Mountain Views News          Saturday, November 13, 2010

11

OPINION

 MountainViews-News Saturday, November 13, 2010 

STUART Tolchin..........On LIFE 

Mountain Views

News

Publisher/ Editor

Susan Henderson

City Editor

Dean Lee 

Sales

Patricia Colonello

626-355-2737 

626-818-2698

Art Director

Allison Kirkham

Production Assistant

Richard Garcia

Photography

Jacqueline Truong

Lina Johnson

Contributors

Teresa Baxter

Pat Birdsall

Bob Eklund

Howard Hays

Paul Carpenter

Stuart Tolchin

Kim Clymer-Kelley

Christopher Nyerges

Peter Dills 

Hail Hamilton 

Rich Johnson

Chris Bertrand

Mary Carney

La Quetta Shamblee

Glenn Lambdin

Greg Wellborn

Ralph McKnight

Trish Collins

Pat Ostrye

Editorial Cartoonist

Ann Cleaves

Webmaster

John Aveny 

LETTER TO THE EDITOR


The impact of election 
2010 goes far deeper than 
which party controls the 
House or the Senate. The 
incivility and tone of the 
2010 campaign reached a 
disturbingly new low in 
American politics. Not 
only was this evident in the 
advertising, but we also saw 
it in candidate debates and 
forums and in the public 
discourse. Voters were 
overwhelmed by millions 
of dollars in negative ads 
but didn’t know who paid 
for many of them.

This election demonstrated 
the critical need to 
improve our governmental 
structures. Because of the 
failure of Congress to act, 
there are no disclosure 
requirements governing 
the huge amounts of 
money that the Supreme 
Court recently turned 
loose in American politics. 
Voters don’t know if 
their elected officials are 
in Washington to serve 
the public interest or the 
special interests. Congress 
must pass the DISCLOSE 
Act which would restore 
transparency to U.S. 
elections by requiring 
disclosure of corporate 
and union spending in 
candidate elections. 

“Our democracy belongs 
to people -- not special 
interests,” says Elisabeth 
MacNamara, president 
of the National League 
of Women Voters. “The 
League of Women Voters 
strongly urges Senators to 
support quick action to 
enact the 

DISCLOSE Act this year.” 

Voters, not money, should 
be at the center of our 
democracy. The challenges 
we face together in our 
towns and in our nation, 
will require our continued 
vigilance. As a leader of 
the Pasadena Area League 
of Women Voters, I work 
year-round to safeguard 
democracy and improve 
civility at all levels of 
government. As the 
League's work continues, 
I invite others in the 
community to commit 
to civic improvement 
by joining the League. 
Together we can keep 
our community strong, 
healthy, and vibrant.

Further information is 
available on the internet: 
www.lwvpasadenaarea.org 
The League office at 1353 
N. Hill Ave., 

Pasadena, is open 
weekdays 10 a.m. to 1 
p.m. Information also is 
available by calling 626-
798-0965 during those 
same hours.

Sincerely,

Yvonne Pine, President

League of Women Voters 
Pasadena Area

HOW TO SAVE THE WORLD

I think I may have learned 
something new this 
weekend. I have always 
been unsure as to how 
to evaluate the quality 
of experiences. How do 
I know if something is good or bad? Was 
watching a movie or reading a book really a 
good use of time? Well, after this weekend I 
think I am a little closer to being able to answer 
these questions.

On Friday night my wife and I saw the Clint 
Eastwood movie entitled ‘Hereafter’. The movie 
begins with a long segment which dramatizes 
the experience of being caught in a tsunami. 
For me the sequence was extraordinary. It 
does not involve explosions or obvious special 
effects. Instead I am presented with a beautiful, 
peaceful scene of an ocean resort. Far away 
I glimpse a huge wave forming which keeps 
coming towards me but remains at a distance. 
I see destruction but it is still far away; but the 
wave keeps coming and it is frightening. I see 
a woman and a child notice the approaching 
wave and experience the wave from their point 
of view. The woman takes the child’s hand and 
they both run from the relentlessly oncoming 
water. They run; desperately they run harder 
and harder and it feels as if I am them. Really 
now I am not watching; but instead I am also 
running from the wave. I cannot get away and 
the water overtakes the woman and the child 
and me and we are no longer able to hold on 
to the little girl. Eventually we escape the water 
and I watch as a kind of CPR is performed 
upon the woman who eventually breathes 
again. I feel as if I, too, have experienced the 
tsunami and I am changed. 

As I watch the rest of the film I am aware that 
something within me is different. I think of all 
the tragedies going on that I usually read about 
but do not feel. Now I feel the pain of loss and 
suffering. I am more vulnerable, less secure 
but somehow more alive. One of the themes 
of the movies is how the woman in the film is 
changed by the experience. She can no longer 
lead her life in the same way and she continues 
to anguish over the welfare of the lost little 
girl. What was important before now seems 
insignificant and she begins to lead a different 
kind of life. 

On Saturday morning I am directed by a friend 
to a video dealing with attempts at creating 
what amounts to a virtual boy in cyberspace. 
This virtual person is an individual created 
by its interaction with the viewer. Early in 
the video the virtual boy encounters a snail. 
He asks the viewer if it is okay to step on the 
snail and crush it. I am instructed that my 
answer to this question will be all important 
in forming the moral sense of the virtual boy 
and will strongly influence the type of person 
he will become. He can be told that hurting 
other living creatures is not acceptable or he 
can be told to go ahead and crush the snail. 
He can even be told to make up his own mind 
and that no one really is watching what he 
does. The video explains that the ultimate 
decision will affect what amounts to the brain 
structure of this virtual boy although the 
consequences cannot be exactly predicted; but 
the interactions together with the modeling 
presented by significant others such as me are 
the creator of this new person. 

Seeing this video had a startling effect upon 
me. Much like viewing ‘Hereafter’ I realized I 
was affected by viewing the video. I had always 
wondered what happens to all the beautiful and 
joyful toddlers that I see being attended to by 
their not so beautiful and definitely not joyful 
parents. The video helped me to understand 
that what happens to the toddlers is something 
called life. It is the interaction with significant 
others and the models presented to these 
vulnerable little people which impact strongly 
upon who they will become. It should not be a 
surprise that so many of us turn out to be very 
similar to our parents.

Actually, each of us impacts upon everyone 
with whom we come into contact. In this 
way EACH OF US CREATES THE FUTURE 
by affecting everyone else’s development 
along with our own. Perhaps our greatest 
contribution to the world is a continuing 
attempt to live and model an aware life. A life 
lived consistent with our own values while 
understanding that often our values change 
as we experience more of life. That’s how we 
save the world, by allowing ourselves to still 
be moved and to gain new understanding. 
Maybe we don’t have to be overtaken by a 
tsunami but we cannot allow ourselves to 
hide in a shell and refuse to experience the 
sufferings and joys of others. At least that’s 
what I think I learned this weekend.


Mountain Views News 
has been adjudicated as 
a newspaper of General 
Circulation for the 
County of Los Angeles 
in Court Case number 
GS004724: for the City 
of Sierra Madre; in Court 
Case GS005940 and for 
the City of Monrovia in 
Court Case No. GS006989 
and is published every 
Saturday at 55 W. Sierra 
Madre Blvd., No. 302, 
Sierra Madre, California, 
91024. All contents are 
copyrighted and may not 
be reproduced without the 
express written consent of 
the publisher. All rights 
reserved. All submissions 
to this newspaper become 
the property of the 
Mountain Views News and 
may be published in part 
or whole. 

Opinions and views 
expressed by the writers 
printed in this paper do not 
necessarily express the views 
and opinions of the publisher 
or staff of the Mountain 
Views News. 

Mountain Views News is 
wholly owned by Grace 
Lorraine Publications, 
Inc. and reserves the right 
to refuse publication of 
advertisements and other 
materials submitted for 
publication. 

Letters to the editor and 
correspondence should be 
sent to: 

Mountain Views News

 80 W. Sierra Madre Bl. #327

Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

Phone: 626-355-2737

Fax: 626-609-3285

email: 

mtnviewsnews@aol.com

My Turn

HAIL Hamilton


Regardless of Prop 19 Loss, 
Legalization is Now Mainstream

I’ll admit I was 
disappointed 
with the loss of 
Proposition 19. 
But it’s not the first 
time, and I’m sure it won’t be the last time, I’ve 
watched helpless as voters have voted against 
their best interests. Yet despite losing this time, 
a page in history has turned -- drug policy 
reform is an issue whose time has come, and 
time is on the side of reformers.

Prop 19, the marijuana legalization “Tax and 
Regulate” initiative, has been a roller coaster 
ride for drug policy reformers since it was 
introduced. In May polls showed Prop 19 in the 
lead, but not by much and with support under 
50%. For the next four months, the numbers 
did something we didn’t expect; opposition to 
the measure steadily decreased. One pollster 
said in early October, “If I was in Las Vegas and 
I was a betting man, I’d bet on Prop 19 to win, 
but I’d only bet money I could afford to lose.” A 
number of high rollers took that bet last month, 
adding big bucks to what had been a mostly 
low-profile grassroots campaign.

The last few weeks have seen support for Prop 
19 steadily fall in most polls, a phenomenon 
common to any controversial ballot measure. 
Voters might support the general concept of an 
initiative -- west coast support for marijuana 
legalization polled 58% in the final week of 
the campaign -- but some inevitably develop 
doubts about a given initiative at a given time, 
especially as opponents raise questions, and 
when uncertain voters tend to pull the “no” 
lever.

The reason Prop 19 was defeated was not 
opposition in principal to legalization, it was 
the last minute scare campaign beginning just 
after President Obama’s speech condemning 
the proposition. Perhaps the defeat was 
inevitable. But last-minute anti-Prop 19 
donations funding an ad blitz, and the less than 
expected voter turnout, turned the tide of what 
had seemed like a winner into a loser. One late 
poll, while showing the initiative behind, also 
found voters who don’t usually turn out for 
midterm elections coming out for Prop 19. 

Unfortunately projections that the marijuana 
vote could change election day demographics 
didn’t pan out. Voter turnout, though relatively 
high for a midterm election, was not enough to 
overcome the controversy generated by Prop 
19. 

Losing, though, in a sense Prop 19 has 
really won. A partial listing of mainstream 
organizations that have publicly called for 
marijuana legalization for the first time by 
endorsing Prop 19, shows that legalization can 
no longer be dismissed as from the fringe:

California NAACP

LULAC of California

Latino Voters League

National Black Police Association

National Latino Officers Association

SEIU of California

 UFCW Western States Council

 ILWU Northern California District Council

 California Young Democrats

Those are only some of the larger ones. 
Current and former politicians in California 
endorsed Prop 19, from the local level up 
through Congress. Founders of Facebook, 
Gmail and PayPal, together with millions of 
individuals, made financial contributions to 
the campaign. Widespread positive coverage 
including editorials in the likes of Newsweek 
and the New York Times (not to mention the 
MountainViews News) have made the point, 
too.

While we didn't bring in enough votes this 
election to pass Prop 19, we are proud of the 
tremendous wave of support we received. 
There are millions of people in California and 
across the country who are prepared to help 
finish the job they started here when we come 
back to the polls stronger than ever in 2012.
The fact that 3,412,387 Californians voted to 
legalize marijuana is a tremendous victory. 
We have broken the glass ceiling. Prop 19 has 
changed the terms of the debate.

The fight for drug reform and marijuana 
legalization continues. In the coming months, 
reformers will publish and distribute periodic 
updates on marijuana policy, introducing some 
of our most vital partner organizations, and 
providing opportunities for online and offline 
advocacy so you can stay active and engaged in 
this movement. So please stay tuned.

We didn't get the result we wanted this time 
around, but it's clearer than ever to me that 
it's no longer a matter of if we'll end marijuana 
prohibition -- it's simply a matter of when.

Editor’s Note: The Mountain Views News did 
not endorse Proposition 19. 


What DO You Think?

We’d like to hear from you!

Contact us at: 

editor@mtnviewsnews.com

or

www.facebook.com/mountainviewsnews

Mountain Views 
News

Mission Statement

The traditions of 
the community 
newspaper and 
the concerns of 
our readers are 
this newspaper’s 
top priorities. We 
support a prosperous 
community of well-
informed citizens. 
We hold in high 
regard the values 
of the exceptional 
quality of life in our 
community, including 
the magnificence 
of our natural 
resources. Integrity 
will be our guide.