Don's Tuesday Column

THE WAY I SEE IT by Don Polson       Red Bluff Daily News 12/31/2024

    The more things change, they say...

It’s an old saying: The more things change, the more they stay the same. The rock group, The Who (dating myself but younger readers should look up the lyrics), had a pithy line: “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss” (from “Won’t get fooled again”).

Are you hoping that anything will really change for the better here in California? Our state’s political and economic elites think they have valuable guidance for the rest of America. Hint to elites: You are right, but not the way you mean; our state’s experiment in self-rule is mostly an aberration, a warning to, and an example for, the rest of America—of what not to do.

***

More on that after noting an inspiring (for some, a “concerning”) event at what we consider our “local” California ski area: Mt. Shasta Ski Park. Throughout the 90s and later, we had many cherished trips to Alpine (downhill) and Nordic (cross country) sections of the ski park.

Work and budgets hindered venturing beyond Mt. Shasta. It was a rewarding recreational learning experience (which involved both upright technique and the occasional “yard sale” of scattered equipment after a fall) in the shadow of that magnificent mountain.

Every mountain can have a “vibe” that envelopes visitors who hike, camp, or otherwise recreate thereupon. For those that ski, board, slide on tubes, and then relax on patios and in parking lots amidst the unparalleled beauty of mountain vistas, it’s a special atmosphere. Some would say it’s a religious, or at least a near-religious, “vibe.”

News of a 20-foot tall statue of Mother Mary, holding her baby Jesus, on the top of Douglas Butte at Mt. Shasta Ski Park, may have come your way. The Daily News doesn’t cover Shasta County, and we only returned here about 10 days ago.

I was searching for ski park elevations and saw some headlines: “Mt. Shasta Ski Park Unveils Controversial Virgin Mary Statue at the Top of Douglas Butte” (Activenorcal.com, 12/09); and “Statue honoring Mount Shasta's ‘beauty and spiritual power’ completed after controversy” (Redding.com, 12/17).

The “controversy”? While secular, some would say pagan, religions proliferate, the placement of a statue of a religious figure, devoutly revered by Catholics worldwide, prominently placed by a devout Catholic family on land that they own—rubs some the wrong way.

“Our Lady of Mt. Shasta...symbolizes a deep connection to the area’s beauty and tranquility, encouraging all to embrace faith, kindness, love, and peace on earth” (https://www.skipark.com/our-lady-of-mt-shasta). I find it comforting, even inspiring, to know that the next time we venture to Mt. Shasta, we can spend a few minutes in reflection, whether during the Christmas season or not, on the single greatest event for the good of humanity in history.

1) No one is forcing anyone to use the ski area, and 2) you’d have to strain your neck and risk a collision to try to see the statue from I-5 (Douglas Butte is a fleeting image only if you know just where and when to look), and 3) it’s not visible from either Mount Shasta city or McCloud.

So, who is really offended? I think we already know: The same political and cultural crowd that whines and complains over devout, patriotic tributes to the founding and advancing of America, and this nation’s ideals of constitutional, representative self-rule.

They’re for “democracy,” (three wolves and two sheep voting on the dinner menu); they vehemently, even violently oppose anything that doesn’t fit their notion of progressive, “woke” ideology. Even when majorities support things they oppose, or disapprove of things they support, the majority must be “misinformed,” and condemned for not realizing that they think “wrongly.”

These leftists don’t object to 1) the worship of nature in the Gaia “religion,” or 2) a Satanic display on public property (in Minnesota a while back), or 3) revering the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the European Union and its International Criminal Court, or 4) demanding respect for symbols of the quasi-religious Black Lives Matter movement.

***

More stuff not likely to change: 1) “PG&E electricity bills rising far faster than other utility titans,” faster than inflation—blame expensive “renewables,” not fossil fuels. 2) “Gender-identity law elicits praise from [sex change] advocates.” To these fanatics, children belong to the state, not the parents. 3) “Biden signs defense bill despite objections to ban health care for children.” Drugs and procedures trying to change the sex of children on military bases is not—not—health care; it’s irreversibly harmful.

4) “Lawmakers begin special session to protect state laws from second Trump presidency.” Apparently, Californians need protection from: a) higher gas prices (“Another refinery shuts down. What happens to gas prices?”);

b) Cheaper houses (“As affordable housing disappears, state scrambles to shore up losses”);

c) Water for homes and farms (“Water flow cuts fuel the debate over imperiled smelt”);

d) Better educated kids (“State test scores inch up, but still lag pre-Covid numbers”).