Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/706626
Whenwesowthewind,weshouldnotbe surprised when we reap a whirlwind. Andthewhirlwindinwhich we find ourselves is a nation so filled with unchecked anger and hatred it seems we can't go a week without a cop kill- ing, this time in Baton Rouge. In this age of instant news, people feel compelled to react instantly before facts come out, aided by race-hustlers who con- sistently fan the flame of divi- sion with inflammatory words and then step back to watch the world burn. In response to the Baton Rouge killings, Pres- ident Obama lectured Ameri- cans must "temper our words and open our hearts." Hi pot, meet kettle. Cleveland's Police Patrol- men's Association presi- dent, Detective Steve Loomis, who spoke to Fox News while events were still unfolding in Baton Rouge says Obama's own words are to blame. "It's absolutely insane that we have a president of the United States and a [Demo- crat] governor of Minnesota making the statements they made less than one day after the police-involved shootings," Loomis said, "And those po- lice-involved shootings, make no mistake, are what abso- lutely have triggered this rash of senseless murders of law enforcement officers across this country. It's reprehensi- ble. And the president of the United States has blood on his hands that will not be able to come washed off." The damning comments Loomis referenced were Obama's: "When incidents like this occur, there's a big chunk of our citizenry that feels as if, because of the color of their skin, they are not being treated the same..." And Min- nesota Gov. Dayton's: "Would this have happened if the driver were white, if the pas- sengers were white? I don't think it would have." Not long after, five officers were killed by a man who re- portedly had it out for white people. And now, three more officers were killed on July 17. It's as simple to understand as an indisputable law of the universe: cause and effect. Coddling groups conceived in and fostered by hatred will reap bloody-bad results. Ask slain Baton Rouge offi- cer Montrell Jackson's sister Joycelyn Jackson. The Wash- ington Post reports she under- stands the anger fueling the Black Lives Matter movement, but still believes "God gives nobody the right to kill and take another person's life...It's coming to the point where no lives matter." And she's right. In reality, though, all lives matter, but if you say that you'll be labeled a racist. I suppose Jesus was also a racist in that he died for all, regardless of skin color. A song I learned as a kid went like this: "Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world; red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight; Jesus loves the little children of the world." My how America's changed. Days before he was assas- sinated, slain Officer Jackson prophetically posted on Face- book that he was "tired phys- ically and emotionally," and said he wondered if the city he loved, loved him back. "In uni- form," he wrote, "I get nasty hateful looks and out of uni- form some consider me a threat...These are trying times. Please don't let hate infect your heart..." Obviously, Jackson's alleged assassin allowed hate to fill his heart. The Daily Caller re- ports the shooter, Gavin Eu- gene Long "was a [former] Na- tion of Islam member" who "railed against 'crackers'" on his YouTube Channel. The New York Daily News reported that in another video Long de- fended the Dallas cop shooter saying, "It's justice. You know what I'm saying." Yes, Gavin, we got what you were saying. You showed us in Baton Rouge. And mark my words, this mayhem will continue unless hatred is replaced with God's love and forgiveness. Then sanity will return to the cit- izenry and law and order to this nation. God spoke to Job out of a whirlwind, so maybe there is hope for us in ours. SusanStamperBrownlives in Alaska and writes about culture, politics and current events. She was selected as one of America's 50 Best Conservative writers for 2015. Contact her by Facebook or at writestamper@gmail.com. SusanStamperBrown In the wake of Baton Rouge, all words matter Cartoonist's take I recently wrote to TIME: "The cover of your 25 July 2016 issue depicted the rear of Donald Trump's head. When I was in high school, se- niors were asked to submit pho- tos of themselves for the yearbook. I submitted a photo of the back of my head. It was rejected. I wish the same fate for Trump. Robert Minch Red Bluff, Ca 96080" ••• One of my favorite targets, Jim Wilson of the syndicated column "God Talk," recently wrote of a village elder in Fiji who is a Hindu. She is in her 80s and had been suffer- ing daily migraine headaches. When asked if she would like to receive Jesus as her lord, she replied that she had been following Hindu goddesses for too long to give them up now. However Jim persevered and convinced her to pray with him, and to make Jesus her new Lord. She did and Jim reports her headaches went away never to return. One way to look at such re- ligious conversion is as mer- chandising. A seller of vacuum cleaners will usually need to demonstrate that his product will get the job done. And what better way for the Reverend Wilson to do so than a demonstration via prayer? Not that it always works, but that's why there are so many different brands of vacuum cleaners and religion on the market. ••• The Trump verification method: Who says building a border wall won't work? The Chinese built one over 2,000 years ago and they still don't have any Mexicans. ••• Speaking of Trump — as we must do until his ultimate po- litical demise — the media continues to chip away at the Trump facade. One of the most damaging works comes from writer Tony Schwartz, who ghostwrote Trump's bestselling book, "The Art of the Deal." Trump is quoted as saying, "We need a leader that wrote 'The Art of The Deal.'" Trump meant him- self, of course, but the true au- thor, Schwartz, wrote recently in The New Yorker, "After read- ing that, I dashed off a tweet, 'Many thanks, Donald for sug- gesting that I run for President, based on the fact that I wrote 'The Art of The Deal.'" Schwartz had ghostwritten Trump's 1987 memoir, earn- ing a joint byline on the cover, half of the book's $500,000 advance, and half of the royal- ties. The book spent 48 weeks on the Times best-seller list and generated several million dollars in royalties. The book expanded Trump's renown far beyond New York City, making him an emblem of the success- ful tycoon. Edward Kosner, the former editor and publisher of New York, where Schwartz worked as a writer at the time, says, "Tony created Trump. He's Dr. Frankenstein." Schwartz asserts, "It's im- possible to keep Trump fo- cused on any topic, other than his own self-aggrandizement, for more than a few minutes, and even then..." Schwartz trails off, shaking his head in amazement. He regards Trump's inability to concen- trate alarming in a Presiden- tial candidate. "If he had to be briefed on a crisis in the Situ- ation Room, it's impossible to imagine him paying attention over a long period of time." While working on "The Art of the Deal," Schwartz kept a journal in which he expressed his amazement at Trump's per- sonality, writing that Trump seemed driven entirely by a need for public attention. "Ly- ing is second nature to him," Schwartz said. "More than anyone else I have ever met, Trump has the ability to con- vince himself that whatever he is saying at any given mo- ment is true, or sort of true, or at least ought to be true." Of- ten, Schwartz said, the lies that Trump told him were how much he had paid for some- thing, or what a building he owned was worth, or how much one of his casinos was earning…when it was actually on its way to bankruptcy. "If Trump is elected Presi- dent," Schwartz warned, "the millions of people who voted for him, and believe that he represents their interests, will learn what anyone who deals closely with him already knows — that he couldn't care less about them." ••• While on this disturb- ing subject, another writer, George Saunders, exam- ined the hearts and minds of avowed Trump supporters. He concluded with the following observation: "Trump seems to awaken something in them that they feel they have, un- til now, needed to suppress. What is that thing? It is not just that they've been left be- hind economically. They've been left behind in other ways too, or feel they have. They feel the country has moved away from them...or been taken away from them by Obama, the Clintons, the me- dia, the 'elites,' the business- as-usual politicians. They are stricken by a sense that things are not as they should be and that finally someone sees it their way." Tsk, tsk. ••• A conversation between a man and a critical woman Woman: Do you drink beer? Man: Yes How many beers a day? Usually about 3 How much do you pay per beer? $5, which includes a tip. And how long have you been drinking? About 20 years, I suppose In one year it could cost you about $5,400, correct? Correct If in one year you spend $5,400, not accounting for in- flation, the past 20 years puts your spending at $108,000 correct? Correct Do you know that if you didn't drink so much beer, that money could have been put in an interest bearing savings ac- count, and after accounting for compound interest for the past 20 years, you could have now bought a Ferrari? Do you drink beer? No. Where's your Ferrari? 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 The truth about Trump from those who know him In this age of instant news, people feel compelled to react instantly before facts come out, aided by race- hustlers who consistently fan the flame of division with inflammatory words and then step back to watch the world burn. Sounding off Alookatwhatreadersaresayingincommentsonourwebsiteandonsocialmedia. Playingforfiveorsixhoursaday?That's great parenting. Kellie Day: On story about youth playing the Pokemon Go game in and around Red Bluff That is awesome. What a nice thank you for our wonderful law enforcement. Heather Robertson: On donation of portrait of K-9officer to the sheriff's department 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 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, Kristina Miller, 824-7033 Your officials By Susan Stamper Brown Robert Minch OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Friday, July 22, 2016 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6