Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/766941
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 Inthelastsixweekstheliberalpundits and biased reporters of the Old Media have pulled a groin muscle trying to discredit President Trump in advance. Firsttheyplayedupthere- count stories to make it look like the vote totals in Wiscon- sin, Michigan and Pennsylva- nia were fudged somehow. Then they tried to play up the fact that Hillary won the popular vote and impugned the Electoral College like it had been devised by the founding fathers of the USSR. The way the liberal Old Me- dia saw it, their golden girl Hillary was cheated out of her rightful place in history by an antiquated, undemocratic pro- cess that needed to be blown up so the wise people of Cali- fornia, New York and Illinois could elect every American president from now on. Next the Old Media tried to make it seem that Trump — the guy they mocked dur- ing the election for having no ground game, no staff and no hope of winning — was taking longer than he should to name his cabinet. They said he was going to pick a bunch of un- qualified bums based on their loyalty to him. Then they wor- ried he was picking too many generals and was acting like he wanted to be a dictator. On and on, the Old Main- stream Media pursued angles and made criticisms of Trump as if presidential history started last month. Previous presidents-elect were slower to name their staffs. Others chose several generals. But the Old Media didn't go out of their way to point out those inconvenient historical facts. They were after Trump. The liberal media's latest ex- ample of historical amnesia in- volves the claim that Trump's buddy Vladimir Putin used his hackers to hurt Hillary and af- fect the election's outcome. For the first time in history, the way the Old Media tell it, a foreign power was asked to ma- nipulate an American election. Of course, it was only Trump and the evil Republicans who would allegedly try such a das- tardly and unprecedented crime against democracy. Except it wasn't — and once again the Old Media were caught being wrong and biased. As I tried to remind everyone last week in a column for News- max, in 1980, and again in 1984, it was Democrats who reached out to the Soviets several times for help in affecting an Amer- ican election. In 1980, Saint Ted Kennedy, who was trying to defeat incumbent President Jimmy Carter in the Democratic primary, sent former Senator John Tunney to meet with the KGB in an attempt to sabotage American foreign policy. According to documents later unearthed in the Soviet ar- chives, Kennedy offered to con- demn Carter's policy toward the Soviet occupation of Afghani- stan in exchange for KGB help. Later that fall Saint Jimmy Carter himself tried to play the Soviet card against my father in the general election. Trailing Ronald Reagan in the polls, he sent his pal, indus- trialist Armand Hammer, to meet with Soviet ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin. Hammer asked the Soviets to help Carter win Jewish votes in key states by allowing Jewish "refuseniks" in the USSR to em- igrate to Israel. The Russkies re- jected Hammer's request. But in 1984 Carter himself went to Ambassador Dobrynin to ask for help in getting my father un- elected, as did Speaker of the House, Saint Tip O'Neill. Both Carter and O'Neill — Democrats, I believe — told Do- brynin that it was in the plan- et's best interests to get my fa- ther out of office before he blew up the world with his danger- ous massive defense buildup. Nice. The Soviets didn't play ball with the Democrats in 1980 or 1984. And we only know about these slimy efforts to af- fect American elections be- cause the Soviet Empire col- lapsed and we've got a look at the KGB's archives. President Obama has ordered a full investigation into any Russian skullduggery during the 2016 election and wants it finished before he leaves office. When his report comes out the liberal pundits and biased reporters of the Old Media will use it to make President-elect Trump look as bad as possible. Which is why I hope Santa Claus puts nothing in their Christmas stockings this year but a lump of West Virginia coal. Merry Christmas. MichaelReaganisthesonof President Ronald Reagan, a political consultant, and the author of "The New Reagan Revolution" (St. Martin's Press). Send comments to Reagan@ caglecartoons.com. Follow @ reaganworld on Twitter. Michael Reagan To the old media — bah humbug! Cartoonist's take It is often recommended by physicians that the elderly, during the cold and trying months of win- ter, should avail themselves of a protein drink, such as Ensure, to fortify them- selves. How- ever, twice now, I have struggled to partake of the blasted stuff but could not un- screw the top. Beware of any product that states "easy off" on the label. You would think the manufacturer would re- alize they were dealing with folks with tendonitis or arthri- tis, and attempt to accommo- date the handicapped. ••• And speaking of discomfort, did you ever notice, as you age, that if you are sitting in a chair… and you drop some- thing on the floor, it will in- variably roll juuust out of your reach? Of course, you can al- ways arise, stretch out utiliz- ing body parts seldom used, and retrieve the fallen object. But still… ••• The problem that politically sensitive "fake" news dissemi- nated on the Internet may have influenced the election is one thing, but the distribution of equally false stories on the In- ternet is particularly disturb- ing when a columnist re-prints a story that has not been "fact checked." How embarrassing. Ace photographer John Ward took me to task for re- peating the story of the mayor of a Canadian city who alleg- edly informed his Muslim con- stituents that he would not bow to their demands to re- move pork from school menus. It didn't happen. This unsubstantiated rumor had apparently been floating around for years. Tsk, tsk. ••• Sartorial Decorum Depart- ment: I have finally surrendered to the suspender industry. El- derly, no-butt men will eventu- ally discard the belt and go to hoisting up their pants with sus- penders. It has to do with grav- ity. Too many accidents have en- sued to allow otherwise. For example, more than once I have reached upward to raise the lid of our refuse bin in the alley behind our office, only to have my trousers fall to my ankles because of faulty anchoring by belt. Wearing a sweater in winter will hide the transition, but come spring, there will be an unveiling, and it may not be pretty. ••• Another reminder: We have in our office at 760 Main a third printing of "The Knock- ing Pen," subtitled "The rise and fall of a family enter- prise." If you care to shell out a rounded $24 for the reading experience, stop by. You could at least look at the pictures. ••• I can't write anything more uplifting for this time of year than did my father many years ago in his "I say" column. "1915 was a bad winter in New Jersey; roads were closed a good part of the time with snow drifts, water pipes fro- zen most of the time. About two weeks before Christmas, father came down with pneu- monia. A day or two later, the first of us 6 children broke out with the measles. Mother had been able to purchase, be- fore father was taken sick, one present for each of us plus some Brazil nuts and Califor- nia navel oranges to fill the stockings we hung under the mantle. But as no one was able to get a tree for her, she pulled on her boots and heavy clothes and went out into the swirling snow. She walked to the house of a colored family and finally, by offering him a dollar, per- suaded him to cut a small ce- dar tree about 6 feet high and drag it back to the house. While we watched, she sawed it square and cut off the bot- tom limbs, then stood the tree up in a wooden box. For imita- tion snow, she got a roll of cot- ton batting which was stored from year to year with the fragile Christmas ornaments. She then popped and strung popcorn which she wound around the tree. The next morning, when we were allowed to get up, it was still snowing and the out- doors looked dark and dreary. But the tree, in the light of the kerosene lamps, looked beau- tiful. With the packages of games spread out at its feet, and the mantle with its full stockings completed the pic- ture of another happy Christ- mas for us children." Dave Minch. 1900-1964. ••• A photo with two eggs on a hubcap has this caption: Eggs Benedict on a hubcap because there's no plate like chrome for the hollandaise. Sorry. ••• Rather than close with a joke, allow me to convey some- thing sincere with only mod- est political overtones at this time of year. We are indeed fortunate to live in this great coun- try where we can arise each morning without fear that each day may be our last, or that we will have to pack up our family and find asylum in another country because war planes are attempting to bomb us into submission. We continue to live in a free country where our votes get counted even when not al- ways to our liking, hence the phrase, "win some, lose some." In America we have a stated objective that reads "equal op- portunity for all" even though it is often observed in the breach. This phrase comes from Shakespeare, and refers to rules that are more often ig- nored than observed. Nowhere is the expression more rele- vant than when dealing with people of color or promoting women to high places such as President of the United States. Whereas great strides have been made in both instances, this debate of equality is far from over. A giant step was taken when an Afro-American was elected President 8 years ago. And yet, after his commend- able and scandal free term, he is still denigrated, beyond measure, by those who dis- miss and deplore the expres- sion "black lives matter." Let's all try to be better citi- zens in the coming year. 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 catch 22 of the protein drink As I tried to remind everyone last week in a column for Newsmax, in 1980, and again in 1984, it was Democrats who reached out to the Soviets several times for help in affecting an American election. Sounding off A look at what readers are saying in comments on our website and on social media. Russ and crew always have done a festive scene for the holidays. I love that building. Carol Sharek: On the Christmas decorations at the former Tehama County Courthouse. This is awesome. Congrats kids. Brad Maddox: On four Flournoy students winning an agricultural writing contest. Robert Minch 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 LaMalfa, 507 Cannon House Office 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 By Michael Reagan OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Friday, December 23, 2016 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6