Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/687714
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, 728Main St., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS DonaldTrumpisstillnoconservativeand never will be. He still hasn't figured out that the mix of in- sults, bluster and off-the-cuff political state- ments that won him the Republican Party primary won't work in the general election. Butalotofusconservatives enjoyed watching him attack the news media for the way they've questioned his han- dling of the $6 million dona- tion he raised for veterans or- ganizations. For decades we've watched the unfair and unbalanced mainstream news media spew its liberal bias and wanted to throw a brick through the TV screen. Trump symbolically did just that when he called that press conference on Tuesday. He went overboard in his at- tack, of course, because he's Donald Trump. But his media rage was justified. The news media questioned him like a war criminal about the details of the $6 million he raised for the vets, act- ing as if he had never really raised the money or never in- tended to disburse it. Trump is hopelessly na- ive if he really thought he was going to be given a standing ovation by the news media for raising money for the vets or anyone else. But the liberal media wolf pack nitpicked at every part of Trump's charitable effort. Some of the checks had not been sent out yet. It was only $5.6 million that was raised, not $6 mil- lion. And look. Trump hadn't yet paid the million bucks he promised to chip in. Everyone knows it was a PR stunt for Trump to skip Re- publican Debate No. 37 and go on TV and pander to mili- tary veterans. And it's true that it was way back in January when he was bragging he raised the $6 million. But come on. Did anyone — other than the biased report- ers in the news media — re- ally think the checks were go- ing to be mailed out the next day or next week? To any vets group that sent in an e-mail asking for money? The organizations clamor- ing for a share of the money had to be carefully vetted by someone on Trump's staff. Imagine what the news media would have done to Trump if some wacko para- military group ended up spending $100,000 on hate billboards or worse. And really, did anyone — other than the media dumbos — think Trump was plan- ning to never pay his million or pocket all the money him- self? Trump's message was valid. He just didn't deliver it well. He shouldn't have singled out individual reporters, and he should have taken a more lighthearted, sarcastic, mock- ing approach, not an angry one. He should have said he was sorry the liberal news media thought the process was tak- ing too long, but that raising and responsibly handing out $6 million takes time. He should have explained that he had his small staff working on it, but that they were also busy trying to help him become president of the U.S. At his press conference Trump also should have asked something like, "I was won- dering. When will the Wash- ington Post's crack investiga- tive team and the rest of you so-called journalists show the same level of interest in ex- posing the shady fund-rais- ing techniques of the Clinton Foundation?" It'd be a major accomplish- ment if the Washington press corps merely asked Hillary a few tough questions about the lucrative international influ- ence-peddling racket she and Bill are running. But of course Hillary doesn't do press conferences. She hides from the press — and the press is so biased it barely complains. I'm not a big fan of Trump, but he was right to attack the Washington media. The trou- ble is, the way he did it was not even close to being pres- idential. And in November that could prove to be his Achilles Heel. 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 Trumphits on the media Cartoonist's take A walk amongst the tomb- stones at Oak Hill Cemetery is always a rewarding expe- rience. It is in- deed the ulti- mate stroll into the past. Most of yesteryear's mov- ers and shakers are there. True, a few have opted for other climes and a few have decided upon other means to a final rest. But of those remain- ing tenants, many groan under the weight of mammoth stones and three such affluent ten- ants boast their own mausole- ums. What spurred their heirs to such extravagance? Perhaps it was the land holdings of the deceased. Mrs. Cone must have been persuaded to have a little stone house erected for her husband, Douglas. An- other such was constructed for Cone's partner, Gorham Kim- ball. A third is marked simply "Howells." Someone must have observed to the widows, "It is only fitting due to their station in life." The rest of us must make do with simpler plantings and be squeezed into single plots. However, the Minch plot is de- fined by a bit of concrete curb- ing and contains grandfather and grandmother on my fa- ther's side along with his four brothers and sister. However, father had to settle for a spot just outside the east boundary along with my mother and her mother. This can't be of much interest to others except to take note that one remaining plot is still beckoning me to join the group. And yet, I think I will pass on this opportunity. It is getting crowded thereabouts, and perhaps a cremation and urn is the prudent way to go these days. But then, what's the rush? Plenty of time to deal with this eventuality. Plenty of time left to smell the roses. ••• But speaking of cemeter- ies, and after observing the great number of small flags in- dicating veterans' final resting places at Oak Hill, I realized that the notification on signs entering Tehama County read- ing "We Honor our Veterans" can have no greater meaning than those little flags on their graves, if only once a year. It is indeed touching, and the loss of life, so signified, sobering. ••• But, further speaking of cemeteries, did you know that you can Google "Tehama Ge- nealogical & Historical Soci- ety" on the Internet and come up with a very comprehensive listing, with photos, of head- stones of the departed, and a map of their locations? I was astounded to find this informa- tion at the finger tips. A good show by the society and one Phoebe Larne who took the thousands of photos in 2008. ••• E mail becomes rather imper- sonal when it fails to conclude with an affectionate valediction or closing. L. Merry of the Manton Mad- caps signs off with "XOXO." This can mean merely that the recipient, though twice her age, still holds, for her, a de- gree of attraction. However, her spouse Aaron must assume this "XOXO" is a blanket endorse- ment that could apply to a Pres- idential or Supervisorial can- didate. If one comes from the old school, there will be a ten- dency to apply "Sincerely" or "Yours Truly" as a tag, but it is certainly no longer de rigueur. I find, when sending off some- thing of substance, to include as an ending, "Cheers!" You can't go wrong with that senti- ment. ••• Speaking of sentiment, de- fined as "a view of or attitude toward a situation or event; an opinion," A new book "Honor Bound," by Ryan P. Brown, states, "If a society is overly concerned with honor, its mem- bers can become hypersensitive to insults." And further, "Put- ting a premium (think certain honor obsessed areas of the south which indicate a higher rate of domestic violence and school shootings) on honor is the primary force that makes honor cultures so often not honorable." ••• The horse race to the Pres- idency appears to be coming down to whether Bernie throws his support to Hillary or he fights on in his Quixotic battle, and thereby divides the Dem- ocratic vote and gives the ti- tle to the odious Trump by de- fault. However, whoever gains the White House, we are re- minded that we have checks and balances in House and Sen- ate, and these men and women, entrenched as they may be, are not going to let the new Presi- dent to do something stupid on the world stage. Will they? Tell me that is so. ••• Great professional basketball results with the Golden State Warriors prevailing over that rowdy, roughhouse gang from Oklahoma. I am impressed with the speed of play, the excellent baskets shot from afar and the dribbling through traffic. How- ever, the rules are not the same for the big boy pros. In high school and college, players are called for travelling, which is running with the ball. Not so with the pros. They can drib- ble on down the floor and then, confronted with superior de- fense, just choose to run around under the basket for 5 to 10 steps before shooting for the hoop. Tsk, tsk. ••• Of Americans who prepare hot dogs, two-thirds say grill- ing is their preferred method of cooking, according to new re- search. Grilling far outpaced other cooking methods, includ- ing steaming, microwaving and pan-frying. The research also finds that a plurality — 34 per- cent — of hot dog consumers enjoy eating hot dogs inside their home. Twenty-two percent of respondents preferred eat- ing hot dogs in their backyard, whereas 19 percent most enjoy their hot dogs while tailgating or inside a sporting event. Thir- teen percent of respondents, meanwhile, said picnics were their preferred location to eat hot dogs. ••• I told my son "I want you to marry a girl of my choice." He said "No." So I told him its Bill Gates' daughter. He said "OK." Got in contact with Bill Gates and told him "I want your daughter to marry my son." Gates said "No." I told him my son was the CEO of the World Bank. He said "OK." Went to the President of the World Bank and told him to make my son CEO of the bank. He said "No." I told him my son was Bill Gates' son in law. He said "OK." That's exactly how politics works. 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 Reflections on a visit to the cemetery And really, did anyone — other than the media dumbos — think Trump was planning to never pay his million or pocket all the money himself? Trump's message was valid. He just didn't deliver it well. 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 Robert Minch The notification on signs entering Tehama County reading "We Honor our Veterans" can have no greater meaning than those little flags on their graves, if only once a year. 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