Don's Tuesday Column

THE WAY I SEE IT by Don Polson         Red Bluff Daily News 11/11/2025

        Salute Veterans; Prop 50; juvie crime

Veterans Day recognizes all who’ve served in America’s Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. It’s often stated: All gave some; some gave all. Many veterans say that they are not heroes—the heroes never made it back.

The goodness of this nation is exemplified by the service of those who wore, and wear, the uniform. Included are those who, throughout our nation’s history of war and warriors, have served our nation in clandestine capacities. My father (WWII) and one of my half-brothers served in the Navy, while another half-brother signed up in the Air Force, if memory serves.

The French political thinker Alexis de Tocqueville, who wrote “Democracy in America” in the 1830s, stated: “America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.”

Founder and Framer John Adams’ timeless statement: “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” Good hearted and sincere lovers of this nation are justified to ask if America is, any longer, a “moral and religious people”—if not, how do we assure ourselves of future Constitutional self-governance?

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“Star Trek: The Wrath of Kahn” (yes, a guilty indulgence) provided a quote from the antagonist, Kahn, expressing his deep anathema for Captain Kirk, applicable to today’s Progressive/Democrat left: “To the last, I will grapple with thee… from Hell’s heart, I stab at thee! For hate’s sake, I spit my last breath at thee!” I must ask what, aside from ideological self-destruction, is accomplished by such all-consuming hatred as we currently see from segments of our electorate and political class? I pray for our nation, even while suspecting that God leaves us to our own collective devices, from which we may, or may not, emerge a better nation, if at all.

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Our Sheriff Kain has made worthwhile observations, with suggestions, on the conundrum of crime and violence among our youth. It could be said that, like the slow depletion of air in a crowded room, what used to be a generally-accepted state of civility among the young people of America—decency and respect for the law and fellow citizens—has diminished, by anecdotes and statistics.

Consider contributing factors: fatherless, single-parent homes; indulgence by society of minor infractions, leading to major, violent crimes; and the “therapeutic approach” to criminal natures, which posits that “treatment” and unearned self-esteem can replace incarceration and punishment. Are these now seen as failed experiments inspired by deluded thinking about fallible human nature? Just asking.

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Is it any wonder why serious doubts about election results, and integrity, follow from a system that once involved same-day, paper ballots counted that night, to the now-stated policy that ballots be postmarked by election day—and counted by November 12? I have little doubt that our Tehama County election officials perform duties honestly and correctly; the megalopolises to the south, not so much.

Those would be the same regions that just voted to literally disenfranchise us and nearly all of non-urban California through the passage of Prop 50. It’s a legal and constitutional abomination that will leave but a smattering of Republican Congressional representatives for nearly 40 percent of California’s 40 million people.

While promoted as a response to Texas redistricting that reduced its congressional Democrats, that state’s redistricting is but a pittance compared to nearly half-a-dozen Democrat states with 30-40 percent Republicans, but zero or next-to-zero Republicans in Congress. Tehama County (and many other rural counties) voted 70 to 80 percent against Prop 50. It recalls the battle cry of the American Revolution: No taxation without representation! I wish the best of judicial luck to Republicans suing to overturn Prop 50 on numerous grounds.

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“First Arrests Hint at How Billions in California Homeless $$$ Vanished Without a Trace on Gavin's Watch” (Victoria Taft, pjmedia.com). “With the arrests and federal indictments of two California men announced on Thursday, we're now getting an idea of how California's billions of dollars to ‘end homelessness’ vanished without a trace. Instead of helping to solve the problem of rampant tent encampments filled with addicts on the beaches and streets in California, things got worse. Where did all that money go?

“An audit in 2024 revealed that no one knew how the homeless money was spent. See ‘No Wonder Gavin Newsom Didn't Want an Audit to Track $24 Billion in Homeless Spending.’ The audit revealed that there were no guardrails or accountability for the use of that money or its expenditure.”

Whether the homeless grift, COVID scams, transit boondoggles, or housing (“CA Non-Profit Reportedly Linked to Massive Housing Fraud Scheme”), Gov. Gavin Newsom’s California provides nothing to recommend him for higher office.