THE WAY I SEE IT   by Don Polson      Red Bluff Daily News   6/05/2012

Lying liars and their shameful tactics

A disgusting, disingenuous and deceitful last minute political flyer arrived in my mailbox, as part of the Dan Logue for Assembly 2012 campaign. You may have also been on the receiving end of this latest iteration of mud, slime, lies and character assassination against our County Supervisor, Bob Williams. He stepped up to run for the state Assembly, as the archetypal citizen legislator, being a farmer and rancher by avocation, and a long-serving and dedicated county supervisor in his spare, and under-compensated, time.

I condemn, and call out for the fabrications that they are, the numerous preposterous assertions on the flyer, and condemn Celeste Grieg of the California Republican Assembly, as well as Lee McCorkle, chairman of the Glenn County Republican Party and, of course, Dan Logue. You should all be ashamed of the scurrilous attacks on a fellow Republican, conservative Bob Williams, who could not in any sane voter’s imagination, be held responsible for “shipping our water to Southern California,” or for having used “tax dollars for junkets” or for planning to “raise your taxes.” If I ever have the displeasure of meeting any of these mud-throwers, the last thing they will see will be my backside as I turn and walk away. I don’t forgive such tactics; and I won’t forget.

Show these charlatans that you won’t be misled by proudly casting your vote for someone that I have had the supreme pleasure of rubbing elbows with, and working together with, on everything from the Military Families Support Group, to issues that have come before the county supervisors, to Tea Party Patriots venues and picnics, to Republican fundraising dinners, and on and on. He has labored mightily to advocate for rural land use and water issues in Sacramento, and has established bridges and open doors to open-minded, reasonable Democrats on those and other issues. Don’t let the liars win: Vote for Bob Williams for Assembly.

Regarding donations to the local Republican Central Committee, I was pleased to see the Daily News was timely and even-handed in covering the stories: “FPPC: Nielsen gift may have crossed line” (May 31), followed up 2 days later by “Nielsen attorney defends donation.” I am on the Central Committee but was out of town, uninvolved and uninformed of the matter until reading the articles in the Daily News issues held for my return.

I’ll accept the legal statement of Assemblyman Jim Nielsen’s attorney Charles Bell, Jr: “He (Nielsen) complied with the law.” I sense a political shenanigan, perhaps a “tempest in a teapot,” fanned by Nielsen’s and William’s political opponents. I also find a major culprit in the futile attempts to accomplish “fairness” in political fund raising and spending, as suggested by the title “Fair Political Practices Commission.”

I prefer individual freedom to spend one’s money as one wishes; it’s yours, or your businesses, or your corporation’s, money and I trust folks handling and contributing their own money, in whatever amounts, to whomever they support. Combine that freedom with the ability and requirement to provide full and timely disclosure, and you have what I think is truly a fair system where people take responsibility for their decisions and money, everyone else benefits from transparency, and people pass judgment on the sources and amounts of money contributed. We don’t need the heavy hand of the state to concoct minute and obscure rules that necessitate high-priced lawyers to interpret, and to protect citizens and candidates from every clause and phrase of regulatory overreach.

I have no hesitation whatsoever advising readers to vote for Doug LaMalfa for Congress. I find his devotion to the concerns and needs of his constituents, demonstrated over many years, often to the detriment of evenings and weekends with his family, to inherently qualify him to go “to” Washington without turning into a product “of” Washington. The other Republican candidates are fine patriots and I would happily replace Democrats in other districts with any of them.

As usual, California’s primary arrives too late for Republicans to have any meaningful impact other than to affirm or object to the presidential primary results that have gone before. My personal evolution has included the sense that Gov. Tim Pawlenty could have wielded a “Minnesota nice” veneer in service of battling President Obama in the ideological trenches. He went bye-bye early. I was eager to help voters and readers understand the record and accomplishments of Gov. Rick Perry and his Texas miracle of growth and job creation; that is, until it became clear his communication abilities fell far short of what’s needed to unseat a sitting president.

Having neither love nor hate for the remaining Republicans, I cast a cool, analytical look at their respective abilities, reactions and accomplishments. I didn’t hear or see any of the negative ads, but I did observe the reactions of those on the receiving end. I was less than impressed with complaints and whining, and was positively impressed by the ability of one Republican to get better and more formidable the closer he got to gaining the delegates needed for the nomination.

That, combined with his “sterling” business career, masterful Salt Lake Olympics turnaround, and ability to fight the Massachusetts Democratic establishment, leave me casting my vote, and casting it eagerly, for Governor Mitt Romney.