Mountain Views News, Pasadena Edition [Sierra Madre] Saturday, October 27, 2018

OPINION

B3

 Mountain Views News Saturday, October 27, 2018 


BLAIR BESS

Mountain Views

News

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Dr. Tina Paul

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Deanne Davis

Despina Arouzman

Jeff Brown

Marc Garlett

Keely Toten

Dan Golden

Rebecca Wright

Hail Hamilton

TRUMP BETRAYED

 Hell hath no fury - or fire - like a president scorned.

 After weeks of equivocating, President Trump has 
finally blasted the Saudi government for the murder of 
Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi and its 
subsequent cover-up. The president did so not out of a 
sense of moral outrage, but of a feeling more personal 
in nature - a sense that he has been betrayed by those 
whose loyalty he believed he commanded. 

 By their actions, members of the Saudi royal family have now joined the ranks 
of Steve Bannon, Michael Cohen, Omarosa, and a litany of others in Trump’s 
universe. 

 One almost feels sorry for the president. He’s notoriously thin-skinned 
and easily injured by those who do him wrong. In the wake of Khashoggi’s 
assassination, he’s now set his sights on Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman 
- MBS to his friends - angered both by the prince’s perceived betrayal and the 
humiliating shadow MBS cast upon the Trump presidency. 

 Before meeting with allies whose interests are more aligned with our own, 
the president chose instead to go sword dancing in the desert. One explanation 
might be that the House of Saud has more in common with the House of Trump 
than do member nations of NATO or fellow signatories of NAFTA, even though 
theirs is a nation where the lines drawn between state assets and personal wealth 
are often blurred. I, of course, mean the Saudis. Not the Trumps.

 In a region where the United States is still viewed by many as the Great Satan, 
the president chose to dance with a different kind of devil. One whose kingdom 
is rife with corruption and oppressive of its citizens. A land where loyalties are 
as fluid as the oil beneath its surface.

 By placing his hands upon a glowing orb in Riyadh last year alongside those 
of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Saudi King Salman, the president 
believed he had effectively sealed a deal of historic proportions. But then, in his 
eyes any deal he makes is one of great historical import. They’re always bigger, 
better, bolder than any made by his predecessors. 

 Temptation was hard to resist. A questionable $110 billion-dollar arms deal. 
Access to cheap oil. A partner in combating Iranian aggression. A willing 
participant in resolving conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians. All 
loomed on the horizon, though they now appear to be nothing more than a 
mirage.

 Trump isn’t the only world leader to tolerate the indiscriminate atrocities 
and human rights violations sanctioned by the House of Saud over the years. 
Americans have long engaged with the royal family since the modern kingdom’s 
founding and the discovery of immense oil reserves there eighty years ago. 
Governments that do business with the Saudis have always been aware of the 
monarchy’s ruthlessness, yet its role as a strategic partner has long required 
them to turn a blind eye to its internal affairs. 

 Current and former officials from across the political spectrum recognize that 
it’s in everyone’s best interests to maintain good relations with the Saudis. This 
is realpolitik, where diplomacy is governed by circumstances and practicalities, 
irrespective of moral and ethical suppositions. Mr. Trump, Secretary of State 
Mike Pompeo and congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle know this. 
It’s the cold cost of doing business. And while disengagement may not be the 
answer, the blatant murder of Jamal Khashoggi - among many other ongoing 
Saudi atrocities in the region - can’t be condoned or accepted as politics as 
usual and can’t go unanswered. By not forcefully confronting the Saudis’ latest 
treachery we only accelerate the deterioration of our own values.

 President Trump’s late acknowledgement of the role MBS and the Saudi royal 
family played in Jamal Khashoggi’s slaying is of little comfort. It is unfortunate 
that it took him so long. Even morh.e so that it is borne of his own hurt feelings 
rather than a sense of righteous anger.

 Blair Bess is a Los Angeles-based television writer, producer, and columnist. 
He edits the online blog Soaggragated.com, and can be reached at BBess.
soaggragated@gmail.com.


MOUNTAIN VIEWS NEWS TAKES A POSITION 
ON STATEWIDE BALLOT MEASURES

PROP 1 YES AUTHORIZES BONDS 
TO FUND SPECIFIED HOUSING 
ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS. 

Authorizes $4 billion in general obligation 
bonds for existing affordable housing 
programs for low-income residents, veterans, 
farmworkers, manufactured and mobile 
homes, infill, and transit-oriented housing. 

PROP 2 YES AUTHORIZES BONDS TO 
FUND EXISTING HOUSING PROGRAM 
FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH MENTAL 
ILLNESS. Amends Mental Health 
Services Act to fund No Place Like Home 
Program, which finances housing for 
individuals with mental illness. Ratifies 
existing law establishing the No Place Like 
Home Program. Fiscal Impact: Allows the 
state to use up to $140 million per year of 
county mental health funds to repay up to 
$2 billion in bonds. These bonds would fund 
housing for those with mental illness who 
are homeless. 

PROP 3 YES AUTHORIZES BONDS TO 
FUND PROJECTS FOR WATER SUPPLY 
AND QUALITY, WATERSHED, FISH, 
WILDLIFE, WATER CONVEYANCE, 
AND GROUNDWATER SUSTAINABILITY 
AND STORAGE. Authorizes $8.877 
billion in state general obligation bonds 
for various infrastructure projects. Fiscal 
Impact: Increased state costs to repay bonds 
averaging $430 million per year over 40 
years. Local government savings for water-
related projects, likely averaging a couple 
hundred million dollars annually over the 
next few decades. 

PROP 4 YES AUTHORIZES BONDS 
FUNDING CONSTRUCTION AT 
HOSPITALS PROVIDING CHILDREN’S 
HEALTH CARE. INITIATIVE STATUTE. 

Authorizes $1.5 billion in bonds, to be repaid 
from state’s General Fund, to fund grants for 
construction, expansion, renovation, and 
equipping of qualifying children’s hospitals. 
Fiscal Impact: Increased state costs to repay 
bonds averaging about $80 million annually 
over the next 35 years.

PROP 5 YES CHANGES REQUIREMENTS 
FOR CERTAIN PROPERTY OWNERS TO 
TRANSFER THEIR PROPERTY TAX BASE 
TO REPLACEMENT PROPERTY. 

Removes certain transfer requirements 
for homeowners over 55, severely disabled 
homeowners, and contaminated or disaster-
destroyed property. Fiscal Impact: Schools 
and local governments each would lose over 
$100 million in annual property taxes early 
on, growing to about $1 billion per year. 
Similar increase in state costs to backfill 
school property tax losses.

 

PROP 6 NO ELIMINATES CERTAIN 
ROAD REPAIR AND TRANSPORTATION 
FUNDING. REQUIRES CERTAIN 
FUEL TAXES AND VEHICLE FEES BE 
APPROVED BY THE ELECTORATE. 
AMENDMENT Repeals a 2017 
transportation law's taxes and fees designated 
for road repairs and public transportation. 
Fiscal Impact: Reduced ongoing revenues of 
$5.1 billion from state fuel and vehicle taxes 
that mainly would have paid for highway 
and road maintenance and repairs, as well as 
transit programs.

 A NO vote on this measure means: Fuel 
and vehicle taxes recently passed by the 
Legislature would continue to be in effect and 
pay for highway and road maintenance and 
repairs, as well as transit programs. 

PROP 7 YES CONFORMS CALIFORNIA 
DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME TO FEDERAL 
LAW. ALLOWS LEGISLATURE TO 
CHANGE DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME 
PERIOD. Put on the Ballot by the Legislature

Gives Legislature ability to change daylight 
saving time period by two-thirds vote, if 
changes are consistent with federal law. 
Fiscal Impact: This measure has no direct 
fiscal effect because changes to daylight 
saving time would depend on future actions 
by the Legislature and potentially the federal 
government. 

PROP 8 YES REGULATES AMOUNTS 
OUTPATIENT KIDNEY DIALYSIS 
CLINICS CHARGE FOR DIALYSIS 
TREATMENT. Requires rebates and 
penalties if charges exceed limit. Requires 
annual reporting to the state. Prohibits 
clinics from refusing to treat patients based 
on payment source. Fiscal Impact: Overall 
annual effect on state and local governments 
ranging from net positive impact in the low 
tens of millions of dollars to net negative 
impact in the tens of millions of dollars.

PROP 9 WAS REMOVED FROM THE 
BALLOT

PROP 10 YES EXPANDS LOCAL 
GOVERNMENTS' AUTHORITY 
TO ENACT RENT CONTROL ON 
RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY. Repeals state 
law that currently restricts the scope of rent 
control policies that cities and other local 
jurisdictions may impose on residential 
property. WHAT YOUR VOTE MEANS

YES A YES vote on this measure means: State 
law would not limit the kinds of rent control 
laws cities and counties could have. 

NO A NO vote on this measure means: State 
law would continue to limit the kinds of rent 
control laws cities and counties could have. 

 PROP 11 NO REQUIRES PRIVATE-
SECTOR EMERGENCY AMBULANCE 
EMPLOYEES TO REMAIN ON-CALL 
DURING WORK BREAKS. ELIMINATES 
CERTAIN EMPLOYER LIABILITY. 
INITIATIVE STATUTE Law entitling 
hourly employees to breaks without being 
on-call would not apply to private-sector 
ambulance employees. Fiscal Impact: Likely 
fiscal benefit to local governments (in the 
form of lower costs and higher revenues), 
potentially in the tens of millions of dollars 
each year. 

A YES vote on this measure means: Private 
ambulance companies could continue 
their current practice of having emergency 
medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics 
stay on-duty during their meal and rest 
breaks in order to respond to 911 calls. 
Private ambulance companies would attempt 
to reschedule meal and rest breaks that are 
interrupted by a 911 call. 

A NO vote on this measure means: Private 
ambulance companies would be subject 
to labor laws for this industry. Based on a 
recent court decision, these laws likely would 
require ambulance companies to provide 
EMTs and paramedics with off-duty meal 
and rest breaks that cannot be interrupted by 
a 911 call. 

PROP 12 YES ESTABLISHES NEW 
STANDARDS FOR CONFINEMENT OF 
SPECIFIED FARM ANIMALS; BANS 
SALE OF NONCOMPLYING PRODUCTS. 
INITIATIVE STATUTE. Establishes 
minimum requirements for confining 
certain farm animals. Prohibits sales of meat 
and egg products from animals confined in 
noncomplying manner. 

 A YES vote on this measure means: There 
would be new minimum requirements on 
farmers to provide more space for egg-laying 
hens, breeding pigs, and calves raised for 
veal. California businesses would be banned 
from selling eggs or uncooked pork or veal 
that came from animals housed in ways that 
did not meet these requirements. 

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HAIL HAMILTON

Left of Left


TRUMP’S LIES, DISINFORMATION, 
DIVERSIONS, AND NO CLOTHES

Before Donald 
Trump began 
his shameless 
gloating of 
“Criminal Hillary” 
after he won the 
Electoral College, 
but decisively 
lost the popular vote for the Presidency, 
I became suspicious of Trump’s real 
motives for his use of crude, vulgar, 
raunchy political language and behavior.
Worse still, it seems Trump’s boorishness 
has been equally directed against his 
domestic political enemies as they are 
against our longstanding national foreign 
allies. On the other hand, Russia our oldest 
enemy, especially President Vladimir Putin, 
gets his highest praise.

 All the while his presidency continues 
under investigation by Special Prosecutor 
Robert Mueller for collusion (i.e., 
conspiracy) with Russia to win the 2016 
Presidential Election - an investigation that 
has resulted in dozens of indictments for 
federal crimes, and at least eight guilty pleas 
or convictions.

 Now this brings me to my central point: 
Trump’s lies, disinformation, and diversion. 
More specifically—WHY? To what end and/
or what purpose do they serve? This point is 
important to keep in mind. Because I am 
convinced beyond all reasonable doubt that 
Donald Trump's dishonesty serves himself 
and his handler Putin. It keeps us looking 
anywhere but where we should to see at 
what they are up to - sowing chaos and 
division in the United States and separating 
our Allies from us—politically, culturally, 
economically, and militarily!

 Furthermore, Donald Jr., Ivanka and 
her husband, Jared Kushner, are as guilty 
as Papa Donald in conspiring with their 
Russian counterparts for their help to win 
the 2016 Presidential Election, and carrying 
out Putin’s grand plan for making the U.S. 
an autocratic third-rate world power and 
bringing the West to its knees.

 Now I’ve said it. The only thing left is 
Special Prosecutor Mueller’s final report 
with its detailed narrative and the inevitable 
additional indictments (including perhaps 
the President as an unindicted co-
conspirator) to follow. More importantly, in 
so doing Mueller will again reestablish the 
necessary nexus between facts, truth, and 
the rule of law.

 I won’t waste your time with long 
recitation of Trump’s lies. There must be 
at least 7,000 by now. That would take up 
most of this newspaper. I will mention one 
though. Trump is not a billionaire, nor has 
he ever been one, not even close. The NY 
Times has conclusively proven this to be 
Trump’s biggest and longest lie. Neither did 
he start his real estate business with a $1 
million loan from his dad Fred.

 So Donald you can yell about fake news 
and threaten defamation law suits until you 
turn blue with a coronary, but facts are facts, 
and they make one thing absolutely certain: 
You are the world’s BIGGEST FRAUD! 
How does it feel Your Majesty to have no 
clothes 12 days before the Midterms? Cold, 
butt naked, a pariah to your own party, 
with no one to blame but yourself.

 Hail Hamilton a retired educator, is one of the 
Mountain Views News legacy columnists who has 
come out of retirement to share his views.


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