Mountain Views News          Saturday, February 23, 2013

15

OPINION

 Mountain Views News Saturday, February 23, 2013 

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

JOE GANDELMAN Independent’s Eye

Mountain 
Views

News

PUBLISHER/ EDITOR

Susan Henderson

CITY EDITOR

Dean Lee 

EAST VALLEY EDITOR

Joan Schmidt

BUSINESS EDITOR

LaQuetta Shamblee

SENIOR COMMUNITY 
EDITOR

Pat Birdsall

SALES

Patricia Colonello

626-355-2737 

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WEBMASTER

John Aveny 

CONTRIBUTORS

Chris Leclerc

Bob Eklund

Howard Hays

Paul Carpenter

Stuart Tolchin

Kim Clymer-Kelley

Christopher Nyerges

Peter Dills 

Hail Hamilton 

Rich Johnson

Chris Bertrand

Ron Carter

Rev. James Snyder

Bobby Eldridge

Mary Carney

Katie Hopkins

Deanne Davis

Despina Arouzman

Greg Wellborn

Dr. John Talevich

Ben Show

Sean Kayden

Jasmine Kelsey Williams


PROTESTS AND VIOLENCE

AMERICA’S POOP DECK 
POLITICS

 For the past 
thirty years I have 
advocated the return 
of the draft. Perhaps 
coincidentally this 
period coincides 
with my own aging as for these past 
thirty plus years I have been well beyond 
draft age. Really though I believe my 
own age is not relevant to my desire to 
see the draft return. During my own 
draftable years I, for once in my life, was 
completely focused on something. I did 
not want to go to war. The reasons for 
this unique clarity were so obvious that 
I have never even bothered to enumerate 
them to myself.

 There are many who seem to love 
the idea of going to war. Think of that 
young adventurer Prince Harry. My 
wife pointed out that he seems like a 
real throw-back to British Royalty as 
typified in Shakespearean plays. He is 
like Prince Hal, a wild-partier - bring on 
the naked women - who loves serving 
in Afghanistan in the ridiculously 
dangerous role of helicopter-pilot. He 
is a wild and crazy guy beloved by Brits 
and maturing into his future potential 
position as King of England.

 Unfortunately, this is not my kind 
of guy. I hate the idea of war and the 
actuality is even worse. War is about 
killing people. It kills innocent civilians 
along with teenage boys away from home 
for the first time. It creates cripples 
and orphans and leaves even those 
who survive physically, mentally, and 
emotionally damaged for the remainder 
of their lives. The continuing existence 
of wars are a graphic demonstration 
of the indisputable fact that we human 
beings have not risen very far from our 
animal cousins and actually remain an 
embarrassment to our own sense of high 
ideals and human worth. Simply put war 
is ridiculous and it seems like a good idea 
to try and put an end to wars.

 So, why don’t we, the nations of the 
world do more to try and end war? One 
of my favorite speeches was made by 
General Eisenhower as he left his eight 
year long Presidency. Beware the growing 
military-industrial complex. Somehow, 
I remember hearing that speech. I was 
sixteen years old and I knew what the 
ex-General meant. It meant, and still 
means that some people get rich from 
wars. I think I knew from that point on 
that I did not want to die so somebody 
else would get rich. I even think that to 
me that sentence meant something like 
people who are rich got that way because 
other people have died. For my whole 
life I have kind of equated great wealth as 
arising only from evil. I know that this is 
not a particularly popular viewpoint and 
I also know that capitalism is a system 
fueled by greed which is something that 
is probably hard-wired in our human 
DNA. Still, other things like compassion, 
and a sense of justice and fairness, and 
the ability to be touched by the awesome 
cuteness of newborns and children, and 
our surprising affection for other species 
are probably also contained in that same 
human DNA. These are the qualities that 
that should be nurtured and extolled. UP 
WITH CATS AND BABIES and DOWN 
WITH WARS AND THE WORSHIP OF 
VIOLENCE.

 All right I think I’ve made my point 
about war. Still I think the reinstallation of 
some kind of universal draft is a very good 
idea. I do not think that the existence of 
the draft would automatically mean that 
there would be more senseless wars than 
there already are. I believe Scandinavian 
countries maintain universal drafts and 
yet do not regularly enter wars other than 
to participate as part of peace-keeping 
forces. In fact many of these countries 
have huge gun ownership without having 
the kind of overwhelming violence that 
is so present in this country. Perhaps 
this goes to prove that the problem is not 
guns but is behavior related to national 
attitudes toward violence. I want the 
draft to be reinstituted because of the 
way it affects people’s attitudes. When 
a population is subject to a draft they 
care about what is going on in the world. 
People pay attention to the news. This 
is very different from our present time 
wherein wars are fought in distant places. 
Millions of people die and most of us 
barely notice. Many of us today do not 
even know anyone who has served in the 
military during the past three decades.

 I remember the 60’s when people 
protested and there was change. If our 
lives were on the line we Americans would 
not tolerate the disgraceful inefficiency of 
our legislatures. An informed involved 
electorate is an absolute requirement 
for a Democracy. We don’t have one. I 
would rather risk the possible negative 
consequences of the draft in exchange 
for an informed, active, protesting 
population. Of course I’m too old to be 
drafted but I’m not too old to still care---
and I do—and so should you!!

It’s the ultimate 
stomach turner: 
how Carnival’s 
893-foot long 
cruise ship 
Triumph, along 
with its 4,200 
passengers, was 
stranded due to a fuel engine leak 
for five days with no food, little 
water and few working bathrooms. 
Passenger cell phone photos showed 
slews of plastic bags brimming 
with human waste, and lumpy, raw 
sewage floating in big puddles.


 It gave a new meaning to 
the phrase “poop deck.”


You have to now wonder: is 
that a metaphor for what’s now 
happening in American politics?


Folks, it ain’t getting better. Shortly 
after the 2008 Presidential election, 
pundits wrote all kinds of columns 
about how America was entering a 
new “post-partisan” era. W-r-o-n-g. 
And after the 2012 election, pundits 
suggested Republicans would re-
evaluate and no longer be the party 
constantly opposed to everything 
Barack Obama proposed. Why, they’d 
surely temper over the-top, breathless 
political polemics. W-r-o-n-g.


In the frenzied effort by some GOPers 
to scuttle the nomination of former 
Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel, Sen. 
John McCain finally articulated what 
all the GOPers’ political huffing and 
puffing, all the evident personal 
anger and near-rage displayed during 
Hagel’s confirmation hearings was 
really about. McCain told Fox News:


“But to be honest with you... it goes 
back to there’s a lot of ill will towards 
Senator Hagel because when he was 
a Republican, he attacked President 
Bush mercilessly and [said] he was the 
worst President since Herbert Hoover 
and said the surge was the worst 
blunder since the Vietnam War, which 
was nonsense,” McCain explained. “He 
was anti-his own party and people 
— people don’t forget that. You can 
disagree but if you’re disagreeable, 
then people don’t forget that.”


So Hagel was mean to GWB and he 
must pay the price with a Republican 
filibuster that Republicans insist isn’t 
a filibuster (like “pre-owned cars” are 
not “used cars”). Meanwhile, if McCain 
was doing his best Michael Corleone 
impression, Texas’ Republican Sen. 
Ted Cruz was doing his best Joseph 
McCarthy imitation, demanding Hagel 
reveal where $200,000 income came 
from, declaring: “It is at a minimum 
relevant to know if that $200,000 that 
he deposited in his bank account 
came directly from Saudi Arabia, 
came directly from North Korea. I 
have no evidence that it is or isn’t.”


Although Hagel is likely to be 
confirmed, this shows how political 
waste is now our politics’ motor. A 
Washington Post-ABC News poll found 
that six in 10 Republican voters would 
support a pathway for undocumented 
immigrants’ citizenship. That is, unless 
Obama proposes it -- which would 
reduce GOP support by 21 percent.


This view was confirmed by former 
House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who 
noted: “An Obama [immigration] 
plan led and driven by Obama in this 
atmosphere with the level of hostility 
towards the president and the way he 
goads the hostility I think is very hard 
to imagine that bill, that his bill is going 
to pass the House.” But a bill originating 
in the Senate, Gingrich said, “could 
actually get to the president’s desk.” 

Once upon a time, American politics 
was about issues; now it’s about 
hyper-partisans and hyper-ideologists 
having issues. American politics 
was once about politicians studying 
problems and acting; now it’s about 
politicians and partisans acting out.


American politics is increasingly less 
about governance and taking sound 
policy positions than determining 
a political response based on hate, 
revenge or partisan spite. What will it 
take to change this? A newer, smarter 
generation? Gridlock that leads to 
catastrophe? Can this trend be reversed?


If not, America’s poop deck politics 
will continue to flow.

Joe Gandelman is a veteran journalist 
who wrote for newspapers overseas 
and in the United States. He has 
appeared on cable news show political 
panels and is Editor-in-Chief of The 
Moderate Voice, an Internet hub for 
independents, centrists and moderates. 
CNN’s John Avlon named him as one 
of the top 25 Centrists Columnists and 
Commentators. He can be reached at 
jgandelman@themoderatevoice.com 
and can be booked to speak at your event 
at www.mavenproductions.com. 

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OUT TO PASTOR 

A Weekly Religion Column by Rev. James Snyder


AS BRILLIANT SCHEMES GO, 
MINE DIDN’T

Throughout the 
years, I have come 
up with a few 
schemes. None of 
which has ever done me anything good, 
and yet I still spend the energy to try to 
come up with one that will.

It all began quite innocently enough as 
a Christmas present. When it comes to 
shopping for Christmas presents I just 
flop triumphantly. I was not made to go 
shopping. When I get into a mall, I begin 
to feel the walls closing in on me. I develop 
a panic, begin sweating profusely 
and then head for my car without looking 
back.

About the Christmas present. Aha, that 
was the solution to my Christmas shopping 
and a brilliant scheme that would 
benefit both of us.

This past Christmas I purchased for my 
lovely wife a round-trip ticket to New 
York to visit her family for a week. A 
week of her enjoying her family and they 
reciprocating the enjoyment. I did mention 
it was a "round-trip ticket." I do not 
mind sending her away as long as it includes 
a plan to return.

Now, the brilliant side of my scheme.

While she is in New York visiting with 
her relatives, I would be king of the castle. 
I have been looking forward to this 
for a long time. She gets to have fun with 
her relatives, and I get to have fun with 
myself.

For the week, I will turn our rather 
pleasant little domicile into a rip, snorting 
man cave. Ah, the thought of it was 
wonderful. The house would be mine for 
a week, and nobody would be supervising 
me. Nothing I like more than a week 
of no supervision. Oh sure, I could get 
into a lot of trouble, but what's life for 
if we cannot sample a wee bit of trouble 
occasionally.

For one, I would be in charge of the 
menu for the week. I was really looking 
forward to this.

Before she left, my wife made me promise 
that I would eat my fruits and vegetables 
and I would have a balanced diet 
every day. With a twinkle in my eye, 
more twinklely than normal, I agreed to 
her stipulations. I had my diet already 
planned in my head.

For a whole week, there would be no 
such things as salads for every meal. 
How she can come up with the variety 
of salads she serves is beyond my aching 
head. She honestly believes that a salad 
makes the world go round. Now, no salads 
in this house, correction, man cave, 
for a whole week. I love it when a plan 
comes together.

I shall be faithful to the fruits and vegetable 
regimen she made me promise. After 
all, one woman's vegetable is another 
man's speculation.

My main vegetable of the week would be 
[drum roll] carrot cake. Don't try to tell 
me carrot is not a vegetable. I will sick 
Bugs Bunny on you if you do. I plan to 
have a carrot every day of the week.

And for fruit? You guessed it. Apple fritters. 
You know the old saying, "An Apple 
fritter a day makes any man happy." I 
have made every plan to be happy this 
week. I am not sure if the bakery is going 
to be able to keep up with my orders this 
week. A man has to have his fruit.

My basic philosophy during this week 
is summed up in the old saying, "The 
world could end at any minute. Eat dessert 
first!" My dessert of course is fruit 
by nature. A banana split. Any meal that 
begins with a banana split is going to be 
an awesome meal to be sure.

It was only Thursday when I became 
aware of something. There was this smell 
in the house. I looked into the kitchen 
area and dishes were piled upon the 
counter. The table where I usually sit 
down to eat was filled with all kinds of 
stuff. I do not want to know what it was. I 
looked in the bedroom, the laundry basket 
was full and overflowing and I could 
not see the bed.

I thought to myself, why are these things 
piling up? They would not do that if my 
wife were here. Are they trying to embarrass 
me or what?

I stood in the kitchen with my hands 
on my hips and I was about to give this 
man cave a good piece of my mind. Then 
I stopped. At that moment, I realized I 
had become my wife.

Perhaps, and I am just making a suggestion 
here, I have gained a new appreciation 
for my better half. Things just do not 
happen around the house. Somebody 
has to make them happen.

By Friday, I had come to my senses and 
realized the old saying I did not quite 
appreciate until this week. "Two can live 
cheaper than one." I am not sure about 
the cheaper part of it, but I know two can 
live cleaner than one, especially if that 
one is Yours Truly.

I thought of a Bible verse throughout the 
week, "Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with 
them according to knowledge, giving 
honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker 
vessel, and as being heirs together of the 
grace of life; that your prayers be not 
hindered" (1 Peter 3:7).

After all these years, I am just beginning 
to understand what it means to "dwell" 
with my wife.

Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family 
of God Fellowship, PO Box 831313, 
Ocala, FL 34483. He lives with his wife, 
Martha, in Silver Springs Shores. 

E-mail jamessnyder2@att.net. His web 
site is www.jamessnyderministries.com.

WHILE I WAS OUT.......


RICH Johnson

While 
I was Out… 

 

 Hello everyone! Miss me? Oh, I sincerely hope so. My 
absence even generated a compliment or two on the Tattler. Thank you. 

 My absence was not part of a sinister plot hatched by the hierarchy here at 
Mountain View News Headquarters. Quite the contrary, they tell me they don’t 
like it when I don’t submit a column. I suspect it has something to do with the 
city’s need for comic relief. 

 My absence was self-imposed. And actually, I sat down most every week to 
write a column and got diverted by having to play CEO at my company. The 
company, and me, are going through transitions and changes which have been 
demanding of my time. What’s worse, conditions are actually forcing me to 
think. I didn’t get into business to have to think. I hired people to do that for me.

 Which of you out there really likes change? No, not spare change. Who was 
it who said, “Change is inevitable – except from a vending machine”? I know it 
was George Carlin who said, “I put a dollar in one of those change machines. 
Nothing Changed.”

 Just a peek into my recent distractions: In the course of two weeks (a month 
ago) this is what changed:

 My company’s health care insurance was terminated (due to reporting 
requirement changes brought on by the Affordable Care Act) 

1. My major client of 30 years is taking what we have done for them in-
house. (Can’t be too upset. It makes sense and they still like me, or so they 
say.) 
2. My business landlord of the last 27 years gave me 60 days notice to find 
new facilities (they like me too but they are changing my once dorm-room 
converted offices back into office-converted dorm rooms.) 
3. I had to move my apartment. (By the way, my landlord, Dave Howard is 
one of the great men on the planet. Thanks Dave for being such a great guy!) 


 

 Confucius once said, “Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change.” 

Huh? I must be somewhere in between the wisest and stupidest ‹cause I is 
changing. If you see me stationed on the freeway off ramp with a “Will work for 
food” sign, be kind. 

 Now there is a silver lining in all of this. My new offices are much nicer than 
the old ones (and about one-third less in rent); I have the potential of replacing 
my old client with a flurry of new ones (your prayers are coveted in that potential 
opportunity;) the new insurance may be less expensive; and I like my new 
apartment better than the recently vacated one. 

 So, what’s new with you?

Mountain Views News

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