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OPINIONOPINION

 Mountain Views NewsSaturday, November 2, 2024

RICH JOHNSON

NOW THAT’S RICH

STUART TOLCHIN

PUT THE LIGHTS ON

MOUNTAIN 
VIEWS

NEWS

PUBLISHER/ EDITOR

Susan Henderson

PASADENA CITY 
EDITOR

Dean Lee 

SALES

Patricia Colonello

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Rich Johnson

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Katie Hopkins

Deanne Davis

Despina Arouzman

Jeff Brown

Marc Garlett

Keely Toten

Dan Golden

Rebecca Wright

Hail Hamilton

Joan Schmidt

LaQuetta Shamblee


WHAT IF ?????

WHAT IF AND IF ONLY

It really is a question that we all should be asking 
ourselves? What would you or I do if Donald Trump 
becomes President? For the moment, let us assume that 
the election is determined to be fair and that questions 
about the counting or destruction of ballots have been 
resolved and Donald Trump is re-elected as President of 
the United States. You know it did happen once before, 
and we all managed to survive. I recall that on January 21,2016, the day after 
Trump’s inauguration, my wife and I had flown to Washington D.C. and 
joined in the Women’s Day march. As I attempt to create this article, I look 
up on the wall next to my computer and view the WE THE PEOPLE framed 
poster we obtained at the demonstration. Looking at it now I feel a renewed 
sense of inspiration.

Maybe we were younger then, but I do not recall those four Trump years 
as being anything I don’t want to remember. My wife and I did go to other 
protest demonstrations here in Pasadena and I believe we both felt as if we 
were enduring a hardship that would soon pass. Yes, I remember the January 
6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capital by a mob of Trump supporters screaming 
“Hang Mike Pence” that cannot and should not be forgotten; but, in a way, it 
seems to be. Then, I was more appalled than frightened but that was then, 
and this is now, and I really do feel frightened.

Seriously what can we expect if Trump becomes President? I am too old to 
run and do not wish to. Presently, there is a world-wide climate crisis and 
an American cost of living crisis. What will I do? I think of the Boy Scout 
motto “Be Prepared” so how do we prepare? I realize how safe and privileged 
I have been compared to my father’s generation. As a child, my father, and 
his mother and three siblings feared for their lives in the Ukraine and walked 
with their few belongings across Poland to somehow get passage on a ship that 
took them to England. After a year they managed to emigrate to America 
and live out their lives filled with hardships that I never experienced. No one 
in the family ever went even to High School but they survived. 

I have on my bedroom wall a framed article written by father in the Ladysmith 
Wisconsin News in 1933 describing the Civilian Conservation Corps that 
had been established by Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt to meet 
the needs of jobless young men during the Depression. Another picture on 
the wall depicts my father seated behind a machine gun as he served in the 
U.S. Army during World War II. These remembrances, as I look at them 
now, are inspiring to me. During my teenage years, my father lost his eyesight 
but continued to work as a salesman for the next fifteen years using my 
mother or myself as his driver. Just recounting this story amazes me. I, the 
privileged son, went to College and Law School and worked as a Lawyer until 
my mid- seventies, defending the indigent and abused. For over fifteen years 
I have been given the opportunity to exercise my first amendment freedom 
by sharing my views and principles in this published online newspaper

Certainly, my life has not been without hardships but yesterday as my wife, 
my 52 year-old son and I watched the Dodgers become the World Series 
Champion I realized that I indeed have been very fortunate. Tonight 
is Halloween and my wife, my son, my daughter, and my five-year-old 
granddaughter will go trick or treating through the decorated safe streets of 
beautiful Sierra Madre. It is our responsibility, yours, and mine, to do all that 
we can to preserve this life for ourselves and for future generations. We must 
stay vigilant and active to maintain the freedoms and privileges we now take 
for granted; and, for me at least, thinking about what previous generations 
have endured is an ongoing inspiration. No matter what, we still have the 
power to live caringly and responsibly. 

Remember, there will always be future elections and choices to be made and 
principles to be maintained.

Please join me and casting your vote and hoping for the best.

Ever been plagued by a “what if?” or a “if only?” 

Ironically, these two phrases have both negative and positive 
connotations. First, the not so good connotation: “If only I hadn’t 
read Rich's column this week!”

Then, the ambiguous connotation. Could go either way, lol! “What if I hadn’t 
read Rich’s column this week?”

The positive “what if” and “if only” in your lives hopefully eclipse the negative.

 After all, someone must have once said, “What if we could go to the moon?”. (H. 
G.Wells rings a bell). Or “If only we could cure polio!” (Thank you, Jonas Salk).

Let me give you an current example: Go on your computer and Google the
name Zion Clark. You will see a “what if” and “If only” applied to a wonderful
conclusion.

Zion went on “America’s Got Talent” performing handstands and acrobatics on 
the parallel and high bars. What’s the big deal you might wonder? That’s all it 
takes to get on “America’s Got Talent”? Well, Kemosabee, read on.

Yes, Zion performed his athletic prowess using his hands and his….? Wait a 
minute: Zion has no body below his waist! And he’s doing this…rather marvelously 
I might add. (I hope he becomes president some day!) 

Zion Clark exchanged moping “if only…I had legs.” to “what if…I could perform 
this with just my hands and arms?” which turned into “why not?” and “let’s try!” 
And he was magnificent!

Charles H. Duell, the Commissioner of the U.S. Government Patent Office, was 
quoted in 1899 as saying “Everything that can be invented has been invented”. 
“Chuck” suggested the government close down the U.S. Patent Office. It was 
unnecessary.

A look at the stats post 1899 confirm Mr. Duell was slightly mistaken. Between 
2010 and 2020 alone the U.S. Patent Office issued over 3,111,000 patents. That’s 
over 3 million for those of you tapping your feet. 

The downside of focusing negatively on the “What ifs” and “if only’s” holds 
millions, if not billions, of people back from all that life has to offer. Believe in 
God or not, He instilled in us His creative genes. Most of us are not satisfied with 
just the status quo. We have dreams. But we are all too timid and frozen with the 
possibility of failure and thereby too afraid to take risks.

Albert Einstein brilliantly summed up looking forward with this comment: “In 
the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” (Take it)

I particularly love this quote from Carl Sagan. “Somewhere, something incredible 
is waiting to be known.” (Why not you?)

Every successful person has to overcome fearful mental resistance. Risk of failure 
is at the genesis of all endeavours. It comes with the territory. Listen up:

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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