Mountain Views News, Sierra Madre Edition [Pasadena] Saturday, April 22, 2017

B3

OPINION 

 Mountain Views News Saturday, April 22, 2017 

TIRADES by DANNY TYREE

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HAVE YOU TALKED TO YOUR 
CHILDREN ABOUT MARIJUANA?

Although I got vicarious pleasure from the American Dope 
Growers Union spoof on “Saturday Night Live” in 1977, my 
curiosity has never led me to sample marijuana, and I hope 
my preemptive talks with my 13-year-old son have persuaded him to confine 
HIS curiosity to more productive inquiries.

I bring this up because of a helpful ABC News story (“How To Talk To Your 
Kids About Pot”) by Dr. Carolyn Certo Gnerre. The article is a timely one 
because one in five Americans now live in a state where marijuana is legal 
without a doctor’s letter, a Yahoo-Marist poll reveals that half of American 
adults admit having used marijuana at least once in their lives and Canada is 
poised to become the first industrialized nation to legalize pot.

 I recommend you Google the ABC story, but in the meantime I’ll supply my 
own tips on heart-to-heart talks about recreational weed.

 If you’re going to take a fire-and-brimstone approach with your kids, don’t 
be TOO “over the top.” (“Marijuana leads to exposed ankles! And dancing 
the Charleston! And that legislation in Canada is just the first glimpse of the 
long-prophesied Four Mounties of the Apocalypse!”)

 If you prefer to take a more nuanced, open-minded approach, just be aware 
that your youngsters may have already assembled a pro-puffing PowerPoint 
presentation. Don’t let your kids sway you with that stuff about being on “the 
right side of history.” It’s funny that they can cite details of which pharaohs 
and statesmen used marijuana but can’t remember where they last left their 
expensive cashmere sweater.

 Don’t let your kids con you into believing that the dope is essential for 
their “spirituality.” Jesus appealed to those who “hunger and thirst after 
righteousness,” not those who “develop a case of the munchies for Funyuns 
and Mountain Dew.”

 Watch out for the argument that marijuana is NOT a gateway drug. Such 
high praise! Too bad other products didn’t use the motto to boost their public 
image. (“The Ford Edsel: NOT a gateway drug!” “New Coke: NOT a gateway 
drug.” “Samsung Note 7…”)

 If you’re afraid to say too much because you experimented with pot in your 
youth and don’t want to be called a hypocrite, at least being called a hypocrite 
is better than being called at 2 a.m. (“Dad, you’ll never guess where I am and 
what Spider expects for a pack of cigarettes…”) 

 If you are determined to relive your wayward youth through your children, 
give them a “heads up” on the focus of your talk. (“No, this isn’t about your 
slugging the track coach. Or about texting nude selfies to all county schools. 
It’s about a little herb that will help you shed your INHIBITIONS…”)

 If you insist on being the “cool” parent, at least mention that marijuana 
is a psychoactive drug that impacts brain development and can cause 
abnormalities until at least the age of 21. Just stay rooted in reality as you 
encourage your offspring. Remember the Army recruiting slogan: “Be a 
marginally acceptable level of all that you can be.”

 And if you’re a hardcore current cannabis user/advocate, at least spare your 
kids the tired old “turned out fine” line.

 (“My parents let all four of us partake of their stash and WE turned out 
fine. Four? No, wait -- there were five siblings. Dude, where’s my baby sister 
What’s-Her-Name????”)

——-

©2017 Danny Tyree. Danny welcomes email responses at tyreetyrades@aol.com 
and visits to his Facebook fan page “Tyree’s Tyrades.” Danny’s weekly column is 
distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons Inc. newspaper syndicate.


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LEFT TURN/RIGHT TURN

MAKING SENSE by 

MICHAEL REAGAN


DICK POLMAN


TRUMP’S BROKEN PROMISE 
COULD BREAK ANOTHER 
PROMISE

Smoke has been billowing skyward from the Trumpster fire for 
nearly 100 days - I know, it feels more like 100 weeks - and his 
refusal to release his tax returns is only stoking the flames.

 Basically, his broken campaign promise to release his tax returns (a promise he had 
voiced repeatedly) is now imperiling his grandiose campaign promise to overhaul a 
tax system that he supposedly understands “better than anyone who has ever run for 
president.” He promised to roll out a tax reform plan by February, but two months later, 
his incompetent motley crew has rolled out nothing.

 That’s because they’re not in sync with Capitol Hill because politicians - including a 
sizeable contingent of Republicans - are wary of passing anything that might wind up 
enriching Trump. They don’t know what would enrich Trump because they’re in the 
dark, just as we are, about Trump’s finances. And they’re in the dark because Trump 
refuses to come clean on his tax returns the way every non-authoritarian president has 
done since 1976.

 More than a dozen Hill Republicans - which is a lot in this era of hyperpartisanship - 
are calling for Trump to release his tax returns, and even Trump loyalist Joe Walsh, an 
ex-House member and polarizing rabble-rouser, surfaced on MSNBC with a plea for 
Trump transparency: “I do think this issue will come back and bite him on the butt.”

 It already is. Trump’s fantasy of doing a bipartisan tax reform deal is likely dead 
unless he releases his returns. Democrats say they won’t cooperate unless or until they 
have solid assurances that the reform provisions won’t put money in Trump’s pocket. 
And three Republicans in the conservative House Freedom Caucus have signed onto a 
Democratic bill that would compel Trump to release his returns.

 New presidents are usually at their peak of political influence during their first 100 days. 
Trump hits the 100-day mark at the end of this month, and he will have accomplished 
nothing (except to tweet and run his mouth). The travel ban is tied up in court. The 
overhaul of Obamacare crashed and burned. He needed to kill the Obamacare taxes 
before tackling broader tax reform. Now he says he might try to re-target Obamacare 
before moving on to tax reform - but that was just something he said last week, and, as 
we know by now, his word means nothing.

 Trump on ABC News in 2011: “I’m gonna do my tax returns when Obama does his 
birth certificate ... I’d love to give my tax returns. I may tie my tax returns into Obama’s 
birth certificate.” (One week later, Obama released his birth certificate. In response, 
Trump said he’d fulfill his promise and release his returns “at the appropriate time.”)

 Trump on Irish TV in 2014: “If I decide to run for office, I’ll produce my tax returns, 
absolutely, and I would love to do that.”

 Trump on a radio show in 2015: “I would release tax returns ... The answer is, I would 
do it ... I would certainly show tax returns if necessary ... I do pay tax, but I’m very proud 
of what I’ve done. I have no objection to showing any tax return.”

 Trump on NBC News in January 2016, signaling imminent release: “We’re working 
on that now. I have big returns, as you know, and I have everything all approved and very 
beautiful and we’ll be working that over in the next period of time, absolutely.”

 Trump on NBC in February 2016: I’ll release my tax returns “probably over the next 
few months.”

 The good news is that far fewer people are buying his snake oil. According to the latest 
Gallup poll, 45 percent of Americans see Trump as a guy who honors his promises. 
Granted, 45 percent sounds high, given his long trail of broken dreams, but that share 
has dropped 17 points since February. I doubt that this exchange, from Monday’s White 
House press briefing, will reverse the downward trend:

 Reporter: “Is it time to just say once and for all that the president is never going to 
release his tax returns?”

 Sean Spicer: “We’ll have to get back to you on that.”

 Does the Trump regime really believe it can overhaul the tax system, with bipartisan 
support, by stonewalling a broken promise and further destroying the poseur’s 
credibility? Even his Treasury secretary has told the Financial Times newspaper that 
Trump’s dream of a summer signing ceremony is “not realistic at this point.”

 Or, to paraphrase Trump: Nobody knew that governing could be so complicated.

——-

Copyright 2017 Dick Polman, distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper 
syndicate.

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

A SUBJECT THE MEDIA 
SHOULD COVER

 Sometime this month I hope our rabid anti-Trump media find a 
little time to cover a subject that has been very important to me since 
I was eight – child sexual abuse.

Child abuse of all kinds is an epidemic here and around the world.

 In 2015 about 700,000 American children were victims of neglect or physical or sexual 
abuse. How many more cases were never reported to authorities is unknown.

Neglect accounted for 75 percent of victims, most of whom were under a year old. About 
17 percent suffered physical abuse and 8.4 percent suffered sexual abuse. Some kids were 
abused in multiple ways.

 The long-term affects of abuse on children are well known. Abused children are more 
likely to end up arrested as juveniles and adults, more likely to commit violence crime and 
more likely to end up in prison and develop psychological disorders.

 Child sexual abuse isn’t something that affects just poor kids or is committed by a few 
“celebrity” predators like Jerry Sandusky, the convicted serial rapist, child molester and 
retired Penn State football coach.

 American boys and girls of all ages, races, ethnicities and economic backgrounds are 
vulnerable. According to the experts, one of every three girls and one in five boys will be 
sexually abused before they reach 18.

 These innocents won’t be victimized by random strangers. Sixty-eight percent will be 
molested by a family member and 90 percent of victims know their abuser in some way.

 So it’s not just the parish priest, the gym teacher or the odd guy down at the end of the 
street we need to watch.

 More than likely, it’s Uncle Charlie. And whether it’s in the family, in the church or in the 
school, it most likely will be the abuser who is believed and protected, not the child.

 A child has to tell someone they’ve been abused seven times before the first person listens 
to him or her – and even then they still may not be believed.

 One predator will sexually abuse 117 kids in their lifetime. That means when you see 
someone arrested and charged with a couple of abuses, it’s usually because they didn’t get 
caught earlier in their lives.

 Predators are quick to attach themselves to vulnerable or troubled children who are 
looking for someone in their lives.

 The guy who molested me at an after-school day camp and took naked photos of me in 
1953, when I was eight, taught me how to throw a football and shoot a basketball.

 He gave me the fatherly accolades and “atta-boys” I was not getting because my father and 
mother Jane Wyman had divorced and I was living with my mother.

 Every child needs parental love, accolades and “atta-boys.” If you don’t give them to your 
child, they might be given by a predator. So be a good father, a good parent.

I never told my mother I had been molested or that the guy who did it took photos of me. I 
didn’t tell anyone until 1987 -- 34 years later, when I was in my forties.

 “Why didn’t you tell someone when it happened?” I’ve been asked. But that’s the worst 
possible thing you can say to a kid.

 For an 8 year old, it’s not in their lexicon – “I went to school, threw a football and was 
molested today, Mom. What else do you want to know?”

 What happened to me 64 years ago, still lingers today. You never outgrow it. You don’t 
outlive it.

 Sexual abuse is the worst possible thing you can do to mess up the young mind and heart 
of an innocent child. Unfortunately, as I know, death can become a welcome option.

 April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. 

 First established by presidential proclamation by my father in 1983, it’s a time for families 
and communities to make themselves aware of child abuse and neglect and work together 
to prevent it.

 There’s are many fine government and private social agencies and family organizations 
devoted to preventing child abuse or helping its victims, and there’s bound to be one of them 
not far from your neighborhood.

 Sadly, they have a lot of work to do. They could use your help.

——-

 Copyright ©2017 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.

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