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4A Daily News – Saturday, November 17, 2012 Opinion DAILYNEWS RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 8 5 Greg Stevens, Publisher gstevens@redbluffdailynews.com Chip Thompson, Editor editor@redbluffdailynews.com Editorial policy The Daily News opinion is expressed in the editorial. The opinions expressed in columns, letters and cartoons are those of the authors and artists. Letter policy The Daily News welcomes let- ters from its readers on timely topics of public interest. All let- ters must be signed and pro- vide the writer's home street address and home phone num- ber. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and cannot exceed two double-spaced pages or 500 words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section of those submit- ted will be considered for publi- cation. Letters will be edited. 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How to reach us Main office: 527-2151 Classified: 527-2151 Circulation: 527-2151 News tips: 527-2153 Sports: 527-2153 Obituaries: 527-2151 Photo: 527-2153 On the Web www.redbluffdailynews.com Fax Newsroom: 527-9251 Classified: 527-5774 Retail Adv.: 527-5774 Legal Adv.: 527-5774 Business Office: 527-3719 Address 545 Diamond Ave. Red Bluff, CA 96080, or P.O. Box 220 Red Bluff, CA 96080 In reference to the article on Dean Sherrill's appointment to the NSV-IRWMP Governing Board. Water board Editor: Rio Alto Water District is located in Tehama County and services the community of Lake California. Rio Alto Water Dis- trict relies entirely upon ground- water to service its customers. It is only prudent that Rio Alto Water District take part in any water plan that will directly or indirectly affect the basin of water that supplies its residents. Rio Alto Water District's Board of Directors has a responsibility to its customers and encourages District Staff to take an active role in any state, federal or local issues that may affect the sus- tainability of its water source. As Regulatory Supervisor, Dean Sherrill is required to report to the regulating agencies of our District. Dean has been an active member of the ACWA Groundwater Committee and the Tehama County AB3030 Groundwater Management Plan Technical Advisory Committee. Dean has much experience to offer the NSV-IRWMP Govern- ing Board and we commend the Board of Supervisors for approving his appointment. Martha Slack, Red Bluff Editor's note: Martha Slack is general manager of the Rio Alto Water District. Editor: I was interested by the letters that criticized Vern Raglin for displaying our flag in a manner that implied distress. I'm sorry I didn't get to see it. We were in Chico on business and missed it. However, while in Chico as Flag talk we traveled down East 5th Street on our way to our grand- daughter's home to see our new great grandson, we did see an American flag hung in the same manner on a private flag pole on private property. We both react- ed the same way. "Right on!" right to express feeling this way, Vern Raglin did. He doesn't get paid to take care of the flag every day, it's an act of love for our country and our flag. Actu- ally I'm sure what he did expressed the feelings of at least 62.2% of Tehama County citi- zens who didn't vote for Obama. That's the percentage shown on the State of Califor- nia's election results website who voted for Romney from Tehama County. The flag is a symbol of the United States of America and all of it's freedoms. One of our It is very disconcerting to realize that we will have four more years of a president whose goal is to take our nation and its citizens on a path leading to ever increasing socialism. Socialism is not constitutional government. Far from it. However, it is not my purpose here to dis- cuss socialism, but to defend Vern Raglin's right to do what he did. If anyone had the freedoms is freedom of speech. Many stupid things have been recognized as freedom of speech. This act isn't one of the stupid ones. Your Turn One of the letters suggested that the flag pole should be removed from down- town Red Bluff and he mentioned those who have "defended our nation" and then said, "it has become a symbol of disrespect to both the United States of America and the flag which rep- resents it." Really? How reac- tionary. I believe Mr. Raglin's action, which was a short statement, was a perfect example of all that this country does represent, and in no way disrespects those who died to maintain our freedoms. I could say much more, but I'll just end by saying, "Mr. Raglin, though I don't know you, I proudly stand with you. Thank you." Glynn Ann Fry, Red Bluff Your officials STATE ASSEMBLYMAN — Jim Nielsen (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 6031 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 319-2002; Fax (916) 319-2102 STATE SENATOR — Doug LaMalfa (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 3070 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 651-4004; Fax (916) 445-7750 GOVERNOR — Jerry Brown, State Capitol Bldg., Sacramento, CA 95814; (916) 445-2841; Fax (916) 558-3160; E-mail: gover- nor@governor.ca.gov. U.S. REPRESENTATIVE — Wally Herger (R), 2595 Cean- othus Ave., Ste. 182, Chico, CA 95973; 893-8363. U.S.SENATORS — Dianne Feinstein (D), One Post Street, Suite 2450, San Francisco, CA 94104; (415) 393-0707. Fax (415) 393-0710. Barbara Boxer (D), 1700 Montgomery St., Suite 240, San Francisco, CA 94111; (510) 286-8537. Fax (202) 224- 0454. Flagging citizenship Commentary Several people have asked me about the treatment given to our flag by an overzealous citizen after the election; that citizen is entitled to his frustration, but I am not so sure that he is entitled to share it with us in such a manner. There may be more important things to consider than this one person's frustration, however. For instance, I have been more concerned about the tattered flag that flies in front of the gas station on North Main Street, which pro- claims it is American Owned and Operated, than I have been with the actions of one disgruntled citizen. I would have hoped that those self proclaimed patriots would treat our flag with more respect; they should have disposed of that damaged flag appropriately and replaced it long ago. Their treatment of our flag reminds me that patriotism, like cit- izenship, is neither a part time thing nor a mere convenience. What our local disgruntled citi- zen said also bothers me more than what he did; he claimed we would have a "new Constitution" and a "new Bill of Rights" within the next four years. Anyone who has finished high school civics or any immigrant who has obtained citi- zenship knows that there can be no reality to that statement except in the vast wasteland of Conspiracy Theory. I was sorry to see someone who is such a respected member of our community so overcome by anger and frustration. Disgruntlement is not just a local thing; that billionaire New Yorker with poor taste in hair style, and who proves that money cannot assure common sense, had to chime in his two bits of discontent, claiming that the election was a sham and encouraging a revolution in our country. celebrity mogul who must have felt he was "trumped" at the polls. If Donald Trump is complaining about the fact that the election was close and the Electoral College results were not, then he might con- sider what could have happened if we had true majority rule; instead of still harping on birth certificates and other silly matters, he should realize that the majority of us would be glad to put him in his place if we could. Just think of what happened in the South for so many years under majority rule. Trump does not have to worry about the tyranny of the majority. Our Founding Fathers, however, were concerned about the tyranny of the majority; that is one reason the Bill of Rights was added so soon after the Constitution was rat- ified. We have continued with that concern, and that is why the Con- stitution and various laws have been passed to assure certain basic rights to all of us. It was the Consti- tution that protected the Jehovah's Witness' refusal to serve in the mil- itary and to salute the flag. It was various Civil Rights laws that have brought more and more of our citi- zenry into the electorate in every state of the union. "The electoral college is a disas- ter for a democracy," fumed the Our concern about equality before the law has evolved, and the Founding Fathers most likely would seem stuffy or even snob- bish to us today with their ideas of who was qualified to participate in choosing our leaders. In the first elections after the Constitution was ratified the vote was restricted to only white male property owners; those represented less than 16 per- cent of the population. Over time most of us have come to understand and believe that the phrase "gov- ernment by the people" was an inclusive dream, but it has taken a long time to make it a dream come true. that women were granted suffrage. Native Americans were granted the right to vote in 1924. It wasn't until 1957 that the Civil Rights Commis- sion was created, and only in 1965 was the Voting Rights Act enact- ed. We have had this evolution, but except for the Civil War we have avoided the "revolution" suggested by Trump and others. It was less than 100 years ago As silly as the state- ments by our local citi- zen and Trump are, and as different as the arro- gant billionaire is from our local citizen who has worked hard all his life, I believe their comments highlight some- thing I mentioned in the last week's column: many tensions exist with- in the hodgepodge of our govern- mental system. do we want? Just what kind of government The most common grumble of late has usually focused on "free- dom", a concept that is only clear to the grumbler. Essentially there are two kinds of freedom: the "free- dom from" and the "freedom to". Governments are formed to pro- duce stability for the people who formed that government; in our governmental system we believe we have a government of the peo- ple, that is all the people. Stability includes an orderly environment, defense from invasion, clearly enforced laws and rules, and a degree of certainty that would not exist without that government. That is why we have traffic laws, stop signs, pedestrian cross- walks, speed limits, lane lines, min- imum requirements to be able to drive, and traffic police, for exam- ple. The cost of the order created by Joe Harrop traffic laws is the loss of freedom to rush down the road, or across pri- vate property, at break neck speed disregarding others on the road, and sidewalks. The laws protect all of us from the hazards of non- safety compliant vehi- cles among us, and they provide the healthy assurance vehicles will not add excessive emis- sions to the quality of the air we breathe. It is not a big sacrifice of freedom to have orderly traffic. Even the laws, most commonly ignored, about using cell phones and texting, do not inter- fere with freedom; those laws do try to increase safety for all of us; they limit our "freedom to" to assure a realm of safety for all of us. Once we get past the "death panels" claims, the ranting about who is a Muslim, and governmen- tal invasion of our lives, we have to ask ourselves some serious ques- tions. Are we less free than we were when there were far fewer of us? Are we less free than when we did not have the geographical and ecological interconnectedness that we now acknowledge? Are we less free than before we had zoning ordinances? To some extent we may have less "freedom to", but we also have to acknowledge that we have a complex interdependence that requires that we compromise some of our "freedom to" so that we can have stability and relative peace, no matter what some East Coast billionaire proclaims. Joe Harrop is a retired educator with more than 30 years of service to the North State. He can be reached at DrJoeHarrop@sbcglobal.net.