Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/655176
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 By Susan Stamper Brown Leftunchecked,angerisas destructive to a nation as it is to individual souls, always be- ginning with fear and ending with hate. As hard as this is for me to write on this fine Alaskan af- ternoon, when I'd rather be outside doing something else, I must get something off my chest after witnessing the ri- ots shutting down a political rally in Chicago on March 11. How do we make sense of this? How do we make sense of Americans physically at- tacking each other, and friends and family mem- bers turning against one an- other, in the name of poli- tics? It is impossible to get to the root of the problem if we spend all our time blam- ing others. It seems we'd be better served looking a lit- tle closer to home, reflecting on what's happening inside our own heart. I did. And as a result, I discovered some- thing about myself I did not much like. Like so many Ameri- cans, I've been angry about what's happened to this land I love, which has deterio- rated to the point she's no longer identifiable. Rather than praying for those re- sponsible for the mess, I al- lowed my anger to metas- tasize nearly to the point of hatred. When I realized how far I'd strayed, my knees hit the floor and I lifted prayers for forgiveness. If we proceed past what the Bible describes as "righ- teous anger" — when we cross the line from "hating the sin but loving the sin- ner" to hating the sinner — we've journeyed to the dark side, whether we like it or not. That's why some believe it's okay to riot in order to silence free speech, or others have no problem punching the lights out of those with whom they disagree. Americans are angry. In 2008, we watched Barack Obama rise to power on a wave of anger over war weariness and an economic crisis that spread over the United States like a tsunami. People blindly followed their proverbial knight in shining armor bearing glad tidings of hope and change, defend- ing him at any cost, despite warnings from very con- cerned columnists like me. Today, we're witnessing a similar scenario multiplied exponentially, now that the anger level's been raised to fever pitch. Formerly "just angry" peo- ple are outraged — while those on the other side of the aisle are equally stirred at GOP politicians and their failed promises to stop the wrecking ball set in motion by the left's faux agent of hope. How does this end? On one side we have an ex- tremely divisive president who once told supporters to "take guns to knife fights," and defines political oppo- nents as "enemies." On the other side we have a GOP frontrunner who has encouraged support- ers to punch protestors and send them out of rallies on stretchers as the Washing- ton Post recently reported. Healthy debate is nec- essary for a constitutional republic like America to thrive, let alone survive. We must agree to respect- fully disagree with our op- ponents and be certain to choose our leaders wisely. In the end, politics won't fix what ails our fragmented so- ciety. We all must drop the hate and learn to respect our op- ponents as Jesus directed in Matthew 5: "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your en- emy.' But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Fa- ther in heaven." Until recently, that is what conservatism was about. Now, rather than ris- ing above the madness, too many Republicans have de- volved into the same kind of punch-counterpunch men- tality that's been going on between Sunni's and Shia in the Middle East for centu- ries. And like in the Middle East, the unrest in America will only get worse unless Republicans and Democrats begin to love the children they're leaving this mess to more than they hate their political opponents. Susan Stamper Brown Susan lives in Alaska and writes about culture, politics and current events. She was selected as one of America's 50 Best Conservative writers for 2015. Contact her by Facebook or at writestamper@gmail.com. Commentary Unresolved anger, tension destroying American decency Cartoonist's take It is difficult to keep up with the inane diatribe and postur- ing of candidate Trump who appears to con- done violence that he alone stirs up at his rallies. As a result he is now being dubbed a "neo Nazi." And yet recent local letters to the ed- itor writer Les Wolfe has declared that he is a supporter of Trump, the fellow who proclaims himself the sav- ior of democracy for some, but not all citizens. Apparently, in the letter writer's mind, only the "elite" denigrate Trump. This is perplexing, for Wolfe is no dummy. He states he is dis- satisfied with our current crop of leaders (as are many of us) and yearns for the day when one will rise to restore this country to its rightful position as leader of the free world, or words to that effect. I guess Les and I do not read the same reports of Trump's unseemly behavior. My input is aware of his every calculated move. New Jersey candidate Chris Christi withdrew and came out for the Donald, and in the words of The New Yorker writer David Remnick, "… has sold his soul for a place at Trump's feed- ing trough." Candidate Ben Carson, also retired from the race, has ex- pressed his support of Trump, probably in hopes of staying in the political limelight and being granted a position in Trump's entourage. I envision him say- ing, "Mr. Trump I endorse you. How does 'Surgeon General' sound to you?" And the comb- over replies, "No, I don't think so…but maybe Secretary of Health. However, in any case, drop that business about the pyramids of Egypt being built by Joseph as granaries. I've got to restore at least a little legiti- macy to my campaign. " Writer Remnick concludes, "And now here we are. Trump is no longer hustling golf courses, fake 'universities' or reality TV. He means to command the United States armed forces and control its nuclear codes. He in- tends to propose legislation, conduct America's global af- fairs, preside over our national- intelligence apparatus, and make the innumerable moral and political decisions required of a President." However, Mr. Wolfe wrote, "We all have flaws and accom- plishments, and when you com- pare those of Trump as com- pared to Hillary and most, if not all of his attackers, the bal- ance scale will without any doubt be in Trump's favor." Oh, I think there is ample doubt, but Les, are you sure you would vote for this character? ••• The Bureau of Labor Statis- tics fatality data revealed that tree felling has the highest fa- tality rate (0.79), killing 79 out of every 1,000 workers per year, a rate that is five times greater than the number two job on the list: commercial pilots, whose fatality rate is 0.16 per- cent. Other jobs on the list in- clude hoist and winch opera- tors (0.14), tree trimmers (0.13), commercial drivers (0.11), radio operators (0.08), athletes and sports competitors (0.08), travel guides (0.08), manufacturing building and mobile home in- stallers (0.08) and roofers (0.07). While the meat industry has had difficulty shaking off claims that work in a slaughter house is one of the most dan- gerous job, the BLS data re- veals that this industry fatality rate is 0.038, about half the rate for roofers and a fraction of the rate for tree fellers. In the 45-year history of our old meat plant, we had but one fatality. That was truck driver Pete Knaeble who fell asleep on his way home from a San Fran- cisco delivery. When the High- way Patrol called in the middle of the night informing me of his death, I had to call his wife, but I did not have the fortitude to tell her he had died. Instead, I gave her a number to call to learn of his condition. I should have been more forthright, but just could not bring myself to do it. ••• What Einstein said about re- ligion: "I have repeatedly said that in my opinion the idea of a personal God is a childlike one. You may call me an agnos- tic but I do not share the cru- sading spirit of the professional atheist...I prefer an attitude of humility corresponding to the weakness of our intellectual un- derstanding of nature and of our own being." ••• Speaking of religion, here is a flow chart that might help one in choosing one. For example, how many gods do you want to worship? If a ton of them, and you don't want to be reincar- nated, follow the Mayan reli- gion. If you do want to be rein- carnated, do you own a black cat? If yes, be a Wiccan. If not, do you prefer Indian or Chi- nese takeout? If the former, be- come a Hindu. If the latter, be a Buddhist. If you want to wor- ship only one god, how do you feel about bacon? If your con- flicted, become a Jew. If you prefer hummus, become a Mus- lim. If you prefer no religion, are you rich or insane? If no, be an atheist. If yes, be a Scientolo- gist. However, if you are a natu- rally annoying person who likes bacon and you think underwear can be magical, be a Mormon. If not, be a Jehovah's Witness. And yet, if none of this suites you, become a boring, generic Christian. ••• I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the john and I noticed an individual with a knife sneaking through my neighbor's garden. Suddenly my neighbor came from nowhere and smacked him over the head with a shovel killing him in- stantly. He then quickly dug a grave, put the intruder in it and covered it up. I was astonished at what I had seen, and when I got back in bed I said to my wife, whom I had awakened, "You're not go- ing to believe what I just saw. I just saw our a-hole of a neigh- bor, and he still has the shovel I loaned him nearly a year ago." 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 Doubts continues to persist over candidate Trump's character Like so many Americans, I've be en a ng ry a bou t what's happened to this land I love, which has de te ri or at ed t o the point she's no longer identifiable. Rather than pr ay in g f o r t hos e responsible for the mess, I allowed my anger to met as ta si ze n ea rly to the point of hatred. Sounding off A look at what readers are saying in comments on our website and on social media. Aren't they a bit old to be in a gang? Thank you RBPD for all you do for our little town. Vickie Seifert: On District Attorney's arrest of 12following gang investigation Thanks for getting this stuff off our streets. We appreciate you all! Sarah Ann Rowen: On District Attorney's arrest of 12following gang investigation Robert Minch 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, Kris- tina Miller, 824-7033 YOUR OFFICIALS OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Friday, March 18, 2016 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4