Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/762522
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 BarackObamahadjustbeatenJohnMcCain by a margin of 10 million votes and 7.2 per- centage points — the biggest Democratic win since 1964. Democrats also won both congres- sional chambers. Andyet,despitethisdeci- sive pro-Democratic mandate to govern, congressional Re- publicans resolved, at a private dinner on day one, not to offer a scintilla of cooperation. They resolved to thwart Obama's ef- forts to fix the Great Recession, hoping that his failures would grease a Republican comeback in the 2012 race. Newt Gin- grich, a dinner guest, report- edly told his former colleagues, "You will remember this day. You'll remember this as the day the seeds of 2012 were sown." Here's where we are to- day: Trump has lost the popu- lar vote (as of Wednesday) by a whopping 2.66 million. His los- ing share of the popular vote (46.2 percent) is the worst for an Electoral College winner since John Quincy Adams in 1824. Even his winning elec- toral vote margin (74) is a pit- tance compared to Obama's winning 2008 margin (192). So why should Democrats on Cap- itol Hill give Trump the coop- erative deference that Republi- cans denied to Obama? As Michael Corleone said in "The Godfather II" movie, "My offer is this: Nothing." Cooperating with Trump, be- having as if he were just an- other Republican, would lend legitimacy to his authoritarian bent. Cooperating with Trump would "normalize" his rac- ist populism and his serial lies. Such a strategy — tantamount to surrender — would be disas- trous for a Democratic Party that has spent decades fighting for tolerance and diversity. Democrats have buckled in the past. Even though George W. Bush lost the popular vote in 2000, they acted as if the guy had a mandate to govern. Lots of Democrats voted for Bush's deficit-cratering tax cuts. They voted for his Iraq war resolu- tion, despite the dearth of evi- dence that Saddam had WMDs. They supplied enough votes to put John Roberts in charge of the Supreme Court. Republicans reciprocated by foiling Obama on a regular ba- sis, blocking everything from his 2011 American Jobs Act, which could've put as many as two million people back to work, to his last Supreme Court nominee, the radical refusal to even hold hearings on Merrick Garland was unprecedented. David Faris, a political sci- ence prof at Roosevelt Univer- sity, said it well in a column the other day: "[Cooperation] is the first in- stinct of the Democratic Party even after a crushing, incom- prehensible defeat ... The urge to minimize the damage in de- fense of the public interest is broadly shared, and under- standable. It must make many Democrats proud to support a party that truly believes in the public good, even at the ex- pense of winning. "On the other hand, no. It's time for Democrats to say no. To everything ... "It helps that the Republi- cans — led by a man who rage- tweets fake news in the mid- dle of the night — are about to embark on a long voyage of turning every single thing they touch into garbage. There should be no Democratic fin- gerprints whatsoever on the coming catastrophe ... Hand Trump the keys and let him drive into a tree." That sounds harsh. But, lest we forget, Republicans paid vir- tually no political price for their eight years of anti-Obama ob- struction. Voters didn't seem to care that Republicans thwarted a president who twice won elec- tions with a majority of the popular vote. Why would they punish Democrats for stand- ing in steadfast opposition to an unqualified poseur who was rejected last month by 53.8 percent of all voters? Chuck Schumer, the new Senate mi- nority leader, is indeed warning that when Trump gets too ex- treme, "we'll go after him with everything we've got." Senate Democrats can set the tone by putting Trump's Cabi- net picks through the wringer, because a number of them de- serve to be seriously slow- walked — most notably, attor- ney general nominee Jeff Ses- sions (rejected for a federal judgeship 30 years ago, due to his racist remarks), Trea- sury nominee Steve Mnuchin (who made piles of money foreclosing on homeown- ers during the Great Reces- sion), and Health and Human Services nominee Tom Price (who wants to kill Obamacare, a move that would nix cover- age for 20 million people). And what remotely qualifies Ben Carson to be housing secretary, beyond the fact that he lives in a house? Fortunately, Democrats are indeed vowing to combat those nominees. Hey, it's a start. My unsolicited advice is simple: Grow a pair. DickPolmanisthenational political columnist at NewsWorks/WHYY in Philadelphia (newsworks. org/polman) and a "Writer in Residence" at the University of Pennsylvania. E-mail him at dickpolman7@gmail.com. Dick Polman Should Dems become the Party of No? Cartoonist's take A defense of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement ap- peared recently on this page. I'll have no unchari- table things to say about anyone of youthful experi- ence and limited ability or willing- ness to delve any deeper into such an issue than what is bandied about by college professors or the loud, slanted advocacy of campus left- ists. Tens of thousands of words from every source at my dis- posal—together with decades of my life among both the best and the worst of America's black pop- ulation—I can summarize BLM with brevity. The BLM move- ment is a racist, violent, anti- cop and white-hating outgrowth of what was—prior to Barack Obama's unpresidential efforts to stoke, rather than calm, ra- cial grievance—a radical splin- ter of the commendable main- stream groups seeking to further the well being of African-Ameri- cans by removing barriers based on race. The hypocrisy of the anti-cop element arises from the gritty facts of urban life for many poorer segments of the popula- tion. They have no recourse (like their more-well-off fellow citi- zens of any race) to pick up and move away from the scourge of gangs, crime and drugs afflicting their neighborhoods. Their only salvation lies in the assertive, even aggressive, policing that recognizes this simple fact of in- ner city life: The overwhelm- ing perpetrators of crime and violence are young, black men and boys while the overwhelm- ing victims are innocent black moms, dads, children and the sense of safety without which no community can thrive. The deterioration of the sense of safety for law-abiding citizens to find jobs, start and maintain businesses, or attend schools, churches and outdoor events, ex- ists for the lower classes of all races. Those of any race that en- gage law enforcement with in- tent to resist, harm or flee lawful apprehension suffer the predict- able outcomes that accompany such actions. Those officers have every reason to place a priority on returning safely to their fami- lies at the same time as they seek to ferret out the truly bad actors who prey on the innocent. Any black mom, whose son has come under suspicion or had the rare but usually earned physical repercussions of vio- lently resisting—including get- ting shot—has every right to be- moan the injustice (in her view) imposed on said son. The rest of us have every right to withhold conclusions until the facts can be fully examined. It is the fac- tual circumstances that, when it comes to the BLM crowd, fail to support their one-sided nar- rative. To wit, there never was a "hands up, don't shoot" mo- ment for Michael Brown in Fer- guson, MO. On and on, the same protesters, who often enable if not create riot conditions, cite made up facts and scenarios. Actual FBI statistics show white suspects are more likely to get shot than black suspects; cops are more likely to get shot or at- tacked by black suspects than white suspects. Powerlineblog.com's "Ammo Grrll" pithily writes: "What the grievance peddlers are left with is a wholesale attack on 'white- ness' itself. This might work with a few intimidated college stu- dents and guilty liberals, but it is not going to be a winning strat- egy for the vast majority of white people who will say: You want success? Here's the secret to our white 'privilege': "Do what we did—stay in school, work for fifty years, don't do or sell drugs, don't commit crime, don't have babies you have no ability to support, and get married. Speaking on behalf of all white people—since vir- tually every angry black person feels qualified to speak on behalf of all black people—unless you do those simple, 'common-sense' things, we are really no longer interested in anything you have to say. The black people who have done these things are doing fine." I would extend the same rational argument to apologists for any racial group. On the subject of made up facts and scenarios, the news media and Democrats (a redun- dancy) have "jumped the shark" over both the hysteria of "fake news" and Russian "meddling" in the election. I'm shocked, I tell you, that the internet in- formational sewer has trolled and duped naïve eimail recipi- ents about assisting an African prince or businessman in bring- ing some huge sum of money into America (with a generous cut to the dupe). That same in- ternet delivers some bizarre story not previously covered in any news source—because it is completely made up by someone who knows it is made up—and some fool gets outraged into tak- ing action over the made up out- rage. The irony just oozes, even screams, when the news media act as if they haven't, as a group, participated in promulgating un- truths, half-truths and otherwise fallacious stories that fall apart upon determined examination by those outside the coastal, belt- way, elite liberal bubble. Think of Dan Rather's "fake- but-accurate" documents that supposedly cast doubt on George W. Bush's Texas Air National Guard service. Think of the multitude of lies (over 150 by one count) spread about Sarah Palin, even on this page, many of which were reported as "news" and infamously turned into Sat- urday Night Live skits; some vot- ers actually thought Palin said she "could see Russia from my house." The examples of one-sided, of- ten fallacious reporting, which always made Republicans look bad, could fill a book. Look up "Russian 'Meddling' in Election: Most Overblown Story Ever?" (Powerlineblog.com, by John Hinderaker). The very Washing- ton Post story causing all the hyperventilation admits: 1) it wasn't the Russian government, 2) they quote no one by name and, 3) there are no facts, docu- ments or testimony to support the allegations. Never stopped Dems before, as we saw in the "seriousness of the (phony) charges" that G.H.W. Bush met in Paris with Iranians to arrange for the release of hostages after Ronald Reagan became presi- dent. More to come. 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 Fake racial news behind BLM It helps that the Republicans — led by a man who rage- tweets fake news in the middle of the night — are about to embark on a long voyage of turning every single thing they touch into garbage. Sounding off A look at what readers are saying in comments on our website and on social media. Hey Willy, I recognize that shop. Your Pa would be proud. And that string of Christmas lights really works. Weld on. Shawn O'Connor: On Bill Ranberg welding during the Open Studio Tehama County tour Told all you brain dead Republicans he didn't win, Putin did. Congratulations morons for turning over our country to Putin and his puppet Trump. Pat Johnston: On a Senate probe into Russian hacking of the election The overwhelming perpetrators of crime and violence are young, black men and boys while the overwhelming victims are innocent black moms, dads, children and the sense of safety without which no community can thrive Don Polson 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 OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Tuesday, December 13, 2016 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6