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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, 728Main St., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS With apologies to the climactic song in "Les Miserables," here are the self-destructive Brits who voted recently to exit the Euro- pean Union. Cue the music. Doyouhearthepeople sing Singing the song of angry men We will crash the British pound Against the dollar and the yen, When the pounding in our brains Echoes the poison in our guts That is when the world will know That we're going nuts. That's what happens when voters surrender to their bas- est instincts. One "Brexit" voter, identified only as Adam, told the BBC, "I'm shocked and worried. I voted Leave but...I never thought it would actually happen." A like-minded voter said on TV, "This morning I woke up and the reality did actually hit me, if I had the opportu- nity to vote again, it would be to stay." Too late, fools. You voted for xenophobic nationalism, to wall off your country from the rest of the EU and spark massive turmoil in the global markets. You've lit the flame of recession at home and abroad, you voted to imperil the ties that bind Europe's anti-terrorism intelligence agencies and triggered a cri- sis that will likely destabilize the EU and embolden Vladi- mir Putin. Americans should pay close attention to what is transpir- ing — and unraveling — in Britain right now. It's a warn- ing shot across our bow, a harbinger of what could hap- pen here if we surrender to our basest instincts and elect Donald Trump. The voters of what's called "Little England" — a rough parallel to what we call "mid- dle America" — hoisted a middle finger to immigration and globalization. Dire warn- ings about the consequences of exiting the EU failed to penetrate the intellect be- cause these people were bent on voting with their gut. Swayed by the xenopho- bic demagoguery of Mini Me Trump agitators like former London mayor Boris John- son and Independence Party leader Nigel Farage, they con- vinced themselves that they were "Making Britain Great Again." We'll see how that goes when international fi- nancial institutions start pulling out of London. Farage and his "Leave" campaign caught fire with his repeated claim that immi- gration has made traditional Britain "unrecognizable," and that open borders with the EU have turned the "white working class" into "an un- derclass." (Who does that sound like?) He also sold the voters snake oil, promising that if Britain left the EU, it would free up lots of extra money for the national health pro- gram — in American dol- lars, roughly $500 million a week. But when asked on TV whether he can guarantee that promise, Farage admit- ted, "No I can't...It was one of the mistakes I think the Leave campaign made." Yep, that pledge was just pap for the saps, and they bought it. Into the aftermath of the "Brexit" walks Trump, seek- ing to take political advan- tage. Two weeks ago he had no idea what Brexit was — "Huh?" he asked as he strug- gled to talk about it. In Scot- land Friday morning, after praising the greatness of his golf course, right down to the plumbing, Trump said of the Brits: "They have declared their independence from the Euro- pean Union and have voted to reassert control over their own politics, borders and economy. Come November, the American people will have the chance to re-declare their independence. Amer- icans will have a chance to vote for trade, immigration and foreign policies that put our citizens first. They will have the chance to reject to- day's rule by the global elite, and to embrace real change that delivers a government of, by and for the people. I hope America is watching, it will soon be time to believe in America again." There it was, his autumn campaign pitch. To follow our misguided British cous- ins into the abyss, all we need do is to stay home on election day, to cede the future to the forces of Trumpism. At the end of "Les Misera- bles," the people sang "There is a life about to start when tomorrow comes." It's com- ing soon. How do we want to live it? DickPolmanisthenational political columnist at NewsWorks/WHYY in Philadelphia (newsworks. org/polman) and a "Writer in Residence" at the University of Pennsylvania. Email him at dickpolman7@gmail.com. Dick Polman Is Brexit a harbinger of Trumpism? Cartoonist's take As the seminal event in America's history approaches, our Day of Independence, thoughts gravi- tate to conditions and declarations associated there- with. Consider how clearly our Founders, and the Framers of that document, could see the historical significance of their governing revolution. They needed to take the full measure of the capabil- ities, qualities and spirit of the people of the colonies to whom would fall the responsibilities of self-government. As Benjamin Franklin later admonished someone asking what they had produced (the Constitution), Americans would have the blessing of "a Repub- lic, if you can keep it." Never in recorded history had self-gov- ernance been tried on such a scale. Attempts to depart the rule of kings and potentates had often devolved into chaos, factional violence and the re- turn of either military rule or the reestablishment of a sover- eign line of succession. In writings from those rev- olutionary patriots, fighting for independent self-rule of free citizens, it is clear that the grand opportunity they sought to seize would all be put at risk if an imperfect system of gov- ernance emerged. Similarly, if the people, charged with self- governing through their cho- sen representatives, reverted to habits and patterns of narrow- mindedness and short-term ad- vantage—the American exper- iment could fail. Is this today's America? Inspiration came from a British supporter of our in- dependence and opponent of the French revolution, Ed- mund Burke, "the leading fig- ure within the conservative faction of the Whig Party… widely regarded as the phil- osophical founder of modern conservatism."(Wikipedia) Read carefully his thoughts on what is required for sus- taining "civil liberty" by and among the citizens: "Men are qualified for civil liberty in ex- act proportion to their disposi- tion to put moral chains upon their own appetites—in pro- portion as their love to justice is above their rapacity (Web- ster's: greedy, voracious)—in proportion as their soundness and sobriety of understanding is above their vanity and pre- sumption—in proportion as they are more disposed to lis- ten to the counsels of the wise and good, in preference to the flattery of knaves. "Society cannot exist, unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed some- where; and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters." (From Ed- mund Burke's "Letter to a Member of the National Assem- bly" May 1791) Wikipedia: "Burke's reli- gious thought was grounded in the belief that religion is the foundation of civil soci- ety. He sharply criticized deism and atheism, and emphasized Christianity as a vehicle of so- cial progress…(and) the pres- ervation of citizens' constitu- tional liberties…beneficial not only to the believer's soul, but also to political arrangements." So, let's see why it is that "The Declaration should still wake the powerful up at night" (Glenn Reynolds, USA Today, July 5, 2015). "More than com- plaints about a king, the Dec- laration of Independence was a justification for rebellion that applies today….It did more than that [separate us from Great Britain]. It also spelled out a theory of governance that represented a tremendous departure from pretty much all of human history up to that date." While divine-right political practices still exist here and there, it is suggested, not re- quired, that the sovereign treat the subjects decently. "But the Declaration takes a different approach. It says that rights come from God, not from the king, and that they are 'un- alienable'—that is, incapable of being sold (alienated), surren- dered or given away. Moreover, government exists to protect rights, in the decla- ration's explanation, "and when the government fails to live up to its duties, and the people no longer consent to it, it becomes illegitimate and subject to re- placement by something the people like better. "Does our government now have, as its principal func- tion, the protection of people's rights? Or is it more of a giant wealth-transfer machine, ben- efiting the connected at the ex- pense of the outsiders? And, most important, does our gov- ernment enjoy the consent of the governed? According to a 2014 Rasmussen poll, only 21 percent think so. "So is a new American Revo- lution in order? As our Found- ing Fathers knew, revolutions are chancy things and often make things worse. And as the declaration itself notes, 'All ex- perience hath shown, that man- kind are more disposed to suf- fer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.' "Even so, it might be a good thing for our ruling class to spend a little time pondering the Declaration of Indepen- dence, and its principles. There is more to government than graft. May they recognize that in time." I see the "rapacity" of, not a literal king/queen, but cer- tainly the well-connected sup- porters and hangers-on to gov- ernment largess, the subsidized crony capitalist infrastruc- ture, and entire classes of citi- zens (even non-citizens). Their net "taking" from government, in the form of "benefits," far ex- ceeds what they pay in the sum of all applicable taxes. We've seen nearly endless special grants, loans and sub- sidies for deep-pocketed, lob- byist-employing corporations. We've seen protests and dem- onstrations, peaceful or other- wise, express intimidation to- ward legislatures, demanding funds for such masses. Is there any doubt such demands will usually prevail over the reluc- tance by the minority of pro- ducing citizens to "contribute" ever-greater levels of taxation? The "takers" and the "giv- ers" can't forever be reconciled; force, political or otherwise, will be needed to settle it. 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 Independence or endless rapacity Americans should pay close attention to what is transpiring — and unraveling — in Britain right now. It's a warning shot across our bow, a harbinger of what could happen here if we surrender to our basest instincts and elect Donald Trump. Don Polson StateandNational Assemblyman James Gal- lagher, 2060 Talbert Drive, Ste. 110, Chico 95928, 530 895-4217, http://ad03.asmrc. org/ SenatorJimNielsen,2634 Forest Ave., Ste. 110, Chico 95928, 530 879-7424, sena- tor.nielsen@senate.ca.gov Governor Jerry Brown, State Capital Building, Sac- ramento 95814, 916 445- 2841, fax 916 558-3160, gov- ernor@governor.ca.gov U.S. Representative Doug LaMalfa, 507 Cannon House OfficeBuilding, Washington D.C. 20515, 202 225-3076 U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, One Post St., Ste. 2450, San Francisco 94104, 415 393-0707, fax 415 393- 0710 U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, 1700 Montgomery St., San Francisco 94111, 510 286-8537, fax 202 224-0454 Local Tehama County Supervi- sors, 527-4655 District 1, Steve Chamb- lin, 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, Richard Crabtree, 527-2605, Ext. 3061 Corning City Manager, Kristina Miller, 824-7033 Your officials Attempts to depart the rule of kings and potentates had often devolved into chaos, factional violence and the return of either military rule or the reestablishment of a sovereign line of succession. 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