Don's Tuesday column

             THE WAY I SEE IT   by Don Polson  Red Bluff Daily News   4/30/2013

Geoengineering, great dinner, lousy Senator

You may want to take the time to hear a special guest speaking on an extremely thought-provoking topic, geoengineering, at tonight’s Tea Party Patriots meeting, 6 PM, Westside Grange. Dane Wigington is a researcher, highly educated with a background in solar energy, employment in Bechtel Power Corp. and a multi-state contractor who has, based on his experience, raised some alarming questions and observations over geoengineering and “chemtrails.” Visit http://guymcpherson.com/2012/09/geoengineering-dangerous-proposal-or-lethal-reality/ to learn more.

“He focused his efforts and energy on the geoengineering issue when he began to lose very significant amounts of solar uptake due to … ever-increasing solar obscuration caused from aircraft spraying …” I provide this information for readers without taking position due to lack of knowledge. What he and others are saying is that there are either proposed or implemented man-made methods to negate the effects of global warming, the side effects of which pose unforeseen threats to human and nature’s health.

As I write, the Vets Hall is now restored to its prior condition; the decorations, bunting, drapery, etc are stored until the fair; a delightful meal was enjoyed by all who attended (my dinner, uneaten due to MC duties, became one of the best brunches I’ve had in a while); and attendees were rewarded with one of the best programs in recent memory. The Tehama County Republican Red, White and Blue Dinner, in chalking up another fine fundraiser, has consistently been the pinnacle Republican event in the North State.

Mr. Frank Jones, in playing Abraham Lincoln, gave a very moving recitation of the Gettysburg Address, incorporating the prayerful nature of Mr. Lincoln’s spoken ministrations to America and her citizens. Additionally, he shared some rather rib-tickling anecdotes and stories, the best one of which involved a farmer’s donkey that was better at forecasting the weather than a government expert. Asked why he refused to make the animal his official weatherman, he simply exclaimed, “If I did that, why, every jackass would want a job in government.” (bah-da-bump)

It’s remarkable that from our own ranks were found four absolutely marvelous voices: Linda Davis, Val Say, J.R. Gonzales and Miles Leyva, Red Bluff High School Senior. From the National Anthem, to the Battle Hymn of the Republic, to Civil War songs like “When Johnny Comes Marching Home” and “Goober Peas,” to America the Beautiful, all were voices worthy of the finest choirs. The sound system, put together by Rick Lytle, was simply superb; I don’t know where he’s listed but there must be some way, if you need quality sound/mixer/recorded music, to find him.

Space constraints and lack of notes limit my ability to describe Elizabeth Emken’s keynote speech except to say that her rendition of the core Republican values, and our ability to present those values to the broader citizenry, was inspirational. To me, her comments on the imperative of appealing to voters with a message of, shall we say, self-sufficiency touched on so much of what is driving America away from the values that have been instrumental in our economic and moral strength. After most a century of the liberal/progressive philosophy of ever-expanding government trying to fix all of society’s ills with deficit fueled, ever broadening social and welfare benefits, America faces a debt and collectivist point of no return.

Trillions upon trillions spent over decades to induce dependency upon government-provided welfare, food stamps, medical care, housing subsidies, tax credits and so on can only be reversed with a Republican message of economic growth and fiscal responsibility; inculcating the once-legendary American work ethic back into the masses of able-bodied but now-dependant, potentially productive citizens. Only by following that path, pursuing that mission, can our nation’s finances begin the necessary transition to rising economic tides, self-worth, industriousness and the corresponding reduction of government spending programs, as well as rising revenues. That’s the way I see it.

Emken’s apologies for losing to Sen. Diane Feinstein aside—given the near-slavish pro-Democrat voting pattern among California’s low-information voters—her prognosis on Feinstein’s likely legislative agenda was on-the-mark. Not only did our leftist Senator give her all to advancing a once-failed, unconstitutional and completely non-responsive (to the actual facts behind recent mass shootings) “assault weapons” ban, but she also embarrassed herself at the hands of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. He had the brilliant, unmitigated gall to ask our very senior Senator what other amendments she felt were subject to her interpretation of what citizens were entitled to (my paraphrasing); She was adamant, you see, that she had the wisdom and legislative purview to tell her fellow Americans what guns they have no right to own. She uttered some inanity about being smarter than a fourth grader but was utterly unconvincing on that count.

I truly, deeply hope that Democrats are determined to continue to attempt to advance gun control or, as Harry Reid said in an unguarded moment, “anti-gun” measures, and that they think it will endear them to voters enough to make Nancy Pelosi the Speaker of the House of Representatives in the 2014 elections. It is only blind ideological hubris that explains it; it should, I hope, not only allow the Republicans to keep the House, but to retake the Senate, giving Obama the genuine lame duck status he so richly deserves.