sad news. On Justice Scalia's 30 years on the Supreme Court, I remarked that he may have done more than President Ron- ald Reagan to assure Ameri- cans of the rights our Fram- ers intended for our security. That is proven true for Ameri- cans' 2nd Amendment right to arm themselves for their own self-defense. A slim majority of 5 Supreme Court Justices over- turned local laws, first in Chi- cago, then Washington, DC, and said to state and local gun rights opponents that the 2nd Amendment means what plain English and the laws of Nature and Nature's God intended. Reagan could not have had passed, and signed, legislation with such far-reaching impact. Senate Majority Leader Mc- Connell was reflecting my own gut reaction to the prospect of a vacancy on the Supreme Court, leaving it tied, 4 conservatives and 4 liberals. Not just "no re- placement" of Scalia by Obama, but "Heck No." Obama will, of course, use every trick in his conniving, manipulative, dis- ingenuous playbook to attempt to force Senate submission through intimidation, charac- ter assassination and browbeat- ing. He will have the reliable in- kind contributions of the news media. He will probably use the mil- itant "Occupy Wall Street" and "Black Lives Matter" left to load buses with the usual miscre- ants and rabble-rousers ready to provide shouting, signage and twisted, angry faces for the above mentioned media parti- sans and their cameras. Obama will search for just the right combination of gender, race and credentials to hold over po- litically vulnerable Republican Senators. Scalia's passing provided a somber framework for the South Carolina Republican de- bate that night. They all made appropriate comments but something about the "moment of silence" struck me as off-put- ting: While all other candidates reverentially bowed their heads, Donald Trump did not, as if to say by his body language that he was above such trite affec- tation. Setting that relatively small item aside, I did have some ob- servations and take-aways on the remaining candidates. I was not put off by the audience re- actions as I suspect each can- didate's supporters found seats to occupy. Some "hoorays" and some "boos" ensued. Overall, I don't think Gov. John Kasich, former-Gov. Jeb Bush or retired Dr. Ben Carson either advanced or hurt their respective causes and are not likely to change their polling status. That means there is no more likelihood now than there was last week that they emerge from the lower tier to become the Republican nominee. I have a Ben Carson sticker on my car and will proudly dis- play it until it decomposes in place (next to my "Nobama" sticker). I have felt from the begin- ning that my conservative val- ues would be well served by ei- ther Sen. Marco Rubio or Sen. Ted Cruz (or Rick Perry or Scott Walker); Donald Trump, not very much and even less so af- ter the debate. I have never felt personally inspired by Trump, nor have I seen that principled constitutional conservatism is evident in his pronouncements. I believe he would effec- tively and sincerely 1) crack down on illegal immigration, 2) strengthen America's trade and military standing in the world, and 3) take Republican legis- lation and sign it or work with Congress to reach a generally right-leaning consensus. I have never felt elevated by his con- duct as a candidate and don't see anything to suggest that he would work to persuade Amer- icans of the efficacy and right- ness in restoring American con- stitutional governing principles. Trump's actual positions on issues, political contribu- tions and alliances over the years have not demonstrated an ideological adherence to our founding system, except as he is driven to be the leader of it. That leaves, then, little more than the aspirations that his supporters vest in him, for what they are worth. To the ex- tent that Trump's discourse has devolved into a virtual gut- ter of trash-talk, insults and low-blow-hard-ism, I find my- self hoping for the worst fate that could befall the man: Let the voters in Republican prima- ries make him a political loser! Then, let him serve America best by recommending that his supporters help make our nom- inee the President. Trump had already igno- rantly assigned blame for the recession to President Bush rather than the government- mandated loose lending that created the housing bubble. It was the last straw to hear him peddle loony-left, Code Pink, 9/11 Bush-blaming, and "Bush lied us into the Iraq war." Re- publican voters should shun such a demagogue, even when he spouts things you like to hear. 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 A judicial giant, Trump's insults One caveat about Tuesday night: The last three presidents — Obama, W, Bill — all lost the New Hampshire primary. They all finished second, and recouped down the road. So it's possible that a Trump-Sanders faceoff will never happen. I stoked that hope last night when Trump came out to preen in triumph, with his phony tan or whatever that was. I've eaten orange sherbet that has less artificial color than his face. Don Polson StateandNational Assemblyman James Galla- gher, 2060 Talbert 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 Governor Jerry Brown, State Capital Building, Sacramento 95814, 916 445-2841, fax 916 558-3160, governor@governor. ca.gov U.S. Representative Doug La- Malfa, 507 Cannon House Of- fice Building, Washington D.C. 20515, 202 225-3076 U.S. Senator Dianne Fein- stein, One Post St., Ste. 2450, San Francisco 94104, 415 393- 0707, fax 415 393-0710 U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, 1700 Montgomery St., San Fran- cisco 94111, 510 286-8537, 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, Rich- ard Crabtree, 527-2605, Ext. 3061 Corning City Manager, John Brewer, 824-7033 Your officials OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Tuesday, February 16, 2016 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6