Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/746598
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 EarlylastmonthIhadtheprivilegeof moderating a debate between political le winger James Carville and right winger Ann Coulter. It was before 7,000 citizens in Ba- kersfield. Thevenuewasthe2016Ba- kersfield Business Conference. When I first introduced myself to both James and Ann before we all went on stage Carville said to me; "Let's have fun" and Coulter told me; "Let it rip." So, I knew in advance the audience and I were both in for a treat. This terrific conference was organized by George Martin, the guy who talked me into politics and also the managing partner of the Borton-Petrini law firm in Kern County. As it turned out, I could eas- ily hear strong support for Donald Trump and an equally strong opposition to Hillary Clinton. When Ann Coulter spoke the audience showed their im- mediate approval. And, when James Carville addressed the same crowd they tried to hide their emotions, yet were un- able to stop their displeasure. It made me personally reflect on how the United States has, in my opinion, unfortunately evolved into red and blue states — i.e., swing states. This debate also reminded me of another one I had the opportunity to moderate back in 2003 when Arnold Schwar- zenegger and Arianna Huff- ington kept interrupting each other as they both ran to re- place Gray Davis, who was re- called as California's Governor. It is my take that both Ar- nold and Arianna turned out to be moderate candidates. Not very extreme, but in yet another of my opinions, they were also both overly ambi- tious. As our elections go by, I am starting to think our elec- tions are becoming more like sporting events than public policy. Two other questions I asked Coulter and Carville were; "Ms. Coulter, should Mr. Trump stop using profanity as he speaks publicly?" And, Mr. Carville, "Was Mrs. Clinton wrong when she called 50 per- cent of Trump's supporters a "Basket of deplorables?" And, then I asked; "I am guessing that one of you two respected political commentators will vote for Crooked Hillary and the other for Deranged Don- ald. My question is, do you each think this race is getting too nasty?" Funny thing, but not unex- pected as it turned out, they both blamed each other's cho- sen candidate for the tenor of the entire 2016 Presidential campaign. No surprise there. However, my admiration did grow for each one of them as they did their best to sell their candidate. I believe most of those at- tending Mr. Martin's confer- ence admired both Coulter and Carville for their grit and straightforwardness. My take is, because of my dear and ad- mired friend George Martin, we all had a bloody good time. Even though I was a Repub- lican when first elected to our legislature, I always made an effort to remain non-partisan. I only had trouble with two political parties; the Demo- crats and the Republicans. Not necessarily in that order. That is probably why in the early 1990s I re-registered "Decline to State." More than 22 percent of new voters are now register- ing outside our two primary political parties in California. Because of our displeasure with the lack of solutions from Washington, D.C. there is no surprise to me that this year's Presidential battle has come down to a race between the in- sider Hillary and the outsider Trump. Mytakeonthemovies You will need a lot of adren- alin if you see "Jack Reacher" starring Tom Cruise. If you go see this film I rec- ommend you consider taking a Xanax just to prepare. 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 political extremes Because of our displeasure with the lack of solutions from Washington, D.C. there is no surprise to me that this year's Presidential battle has come down to a race between the insider Hillary and the outsider Trump. Perfect lifestyle Editor: We live in a wonderful county. We have fresh air, clean water, and county systems that func- tion well. We have dedicated de- partment heads of all the many and various county departments and they function well, most if not all the time. We have a ded- icated, intelligent and compe- tent Board of Supervisors who work days, evenings and week- ends to keep everything running smoothly, 99 percent of the time. Anyone who thinks our five su- pervisors work "only four hours a month," as some uninformed person once said, is sadly mis- taken. I was married to one of the most admired and respected supervisors we ever had. Many weeks he worked more than a 40-hour week, attending meet- ings with the various depart- ments, responding to our citizens questions, requests and some- times complaints. Every week he read through several large stacks of material in preparation for not only the board meeting, but other rules, regulations and information that need to be re- sponded to or acted upon. We need competent peo- ple to serve on the Board of Su- pervisors. Many of you remem- ber when we had to recall three board members because of in- competence and inefficiency. We have depth on the board and peo- ple experienced in agriculture, law enforcement, education, per- sonnel, health, etc. We are very lucky indeed that these people are willing to serve this county. In order to encourage the in- telligent, experienced people we need to help run this county, not only now, but in the future, we need to pay them a decent sal- ary. Not many people work for such a low salary in this county and would not quit their jobs to serve on the Board of Supervi- sors, even with good benefits. Please, when you vote on Tuesday, think of the future of our county and vote yes on Mea- sure M. — Sharon Russell, Red Bluff Supes vote to lower compensation Editor: I find it odd that the super- visors are so concerned about a liveable wage, yet they don't seem to care that there are full time county employees who have been with the county for many years, some earning be- tween $12 and $14 an hour, just over minimum wage. The supes need to cap the out-of-this-world high sala- ries of the department heads and elected officials and start bringing these hard working employees into a liveable wage before they think of themselves. — Judy Dobson, Tehama Support for Kathy Brandt Editor: As a parent of two Red Bluff Union High School students, I hope you will join me and vote for Kathy Brandt for school board. She has served on the Las- sen View School Board and is experienced in working with challenging administrations and situations. She has shown an ability to assess all of the facts and make decisions with the best interest of students in mind. She has the capacity to take a stand for what is right and is not afraid to act with in- dependence. Most importantly, she has students at the high school so she has true motivation to put the needs of students first. Be- ing a local business owner has also allowed her to be familiar with the needs of our commu- nity with respect to education. I believe Kathy Brandt would be a refreshing change to the board and hope you will join me in supporting her on Nov. 8. — Jenny Alexander, Red Bluff No on Prop. 64 Editor: Red Ribbon Week educates the kids about drug abuse. Then we have Prop. 64, drugs for fun — recreational use. What kind of message are we sending out? Keep it simple. Just say no to drugs. Vote no on Prop. 64. — Sam Collins, Red Bluff Trump and Clinton Editor: Next Tuesday American vot- ers will elect the worst pres- ident in the history of the United States. This is not merely my opinion, it is the opinion of the two candidates themselves. They are both right. Each calls the other un- fit and unqualified and they are both right. Fitness has to do with char- acter and neither of them has the character to be presi- dent, but one of them will be elected. They are both proven liars, greedy and self-serving, unable to take responsibility for their own failures and un- willing when presented with proof of those failures to ad- mit it and apologize for those failures. One of them will be president. Qualification has to do with competence. Neither is compe- tent to be president, but one of them will be president. She should be a mid-level so- cial worker in a county welfare office somewhere in the Mid- west. He should be a late night TV infomercial barker trying to cram shoddy products down the throats of unsuspecting viewers. One of them will be president. What are we to do? Well, vot- ing for either of them can only be done if you think it makes any difference as far as our country's future is concerned. Neither of them can save our country from the mess that the mismanagement and failure of previous administrations has made of our country. The American people need to rise up, not in revolution or re- bellion, but in repentance and cry out to God for mercy. We have no other hope. — Scott Camp, Red Bluff Your opinions Cartoonist's take My wife often asks if we can "go for a ride." I kid her some- times and say if she's good she can even stick her head out the win- dow. Those of us who've had dogs will understand. When we were in the Bay area we used to take off into the country- side and lust af- ter all of the nice houses with acreage. Of course, now that we have a country property, these treks aren't as necessary for our mental health as they were when we lived in the condo. But the little woman still likes to get out into the big open, and since I'm retired and she's not — I cannot deny her this occasional weekend treat. Most of you have undoubt- edly been to all these places, but to us, the great North State is still a land of discovery. This year we discovered Burney Falls, Lake Almanor, and the little town of Chester. Wow, the falls were amazing, and since I've been doing my daily walk, we didn't need the ambulance for my climb back up to the car. I had no idea of what was up there. About a year-and-a-half ago, we made our first trip to Las- sen Volcanic National Park and hiked around Manzanita Lake. The rest of the park had to wait, as the road was open only to bi- cycles that day. The next visit to the park, we came from Red Bluff. We saw pristine mountain streams, lakes, boiling mud pots and endless vistas. Wow. The scenery was also quite different going from Red Bluff. We've been to Dunsmuir, ar- riving by accident on a side road. Another time, we got off the freeway saw the town of Mt. Shasta, nestled at the foot of its towering namesake. We browsed through a book sale in their library and had dinner in the very first Black Bear Diner. Someday we'll come back and see the ski park. Then there's Weaverville. We managed to miss the old down- town completely our first trip. Last week I took us to Lewis- ton and the Trinity Lake area. They have a beautiful old school house in Lewiston and the lake itself is quite scenic — even on a rainy day. Although it would be nice to find a natural lake once in a while in California. We cir- cled back through Weaverville, finding the old downtown this time, and even toured the Chi- nese temple known as the Joss House. Every so often my wife de- cides she wants a long ride. So, one time I thought it would be a great opportunity to check route 36 to the coast. The road sign "Fortuna 132 miles" has al- ways evoked a sense of adven- ture in me. It has also served as the basis of telling my friends from the city that when you leave our porch, there's nothing but mountain wilderness for 132 miles until you reach the coast. You can see the visions of bears, mountain lions and maybe even a Sasquatch appearing in their brains. I love saying that, even if our wildlife consists mostly of lizards and hungry deer. And I was right. There is nothing for over 100 miles, other than one massive RV re- sort. My wife hated 36, even if she did sleep through a third of the trip. Needless to say, after a nice dinner in Eureka, we came home via 299. I'm running out of new places to go though. We can always re- visit our favorites. I liked 36. But if I want to see Big Foot, I guess I'll have to go by myself. Corky Pickering and his wife relocated from the Bay Area to Cottonwood in 2014. He recently retired from the federal government as an attorney advising law enforcement. He has been a rock and roll bass player and a Marine JAG. He can be reached at thecork6@ gmail.com. Corky Pickering Want to go for a ride? Stan Statham Corky Pickering OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, November 3, 2016 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4