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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 I o en think that America is way too ce- lebrity driven. A recent example is actor George Clooney's support of Hillary Clinton to be our country's 45th President next year. Ifeelthathis celebrity will definitely help her, but why is his support more important than ours? Her vast experience easily qualifies her for this most powerful po- sition, but Clooney's support adds cream to her political mixture. After all, we know that Clooney has already in- volved himself in the issues of crime, corruption and starva- tion in the country of Africa. Both George Clooney and Hillary Clinton were a few nights of "Late Breaking News" when he announced his support for her. And, we all learned one would be able to dine personally with both of them for an outrageous $353,000 per-couple. That kind of support I will address in a future column. In my most recent position as President/CEO of a lobby- ing non-profit corporation called the California Broad- casters Association I was able to meet and become friends with about a dozen celebs. I was privileged to personally induct them all into the CBA's Hall of Fame. I especially enjoyed induct- ing Karl Malden of television's "Streets of San Francisco." He turned out to be such a nice guy. He even tried to pay for his own hotel room in a Santa Monica hotel where the special event in his honor was held. I did not permit him to do so. Then, I met Robert Conrad from television's "The Wild, Wild West." I got to know him well and discovered his real personality was just right for all the roles he has taken. I like him very much, but he is in real life an appealing "cocky little bastard." A big disappointment of mine was when I met and in- ducted William Shatner into that Hall of Fame. He was an ideal choice to overplay Cap- tain James T. Kirk on "Star Trek." However, knowing Bill very casually as I do now, I far prefer Captain Juan Luc Picard from the latest, "Star Trek, the Next Generation." I can tell you that Shatner can be rude and self-involved. Promptly after receiving his award in the Monterey Hotel ballroom, he said to me; "Get me outta here!" Well, that's all I had to hear. It became my pleasure to escort him from the premises. Then, there was the time my wife Roleeda and I got to enjoy the company of Alex Trebek from "Jeopardy" and Barbara Eden from "I Dream of Jeannie." They acted very properly. They both receive their awards graciously. Addi- tionally, they were wonderful dinner companions. My biggest treat was in- ducting comedian actress Betty White, who just turned 94 in January. That event turned into a permanent friendship which now per- mits my wife and I to enjoy her when we visit the Los An- geles area. We even met actor Danny Glover, a great guy with bad knees. He told my wife and I about that. He speculated that maybe he should not have done so many of his own stunts in all those great mov- ies in which he starred. So, I have been fortunate and met quite a few celebrities in my life. My take on them all is that they are no better or worse than the rest of us. Mytakeonthemovies My movie review: By all means see "Money Monster." It stars George Clooney and Julia Roberts. In addition, the director is none other than Jodie Foster. You will have a wonderful time and use a good deal of your adrenalin. StanStathamserved1976- 1994 in the California Assembly and was a television news anchor at KHSL-TV in Chico 1965-1975. He is past president of the California Broadcasters Association and can be reached at StanStatham@ gmail.com. Stan Statham My take on celebrities Then, there was the time my wife Roleeda and I got to enjoy the company of Alex Trebek from "Jeopardy" and Barbara Eden from "I Dream of Jeannie." ... they were wonderful dinner companions. Thanksforsteppingup WestValley Editor: A few weeks ago, Red Bluff High School announced there would be no Sports Physical Day. Thank you to West Valley for its hospitality and flexibility in allowing us to attend its Sports Physical Day. The school is amaz- ing. — Jenny Alexander, Red Bluff Expandedbusservice needed Editor: Many people in Tehama County would like the TRAX bus to run on Saturdays. People need the bus for work and shopping. Many activities happen on the weekend and peo- ple have no way to go to them. Many of the businesses in red Bluff did not know they bus doesn't run on Saturdays. Ridership went down when the price for tickets was raised. The bus could run two or three times a day on Saturdays. The seats on the bus have not been cleaned for over a year, which is a health hazard. — Judy Burlison, Red Bluff Minimumwageis justastart Editor: Many new grads need to know minimum wage was once thought to be a short journey to a better destination. Now expecta- tions have been lowered to make it the destination by calling it a living wage. Attitude may change as prices increase everything and a re- turn to the idea to obtain a better standard of living, earn a better education, get higher skills and improve productivity now. Thanks for reading my mes- sage. Hope it helps improve your priorities. — Steve Kelsey, Corning Lettersbestwaytoexpress opinions Editor: While I often make online comments, I believe the best way to express my opinion is to sub- mit it directly to the editor of the Daily News. I find in social interaction at different gatherings there's not that many people who read the online comments on the opin- ion page. The two most frequent people that post their opinions on Disqus comments are a no- name "Another_Bob," who would have you believe he or she is just a another guy and has made the claim he hasn't heard of Saul Alinsky or "The Alinsky Code" but like most radical, liberal, democratic operatives he fol- lows the Alinsky Code and Dem- ocrat talking points by attack- ing conservatives that express their thoughts and opinions, such as, Polson's column and my let- ters to the editor or my online Disqus comments, with the race card and pointless and meaning- less rhetoric. The other is Red Bluff's own Pat Johnston who boasts a bona-fide degree from Chico State and has been a can- didate for the Board of Supervi- sors twice and once wrote a col- umn for this very paper. After reading her hysterical on- line comments and letters to the editor one begins to wonder if a degree from Chico State is worth the paper it's written on and can now understand why she is not on the Tehama County Board of Su- pervisors and no longer writes a column for the Daily News. Like so many other times, when responding to Don Polson's column of May 10 she goes into a hysterical rampage with the accu- sations of racist, bigot and com- paring Trump to Hitler, Stalin and Napoleon and to top it off in- sinuates that Trump is an evil false Christ. If Johnston wants a more accurate comparison to Hit- ler, Stalin, Napoleon and a false Christ she should use Obama. How anyone, with one iota of a brain cell, can conjure the no- tion to vote for Hillary is beyond anything any normal person can conceive. Literally speaking, Hill- ary has more skeletons in her closet than anyone who has run for President of the United States of America, besides her husband Bill. The four Americans that died in the Benghazi attack included U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, Sean Patrick Smith, State De- partment employee and two CIA contractors, both Navy Seals, Ty- rone Woods and Glen Doherty. The death of these four Ameri- cans should be enough to elimi- nate her name from being on the ballot of any political party after lying to their families but this is what the Democrat Party has be- come, shame and be damned. There is more. Remember Waco? While Bill was President, Hillary and her pick for Attor- ney General, Janet Reno had the power of the U.S. Government lay siege on the Branch Davidi- ans Compound at Mount Carmel near Waco and their leader Da- vid Koresh. The ATF showed up at the Mount Carmel Compound with an entourage TV cameras and journalists to show everyone how the hog ate the cabbage and it back-fired on them. Fifty one days later 76 Branch Davidians died only nine survived the fire. The FBI's favorite hitman Lon Horiuchi, famous for shooting Randy Weaver's wife Vickie in the head while she was holding their baby in her arms, was also on hand at Waco. As old men, women and children were going up in flames and dying a horri- ble death the government agents were giving victory cheers. This could have been avoided by arresting David Koresh while he rode his bicycle on almost a daily basis to the nearby town. It has been said by many if there hadn't been a Waco there wouldn't have been an Oklahoma City bombing. Perhaps Hillary could be a candidate for Johnston's false Christ. Who else has a soul so dead and a heart so cold? — Les Wolfe, Red Bluff Your opinions Cartoonist's take According to a May 11 United Press International news story, Democratic pres- idential frontrunner Hillary Clinton promised a radio in- terviewer that, if elected, she would release government re- cords related to Area 51. Area 51, of course, is the re- mote section of Edwards Air Force Base in the Nevada des- ert that many UFO enthusiasts believe is the site of alien en- counters. I was a little surprised that Hillary took an interest in this X Files-type topic. Usually she's chasing little green bills instead of little green men. Usually she's the one saying, "Take me to your leader — so I can hit him up for a Clinton Foundation donation." Urban legends and conspir- acy theories insist that Area 51 is a center for ongoing com- munications with aliens and/ or a place where crashed alien spaceships are taken apart so scientists can reverse engineer the technology and speed up mankind's technological prog- ress. I know — reverse engineer- ing an interstellar craft that smashed into a mountain- side is like reverse engineer- ing a Ford Edsel or New Coke. As Donald Trump put it, "I don't like extraterrestrials who crash-land their flying saucers. Give me the aliens who ac- complish their mission of dec- imating cities and atomizing toddlers. That's what I call a hero." Skeptics point out that if we had really made contact with extraterrestrials, some low- level Area 51 employee would have played whistleblower by now. Of course employees may be buying into the "You want the truth? You can't handle the truth" philosophy. Perhaps there is a fear that there would be mass panic if we knew we weren't alone. But this is 2016, after all. ("Hey, as long as they don't have gluten-based weap- ons, I'm down with that.") Many citizens wonder why, if Area 51 has been around for more than 50 years, no presi- dent has spoken up to reveal its secrets. In fact, chief executives have let information about Area 51 slip out, but it is always quickly redacted. Surely you remember Pres. Obama's gaffe "I've got a pen and I've got a phone. And I've got a transdimensional death ray. D'oh! Can I do that over?" Going further back, Presi- dent John F. Kennedy also al- most let the cat out of the bag. Surely some of you remem- ber the unedited version of his speech, "We choose to go to the moon... not because it's easy, but because I think I left my cufflinks there." Some skeptics are quick to say, "Wait a minute — Hillary is married to a former presi- dent. Wouldn't he have already told her any secrets of Area 51?" Skeptics are sure Bill would have divulged everything to Hillary because he has such a sterling record of telling her everything. Most likely, the best she could glean would be his muttering in his sleep. ("All I wanted was to get to sec- ond base with her — but those freaks don't even have second base.") Bernie Sanders has not in- dicated whether he believes in alien races; but in order to cover all demographic bases, he has recalibrated his cam- paign to focus on "single-payer alien autopsies." If Hillary does make it to the Oval Office and fulfill her promise, it could be a hollow victory. If she discovers that some bureaucrat accidentally de- stroyed the alien self-replicat- ing pantsuit blueprints, she could view the red state and blue state map ruefully and ask, "What difference, at this point, does it make?" Danny Tyree welcomes email responses at tyreetyrades@aol. com and visits to his Facebook fan page Tyree's Tyrades. Danny Tyree Would President Hillary Clinton spill Area 51 secrets? Stan Statham OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, May 19, 2016 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6