Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/664069
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 ThankstoTedCruz'sprimarywininWis- consin, it's now all but certain the Republi- can convention is going to be contested. Donald Trump is going to come close to winning the delegates he'd need to win the nomination on the first ballot, but I don't see him getting the GOP cigar. Someone else will, I'm guessing. And don't be shocked if his initials are not TC or JK. Thebigquestionforright now is how the conventioneers in Cleveland and the Republi- cans watching on TV will re- act when their party's intra- mural cage match is over. Will those who saw their man knocked out of the ring act like adults or will they get angry, stomp out and not show up to vote for the GOP nomi- nee in November? As I said last week, it's time for Republicans to relax and let the nominating process play out. It's not time to unite behind a Cruz, a Kasich or a Trump. It's too late for any of them to throw in their towels. Even Kasich, the one everybody but him agrees should have quit a dozen states ago, has a chance to win at a contested or dead- locked convention. Most people can't imagine what a contested convention will be like, but I can. I was at the last one in 1976, when my father and his team did everything they could to stop a sitting Republican pres- ident from getting the number of delegates he needed. To stop Gerald Ford my fa- ther tried to get delegates by shaking up the delegations from New York and Pennsylva- nia anyway they could. Before the convention he said he'd pick Pennsylvania's liberal Republican Senator Richard Schweiker. The Reagan team also schmoozed and badgered the New York delegates so hard it drove Gov. Nelson Rockefeller mad. At one point he ripped a phone out of the floor of the convention stage and, emitting a string of obscenities, threw it halfway across the hall. It's a rough and tumble business, folks. It's not for pansies. It's for people who want to get fully engaged in the can- tankerous and raucous and ri- otous process of nominating a president. My father fought hard in 1976 but he lost that process. His people fought hard too. After all the backroom deals and fights over rules, they were disappointed and went home angry. But in November they did the right thing. They united behind the party's nominee and showed up at the polls to vote for Ford. My father did the right thing too. Before the conven- tion in Kansas City ended he stood up and supported Ford. Then he campaigned for him all over the country. The lesson here is that you don't get so angry about your guy losing that you don't vote for the other guy who wins. The process is the process. Your guy might have the most delegates going into the convention, but if he doesn't have at least 1,237 delegates, it's not enough. Them's the rules. To win the nomination at a contested convention, your guy's got to start making deals. Maybe with the Rubio delegates or the Kasich dele- gates or the Cruz delegates. If anyone should under- stand this, it's Donald Trump. He's the guy who keeps tell- ing us he's the greatest deal- maker on the planet and can't wait to start making trade deals with the Chinese and the Mexicans. He's the brilliant business guy, in case you haven't heard him say it since noon, who wrote "The Art of the Deal" in 1987. If he's incapable of making a deal at the Republican con- vention to win the delegates he needs to clinch the nomi- nation, maybe the GOP should look for the real author of "The Art of the Deal." Because apparently it wasn't the Donald. MichaelReaganisthesonof 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 Can Donald close the deal in Cleveland? Cartoonist's take I mentioned last week a page from the humor section of The New Yorker depicting an imag- inary scene in which Trump is having a temper tantrum and a quivering aide is trying to unsuc- cessfully placate him. The premise of this satirical piece is that Trump began his run for President to satisfy his ego and get a little face time on the telly…but now, weary of the game and the increasing heck- ling, he is ready to bow out. However whenever he makes an even more ridiculous remark, thinking he will finally lose popular opinion, he attracts even more like-minded support- ers. This enrages him further and he takes it out on his aide. I had urged readers to drop by the office for a copy of the hi- larious article, but I now have it on my computer, and if you will send me a brief e-mail re- questing same, I will forward it to you. I think it is worth the effort, and conversely it is not worth the effort, to support Trump, because he doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of getting elected our next Presi- dent. As a sidebar to that predic- tion, I saw a fellow in a den- tal office waiting room wear- ing a "Vote Trump" badge. It was the first I had seen and I nearly confronted him about his poor choice of candidates. But "nearly" is the operative word and I let the moment pass knowing, at my age, discretion to be the better part of valor. ••• Speaking of age, I had a birthday last Sunday. Many thanks to those who wished me well via e-mails and Facebook, and nuts to those who think I have already lived one year too many. Speaking of Facebook, I do not respond to notifications from same because I suspect they are often generated by the company to stir up action be- tween users, and are not legiti- mate messages. I did not vote for Presi- dent the last time around even though I am for diversity of the Presidency regarding color or gender. The problem with Presi- dent Obama's first term was that he could not get anything accomplished with a parti- san congress — except univer- sal health care and that is be- ing challenged — to help heal certain imbalances in this still great country. This became even more obvious in his sec- ond term. Can you imagine anything more unjust than a Presi- dent, who is legally empow- ered to appoint a Justice to the Supreme Court, being told by a Congressional leader, "It doesn't matter who you ap- point, we will not accept him or her." Tsk, tsk. It is indeed time for a woman President. There is prece- dent for a world leader to be the head of a country — think Thatcher of England and Merkel of Germany. However, our choice of gender this time around is Mrs. Clinton. Her de- tractors state she carries too much baggage. I say that her ex- perience is still superior to that of any of the other contestants. I suggest a hard swallow, and if no one else emerges from the current list, vote for a female President. As it has been more than 200 years since we have had this opportunity, what's the harm? Our greatest concern should be who has a finger on the nuclear button. ••• If the above causes you to lose sleep, Arianna Huffing- ton says she has tips that may help the insomniac. 1) Skip the nightcap. Recent studies in- dicate alcohol does initially act as a sedative, but later in the night it causes increase in sleep disruption. 2) Smell- ing lavender helps one to re- lax by slowing the heart rate, decreasing blood pressure and lowering skin temperature. Arianna does not say how to sniff lavender. 3) Stay awake, or at least pretend you don't want to fall asleep. This is called paradoxical intention. Patients realize when they try to re- main awake, it makes them sleepier, which is what normal sleepers do. It is said that peo- ple who sleep well don't try to fall asleep. Is that clear? 4) 57% of people who sleep naked said they were happy in their re- lationship. Scientists say that when two people sleep naked their skin-to-skin contact re- leases oxytocin. Apparently that is good and the only side effect is actually falling asleep. And yet, if all remedies fail, I find the best solution is to read a book in bed. I only get through a few pages before I am forced to turn out the light and go to the land of nod. ••• The many friends of Dave Kinner will be pleased to know that he is still with us and recu- perating at Enloe Medical Cen- ter in Chico. As previously re- ported he was in a near fatal accident on Adobe Road sev- eral weeks ago, and his recov- ery and rehabilitation is go- ing to be slow and lengthy. In speaking with his wife, Karen, we learned that air bags in his truck saved his life, but just barely, and his multiple broken bones and head injury have put him in a near coma since. So, what to do to show your con- cern? Although Dave has his fam- ily visiting and monitoring his progress, no one knows how much of an effort it might be for him to respond to visi- tors; therefore it may be best to forego visiting him at En- loe. However, you might send a note to Karen at 13820 Ide Adobe Lane, Red Bluff, and con- vey to her your empathy. She re- ports she is not monitoring her e-mail at this time, but perhaps she will relay your note regard- ing this badly injured fellow whose family has previously ex- perienced enough tragedy al- ready. As of this date, Dave is a guy struggling to return to his for- mer self. ••• The owner of a racing pigeon was worried sick because one of his favorite birds after a long distance race did not arrive. Fi- nally he showed up and the owner demanded, "Where have you been?" The pigeon replied, "Oh…it was such a lovely day I decided to walk." 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 A call for Trump detesters to unite It's too late for any of them to throw in their towels. Even Kasich, the one everybody but him agrees should have quit a dozen states ago, has a chance to win at a contested or deadlocked convention. Sounding off A look at what readers are saying in comments on our website and on social media. Nice story. Thank you for always covering this great event. Not o en that there is a free camp with the pro cowboys. Cyndee McIntosh Banister: On coverage of the PRCA Roughstock Rodeo Camp Not surprised, the board went with what they wanted and not follow the will of the people, but that is Tehama County for you. Pat Johnston: On the appointment of Rich DuVarney as Superintendent of Schools 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, April 8, 2016 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6