Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/699531
TheriseofDonaldTrumphasbroughta new understanding of the "DTs", the alco- hol withdrawal syndrome which is char- acterized by trauma and confusion among other things. In this case, it is not the withdrawal of Trump, but insertion of his bizarre statements, actions, and points of view that cause the trauma and confusion. His poll numbers are dropping. Let'stakealookatthe Donald; he has a big ego, and is the angry son of an immi- grant and the grandson of im- migrants. He has been quoted as saying that he doesn't know in reference to immigrants, "What's going to happen in fif- teen or twenty years…A lot of times the children of people who come into this country become a big problem." I am not sure if he was re- ferring to his father, or mak- ing a forecast about himself. His father did cause some problems. Woodie Guthrie wrote of Fred Trump: I suppose Old Man Trump knows Just how much Racial hatred He stirred up In the bloodspot of human hearts. Dad had been arrested at a 1927 KKK rally that had got- ten out of hand; "The Don- ald has been somewhat eva- sive when reminded of this; Dad was sued for overt dis- crimination in renting his properties after a sting oper- ation conclusively proved ap- plicants were denied opportu- nity to rent his properties be- cause of their race. The Donald has been fairly vague in his refusal to accept the endorsement of David Duke of the KKK, or even at times even acknowledge who Duke is although Trump was clear he knew who is was be- fore he was campaigning. He has blatantly spoken out against a judge who is trying a case against one of his most infamous operations, Trump "University" because of the judge's Hispanic heritage. This was a gross assumption repudiated by even members of his own political party. Perhaps Trump's own Ger- man heritage is responsible for his behaviors which some consider "Hitler-like." Fam- ily members have related that Trump kept a copy of Hitler's writings close at hand for a long time, even at his bedside. In referring to the per- son who committed the mass shooting in Orlando, he said that although the shooter may have been born in the United States, "his ideas weren't born here. His ideas were born from someplace else." I suppose Trump could have said the same thing about our Founding Fathers who brought us the ideas of the Enlightenment from Eu- rope, ideas which inspired our form of government. Maybe their ideas were okay. We are a nation of immi- grants; those immigrants do bring ideas with them. "The Donald" is a part of that mix- ture whether he admits it or not. I hope that he can accept that and move on. I just finished reading some stories written by two of my great-nieces; they wrote about their great- grandfather who narrowly es- caped Czechoslovakia on the last train out before the Nazis invaded; he escaped through the kindness of an American businessman who told bor- der guards that their great- grandfather was his trans- lator. He tricked the border guard into stamping his pass- port, and made it to New York; he went to San Fran- cisco, met his wife, and set- tled into the import-export business. The stories are heartwarming; they talk of fleeing oppression, luck, and success in the United States. My family story is that my great grandfather was in school in England when he was up to some kind of mischief; the rou- tine in his classroom was for the teacher would to toss the yard stick to the student in trou- ble and say "fetch;" when the student brought the yard stick back, the teacher would hit him with it. Our family story is that my great-grandfather picked up the yard stick and tossed it back at the teacher, and then took the first available ship to Amer- ica. He got off of the train in Il- linois at the end of the line and began farming. My grandparents on my mother's side of the family immigrated from Sweden, met in Minnesota and then moved to be with relatives in the Bay Area where my mother was born. My wife's maternal grand- parents were German and Swedish immigrants; her pa- ternal great-grandparents were from Alsace-Lorraine. My best friend in the Army was the son of German im- migrants; my boss at Crown Zellerbach was a son of Basque immigrants. My co-worker was a son of Italian immigrants. We have friends with not too distant Asian, Central Amer- ican, Indian, Middle Eastern, and Mexican relatives. Our experience is not un- common. We are a nation of immigrants and those de- scended from immigrants. Much of the current storm of rhetoric about immigrants swirls around undocumented residents. In spite of what "The Donald" implies, the shooter in Orlando was a son of a le- gal immigrant born in Queens, just like "The Donald" was. JoeHarropisaretired educator with more than 30 years of service to the North State. He can be reached at DrJoeHarrop@sbcglobal.net. JoeHarrop A new understanding of the 'DTs' Cartoonist's take Having read dire predic- tions about TSA delays at air- ports this summer, my wife and I decided to get our vacation out of the way in mid-June. We rose before dawn to learn that United Air- lines had can- celed our 6 a.m. flight due to "se- vere weather." This was puz- zling since the weather was clear and mild along the entire West Coast. The agent on the phone said we had two choices: try again in 24 hours, or get ourselves to San Francisco, 125 miles away, re- quiring a cab ride that was more costly than the airfare itself. At SFO the taxi driver said we could pay with a credit card — a great relief until I discovered that after taking out my wallet to phone the air- line I had left it on the desk at home. No credit card; more- over, no driver's license. We used Amy's card to pay the driver, but I felt some trepi- dation taking a flight to Mexico with a passport but no driver's license. I feared the Avis folks in Cabo San Lucas might have a problem with that. My office in California emailed a fuzzy black-and-white photo of an old Xerox of my li- cense that expired 10 years ago. Would that suffice? Si. But the clerk said he wasn't sure Mexi- can cops would agree. By the way, did you know that Cabo has a speedy new highway from the airport to the beach area? And did you know that this road is so poorly marked that you can easily overshoot your destina- tion by 25 kilometers? I considered asking a cop for directions. Then, remem- bering what the Avis guy said, decided to inquire at a small food store where my lack of Spanish was equaled by the clerk's lack of English. I finally lurched our rental car into the hotel parking lot in time for dinner, which in- cluded a bowl of oddly crunchy guacamole. It turns out that Mexicans like their guac with chopped grasshoppers. Speaking of strange din- ing experiences, let me say this about our meal the follow- ing night at a Japanese restau- rant called Nick San. We were presented with a tray of small white puff balls which Amy said, as she reached to eat one, were tofu. Then the waiter poured boil- ing water on the little balls and they grew in size. If you are served these puffs on your vacation be advised they are hand towels. Also, if you're not famil- iar with the peso, you'll want to know that it is written with a dollar sign very much like ours. A dinner tab of, say, $1,750 is probably pesos, and you'll feel foolish scolding the waiter before dividing by about 18 to get dollars. During our weeklong stay I managed to miss our ho- tel's driveway after each of our trips off the property, requir- ing two-mile detours up the highway to safely turn around. We suggested to the hotel staff that perhaps a sign would help. The explanation: Govern- ment permission is required for such signs and while the hotel people have applied, they have yet to win approval from The Department of the More You Pay the Sooner You'll Get Your Sign. Returning to the Cabo air- port for our trip home, Amy pulled out her immigration form and reminded me that I'd need mine. Mine, obtained on arrival, was nowhere to be found. This took me to the air- port's Department of Guess What We Charge for Replace- ment Forms. Answer: $30 (not pesos, dollars). The flight home was merci- fully uneventful, allowing me to reflect on what I learned. (a) You can lose a room key three times in one week and most hotels will just keep giv- ing you a new one. (b) Mid- flight home, the missing im- migration form turned up be- tween pages of a book in my bag. (c) Anyone who takes a summer vacation in June will probably need another before Labor Day. (d) As it turned out, I really didn't notice the TSA lines. Peter Funt can be reached at www.CandidCamera.com. Peter Funt I'm already vacationed out for this summer We are a nation of immigrants; those immigrants do bring ideas with them. "The Donald" is a part of that mixture whether he admits it or not. I hope that he can accept that and move on. Sounding off Alookatwhatreadersaresayingincommentsonourwebsiteandonsocialmedia. Hopethatwearesafewithfireworkswith all the dry grass. Carol Sharek: On a preview of events for the Fourth of July in Tehama County Sad. That's a terrific store staffed by amazing people. Debbie McKenzie: On the closure of the Dignity Health Hospice Second Hand Store Greg Stevens, Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EDITORIAL BOARD 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 Joe Harrop StateandNational • Assemblyman James Gal- lagher, 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, Sacra- mento 95814, 916 445-2841, fax 916 558-3160, governor@gover- nor.ca.gov • U.S. Representative Doug LaMalfa, 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 Supervi- sors, 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, Richard Crabtree, 527-2605, Ext. 3061 • Corning City Manager, Kris- tina Miller, 824-7033 Your officials The agent on the phone said we had two choices: try again in 24 hours, or get ourselves to San Francisco, 125 miles away, requiring a cab ride that was more costly than the airfare itself. Peter Funt OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, July 2, 2016 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6