Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/798666
ChipThompson, Editor 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: Daily News 728Main St., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS Sometimes it's possible to tell a big story in few words — as evidenced by an episode earlier this week that nicely illustrates this president's addiction to infauxmation (via Fox News) and blatant lying (via Twitter). Basically,it'saclosedloop. Fox News pumps bilge into his brain, and he spews it out through his fin- gers. Here's how it works: At 6:12 a.m. Tuesday, Trump was watch- ing cable, as he is wont to do, and he saw this breaking news on Fox: "A win in the war on terror. The Trump adminis- tration just killed a former Guantanamo Bay detainee re- leased by Barack Obama. Ya- sir al-Silmi, once considered the worst of the worst, killed in a U.S. airstrike in Yemen. He had been released back in 2009 even though the Department of Defense recommended that he stay behind bars. One hundred twenty-two prisoners released from Gitmo have returned to the battlefield." It was a classic Fox pseudo- story, and it got Trump's full at- tention — no surprise, given his current heightened obses- sion with President Obama. It's true that Yasir al-Silmi was re- leased by Obama; it's true that he was a recidivist who'd re- turned to terrorism. But when Fox said that 122 prisoners re- leased from Gitmo have re- turned to terrorism, it left the impression — without explicitly saying so — that Obama had freed them all. So Trump thumbed his phone and explicitly decreed on Twitter that Obama had freed them all. Trump didn't bother to run a fact-check, even though pres- idents have unparalleled access to data and stats. Nah, he just tweeted on impulse and ani- mus: "122 vicious prisoners, re- leased by the Obama Admin- istration from Gitmo, have re- turned to the battlefield. Just another terrible decision!" According to facts that are readily available in the real world — facts attributed to the U.S. director of national intelli- gence — 113 of those 122 Gitmo prisoners, "confirmed of re-en- gaging in terrorist activity," were actually released from Gitmo by ... George W. Bush. And of the 86 Gitmo prison- ers who are "suspected on re- engaging in terrorist activity," 75 were released by George W. Bush. I suppose this is not a sur- prise, given Trump's obses- sion with spewing fake news about Obama — ranging from his multi-year falsehoods about Obama's place of birth to his evidence-free contention that Obama illegally wiretapped his Manhattan tower — but it's in- structive nonetheless to track Tuesday's episode from Fox News' insinuation to Trump's outright concoction. This is the world we now live in, and I almost feel sorry for Sean Spicer (almost), be- cause it's his job to mop up for his boss' BS. At a press brief- ing a few hours after Trump's big little lie, Spicer was asked: "Will the president offer a cor- rection to his tweet this morn- ing that states that 122 prison- ers were released from Gitmo by the Obama administration and then returned to the bat- tlefield?" Spicer's reply:"Yes, I mean, obviously the president meant in totality the number that had been released on the battlefield — that have been released from Gitmo since — individuals have been released. So that is cor- rect." If you can fork your way through that word salad, you'll discover that Spicer did two contradictory things: He basi- cally acknowledged that Trump had lied, but he also appeared to insist that Trump's lie had been inadvertent, because "ob- viously the president meant in totality the number." Whatever. The bottom line is that we're stuck with a pres- ident whose habit is to pollute the information stream by tak- ing stuff from Fox News and conflating it into fake news. In recent years numerous studies have concluded that Fox devo- tees are less well-informed than those who get most of their news from other outlets. It's our national tragedy, and an assault on truth itself, that a Fox superfan is occupying the White House. DickPolmanisthenational political columnist at NewsWorks/WHYY in Philadelphia (newsworks. org/polman) and a "Writer in Residence" at the University of Pennsylvania. Email him at dickpolman7@gmail.com. DickPolman A big little lie from Fox- Trump media Cartoonist's take Many of you may have re- ceived an invitation to the Red, White and Blue Dinner, which this year honors Tehama County Firefight- ers. This is the annual gather- ing of Tehama County Repub- licans to break bread, support our officials and provide some financial sup- port for the local Republican Central Committee. Part of our surplus above the costs of the hall, the meal, the sound, etc. goes to a scholarship fund for deserving students from throughout Tehama County. That announcement is or will be posted elsewhere in the Daily News; but the wise stew- ardship of the proceeds from this annual dinner—as well as the sale of items in the si- lent auction and at the county fair—leaves a sizable reward for deserving, qualifying high school applicants. Here is what you need to know (and act on today, Tues- day) to reserve a seat: Call 529-1226 for Ken Say or 865- 2666 for Linda Alston and tell them you will attend this Sat- urday, March 18, when doors open at 5:30 while dinner is at 6:30. The cost is $35 per per- son; a table for 4 can be re- served for $140; a table for 8 is $280 (subject to availability). This year's fare will be a buffet by Cattle Country BBQ, consisting of beef short ribs, pork tenderloin, prosciutto wrapped asparagus, rice pi- laf and "the fixin's" completed by some of their home-made cheesecake. I've heard noth- ing but satisfaction over Cattle Country's food. Our guest speaker will be Red Bluff Division Chief, Mat- thew Shobash, who is the Pub- lic Safety Person of the Year for 2016. All Tehama County Fire Stations are honored and you may show extra support by sponsoring a meal for a fire- fighter you know or a station near you—ask when you call. I think it bears observing that, in light of the crisis that occurred at the Oroville Dam, our emergency responders, in- cluding National Guard volun- teers, are called on to adapt to far more than putting out fires. They all heed the call and rush to the sound, sight or smell of trouble, disaster or potential calamity; they are the bulwark that lets us live our normal lives. Now, I must briefly address the most flagrant attempt to reverse the will of the voters in our lifetimes. I write for the benefit of the 65 percent of lo- cal voters that were proud and happy to see our choice for president, Donald Trump, win a resounding electoral victory last November. The Constitution of the United States of America gov- erns every conceivable aspect and ramification of our elec- tions, the transfer of power and the implementation of the will of the voters. In the Founders' and Framers' de- sign, all levels and branches of federal, state and local govern- ment have responsibilities to further voters' mandates; all have recourse to challenge at- tempts to usurp or undermine rightful, lawful actions. It's all fashioned to facilitate the rule of law and the adjudication of political differences, with the ultimate understanding that we peacefully abide by the de- cisions of voters, representa- tives and/or judges. Hence, we should be willing to recognize and condemn the abrogation (def: abolish or re- peal) of those lawful decisions. The rights of the people are in- dividual in nature due to the wisdom that followed the ex- periences of our Revolutionary War. Having felt the personal depredations of despotism, Framers of the Constitution and Bill of Rights conferred protections for citizens and their collective political deci- sions relating to how we gov- ern ourselves. What this means in practi- cal translation depends, un- fortunately, on whose political will is being implemented or obstructed. It should be noted that, for the last eight years of Obama's presidency, those who opposed him and the Dem- ocratic Party exercised their constitutional rights and du- ties to elect those in line with their beliefs. We were wildly successful at all levels of gov- ernment, culminating in the upset victory of Donald Trump, whose win brings him the right to propose policies and laws; to delegate resources for the emphasis and imple- mentation of lawful priorities; and to nominate judges that hew to his philosophy. Absent unconstitutional proposals and actions, or the nomination of provably cor- rupt persons, all of the le- vers of executive power are Trump's to wield. Hence, when Democrats stall the approval of Trump's nominees for crass, irrelevant reasons, complain- ing about insufficient docu- mentation (to pore over in cheap attempts to find made- up scandal), they are literally subverting the results of the election and the rightful du- ties of the presidency. When judges stretch, tor- ture or even ignore the plain text of the Constitution and settled law (as in the decisions to cancel Trump's lawful im- migration orders) or make up previously nonexistent group rights and privileges, they should be called out and con- demned, even by President Trump. Naysayers should re- member how their hero Barack Obama did just that. Citizens and voters that sup- ported the losing side of this years-long trend toward Re- publican governance have ev- ery right to "peaceably assem- ble" and "petition the govern- ment for redress of grievances" when they have actual com- plaints and injustices inflicted upon them. In the long tradi- tion of nonviolent public pro- test, vociferous objections to laws and policies may or may not achieve a reversal of said laws and policies. Ultimately, having exercised their rights, when they lose the argument at the ballot box, opponents must then elect people that will agree with them. Unfortunately, many Democrats and left wing partisans have resorted to incivility, intimidation and violence, targeting elected officials and citizens supporting them. Sadly, I find little condemnation by responsible Democrats; the message sent is to continue what amounts to an "uncivil war" against Trump supporters everywhere. I see political subversion and sabotage by the left as illegitimate and treasonous. 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 Republicans honor firefighters Sounding off A look at what readers are saying in comments on our website and on social media. Turner was taken to the Sheriff's Office where she gave a statement admitting that her and the deceased man were talking about visitation of their child when she shot him. Alternatives to Violence: On woman charged with shooting man west of Red Bluff Thursday. Who do you think you are that you can take a life and not go through the proper channels? Killed a man over custody and visitation of your child? How important are those issues to you from jail? Selfishness, now a child will suffer. Justice or malice? CindyBell Seibert: On woman charged with shooting a man west of Red Bluff Thursday. 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 Kamala Har- ris, 501 I St., Ste. 7-600, Sacra- mento 95814, 916 448-2787, fax 202 228-3865 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 Your officials This is the world we now live in, and I almost feel sorry for Sean Spicer (almost), because it's his job to mop up for his boss' BS. Dick Polman OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Tuesday, March 14, 2017 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6