Mountain Views News          Saturday, July 3, 2010

15

OPINION

 Mountain Views News Saturday, July 3, 2010 

SUSAN HENDERSON

America is celebrating 
another birthday. 
Another year of progess, 
another year wiser. 
Really? You can’t prove 
it by the Supreme Court’s 
latest decision on guns. 
As I was contemplating 
what to write about this 
4th of July, and believe me 
there is a lot that I would 
like to sound off about, 
I ran across an article I 
wrote two years ago and 
was disheartened when I 
read it again. I am going 
to reprint it and you will 
see what I mean. 

 (Originally printed in the Mountain Views News, July, 
2008) I was listening to the radio last week when it was 
announced that the Supremes - the court that is, had 
made yet another decision that would make one wonder 
what planet they live on. Citing the 2nd Amendment 
of the Constitution, the court overturned a ban on the 
ownership of handguns in Washington, D.C. All of the 
pistol packing NRA members in the country were happy 
as hell. After all, they said, the law does prevemt felons 
and mentally ill people from owning guns. However, 
until a person has committed a crime, more often than 
not with a gun, or until a person has shot up his office 
complex, we don’t really know they shouldn’t have had 
a gun in the first place. Too bad we don’t have crystal 
balls for gun store owners to use in order to prevent a 
potential nutcase from buying a gun. Guns should not 
be a household staple. They are weapons of death, so 
why would you want them in your home?

 We can argue forever about whether or not we need 
and should own guns. The first defense for those who 
support gun ownership is the Constitution. The second 
amendment. Our right to bear arms. But, have you 
read the Constitution since you were forced to memorize 
it as a child? Have you really read it since you became 
an allegedly responsible adult? For, I believe if you have, 
you will find that the world has changed significantly 
since it was written and the circumstances that lead to 
the creation of much of the Constitution no longer exist. 
There are many parts of the Constituion that are in dire 
need of revision and the Second Amendment is one.

 It reads, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to 
the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep 
and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Now remember, 
this was written at a time when there was a bona fide 
fear of a hostile government coming ashore and taking 
over the colonies. (You know, kinda like we take over 
other countries now). But in this day and age, do we 
really have the same concerns? Last night when you 
went to sleep, were you worried about the British kicking 
in your door? At your last neighborhood watch meeting, 
did you sit around with neighbors and plan a strategy 
for when the British arrived on your block? And, if we 
would be honest, we know that no one buys a gun to arm 
themselves as part of a ‘well regulated militia’......or do 
they?

 Seems to me that not so long ago there was an 
encampment of citizens that decided they needed to arm 
themselves and develop their own militia. Remember the 
Branch Davidians? Our response was a contradiction 
to the very interpretation of the second amendment 
that we embrace today. Throughout modern history 
especially, when organized groups have attempted to 
arm themselves the government has swooped down on 
them without reservation. So we do on occaision realize 
that an armed citizenry is not a good thing. 

 In the real world in America, guns, primarily owned by 
those claiming protection afforded by our Constitution, 
are used not to develop or sustain that ‘well regulated 
militia’. They are used to terrorize, kill and maim. But 
I guess, according to the five Supremes, those deaths and 
injuries are just collateral damage needed in order to 
maintain a ‘well regulated militia’. Right.

 When the Founding Fathers sat down to write The 
Constitution, they were creating rules to govern a 
mere 2.7 million people. Not 281 million people and 
not with weapons as technologically advanced as we 
have now. Our society has become so defiled with guns 
everywhere...our schools, our churches, our homes. 
Guns are at the disposal of the sane and the insane, the 
criminally disposed and those who just fly off the handle 
because they can. We have people shooting randomly 
when you drive down the freeway. We have children 
dying because guns are lying around carelessly in their 
homes. Before the next seven days pass, I can assure you 
there will be another needless killing in our midst. And 
not one of those bullets will have been fired by a member 
of any well regulated militia. Not one.

 I once had a father, [A WWII Marine] who was sitting 
in a place much like the Bucananeer, minding his own 
business when a man walked up to him and shot him, 
thinking he was someone else. Shot him dead. He didn’t 
shoot him in the course of protecting his property or the 
country. He shot he because he had a gun and he could. 
My mother lost her husband. We lost our father. My 
children lost their grandpa all because the Constitution 
says that everyone has the right to bear arms whether 
they need to or not.

 You can stick your head in the sand if you want to, 
you can huff and puff about your rights, but gun violence 
does not discriminate when it claims a life. Just because 
you never plan on going hunting with Dick Cheney 
doesn’t make you safe either. A bullet doesn’t make a u 
turn because you are a card carrying NRA member. It is 
time that we grow up and realize that everything that we 
can have isn’t necessarily good for us.

I guess that acronym that we used in school still 
applies, SSDD.

HAIL Hamilton

My Turn


Mountain Views

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Hail Hamilton 

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John Aveny 


The Signers of the 
Declaration of 
Independence

 Have you ever wondered who the signers of the 
Declaration of Independence were and what happened to 
them? Well, here’s a thumbnail sketch someone sent me 
of the men who pledged “our lives, our fortunes and our 
sacred honor” for liberty so many years ago.

 “Fifty-six men from each of the original 13 colonies 
signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. 
Nine of the signers were immigrants, two were brothers and 
two were cousins. One was an orphan. The average age of a 
signer was 45. Benjamin Franklin was the oldest delegate at 
70. The youngest was Thomas Lynch Jr. of South Carolina at 
27. Thomas Jefferson was 33.

 “Eighteen of the signers were merchants or businessmen, 
14 were farmers, and four were doctors. Twenty-two were 
lawyers - although William Hooper of North Carolina was 
“disbarred” when he spoke out against the king - and nine 
were judges. Stephen Hopkins had been governor of Rhode 
Island. Forty-two signers had served in their colonial 
legislatures.

 “John Witherspoon of New Jersey was the only active 
clergyman to attend. (Indeed, he wore his pontificals to the 
sessions.) Almost all were Protestants. Charles Carroll of 
Maryland was the lone Roman Catholic.

 “Seven of the signers were educated at Harvard, four 
at Yale, four at William & Mary, and three at Princeton. 
Witherspoon was the president of Princeton, and George 
Wythe was a professor at William & Mary. His students 
included Declaration scribe Thomas Jefferson.

 “Seventeen signers fought in the American Revolution. 
Thomas Nelson was a colonel in the Second Virginia 
Regiment and then commanded Virginia military forces 
at the Battle of Yorktown. William Whipple served with 
the New Hampshire militia and was a commanding officer 
in the decisive Saratoga campaign. Oliver Wolcott led the 
Connecticut regiments sent for the defense of New York and 
commanded a brigade of militia that took part in the defeat 
of General Burgoyne. Caesar Rodney was a major general in 
the Delaware militia; John Hancock held the same rank in 
the Massachusetts militia.

 “The British captured five signers during the war. Edward 
Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, and Arthur Middleton were 
captured at the Battle of Charleston in 1780. George Walton 
was wounded and captured at the Battle of Savannah. 
Richard Stockton of New Jersey never recovered from his 
incarceration at the hands of British Loyalists. He died in 
1781.

 “Thomas McKean of Delaware wrote John Adams that he 
was “hunted like a fox by the enemy - compelled to remove 
my family five times in a few months.” Abraham Clark of 
New Jersey had two of his sons captured by the British 
during the war.

 “Eleven signers had their homes and property destroyed. 
Francis Lewis’s New York home was razed and his wife taken 
prisoner. John Hart’s farm and mills were destroyed when 
the British invaded New Jersey, and he died while fleeing 
capture. Carter Braxton and Nelson, both of Virginia, lent 
large sums of their personal fortunes to support the war 
effort but were never repaid.

 “Fifteen of the signers participated in their states’ 
constitutional conventions, and six - Roger Sherman, 
Robert Morris, Franklin, George Clymer, James Wilson, 
and George Reed - signed the U.S. Constitution.

 “After the Revolution, 13 signers went on to become 
governors. Eighteen served in their state legislatures. Sixteen 
became state and federal judges. Seven became members of 
the U.S. House of Representatives. Six became U.S. senators. 
James Wilson and Samuel Chase became Supreme Court 
justices. Jefferson, Adams, and Elbridge Gerry each became 
vice president. Adams and Jefferson later became president.

 “Five signers played major roles in the establishment 
of colleges and universities: Franklin and the University 
of Pennsylvania; Jefferson and the University of Virginia; 
Benjamin Rush and Dickinson College; Lewis Morris and 
New York University; and George Walton and the University 
of Georgia.

 “Adams, Jefferson, and Carroll were the longest surviving 
signers. Adams and Jefferson both died on July 4, 1826, 
the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. 
Carroll was the last signer to die in 1832 at the age of 95.”

 So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July 
holiday and give thanks to these patriots who so long ago 
dedicated themselves to the proposition:

 We hold these truths to be self-
evident, that all men are created 
equal, that they are endowed 
by their Creator with certain 
unalienable Rights, that among 
these are Life, Liberty and the 
pursuit of Happiness.

STUART TOLCHIN 

SELF DEFENSE

 
Whoopee, it’s shootin’ time 
again! No, not just because 
it’s the Fourth of July and 
fire-crackers are so much 
fun. No, in these modern 
times we know fire-crackers 
are dangerous and most 
cities have laws prohibiting 
individual usage. What I’m 
talking about now is the United States Supreme 
Court decision, announced today, that held 
that the good old second amendment to the 
Constitutional guarantee of an individual right to 
bear arms applies to state and local gun control 
laws.

 Yep, it’s just like Dodge City and Tombstone, 
Arizona and the rest of the Old West, where 
every good citizen strapped a six-gun onto his 
or her belt for self-protection. Justice Samuel A. 
Alito, Jr., writing for the majority, explained that 
the right to self-defense protected by the Second 
Amendment was fundamental to the American 
conception of ordered liberty and must be applied 
to limit not only federal power but also that of 
local and state governments.

 Right; of course we all know that nothing 
protects you like a good gun. This is, of course, 
total nonsense. To begin with the Second 
Amendment, as designed by the Constitutional 
framers, was most probably intended to protect 
the ability of militiamen to keep muskets 
available for military use when this nation was 
in its infancy. Contrary to the desires of Justices 
like Anton Scalia, it is probably impossible to 
discern the actual intentions of delegates to the 
Constitutional Convention held a couple of 
hundred years ago. Judge John Paul Stevens, in 
his final dissent before retiring, writes sensibly 
that the proper manner of determining whether 
a particular law should be upheld is to look at 
the probable consequences of the law. He asserts 
that the motivations of Constitutional framers, 
whether discoverable or not, have only a limited 
bearing on the questions that confront society 
today. Other dissenters point out that history 
does not provide clear answers but that there is 
evidence that firearms cause 60,000 deaths and 
injuries in the United States each year These 
dissenters do their best to determine what is best 
for our nation’s communities and take positions 
in accord with these beliefs.

 In order to evaluate a potential judge, it is absolutely 
crucial to understand that judge’s values. This will 
probably 
be the real starting-points of the decision-making 
process. As we go through another charade while 
aspiring Justice Kagan is being questioned by 
Congress, it is clear that our rights as Americans 
are being violated. The recent confirmation 
hearings of Chief Justice Roberts and Justice 
Alioto have shown the standard practice of every 
potential judge to hide, or at least do their best to 
obscure basic beliefs and opinions.

 You know Justice Alioto is correct in his assertion 
that Americans have a basic and fundamental 
right to self defense. What self defense means in 
these modern times is something other than the 
unrestricted right to carry firearms. We also need 
to be able to protect ourselves from the abuses 
of money and power. I believe that today every 
responsible scientist agrees that the very survival 
of people on this planet is threatened by global 
warming or climate change. Something, many 
things, must be done and done fast; yet attempted 
remedial actions are being blocked by wealthy 
special interests who favor their own short term 
interests over anything else. Recent Supreme 
Court decisions have allowed the wealthy an even 
more unfettered use of power and influence. We 
need to be protected.

 What about our own health?. For a very 
long time it has been known that we are stuffing 
ourselves with too much fat, salt, and sugar. Still, 
Americans keep eating this stuff and are becoming 
more and more obese and more at risk for heart 
attacks, and diabetes. Why can’t we stop indulging 
ourselves? Probably because we are surrounded 
by marketing devices pushing these poisons 
into our bodies and telling us “We’re loving it”. 
Well, I ain’t loving it; but I need help to defend 
myself - and so do you. Smoking, a truly deadly 
habit, at one time probably claimed 60 per cent 
of the population. It has been greatly reduced by 
prohibiting advertising and making most public 
places No Smoking areas. The same thing could 
be done in order to restrict the consumption of 
unhealthy foods or any other kind of unhealthy 
practice.

 Changes will be unpopular at first but are 
necessary if we are to survive. It is clear to me 
that what is needed are laws intended to benefit 
the common good and we need judges who 
understand that need. In order to select these 
Judges we need to be able to hear them talk about 
their values and visions before they are appointed 
and confirmed.

 This is what I mean by SELF DEFENSE. 

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Mountain Views News

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RICH Johnson

WONDER WOMAN & HERCULES

 
Your intrepid columnist 
had the distinct pleasure of 
running into two of Sierra 
Madre’s most exciting and 
vibrant business owners. If I 
told you one of the business 
owners can be regularly seen 
sweeping the sidewalk up 
and down Baldwin, would you know to whom 
I am referring?

 Of course it’s Nora. Nora, and her husband, 
Brian, are the proprietors of the Sierra Juice 
Company, right where Baldwin bends west into 
Kersting Court just before Sierra Madre Blvd. 
Their storefront is between Starbucks and Best 
Buy Drugs. You know the place: the one with the 
entrance surrounded by beautiful flowers of all 
makes, models and colors.

 Now if you are still not sure who I am referring 
to, just cruise Baldwin near Sierra Madre and be 
on the lookout for these two dynamos: Nora, 
aka Wonder Woman, the ravishing Filipina gal 
who will most likely be vibrating that broom at 
the speed of light. And Brian, aka Hercules, the 
male Adonis with a ladder and a screwdriver 
deciphering the latest “honey-do” list handed to 
him by Nora.

 Brian was, at one point, the number three 
body builder in America (not to be confused with 
my accomplishment as the number three belly 
builder in America.) I almost certain, before he 
married Nora, he was just another skinny little 
milquetoast. I’m certain if I were Mr. Nora, 
people would be calling me “Slim” after only a 
few months.

 Wonder Woman and Hercules are great 
walking billboards for the benefits derived from 
frequenting their establishment. They have 
several varieties of cold refreshing drinks, but 
Brian told me the smoothie choice of the Saturday 
cyclists is the Strawberry Haven. It has bananas, 
strawberries and protein in it. And it’s delicious. 
They also serve the Brazil Amazon Berry which 
delivers 10 times the antioxidant capacity of 
other drinks. In addition to the smoothies, they 
offer a  full deli. Sandwiches include roast beef, 
turkey, albacore and egg salad (they tell me they 
only mix the tuna and egg salad when someone 
orders it.) Talk about fresh. They also use only 
fresh bread.

 Again, if you wonder how nutritious 
and physically beneficial the smoothies and 
sandwiches are you need only spend a moment 
talking with Nora and/or Brian. (I’m sure Caltech 
will not let Nora within a mile of their campus as 
she sets off the Richter Scale.)

 Katrina and Sylvia are the two wonderful 
gals who work with Nora. Stop by, but I’m not 
sure you should tell them I encouraged you. She 
might put me to work.   They are open from 8:00 
am to 6:00 pm.

 And Happy Fourth of July to you all. God bless 
America, especially Stuart Tolchin.

Mountain Views 
News

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Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com