Mountain Views News          Saturday, December 6, 2014

B4

OPINION 

 Mountain Views-News Saturday, December 6, 2014 


OUT TO PASTOR 

A Weekly Religion Column by Rev. James Snyder

Mountain 
Views

News

PUBLISHER/ EDITOR

Susan Henderson

CITY EDITOR

Dean Lee 

EAST VALLEY EDITOR

Joan Schmidt

BUSINESS EDITOR

LaQuetta Shamblee

PRODUCTION

Richard Garcia

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John Aveny 

CONTRIBUTORS

CoCo Lasalle

Chris Leclerc

Bob Eklund

Howard Hays

Paul Carpenter

Kim Clymer-Kelley

Christopher Nyerges

Peter Dills 

Dr. Tina Paul

Rich Johnson

Merri Jill Finstrom

Lori Koop

Rev. James Snyder

Tina Paul

Mary Carney

Katie Hopkins

Deanne Davis

Despina Arouzman

Greg Welborn

Renee Quenell

Ben Show

Sean Kayden

Marc Garlett

WIL Durst STUFF TO BE THANKFUL FOR


You got to love Thanksgiving. You do. It’s the law. And be honest; 
doesn’t a little tryptophan poisoning amongst family and friends 
sound pretty comforting right about now? What with Ebola infested 
ISIS members slithering across the border carrying photos of Bill 
Cosby ogling Kim Kardashian’s butt? 

Besides, this holiday isn’t about greasing the wheels of capitalism 
with the fire hose of consumer debt like that other one just down 
the road. This one is about gluttony. Pure and simple. And the only 
attendant religiosity is praying the Cowboys lose. 

So allow me to express my gratitude for the 4th Thursday of November: it’s annual 
appearance being one of the little moments that makes life worth living. Right up until 
the 4th bottle of white Zin, when Aunt Hoogolah informs Uncle Bud how Grandpa 
characterized his turkey carving and all hell breaks loose. Nevertheless, here’s a few 
more blessed things that prompt this middle- aged, round- headed, political comic to 
get down on his knees and thank the maker. 

Barack Obama. Upcoming 3rd year of his 2nd term promises much bigger, knock- 
down, drag- out fights with the Republicans. Not to mention… the Democrats.

Chris Christie for so generously providing the comedy community with such a 
target rich environment including his Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloon 
Float- the only one which is actual size.

Anchor Steam Christmas Ale. Especially this year.

Hillary Clinton who since 1992, no matter how much effluvium gets thrown at her, 
just keeps on keeping on, like the Energizer Bunny on steroids.

Ted Cruz for being crazier than Norman Bates after a dip in a psilocybin bath 
riddled with corn fungus.

The International Panel on Climate Change for finally just throwing up its hands 
and playing darts while drinking beer on the patio.

Sarah Palin, because she just can’t help herself.

Bill Clinton, because he just can’t help himself.

Fox News for incrementally ramping up the vitriol and hyperbole with the obvious 
goal of eventually featuring giant lizards spitting and clawing at each other.

Kim Kardashian who determinedly refuses to allow any lack of discernible talent 
keep her from becoming famous.

The entire Toronto Ford family including Rob and brother Doug for making 
American politicians feel better about themselves.

The airline industry who have driven customers to stow away amongst the landing 
gear in their never- ending search for legroom.

Donald Sterling who with his lifetime NBA ban should live to be 110.

Black Friday Creep for providing the requisite distraction allowing we gluttons to 
cop extra portions of pie.

For whoever is marrying Charles Manson. Just because.

For the entire State of Florida. Just because.

Harry Reid, for steadfastly refusing to be part of the solution.

Pope Francis and Pope Benedict, because 2, two, too Popes are better than one.

The 22nd Amendment: which, for 67 years, has proudly kept the American people 
from making the same mistake more than twice.

The GOP, waging an internal war for it’s very soul. GOP Soul. Short book. Put it on 
the shelf right next to Barack Obama Leadership Skills.

The Newly Elected 114th Congress. Because if you liked the 113th Congress, you’re 
going to love these guys. Exponential factor gridlock. 

 

Will Durst is an award- winning, nationally acclaimed political comic. Go to willdurst.
com for more about the documentary film “3 Still Standing,” and a calendar guide to 
personal appearances such as his hit one- man show “BoomeRaging: From LSD to 
OMG.”

Email Will at durst@caglecartoons.com. Visit to willdurst.com to find about more 
about his new CD, “Elect to Laugh” and calendar of personal appearances. 

STRIVING TO DEVELOP AN 
ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE 

Now that Thanksgiving is over, I can sigh a deep, well-deserved sigh 
of relief. Being thankful for everything is very hard work. During 
the Thanksgiving season, I pasted a gratuitous smile on my face claiming to be thankful for 
everything, but deep down inside somewhere there is a streak of rebellion that struggles with this 
concept of being thankful. 

 I must admit that I am working on it because the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage keeps 
telling me, “You had better be working on that attitude of yours.”

 And so, I work on my attitude, but I must confess it is rather hard. I admire people, such as my 
wife, who claim to be thankful for everything that happens in life. I would never want to question 
her sincerity (at least not in some venue that she could hear me), but I do harbor some doubts 
about this whole matter of being thankful for everything.

 I will grant that there are many things to be thankful for in life. I will be the first to acknowledge 
that many things that happened to me have created a deep sense of gratitude in my heart.

The list could go on forever, but there are a few things that I am really thankful for.

 I am thankful to live in a country such as ours. I am thankful to be married to someone who 
puts up with my idiosyncrasies (idiot for short). (Grant me, that is a big item for thanks.) I am 
thankful that I have my health. And regardless of what other people say, I am thankful for a level 
of sanity enabling me to operate day-to-day.

 Then there is that infamous list of things I am not thankful for... no matter what anybody says. I 
have a sneaking suspicion everybody has this list but do not have the courage to let anybody know 
about it.

 Let me list a few things I am really not thankful for... no matter what anyone says.

I am really not thankful for the time change that happens every six months. Spring forward, fall 
backward. All this nonsense only serves to confuse me. I have a hard time remembering where I 
am let alone what time of day it is. Am I an hour ahead or am I an hour behind?

 Another thing I am not really thankful for is music on the telephone when I’m put on hold. 
This is the most irritating thing I can think of, at least right now. Why do they think I want to hear 
music of their choosing? This is America, after all, and everybody has the right to choose things. 
And I like to choose my own music, thank you.

 I do not like to be put on hold in the first place, and then tortured with some music defying the 
meaning of music. If they want to play music, they should have somewhere where I can choose 
what kind of music I want to listen to while I am on hold. I could be thankful for that.

 And while I am on the subject, I really am not thankful for all of those telephone calls soliciting 
money from me. If I wanted to give them money, I would be the first one to contact them. Unless 
I contact them and offer to give money, I do not want harassed by a telephone call from someone 
I cannot understand.

 Along with this would go those political calls that are soliciting my vote. If a politician is so 
desperate that he needs to call me for one last vote, he better be calling me in person and not some 
recorded message.

 As I look over this list of things I am not thankful for; there is one that I cannot omit. No list of 
mine, no matter how incomplete it might be, could ever overlook one item.

 Regardless of the time of the year, I am never thankful for broccoli. In my opinion, God created 
the New Yorkcheesecake and then to be nasty about the whole thing, the devil threw in a sprig of 
broccoli.

 I do not like broccoli because it looks like a cross between a vertically challenged tree and a 
toadstool, and we all know what a toadstool is used for. I have every reason to believe that broccoli 
is a member of the fungus family. Thankfully, it is not a member of my family, which is the only 
thanks I can offer on the subject.

 I do not mind if people eat broccoli as long as they do not eat in front of me or insist that I, “just 
try a bite and you’ll like it.” The next time someone says that to me, I just may bite them and see if 
they like it.

 This is only a partial list of things I am not thankful but I am trying to work on my “attitude of 
gratitude.” It is not easy and requires a lot of intestinal fortitude on my part.

 Maybe an important part of an “attitude of gratitude” has to do with just being content. That 
could be what Paul was thinking of when he wrote to the Philippians. “Not that I speak in respect 
of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” (Philippians 4:11 
KJV).

 I am learning gratitude has nothing at all to do with things but rather with personal 
contentment.

 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. Call him at 1-866-552-2543 or e-mail 
jamessnyder2@att.net or website www.jamessnyderministries.com.

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LEFT TURN

HOWARD Hays As I See It


“If poor people knew how rich rich people are, there would be riots.”

- Chris Rock 

 We’re at the halfway mark of the final couple weeks of the lame duck 
Congress, after returning from the break for elections and before everybody 
takes off (again) for the holidays. The most we can expect from this last week 
is to get some idea of what’s in store when the 114th Congress convenes in 
January.

 In the House, there’s getting back to the business of trying to kill the 
Affordable Care Act – coming on the heels of over fifty attempts already. 
Gearing up for the 2016 elections, though, cooler heads might note last 
month’s Gallup Poll of those who enrolled through the ACA exchanges last year.

Of those ACA enrollees, 71% rated their coverage “excellent” or “good”, compared to 72% of all 
those with medical coverage. 75% of enrollees are satisfied with the cost, compared to 61% of 
all those with coverage. 68% intend to renew their policy and 7% intend to shop for a new one 
through the exchanges for the coming year.

 Nearly a half-million signed up for coverage through the federal exchange during the first week 
of the current enrollment period which began last month; 48% of them first-timers. In California, 
over 11,000 enrolled through our state exchange in the first four days; a number it took 15 days to 
reach last year. 

 Republicans have floated notions of lawsuits, censure, defunding, impeachment and blocking 
the State of the Union speech – as their contribution to the debate over immigration policy. They’re 
desperate for a response to the president’s executive actions in the matter, which were taken in 
response to Congress’ failure to take any action of its own.

 There’s talk now of how the priority should be enforcement and border security. In 2013, 
the House received a bill from the Senate that set a goal of 100% border surveillance with 
90% apprehension of would-be crossers within five years. 3,500 additional Customs agents 
would be hired and the National Guard deployed to construct fencing and checkpoints. The 
Department of Homeland Security would be allocated $3 billion for the project, and there’d 
be no consideration of permanent or provisional status for those here illegally until the project 
was underway.

 When the House got this bill, the Republican leadership wouldn’t let it come to the floor for 
debate, let alone a vote. Now, they’re threatening to withhold funding to stick it to the president 
for his executive actions, even as Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson warns of the threat to 
our nation’s security if we had to depend on month-to-month continuing resolutions to fund it. 

 Again, cooler heads in the party might note another Gallup Poll, this one showing President 
Obama’s approval among Hispanics rising from 54% to 68% in the two weeks since he announced 
his executive actions on immigration.

 Of course, there’s another investigation into Benghazi. This comes after a two-year investigation 
from the House Intelligence Committee showed what all others have shown; no conspiracies 
about withholding aid to those under attack, misleading public statements, or whatever else they 
obsess about over at Fox News.

 Ironically, opposition to this current House Select Committee investigation is coming from 
fellow Republicans; House Committee Chairmen Mike Rogers (R-MI) of Intelligence, Buck 
McKeon (R-CA) of Armed Services and Darrel Issa (R-CA) of Oversight They see it as lose-lose; 
if this new investigation comes up empty-handed, they’ll look (even more) stupid. If they do turn 
up something, it will appear the prior investigations conducted by their own Republican-led 
committees were incompetent.

 With all the political theater surrounding “Obamacare”, immigration and Benghazi, one 
could wonder whether there’s any actual legislating getting done. There is; most of it intended 
to make the rich (campaign donors, corporate benefactors, etc.) even richer. And, heeding 
Chris Rock’s warning quoted above, they figure it might be best not to let too many people in 
on it. Unlike the three issues dealt with above, you won’t hear much about it on the Sunday talk 
shows.

 The first order of business returning from the election break was to come up with the annual 
package of “tax extenders” – extending or making permanent previously-enacted tax breaks. 
With Republicans in charge, it’s clear who gets favored and who gets stiffed.

 There’d be extended depreciation for those who own their own racehorses along with tax 
breaks encouraging corporations to “renounce their U.S. citizenship” and shelter profits overseas. 
Tax breaks for clean energy would be phased out, while subsidies for Big Oil continued.

 Other tax breaks get the ax, like expanded child tax credits for the working poor and the 
expanded earned income tax credit. The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities estimates the cuts 
would push “16 million people in low-income working families, including 8 million children into 
— or deeper into — poverty.”

 Whether it’s rebuilding our infrastructure or even disaster relief, Republicans have insisted 
programs be “paid for”. Not the case with their package of payback to billionaire benefactors, 
however. The rest of us would pay for it by adding $450 billion to our nation’s debt.

 Since many Democrats, especially in the Senate, who tried hanging onto their offices by 
acting like Republicans won’t be returning come January, those remaining will be more 
outspoken and unified behind the president. They’ve expressed support for his promised veto 
of the tax-extenders package because, according to a White House statement, “. . . it would 
provide permanent tax breaks to help well-connected corporations while neglecting working 
families,”

 With Republicans as the majority party in both houses of Congress, the spotlight’s going to 
be more focused on what legislation is actually being produced – regardless of other continuing 
diversions of Benghazi, “Obamacare”, whatever. As more become aware of the efforts to help the 
already rich become even richer, with the rest of us picking up the tab, it won’t be just the “poor 
people” involved in the riots Chris Rock alluded to.


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