Don's Tuesday Column

        THE WAY I SEE IT   by Don Polson  Red Bluff Daily News   3/14/2017

                   Republicans honor firefighters

Many of you may have received an invitation to the Red, White and Blue Dinner, which this year honors Tehama County Firefighters. This is the annual gathering of Tehama County Republicans to break bread, support our officials and provide some financial support 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 stewardship of the proceeds from this annual dinner—as well as the sale of items in the silent 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, Tuesday) to reserve a seat: Call 529-1226 for Ken Say or 865-2666 for Linda Alston and tell them you will attend this Saturday, March 18, when doors open at 5:30 while dinner is at 6:30. The cost is $35 per person; a table for 4 can be reserved 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 pilaf and “the fixin’s” completed by some of their home-made cheesecake. I’ve heard nothing but satisfaction over Cattle Country’s food.

Our guest speaker will be Red Bluff Division Chief, Matthew Shobash, who is the Public 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 firefighter 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, including National Guard volunteers, 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 local 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 governs every conceivable aspect and ramification of our elections, the transfer of power and the implementation of the will of the voters. In the Founders’ and Framers’ design, all levels and branches of federal, state and local government have responsibilities to further voters’ mandates; all have recourse to challenge attempts 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 decisions of voters, representatives and/or judges.

Hence, we should be willing to recognize and condemn the abrogation (def: abolish or repeal) of those lawful decisions. The rights of the people are individual in nature due to the wisdom that followed the experiences 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 decisions relating to how we govern ourselves.

What this means in practical translation depends, unfortunately, 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 Democratic Party exercised their constitutional rights and duties to elect those in line with their beliefs. We were wildly successful at all levels of government, 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 implementation of lawful priorities; and to nominate judges that hew to his philosophy.

Absent unconstitutional proposals and actions, or the nomination of provably corrupt persons, all of the levers of executive power are Trump’s to wield. Hence, when Democrats stall the approval of Trump’s nominees for crass, irrelevant reasons, complaining about insufficient documentation (to pore over in cheap attempts to find made-up scandal), they are literally subverting the results of the election and the rightful duties of the presidency.

When judges stretch, torture or even ignore the plain text of the Constitution and settled law (as in the decisions to cancel Trump’s lawful immigration orders) or make up previously nonexistent group rights and privileges, they should be called out and condemned, even by President Trump. Naysayers should remember how their hero Barack Obama did just that.

Citizens and voters that supported the losing side of this years-long trend toward Republican governance have every right to “peaceably assemble” and “petition the government for redress of grievances” when they have actual complaints and injustices inflicted upon them. In the long tradition of nonviolent public protest, 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.