Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, January 7, 2023

Mountain Views-News Saturday, January 7, 2023 OPINIONOPINION 11 
Mountain Views-News Saturday, January 7, 2023 OPINIONOPINION 11 
MOUNTAIN 

VIEWS 

NEWS 

PUBLISHER/ EDITOR

Susan Henderson 

PASADENA CITY 
EDITOR 

Dean Lee 

PRODUCTION 

SALES 

Patricia Colonello 
626-355-2737 
626-818-2698 

WEBMASTER 

John Aveny 

DISTRIBUTION 

Peter Lamendola 

CONTRIBUTORS 

Stuart Tolchin 
Audrey SwansonMeghan MalooleyMary Lou CaldwellKevin McGuire 
Chris Leclerc 
Dinah Chong WatkinsHoward HaysPaul CarpenterKim Clymer-KelleyChristopher NyergesPeter Dills 
Rich Johnson 
Lori Ann Harris 
Rev. James SnyderKatie HopkinsDeanne Davis 
Despina ArouzmanJeff Brown 
Marc Garlett 
Keely TotenDan Golden 
Rebecca WrightHail Hamilton 
Joan Schmidt 
LaQuetta Shamblee 

Mountain Views News 
has been adjudicated asa newspaper of GeneralCirculation for the County 
of Los Angeles in CourtCase number GS004724: 
for the City of SierraMadre; in Court CaseGS005940 and for the 
City of Monrovia in CourtCase No. GS006989 and 
is published every Saturday 
at 80 W. Sierra MadreBlvd., No. 327, Sierra 
Madre, California, 91024.
All contents are copyrighted 
and may not bereproduced without the 
express written consent ofthe publisher. All rights 
reserved. All submissions 
to this newspaper becomethe property of the Mountain 
Views News and maybe published in part or 
whole. 
Opinions and views expressed 
by the writersprinted in this paper donot necessarily expressthe views and opinionsof the publisher or staff 
of the Mountain Views 
News. 

Mountain Views News is 
wholly owned by GraceLorraine Publications,
and reserves the right torefuse 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 


A member 
of the 
California 
NewspaperPublishers 
Association 

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 

valuesoftheexceptional

quality of life in our 

community, includingthe magnificence of 
our natural resources. 


Integrity will be our guide. 

MICHAEL REAGAN 

THE REPUBLICANS MESS UP THE HOUSE 


NOTE: This article was submitted 
on Thursday, prior to 
McCarthy winning on the 15th 
ballot. 

It’s been a political clown 
show. 

It’s been a variation of the old 
truth that you shouldn’t watch 
sausage or legislation being 
made. 

It’s been a rare primetime 
glimpse into the minds of 
politicians who’d rather break 
up into factions and fight with 
their own party members than 
find common ground and 
fight against their natural political 
foes. 

I’m referring, of course, to this 
week’s prolonged soap opera 
in the House of Representatives, 
where the Republican 
Party is now narrowly in control, 
222-213, yet appears to be 
unable to elect a speaker. 

Rep. Kevin McCarthy was always 
the favorite to replace 
the dethroned wicked queen,
Speaker Nancy Pelosi. 

But he needs 218 votes from 
his fellow Republicans to win 
the job and after 11 votes in 
the House, as of Thursday 
evening about 20 hardline 
conservatives were still refusing 
to vote for him. 

The conservatives don’t have 
a guy of their own for speaker. 
They also don’t have a plan for 
what they want the House to 
do or focus on. They just don’t 
want McCarthy. 

Whether McCarthy or someone 
else is ultimately elected, 
the prolonged fight over who 
gets to be House Speaker is a 
bad omen for Republicans. 

After the midterms, they were 


all fired up to 
stop the Biden 
administra tion’s 
madness 
at home and 
abroad and 
maybe even 
do some good 
things to reverse 
some of it. 

But if they can’t 
even agree 
on electing a 
speaker, and if individual 
House members get the power 
they want to hold up any bill 
whenever they want, what’s 
going to happen when Republicans 
have to address something 
big, like the debt ceiling? 

No GOP speaker is ever going 
to have “Pelosi Power.” No Republican 
House will ever become 
a speaker’s rubber stamplike Pelosi’s. Republicans are 
notoriously hard to keep together 
– they’re like herding 
cats. Feral cats. 

That means some Republicans 
are going to want the House to 
spend the next two years holding 
hearings to investigate 
Hunter Biden, his family and 
father. 

Others will want to investigate 
Anthony Fauci and the CDC, 
or find out who screwed up in 
Afghanistan. Others will want 
to focus first on the southern 
border, inflation or Ukraine. 

In the case of going hard after 
Hunter Biden, it would be a 
complete waste of the Republican 
Party’s time and political 
capital. 

We already know Hunter’s a 
criminal. We know he’s been 
selling access to his father 
to foreign governments and 
companies for decades. 

But does anyone seriously 
think that the Biden Department 
of Justice is going to take 
down Hunter or investigate 
“the Big Guy”? Or that the 
mainstream media will cover 
it properly? No. 

The Democrats, as bad as they 
are, are not dysfunctional as 
a party. The Republicans, as 
good as they might be, are absolutely 
dysfunctional – and 
this week they’ve proved it. 

The party needs a strong leader 
to stand up in the House 
and be allowed to lead. You 
can’t lead with a small caucus 
of hardline conservatives that 
can change week to week. 

If you ask me, I’d pick Steve 
Scalise. He’s an real GOP hero. 
And no Republican is going 
to vote against someone who 
took a bullet for the party. 

In any case, unless the anti-
McCarthy forces in the House 
can come up with their own 
leader, they need to just shut 
up and get back to work. 

The most important thing for 
Republicans to do now is to 
unite and begin working to 
prevent Bidenism from wrecking 
any more of the country. 

If Republicans don’t get their 
act together soon and start doing 
the business of the people 
who elected them, it’s a cinch 
they won’t be in control of the 
House after the 2024 elections. 

If that happens, we might be 
better off with the Democrats 
running the House forever,
because it seems Republicans 
are much better at leadingfrom behind than the front. 

Michael Reagan, the son of 
President Ronald Reagan, is 
an author, speaker and president 
of the Reagan LegacyFoundation. 


DINAH CHONG WATKINS 


CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE WRONG KIND 

Bandit. Beggar. Protector. 
Mule-Headed. Mind Reader. 
Snore Buddy. 

These and others are some of 
the names I bestow upon mybest friend. And while yes, 
some of these can also apply 
to my husband, in this case 
I’m writing about my dog. 

Baozi - the Chinese word for 
Dumpling, was more of a giant, 
mutant hamster than 
a 4 week old Chow Chow 
puppy when I first met her in 
Shanghai. She was careening 
around the closet- sized “pet 
store”, giddy to be free of the 
tiny cage the vendor locked 
her in. Although I wasn’t familiar 
with Chows, Baozi's 
vivaciousness won me over 
and if Martha Stewart had 
Chows, they had to be good, 
after all, she’s the woman 
who elevated Pigs in a Blanket 
to the elites. 

If you combined an aristocratic 
princess from the 
17th century, a dog, a cat, a 
lone wolf and a pubescent 
teenager; you would get a 
Chow. Intelligent, aloof and 
studiously clean (okay, so 
not like a teenager), they are 
a one-person dog who maddeningly 
knows what you’re 
telling them but is too cool 
to do it (so very much like a 
teenager). 

Unlike Labradors or Border 
Collies, Chow Chows have 

MY BEST FRIEND 

the attitude of “What have third dog trainer took 6 sesyou 
done for me lately?” sions and finally Baozi could 
rather than “Pleasing you fetch items on command -
pleases me.” “command” meaning I must 
first show her the treat. It’s a 
Of course, the fact that Chow fair exchange. Baozi doesn’t 
Chows look like real-life Ted-view me so much as her 
dy Bears mean they can melt “owner” than her “staff”. 
the hearts of serial killers or 
even a hard-nosed IRA Audit It’s been touted that Dia-
Specialist. And their loyalty monds are a Girl's Best 
knows no bounds. Loyalty Friend. But diamonds are 
is the friend who drives 30 slippery, pokey and small 
miles to the airport at the (unless you’re a Kardashian),
break of dawn to deliver her wear them in the wrong place 
friend's passport who needs at the wrong time and you 
it to go on his Cabo vacation. may be relieved of it and the 
Loyalty is the family who finger it was stuck on. A dog 
sticks by you during conseon 
the other hand doesn’t 
quences that leave you isolatcare 
what you look like, what 
ed and abandoned. Loyalty is afflicts you, whether you've 
a Chow Chow who forsakes made the rent or whether you 
all others for only you. feel you deserve to be loved. 
But then, this combination There’s an over-abundance 
is totally awkward when we of dogs and cats at the local 
take Baozi for walks as her shelters now hoping for their 
Brad Pitt magnetism attracts fur-ever family, chances are 
people who gleefully want your best friend is there wait-
nothing better than to pet ing for you. 
and cuddle her. Their squeals 
of delight are met by Baozi's (Sung to My Best Friend with 
total indifference as she apologies to Harry Nilsson)
walks away to sniff at some People let me tell you 'bout 
dog's old pee markings. my best friendShe’s a warm hearted puppyWe took the basics steps to who'll love me 'til the end 
train Baozi - Sit, Stay, Heel People let me tell you 'bout 
was accomplished but when my best friendwe wanted more advance She’s a one girl cuddly curl, 
training that would require my up, my down, my pride 
a professional, this became a and pearl 
problem. People let me tell you 'bout 
her she's so much fun 
The first dog trainer I called Whether we're walkin' in the 
hung up as soon as I told sun or whether we're snug-
him I had a Chow. The secgling 
one to oneond was more optimistic but 'Cause she’s my best friendinsisted I buy a full board Yes she’s my best friend 
package with a weekly follow 
up. When I told her I only Dinah Chong Watkins col-
needed my dog to fetch she umn appears every 1st and 
laughed and hung up. The 3rd Saturday of the month. 

RICH & FAMOUS 

HEADLINE GRABBERS 
AND GARBLERS 

What came first, the chicken or the 
egg? And when it comes to newspapers, 
what is more important, the headline 
or the article? The truth is no matter how good your article is, without 
a killer headline no one will read it. So, as a service I have collected 
screwy headlines over the years. Let me share a few of my favorites: 


“Tokyo Train Crash! Four killed; Three Seriously” (Fortunate for that 

one who was killed but not seriously.) 
“Nine Volunteers Put in Church Furnace” (I guess there was a wood 
and coal shortage.) 

“Man Found Dead in Cemetery” (What else can I say.) 
Figure this one out: “Highway 4 Bypass Overpass Bypassed.” 
“Teacher Strikes Idle Kids” (Ouch!) 
“Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures” (That must have been before 

global warming.) 
“Stolen Painting Found by Tree” (I wonder what reward the tree got.) 
“Panda Mating Fails: Chief Veterinarian Takes Over” (Let’s just not go 

there.) 

“Plane Too Close to Ground, Crash Probe Told” (That will do it every 
time.) 
“Mayor Says D.C. is Safe Except for Murders” (Well, if that’s all.) 
“One-Armed Man Applauds the Kindness of Strangers.” 
“War Dims Hope for Peace.” 
“Kids Make Nutritious Snacks” 
“Hospitals are Sued by 7 Foot Doctors” 
Speaking of highways “Red Tape Holds Up New Bridge.” 
“Slowdown Continues to Accelerate.” 
“Police Arrest Everyone on February 22nd!” 
“Federal Agents Raid Gun Shop, Find Weapons.” 
“Utah Poison Control Center Reminds Everyone Not to Take Poison.” 
“Voters to Vote on Whether to Vote.” 
Saturday night, January 21st, my band, JJ Jukebox will be performing a 

“Crosby, Stills, and Nash” like acoustic concert at Corfu Restaurant in 
Sierra Madre. 6:00-9:00pm. Call (626) 355-5993 for reservations. Corfu 
is a wonderful Mediterranean Cuisine Restaurant (they also serve 
Greek Food). Located at 48 West Sierra Madre Blvd. (1/2 block west of 
Baldwin, south side). Parking in the public parking lot directly behind 
the restaurant. 

HOW BARBARA WALTERS

PETER FUNT 


CRAFTED HER INCOMPARABLE 
CAREER 

Barbara Walters might never have become a 
powerful force in broadcast journalism had she 
lacked the chutzpah to extract a promise from 
her bosses at NBC News in 1973. 

As she explained it to me, she had already 

worked at the “Today” show for a dozen years, 

serving first as a writer and then as the “Today 

girl” on set — a bubbly balance to the program’s 
male host, the journalist Frank McGee. If McGee were ever to leave,
NBC pledged, she would be named co-host, an unprecedented role for 
a woman. 

Eight months later, McGee died of cancer. Five days after that, Walters 
was named co-host and given a voice in selecting her new on-air partner, 
the unassuming newsman from local TV, Jim Hartz. 

Almost every obit about Barbara Walters, who died Dec. 30 at 93, mentions 
that she “broke the glass ceiling” in TV news. A measure of the 
enormity of that challenge was contained in Frank McGee’s own arrangement 
with NBC, stipulating that during in-studio interviews he 
would always ask the first three questions, lest viewers conclude that the 
woman at his side was of equal status. 

I suppose it would be considered a compliment to say that McGee was 
a shrewd negotiator. But to use the same term about Walters would be 
perceived quite negatively, especially a half-century ago. She was, indeed, 
shrewd. And demanding. And often manipulative in dealing with 
superiors, writers like me who covered her and, most of all, the wide 
range of politicians and showbiz celebrities whom she persuaded to 
open up — even shed tears — on camera. 

She left NBC in 1976 to become TV’s highest-paid news anchor at the 
time, seated alongside Harry Reasoner on the “ABC Evening News.” 
Her $1 million annual salary was roughly double what CBS icon Walter 
Cronkite was earning. 

Privately, Reasoner dismissed the new pairing as so much network gimmickry. 
For her part, Walters acknowledged on her first broadcast that 
some viewers might have tuned in, “out of curiosity, drawn by the rather 
too much attention and overblown publicity given to my new duties and 
my hourly wage.” 

She survived the flop that the ABC newscast turned out to be and managed 
to parlay it into a robust career focused primarily on interviewing,
for which she was best known. Even that included careful calculation. 
Though she did interviews both live and recorded, she preferred the latter 
format. “Whoever holds the scissors controls the entire interview,” 
she told me. 

Whenever I wrote about her, even a brief mention, I received a handwritten 
thank you note in the mail. I wasn’t flattered so much as I was 
impressed by a woman who knew she had to work harder to compete in 
a male-dominated field. 

There are a lot of women in broadcasting today who would like to send 
Barbara Walters a note of thanks. 


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