Opinion … Left/Right | ||||||||||||||||||||
Mountain Views News, Pasadena Edition [Sierra Madre] Saturday, October 15, 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||||
B4 OPINION Mountain Views-News Saturday, October 15, 2016 Words have Meaning...... Rich Johnson PRESIDENTIAL PASTIMES Anyone else thinking U.S. presidents? Past, present and, future? For some reason I can’t get them off my mind. For that matter I can’t get them off my computer, television, radio, smart phone. I’m even afraid to get out my Etch-a- Sketch for fear of what I’ll see. What do we really know about our 43 Presidents and odd and assorted presidential candidates? I know President Obama is our 44th president. But he’s our 43rd president. How? Well, Grover Cleveland was both our 22nd and 24th president. Let’s move on. We know Mr. Trump likes the ladies. And Mrs. Clinton likes to clean…hard drives anyway. What else? Did you know George Bush was a cheerleader in school? He also now likes to paint. No, not that kind of painting. Fine art. Most of us know Bill Clinton enjoyed playing the saxophone. Tenor sax to be specific. Did you know he also has a passion for crossword puzzles? Andrew Jackson, another southern born president’s favorite hobby was carousing which included gambling and horse racing. He also liked to duel of which he participated in about 100. Thomas Jefferson is reported to have been an amateur architect, archeologist, winemaker and chef. Not much written about John Quincy Adams other than him once being caught by a female reporter skinny-dipping in the Potomac. George Washington enjoyed farming as a hobby. Can you guess what Washington was most successful at farming? Well, by 1799 his company became the biggest whiskey distillery of those times. Teddy Roosevelt was an exercise nut, and an ornithologist, aka bird enthusiast. Calvin Coolidge stated hobby was napping. Two hours every day after lunch, even while he was president. He argued when he was asleep he couldn’t initiate any costly federal programs. Rumor has it he also enjoyed riding mechanical horses. Richard Nixon loved to bowl. And we heard he was a great poker player. Did you know President Ford was a fashion model in the 1940s? Even graced the cover of “Cosmopolitan”. His wife Betty was also a model. James Garfield was ambidextrous and it was said he could write in Latin with one hand and Greek with the other hand…at the same time. I thought Presidents could only ambidexterity was speaking out of both sides of their mouths. Herbert Hoover spoke Mandarin Chinese fluently? So did his wife. When they wanted a private conversation they spoke Chinese to each other. Here’s a biggie. Did you know Martin Van Buren gave us the phrase “OK”? Van Buren was from Kinderhook, New York which was also known as Old Kinderhook. His support groups came to be known as O.K Clubs and the term OK came to mean “all right”. William Howard Taft was our most corpulent president once getting his 300+ pound body stuck in the White House bathtub. After his presidency not only did he lose 150 pounds, he also managed to become the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and swore in Presidents Coolidge and Hoover to the presidency. Maybe President Obama should consider mirroring the accomplishments of William Howard Taft (I wouldn’t recommend gaining 150 pounds though). We’re also told President Obama collects “Spiderman” and “Conan the Barbarian” comic books. Well, as the election closes in, gird up that inner resolve and plan on voting anyway. Not only for the head office but also, and equally as important, the Senators and Congress people. And judges and state measures. I would tell you to vote early and vote often. But since this is not Chicago of the last century you can only vote once. Make it count. Mountain Views News PUBLISHER/ EDITOR Susan Henderson PASADENA CITY EDITOR Dean Lee EAST VALLEY EDITOR Joan Schmidt BUSINESS EDITOR LaQuetta Shamblee PRODUCTION Richard Garcia SALES Patricia Colonello 626-355-2737 626-818-2698 WEBMASTER John Aveny DISTRIBUTION Joe Frontino CONTRIBUTORS Chris Leclerc Bob Eklund Howard Hays Paul Carpenter Kim Clymer-Kelley Christopher Nyerges Peter Dills Rich Johnson Merri Jill Finstrom Rev. James Snyder Dr. Tina Paul Katie Hopkins Deanne Davis Despina Arouzman Renee Quenell Marc Garlett Keely Toten 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 80 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., No. 327, 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 LEFT TURN/RIGHT TURN THE PARTY IS NOW CONTROLLED BY DEPEND CAUCUS For a guy who’s billed as the next great Republican political wizard, he sure makes a lot of rookie mistakes. No, I’m not talking about Donald Trump. I’m talking about Speaker of the House Paul Ryan — the Hamlet of Pennsylvania Avenue. Now Ryan is doing the Hokey–Pokey over Trump’s just–released video “How to Impress Women Like the Stars Do.” I say now, because this is only the most recent example. Ryan earlier was weathervaning over Trump’s Twitter war with the Democrat’s angry Arab. Before that it was Trump vs. the ethnic– supremacist judge. Prior to that it may have been the disabled reporter. Somewhere in there we have Carly Fiorina’s face. Unless you have a Democrat opposition researcher in the family it’s hard to keep track. The only thing that’s certain is the joy in the enemy camp as Ryan predictably dances to the mainstream media’s tune, and the rest of the Depend Caucus wrings their tiny hands. There’re a number of problems with Ryan’s performance of the Politically Correct Polka, but let’s begin with the fact it makes him look weak. This confirms what conservatives have been saying for months, but going public demonstrates Ryan’s fecklessness to the entire nation. Politically Ryan’s weakness is an even bigger mistake for GOP members of the House he’s supposed to be leading. Responding to media inquiries regarding Trump’s shambolic campaign only serves to nationalize House races, which incumbent House members should certainly avoid. House races should stay local. Incumbents talk about the pork they’ve brought home, not the pork–brain at the top of the ticket. House members, including the Speaker, have no control over presidential candidates. Regularly commenting on the Improv Impresario at the top of the ticket means what happens there also reflects on those members. It’s the equivalent of the Uber passenger in a self–driving car being held responsible for the robot’s tickets. Nationalizing a House race is what challengers do to try and ride the coattails of their presidential candidates and overcome the incumbent’s name ID and record within the district. Ryan’s continuing comments on the Trump race puts pressure on all House candidates to answer Trump questions from local reporters who take their cues from the networks. This idiocy won’t hurt Ryan — he’s in a safe district, otherwise he wouldn’t be Speaker — but it damages incumbents in marginal districts and it really handicaps GOP challengers. Instead of signing on for color commentary of the Trump race, Ryan should have told national reporters from the very beginning that he is focused on increasing the Republican House majority and he doesn’t have time to be an advisor for the Trump campaign, too. The media won’t accept that answer, so he’ll be pressed. He repeats those questions are a distraction for House members concentrating on (insert message sound bite). Voters will have a chance in November to decide the presidential race and they don’t need my help to do it. Then Ryan refuses to answer any more questions about Trump. The media will tire of badgering him and move on to reliable RINO weasels and backstabbers like John McCain and Lindsay Graham. For proof this technique works we have only to look at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. He finally shut up about Trump and the media stopped asking. Ryan’s silence regarding the Trump campaign would allow other House members to do likewise. When a local news poodle asks them to comment on the latest Trump communication adventure, all they have to do is say, like Speaker Ryan, I’m concentrating on my own race where (insert political BS). Voters can make their own decision regarding Trump and Hillary in November. Then they can shut the heck up. Ryan’s failure to adhere to this obvious and sensible strategy calls into question his motives. Is he trying to appeal to GOP contributors that might otherwise stop giving? If so, he can tell them in private what I’ve written here. Does Ryan want to cozy up to the next administration? There’s probably a better chance for good relations with Hillary than with Trump. Or does Ryan want to be the national GOP leader acceptable to the media? He can ask Mitt Romney how that worked out. A wise friend contends Ryan’s diarrhea of the mouth isn’t a mistake — it’s a fallback plan. Originally, Ryan wanted to block Trump’s nomination so the party would turn to him as nominee without subjecting him to a primary campaign. Now Ryan just wants to defeat Trump regardless of the cost to the nation. Gov. Mike Huckabee contents the Republican RINO and consultant complex isn’t afraid Trump will lose. They’re afraid Trump will win. I’m beginning to think the governor and my friend are correct. Michael Shannon is a commentator and public relations consultant, and is the author of “A Conservative Christian’s Guidebook for Living in Secular Times.” He can be reached at mandate.mmpr@ gmail.com. REPUBLICANS HAVE ONLY THEMSELVES TO BLAME JOHN L. Micek by Michael Shannon Republican leaders crying over the Trumpenstein monster destroying them on Twitter (and any real chance their party could capture the White House) have only themselves to blame. Last summer, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and three-quarters of all elected Republicans made a Faustian bargain with the orange-haired, bile-spewing behemoth who’s now their party’s standard-bearer. They surrendered their principles – and their party along with it – in the hope that Trump, who won every primary save Ohio, would be the candidate to sink Hillary Clinton. To do that, Republicans who loathed Trump and feared the havoc he might wreak had to convince themselves that a New York billionaire with zero impulse control, a virtuoso’s mastery of the put- down and an onion skin-thin ego could somehow be transformed into a respectable, mainstream candidate. It was the ultimate exercise in denial and delusion. And with Trump’s candidacy imploding and Clinton opening a wider lead in both national and battleground polls, GOP leaders moved this week to contain the damage as best they could. On Monday, in the wake of a competent, but far from winning debate performance by Trump, Ryan announced that he was finally tossing the Republican nominee overboard. The revelation of a creepy and lewd 2005 video of Trump bragging about groping women was the apparent breaking point -- not, of course, all the other vile stuff Trump has said (including several exhortations of violence against Hillary Clinton) since the Speaker threw in with him earlier this year. Ryan said he would no longer campaign with or defend Trump (which he wasn’t really doing anyway) and he was freeing House Republicans to look after their own campaigns and move to protect the GOP’s majority. Cynically, Ryan did not – as other Republicans did – rescind his endorsement. And Republican National Chairman Reince Priebus, whose skeletal structure must be made from the same miracle substance as the stretchy comic book hero Plastic Man, reiterated his support as well. Even still the news provoked a Category Five Trumpian Tweetstorm. The seemingly apoplectic nominee demolished Ryan and other prominent Republicans, including U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. It was as if Godzilla was stomping across Tokyo, blithely ignorant of the fact that he might have to work with the local Planning & Zoning Commission later on the rebuilding effort. “Disloyal R’s are far more difficult than Crooked Hillary,” he fumed in one Tweet. “They come at you from all sides. They don’t know how to win - I will teach them!” Trump then rejoiced that it was “so nice that the shackles have been taken off me and I can now fight for America the way I want to.” What shackles? But no matter. Republicans now have what some of them privately feared the most: a wounded monster, limping into the final weeks of the campaign, with absolutely nothing left to lose. They, of course, have everything to lose. A Clinton victory will likely result in a Democratic takeover of the U.S. Senate, easing the White House’s path on at least one, but as many as four, U.S. Supreme Court appointments in the coming years. While Ryan may not have to sweat a total Democratic takeover of the entire House, Democrats could make significant enough inroads to give the Wisconsin Republican a four-year-long case of agita, possibly renewable in 2020. Ryan and the Republicans now find themselves in the same place that their GOP forefathers found themselves in the 1996 election that saw Republicans abandon Bob Dole to focus on holding the Hill. Back then, Republicans waited three weeks to toss Dole under the bus. This year, it’s about a month, as Jennifer Rubin of The Washington Post reported. While he has a rabid base, Trump’s support has held steady at about 42 to 44 percent in most national polls. That’s nice, but it’s not enough to win. The worry for Trump - and for Republicans - should be that the high-profile defections, along with what will likely be another bad month of headlines for Trump, will depress GOP turnout and energize the Clintonistas. Republicans could well skip the top of the ticket and vote on down-ballot candidates, making the hard decision that, to save themselves, and their Congressional majorities, they’ll have to kiss the White House good bye. And even then, they’ll still have to live with the wreckage that their creation leaves in his wake. An award-winning political journalist, Micek is the Opinion Editor and Political Columnist for PennLive/The Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa. Follow him on Twitter @ByJohnLMicek and email him at jmicek@pennlive.com. 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 | ||||||||||||||||||||