Mountain Views News          Saturday, November 28, 2015

14

OPINION

 Mountain Views News Saturday, November 28, 2015 


SUSPECTED TERRORISTS IN 

AMERICA ARE FREE TO BUY GUNS

Now that congressional Republicans and roughly 50 cowered 
Democratic colleagues have passed a panicky bill to impede 
the entry of Syrian refugees, I think it’s time to pause for a 
reality check. 

 How predictable it is that the Republican Congress seeks 
to ratchet up the background checks on Syrian refugees, but 
will never consider expanding background checks on the gun 
purchasers already in America? Borrowing Chris Christie’s 
calculus, a five-year-old Syrian orphan is apparently deemed 
to be more dangerous than an all-American schoolyard doofus 
with a home-grown arsenal.

 But the willful blindness is actually worse than that. While the Republican 
Congress is fixated on the refugees, thousands of officially suspected terrorists 
already living in America are free to buy as much weaponry as they want.

I bet you didn’t know that.

 It’s totally true. As the federal Government Accountability Office explains 
it, “Membership in a terrorist organization does not prohibit a person from 
possessing firearms or explosives under current federal law.” The GAO says 
in a report that roughly 2,040 individuals on the FBI’s Terrorist Watch List 
bought weapons from American dealers between 2004 to 2014. Go figure. 
Terrorist Watch List denizens can be stopped from boarding airplanes, but 
if they want to buy AK-47s or dynamite - hey, no problem, this is America.

 So why is Congress panicking about Syrian refugees while it allows the suspected 
terrorists to lock and load? Simple - because the NRA wants it that 
way. Even though Congress is scared of the refugees, it’s downright terrified 
of crossing the NRA.

 Back in 2007, the Bush administration endorsed a Senate Democratic bill 
to bar the Watch List people from buying weapons. Gun-reform groups applauded 
the administration’s move; as Paul Helmke, president of the Brady 
Center to Prevent Gun Violence, said at the time, “When I tell people that 
you can be on a terrorist watch list and still be allowed to buy as many guns 
as you want, they are shocked.” But the NRA shot it down as an infringement 
on Second Amendment absolutism.

 A few years later, Congress launched its own bipartisan attempt to change 
the law. After all, the Watch List is comprised of roughly 700,000 people - 
suspected members of al Qaeda and other terrorist groups, plus terrorist financiers 
and recruiters, and people who have spent time in training camps.

But this reform effort died too, thanks to pressure from the NRA. The suspected 
terrorists should be grateful that they have such skilled de facto defense 
lawyers working on their behalf. The NRA extolled its clients as “law-
abiding people” who deserved their “Second Amendment rights,” but the 
NRA revealed its true motives when it warned in an 2009 editorial that if the 
Watch Listers were barred from buying weapons, “whole segments of lawful 
firearms commerce could be wiped out.”

 So today, Congress beats up on Syrian refugees as it passes a bill without 
any expert testimony, without any committee hearings and without any input 
from the vetters. And while empty suits like Ben Carson compare the refugees 
to rabid dogs, the suspected terrorists who are already here, already listed 
by the feds, are free to conduct gun-buying sprees.

 And nobody is happier about this than the bad guys. In a 2011 video, American-
born al Qaeda operative Adam Gadahn offered some advice to those in 
America - Watch List suspects and others - who might wish to wreak havoc:

“And in the West you’ve got a lot at your disposal. Let’s take America, for example. 
America is absolutely awash with easily obtainable firearms. You can 
go down to a gun show at the local convention center and come away with 
a fully automatic assault rifle without a background check and, most likely, 
without having to show an identification card. So what are you waiting for?”

The man knows his native land.

Dick Polman is the national political columnist at NewsWorks/WHYY in Philadelphia 
(newsworks.org/polman) and a “Writer in Residence” at the University 
of Philadelphia. Email him at dickpolman7@gmail.com.

OUT TO PASTOR 

A Weekly Religion Column by Rev. James Snyder

DICK Polman

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ANOTHER 
THANKSGIVING 
UNDER MY BELT

The house is quiet now, 
although a few hours ago it was thumping 
with all kinds of noise and chatter. Once again, 
the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage and I 
sponsored another Thanksgiving dinner.

My role, of course as in previous years, is to stay 
out of the kitchen and let the wife do what only 
the wife can do. My sponsorship is finished right 
there.

Now everything is quiet and I am sitting back 
reflecting on the marvelous dinner and time 
with the family. In the quietness of the time, 
I began to think about those Thanksgiving 
dinners with my grandmother back in "the day." 
They all blur together, but the one thing that 
stands out from everything is my grandmother's 
marvelous turkey and all the trimmings and 
went with it.

As I was thinking about that, I remembered 
some of my relatives who faithfully joined us 
for that marvelous Thanksgiving dinner. What 
great times we had.

There was Uncle Ralph, for instance. He was a 
fisherman, or so he said, and had so many fishing 
stories I could write a book. If half of what he said 
in his stories were true, there should not be any 
fish left in the world. He would entertain us with 
all those marvelous fishing stories of his. Being 
a young person, I believed everything he said. 
After all, what uncle would lie to his nephew?

Then I cannot forget Uncle Andrew. He was the 
hunter in the family. If the deer population is 
on the brink of extinction, it is because of Uncle 
Andrew. According to him, no deer was safe 
from him. All except for one.

As he told the story, he was out hunting early 
one Saturday morning and ran across the biggest 
deer he had ever seen in his life. According to 
him, this deer went easily 1,000 pounds. As he 
focused that deer in his scope, he noticed the 
deer was staring at him. As he looked at that deer 
and looked into those big brown tear filled eyes 
good old Uncle Andrew broke down.

He put down his rifle, walked over to that huge 
deer, shook his hoof and said, "My friend, I just 
want to wish you a good day." With that, he 
turned around and walked away from the largest 
deer that ever lived in the world.

It took me years to realize no deer ever comes 
near the 1000-pound trophy that he talked 
about.

Then I remembered Aunt Sally. Boy, did she have 
stories to tell.

According to her stories, she was the world's most 
frugal shopper. If there ever was a bargain in the 
world, it was negotiated by Aunt Sally. If what 
she said was anywhere near the neighborhood 
of truth, all the shopkeepers downtown paid her 
just to come and haul stuff out of their store.

She could negotiate to the point, or so she said, 
that the stores would pay her to buy items in their 
store. I never could figure out how that worked. 
As she would toss out the figures, I started doing 
a little bit of arithmetic and all I can say is, my 
arithmetic teacher did not teach me everything 
about arithmetic.

I would not go so far as to say these relatives of 
mine lied. As far as they were concerned, a lie is a 
devious intent to hurt someone. If you knew my 
relatives, that was the furthest thing from their 
mind.

Thinking about those relatives and their 
stories, I can see where I inherited some of that 
inclination. The thing I have that those relatives 
did not have was the Gracious Mistress of the 
Parsonage. That makes all the difference in the 
world.

Whenever I get started on one of my stories, she 
stares at me with one of "those stares," and says, 
"Seriously?" Believe me that takes all the wind 
out of my sails.

So, with another Thanksgiving dinner under my 
belt, I have the privilege of all of those wonderful 
memories. Family is made up of memories. I do 
not know what it is, but the older I get, the more 
memories I seem to have and those memories 
seem to be enhanced along the way.

The funny thing about a memory is it can be 
anything you happen to remember at the time. 
I get that from my relatives.

Those relatives are gone now. All I have are their 
memories, which seem to be sharp this time of 
the year. I believe the key element of a memory, 
and I got this from my relatives, is exaggeration. 
What good is a memory if you cannot spice it up 
a little bit with exaggeration?

Thinking along this line, I came to one very 
solemn conclusion. The only thing I cannot 
exaggerate is God and His wonderful love for 
me. That I am most thankful for this one thing.

No matter how far I go in talking about God's 
amazing love for me, I've never reached the point 
or come near the point of exaggeration. God 
loves me with an eternal love that nothing I can 
do can ever compromise.

A Bible verse says it all. "For God so loved the 
world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that 
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, 
but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

God never exaggerates His love for me, it is the 
same yesterday, and today and forever.

The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family 
of God Fellowship, PO Box 831313, Ocala, FL 
34483. e-mail jamessnyder2@att.net. 

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LEFT TURN/RIGHT TURN 

MICHAEL Reagan Making Sense

HOWARD Hays As I See It


A COUNTRY TO 

GIVE THANKS FOR

 The Middle East is in total chaos.

 Terrorism is only getting worse.

 We’ve got big economic, immigration and racial 
problems we can’t solve.

 And we’re in the middle of a presidential election 
that looks like it’ll end badly for the country -- no 
matter whom we elect.

 With all this trouble, tragedy and unhappiness around the world and at 
home, it’s easy to forget the good things we have.

 Sometimes it takes an immigrant to remind us how lucky we Americans 
are.

 My dear friends Karel and Sandy know why they love the USA and why it 
is so special.

 In 1986, when they were 19 and 18, they and their one-year-old daughter 
were able to get forged documents and escape from communist Czechoslovakia.

 After a year in a refugee camp in Austria, they found someone to sponsor 
them in the United States.

 The Czech government tried and convicted them in absentia for “stealing” 
a ward of the state – their own child. But by the time they were each sentenced 
to more than 20 years in prison, they were safe in Southern California.

 They didn’t speak English. Karel got a job in the kitchen at the Disneyland 
Hotel and Sandy worked nights.

 Karel learned Spanish from his co-workers while Sandy learned English by 
watching soap operas.

 One of their few marital disagreements was over whether the official 
language of the United States was English or Spanish. So they decided to learn 
both.

 Karel eventually got a job with a contractor and then became a kitchen and 
bath contractor himself. Sandy often worked with him.

 He worked 10- and 14-hour days, learned the business from the ground up, 
became good at what he did and earned a good reputation.

 He made a good living and today he has more contracting jobs than he can 
handle. Now he’s trying to retire but can’t because he’s so much in demand.

 When my wife Colleen and I visited Karel and Sandy recently, Karel said 
he was amazed how many native-born Americans don’t realize how great they 
have it.

 “This is a country where if you come and work hard for 22 years you don’t 
have to worry about the next 22 years,” he said.

 Too often we take America for granted or see only the negatives. We need 
to be giving thanks this weekend that we still live in the best country in the 
world.

 Despite our social and economic problems, we need to remember that we 
live in the place where millions of people from other countries want to break 
into – legally or illegally.

 Our presidential election process is too long and too expensive. Yet whether 
we love or hate the people running, we should be thankful we have a peaceful 
and reasonably honest electoral process we can accept.

 No matter who wins or loses, the Constitution will live. It’s a protection 
against government oppression few other people have.

 Karel and Sandy get America. All of us need to get it too. We need to give 
thanks that we have such a country where if you work hard for 22 years you 
don’t worry about the next 22.

 Only in America can you do that. 

 So during this Thanksgiving Day, even while we’re watching the latest flood 
of bad news, we should sit back and give thanks that we live in greatest country 
in the world.

 Where people can be free. Where we can have elections. Where we have a 
Constitution. And where, with all of our problems, we are that shining city on a 
hill – still.

——-

Copyright ©2015 Michael Reagan. Michael Reagan is the son of President Ronald 
Reagan, a political consultant, and the author of “The New Reagan Revolution” 
(St. Martin’s Press). He is the founder of the email service reagan.com and 
president of The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Visit his websites at www.reagan.
com and www.michaelereagan.com. Send comments to Reagan@caglecartoons.
com. Follow @reaganworld on Twitter. 

 Mike’s column is distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper 
syndicate. For info on using columns contact Sales at sales@cagle.com.

“Maybe he should have 
been roughed up”

- Donald Trump, 
Republican frontrunner 
for the presidency of the 
United States

 Trump made the 
comment last week 
on Fox News, about a 
protestor at a campaign 
rally held earlier in Birmingham, Alabama 
who, according to CNN, was “shoved, tackled, 
punched and kicked” by attendees as Trump 
called, “Get him the hell out of here”. A woman 
heard on video shouts, “Don’t choke him!”

 Last Spring, it looked to be a predictable 
contest - leading to a coronation of presumptive 
heir Jeb Bush, or perhaps Koch Brothers’ favorite 
Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI). There’d be faces 
from the past, along with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-
FL) introducing himself on the national stage, 
but the money was lined up behind Bush and 
Walker.

 Donald Trump’s entrance promised to liven 
things up, bring media attention to the race and 
ratings for the debates. It did. His campaign was 
also predicted to last maybe a few weeks before 
self-imploding, with voters and the media 
ultimately re-focusing on the serious business 
of selecting a president. It didn’t. Trump has 
remained (way) out front in the five months 
since he announced his candidacy. Walker is 
out, and the Bush backers baled. 

 When announcing his candidacy last June, 
Trump raised alarms with the statement that 
“When Mexico sends its people . . . They’re 
bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re 
rapists.” (though “some”, he allowed, “I assume 
are good people.”). Pundits questioned the 
prospects of a candidate who would introduce 
himself by smearing some 1-in-26 Americans. 
His opponents, however, took note of the notice 
he’d gotten. Rubio suddenly disowned his 
role as an architect of bipartisan immigration 
legislation in the Senate. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) 
declared Trump to be “well-equipped . . . to 
make America great again.”

 Early on, it was fun to make fun of it. Back 
then, Trump assured he had a “foolproof” plan 
for defeating ISIS, though he couldn’t share it 
because “I don’t want the enemy to know what 
I’m doing.” He told Bill O’Reilly on CNN the 
Iran nuclear agreement, negotiated over twenty 
months between Iran, six major world powers 
and the European Union, was something he 
could’ve taken care of in “one day” because – 
well, he’s Donald Trump.

 In the past couple debates, some thought 
Trump to be holding back, though still center-
stage. Perhaps it’s because he feels no need 
to engage further with opponents or media 
moderators; his base has been established, and 
he’s afforded more free airtime for his message 
than all others put together, anyway. Now, it’s 
more a matter of espousing that “message” 
directly to that “base” – which includes 
those who, with his approval, “roughed 
up” that dissenting voice in Birmingham. 
And, especially just over this past week, that 
“message” has become clearer.

 However opponents might bring up Trump’s 
past nice words about the Clintons or his 
advocacy of universal health care, it seems, as 
the Washington Post described focus-group 
findings from GOP strategist Frank Luntz, 
“there is no political issue or stance that will 
turn off his supporters.”

 They won’t be turned off by his tweeting 
a “wildly inaccurate” graphic last weekend, 
purporting to show “2015 Crime Statistics” as 
“Whites Killed By Whites – 16%” and “Whites 
Killed By Blacks – 81%”. 2015 statistics aren’t 
out – but for 2014 the FBI shows 82% of white 
murder victims having been killed by other 
whites, with 14% having been killed by blacks. 
The graphic has been traced to a neo-Nazi’s 
blogsite. (“It came from sources that are very 
credible, what can I tell you,” Trump told Bill 
O’Reilly on Fox News.) The New Republic 
characterized it as “catering to the worst form 
of racism”.

 Then there was Trump’s telling NBC 
News he’d “certainly implement” a database 
of Muslims living here. As to where and 
how they’d be registered, “It’s all about 
management”. Asked about the difference 
between this proposal and Jews being forced to 
register under Nazi Germany, the response was, 
“You tell me.” Later on CNN, Trump denied 
ever having been asked about it.

 At that Birmingham rally, Trump recalled 
9/11 as he “watched in Jersey City, New Jersey, 
where thousands and thousands of people were 
cheering as that building was coming down.” 
Later on ABC’s “This Week”, he clarified that he 
saw it on TV. When told that the police, as well 
as media and everyone else, say it didn’t happen, 
Trump dismissed their denials by explaining it 
“might not be politically correct” to “talk about 
it”.

 Last month, Trump told Sean Hannity on 
Fox News he’d “heard” President Obama was 
seeking to bring in 200,000 Syrian refugees (the 
president requested allowing in 10,000 over 
the next year), and warned of an ISIS “Trojan 
horse” plot to bring in terrorists disguised as 
refugees.

 At a rally in Columbus, Ohio, Trump assured 
“you bet your ass” he’d approve waterboarding, 
“in a heartbeat”, and “more than that”. A year 
ago, the Senate Intelligence Committee released 
its 6,000 page report, based on a five-year 
review of 6.3 million pages of CIA documents, 
concluding that our program of “enhanced 
interrogation” produced no useful intelligence, 
lots of fabricated confessions, and consisted of 
acts for which we’d prosecuted past enemies for 
war crimes. But, according to Trump, “Only 
a stupid person would say it doesn’t work”, 
though “if it doesn’t work, they deserve it, 
anyway.”

 The NY Times summed it up in an editorial 
last week; “If it’s a lie too vile to utter aloud, count 
on Mr. Trump to say it, often.” It also warned 
against dismissing the Trump phenomena as 
some bizarre diversion: “History teaches that 
failing to hold a demagogue to account is a 
dangerous act.” 

 Linda Sasour, a Palestinian-Muslim-American 
blogger from Brooklyn, draws the contrast with 
Trump’s former milieu of reality-TV: “Donald 
Trump is no laughing matter. Islamophobia is 
not a made up phenomenon. Black Lives Matter 
protesters shot by White supremacists isn’t a 
scene in a movie. This is real life.” 

Mountain Views News

Mission Statement

The traditions of

community news-
papers 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. 

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