14

 Mountain Views NewsSaturday, July 6, 

RICH JOHNSON 

NOW THAT’S RICH

MOUNTAIN 
VIEWS

NEWS

PUBLISHER/ EDITOR

Susan Henderson

PASADENA CITY 
EDITOR

Dean Lee 

SALES

Patricia Colonello

626-355-2737 

626-818-2698

WEBMASTER

John Aveny 

DISTRIBUTION

Peter Lamendola

CONTRIBUTORS

Michele Kidd

Stuart Tolchin 

Harvey Hyde

Audrey Swanson

Meghan Malooley

Mary Lou Caldwell

Kevin McGuire

Chris Leclerc

Dinah Chong Watkins

Howard Hays

Paul Carpenter

Kim Clymer-Kelley

Christopher Nyerges

Peter Dills 

Rich Johnson

Lori Ann Harris

Rev. James Snyder

Katie Hopkins

Deanne Davis

Despina Arouzman

Jeff Brown

Marc Garlett

Keely Toten

Dan Golden

Rebecca Wright

Hail Hamilton

Joan Schmidt

LaQuetta Shamblee

STUART TOLCHIN


PUT THE LIGHTS ON

DICK DAHRING'S DARING QUOTES

OUR IDEALS VERSUS 

OUR ACTIONS

Not being a “know it all” I’m ever so thankful for friends 
who participate by contributing suggestions or content ideas 
aiding in the (hopefully) successful construction of one of my 
columns. 

I consider myself monumentally successful and very, very lucky if you, the reader, 
share tidbits from my column amongst friends making them laugh or simply 
improve the quality of their lives by “lightening the load”!

“Daring” Dick Dahring is one such contributor I am thankful for as he sent me yet 
another list of quotable quotes. Thank you, Dick!

This list of quotable quotes is particularly appreciated as it focuses on entering the 
“golden” era of one’s life. So, with no further fanfare let’s delve into it shall we?

“Old age is like a plane flying through a storm. Once you are aboard, there is nothing 
you can do about it.” Golda Meir

“The older I get, the more clearly I remember things that never happened.” Mark Twain

“I’m at that age where my back goes out more than I do.” Phyllis Diller

“Nice to be here? At my age it’s nice to be anywhere.” George Burns

“Old people shouldn’t eat health foods. They need all the preservatives they can get.” 
Robert Orben

“The years between 50 and 70 are the hardest. You are always being asked to do things, 
and you are not decrepit enough to turn them down.” T.S.Elliot

“The important thing to remember is that I’m probably going to forget.” Unknown (I 
can’t remember)

“The older I get the better I used to be.” Lee Trevino

“I was thinking about how people seem to read the Bible a lot more as they get older, 
and then it dawned on me - they’re cramming for the final exam.” George Carlin

“When your friends begin to flatter you on how young you look, it’s a sure sign you’re 
getting old.” Mark Twain

“There’s one advantage to being 102, there’s no peer pressure.” Dennis Wolfberg

“Looking fifty is great – if you’re sixty.” Joan Rivers

“At my age getting lucky means walking into a room and remembering what I came in 
for.” Unknown

“Time may be a great healer, but it’s a lousy beautician.” Anonymous.

In closing, I’ll share how to win an Oscar in eight minutes: In the movie, Shakespeare 
in Love, British actress Judi Dench portrayed Queen Elizabeth I. Ms. Dench’s total 
screen time in the film was 8 minutes. She went on to win the Best Supporting 
Actress Oscar for her role as the British monarch. Many Oscar aficionados believe 
Ms. Dench won that Oscar as she (should have but) didn’t win the Best Actress 
Oscar for her role as Queen Victoria in the 1998 film Mrs. Brown. 

Of course, Judi Dench’s greatest role in my book, was as James Bond’s boss “M”. She 
played “M” in 8 James Bond films. That, by the way, is more times than any one actor 
has played James Bond (Roger Moore played the secret agent 7 times).

Today, the day prior to July 4th, I noticed American flags 
decorating many of the homes in town, even including 
our house. Today’s flags to me represent the ideals of the 
founding of the United States of America. Those ideals 
are best expressed in the Declaration of American Independence composed by 
Thomas Jefferson with the help of Benjamin Franklin and some of the other 
founding fathers. The second sentence of the Declaration “We hold these truths 
to be self-evident, that ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL referred to 87 years 
later by Abraham Lincoln in his Gettysburg Address. Lincoln described the 
U.S. as a nation ‘conceived in Liberty and dedicated to the proposition that 
ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL” and represented the Civil War as a test 
that would determine whether such a nation could endure. 

Well, today, one hundred sixty years later we are still being tested. I graduated 
High School in 1961, 63 years ago, and I still have that Gettysburg Address 
memorized. Why? --because those words inspire me and guide me to be 
the person I want to be. Do I always manage to do that? No, like you and 
Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln, I am just a human being filled with 
contradictions and difficulties and personal needs. As you know Thomas 
Jefferson was a slave-owner who constantly pursued increased wealth. What 
you probably don’t know is that Abraham Lincoln was a licensed bartender 
and a railroad lawyer whose wife almost bankrupted the nation with her 
spending habits.

It makes no difference to the ideals which you and I cherish. Ideals are 
something beyond human action. They are the aspirations that guide us, 
sometimes imperfectly or ineffectively as we try to make sense of our lives. 
This distinction between the actions of a human being and their ideals becomes 
relevant today as we attempt to make some sense of the current political pre-
election controversy. Do we loyal Democrats have a duty to be loyal to Joseph 
R. Biden, our currently perhaps enfeebled 81-year-old President, or do we have 
a more powerful duty to effectuate our American ideals?

To me it is not a puzzling question. I do believe that President Biden has done an 
admirable, effective job as President; but as was evidenced in the recent debate 
between the President and the ex-President, both men have been affected by 
age. The absence of any kind of a concurrent fact-checker contributed to 
making the whole exercise ridiculous other than to demonstrate that neither 
of these two men are the persons we want making ultimate decisions on which 
the future of humanity and possibly the whole planet depends.

Distinctions between the man and his elected position have been analyzed 
in the recent Supreme Court ruling on Presidential immunity. The ruling 
distinguishes between “official acts”, acts committed in their official capacity 
and other acts outside that capacity. I take the holding to mean that sometimes 
the individual in the Presidential position acts with all the powers of our 
elected President and sometimes he does not. The President is not a King who 
can do no wrong. Our loyalty belongs to the position rather than to the man.

Do you recall the incident in the afternoon of the January 6th insurrection 
occurring at the nation's Capital. The then President Trump was in the back 
seat of a car being driven by a Secret Service Agent whose duty it was to protect 
the President (not the man.) Trump attempted to physically cause the Driver 
to take him to where the conflict was raging. The Agent refused and drove 
Trump back to the White House. I believe the decision of the Secret Service 
Driver, for which he has not been punished, makes the distinction clear. The 
PRESIDENT had absolutely no official need to be present at the site of the 
conflict whether the Man wanted to go there or not. Being there the President 
was endangered and it was the duty of his protector to protect him whether he 
wanted that protection or not. 

Have I made my point! It seems clear to me that Joe Biden can no longer 
adequately fulfill his Position and there is a need to select someone else as the 
embodiment of our ideals.


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DINAH CHONG WATKINS

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE 
WRONG KIND


REAL AMERICANS 

It was just chit chat. The size-you-up before I throw 
out a number, hopefully lower than I really wanted 
to pay. He immigrated from Brazil, the owner of a 
mom and pop sized business but with ambitions of 
achieving the American Dream. He moved here over 
20 years ago, barely able to scrape by but now providing dozens of jobs and 
benefits to their families. We segued into our cultural food landscapes and 
the inevitable localization of taste, for me, an authentic braised chicken feet 
with claws intact was a rare find. He agreed, noting the sensitivities of “Real 
Americans”.

We parted, the price proposed was satisfactory to all. But, his mention of 
“Real Americans” flitted back and forth like the whirligigs above the grilling 
meats at the curbside al pastor pop-ups. 

When can you be counted as a Real American? 

Although stories of migrants massing against our borders make front page 
news daily, my journey to American citizenship was if not less perilous than 
the treacherous jungle passages of the Darien Gap, where life and death hang 
upon a loose rock on a muddy cliffside path, more lengthy, physically and 
emotionally draining was the route I took - I married an American citizen.

During my interview with the US counselor at the American Embassy in 
Beijing, my 5 years of marriage and a baby with my husband played favorably 
on my side.

US Counselor: Was the reason for your marriage to obtain US citizenship?

Me: Hah! If only! Canada has universal healthcare.

My Tim Horton/Hockey Night in Canada accent diminished by years spent 
around non-native English speakers, I dunked my interview, just had to get 
my fingerprints to the FBI, criminal record checks of all the places I lived 
in the past 10 years, original notarized marriage and birth certificates, a 
tuberculosis test and pay the hundreds of dollars in fees. 

Fast forward a few more years to Judgement Day. Wearing my Sunday Best 
(actually it was Marshall’s), nervously I sat across from the Grand Poohbah 
of the federal department of Homeland Security. I had throughly studied 
the U.S. Citizenship book and knew 70% of the questions, 20% of which I 
could answer on the first go. The Grand Poohbah was wizened but kind and 
tossed me a couple of softballs, George Washington was the first president! 
Fortunately I didn’t go with my first thought - Jackson Browne. 

We filed into the courtroom, my father-in-law at my side, our huddled 
mass yearning to breathe free, we solemnly took the Oath of Allegiance, 
forswearing fidelity to other nations and swearing to support and defend the 
US against all enemies. At last, we were Real Americans.

The Oath of Allegiance to the United States

 “I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and 
abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or 
sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; 
that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States 
of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true 
faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United 
States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service 
in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I 
will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when 
required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental 
reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.”

Dinah Chong Watkins column appears every 1st and 3rd Saturday of the 
month.

For more Close Encounters Of The Wrong Kind go to www.ceotwk.com


Mountain Views News

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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