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OPINIONOPINION

Mountain View News Saturday, February 15, 2025

RICH JOHNSON 

POST VALENTINE'D DAY COMMON SENSE

MOUNTAIN 
VIEWS

NEWS

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Susan Henderson

PASADENA CITY 
EDITOR

Dean Lee 

SALES

Patricia Colonello

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John Aveny 

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Lori A. Harris

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

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Jeff Brown

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Rebecca Wright

Hail Hamilton

Joan Schmidt

LaQuetta Shamblee

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STUART TOLCHIN

PUT THE LIGHTS ON


ACCEEPTABLE PROTESTS

Somewhat sadly, Valentine’s Day is the one day of the year couples in 
relationship celebrate their coupling (is that a word?)

You temporarily suspend focus on all relationships inherent flaws, exchange 
pleasantries which include a greeting card with a heart on it 
purchased from the local drug store, chocolate, a special dinner outing, 
holding hands (in between reaching for more chocolate), adult beverages, 
possibly a favorite movie or album and chocolate on the nightstand.

And if all goes well, the piéce de résistance at bedtime can only be hinted at in this ‘G’ 
rated column. Most of you know what I am referring to. If you do, let me know, as I have 
no idea what I am talking about.

Back to the morning of February 15: If all goes well, you wake up the next morning re-
freshed, reinvigorated about life except for the fact you now have to wait 365 days (not 
counting a leap year) for your next romantic interlude.

Why wait? Why not consider and discuss how to keep passion a bit more intense than 
just a passing flicker?

Rules err, suggestions on improved verbal communications may keep the flickering flame 
flickering a bit brighter. Members of the male of the species: pay particular attention!

What is the best reason to buy your wife flowers? This one: NO REASON

If your spouse says she will do something, she will. No need to remind her every six 
months.

Never laugh at your spouse’s choices. You are one of them.

Want the marriage passionate? When you’re wrong admit it, when you’re right…shut up.

When you marry you lose your bachelor’s degree. It’s okay as your wife gets her master’s 
degree.

Two words that will help ensure peace: “You’re right”.

When asked for your opinion on her new dress, your safest response? “Wow!”

The four most important words in any marriage: “I’ll do the dishes.”

The couple that laughs together lasts together. So, invest in a good joke book or ten.

Want to make sure you remember your anniversary? Forget it once.

Marriage teaches you loyalty, patience, understanding and perseverance. All the things 
you don’t need if you stay single.

When you are right, no one remembers. When you are wrong, no one forgets.

If your partner says, “I don’t need a gift,” it is a trap.

Before you adopt a pet, adopt a plant. If it survives a month consider getting a pet.

Behind every angry woman is a man who has absolutely no idea what he did wrong.

Avoid the three most dangerous words in a marriage: “While you’re up…”

Forget roses. A full dishwasher that’s been run and emptied is the most romantic gesture.

Wives, if you want your husband to do something, tell him he is too old to do it.

The secret to a happy marriage is still a secret to all men.

Most importantly: Don’t marry someone you can live with, marry someone you cannot 
live without!

And the most important truth: The perfect marriage is just two imperfect people who 
refuse to give up on each other.

(I would love to thank Noah Williams, Marriage.com and Huespark.com for many of 
these brilliant quotes)

 This particular time is very difficult for many of us. A 
friend of mine suggested that the best way to cope with the 
antics of the present Trump administration is for everyone to 
leave the country. He referred me to a form of protest in ancient 
Rome where the plebians would leave the city en masse 
and set up camp elsewhere to gain concessions from the patricians 
who controlled Roman politics. The first recorded 
such mass evacuation labelled by historians as secessio plebis 
occurred between 495 and 403 BC. and was successful in bringing about concessions. 
This tactic was utilized several times, but I am afraid it would not work 
today. Too many people with no place to go. 

 Today the kind of protests we see are masses of people taking to the 
streets in locations where the present administration would have to take notice. 
In the 1960’s this influenced important social change. The President, at 
the time, Lyndon B. Johnson, supported and effectuated change outlawing discriminatory 
practices relating to employment, voting rights, educational opportunities, 
and racial and ethnic differences. Commenting about all this change 
President Johnson is said to have remarked in 1964 “We’ve lost the South for a 
generation.” 

 Well, 64 years later the South has reasserted its power. I believe the 
MAGA cult of Donald Trump's clamors for a return to the historical United 
States which was exclusively run by Christian, prosperous White Males. What 
protests now can be effective today as the President and his unelected co-President 
Elon Musk create chaos and turmoil intended to benefit the super-wealthy 
old ruling class? A traditional method of protest is violence. The use of violence 
by an individual is considered completely unacceptable, warranting the most 
severe punishment of those responsible. I, of course agree with this proposition. 
This week I noticed the recent allegations that the Governor of Pennsylvania, 
Josh Shapiro, was a planner of the assassination attempt against then candidate 
Donald Trump. Such allegations are surely scurrilous and false.

 For the moment, however let us pretend that there is some truth behind 
these allegations. Would an attempted assassination of Adolph Hitler or Joseph 
Stalin, or in today’s world, Vladimir Putin by an individual be justifiable? It is 
well known that the United States CIA has participated in multiple attempts assassination 
when there was considered to be threat to the welfare of the United 
States. Off the top of my head, I remember attempts against the life of Fidel 
Castro, Patrice Lumumba. Rafael Trujillo, and Salvador Allende.

 Do you recall that in 1976 President Gerald Ford by Executive Order 
prohibited any member of the U.S. government from engaging or conspiring to 
engage in any political assassination anywhere in the world? This was an effort 
to reform United States intelligence and demonstrated a recognition that the 
United States government had participated in political assassinations attempts. 
Nevertheless assassination attempts have continued against Venezuelan President 
Nicolas Maduro, South Korean leader Kin-Jong-un., and Libya’s Muammar 
Gaddafi, and Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in 2003. Some achieved their 
ends some did not.

 My intent here is to question why Americans countenance murders of 
foreign leaders when all of us seem to agree that such actions by an individual 
warrant the most severe punishment. Imagine the Presidency of Abraham Lincoln 
from the perspective of John Wilkes Booth. Booth believed that President 
Lincoln was defying the traditions of America by outlawing the institution of 
slavery which was vital to the economy of the slave-owning Southern States. He 
believed that Lincoln’s actions would result in a Civil War undoubtedly killing 
hundreds of thousands of American boys. (In fact, an estimated 620,000 deaths, 
about 2% of the American population at that time occurred.) Booth believed 
he was saving the nation and saving lives. It is hard for we twenty-first century 
Americans who detest racism and sexism and a bunch of other historical “isms” 
to even imagine Booth’s perspective.

 For me preventing global catastrophe is justifiable and is an acceptable 
protest but would such extreme action as assassination require punishment? 
Yes, it would but wouldn’t a successful assassination attempt against Hitler have 
been justified and rightfully applauded?

Sometimes, right, and wrong is confusing and this is one of those times!


HOWARD Hays As I See It


“To make all Laws which 
shall be necessary and proper 
for carrying into Execution . . 
. Powers vested by this Constitution 
in the Government of 
the United States” – Article 1, 
Section 8 of the Constitution, 
on the authority of Congress

“he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully 
executed” – Article 2, Section 3 on the duty of 
the President

“The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, 
in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution” 
– Article 3, Section 2 on the responsibility 
of the federal Courts

 Congress makes the laws, the president executes 
them, federal courts deal with conflicts. 
And Republicans are upset about it.

 White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen 
Miller rails against “an assault on the very 
idea of democracy itself!”. Sen. Tom Cotton 
(R-AR) calls it “Outrageous”. For Sen. Mike 
Lee (R-UT) it’s a “coup”. No, not the trashing 
of our Constitution – they’re talking about 
judges upholding it. 

 This comes as federal courts deal with challenges 
to President Trump’s refusing to “faithfully 
execute” laws while instead simply erasing 
those he doesn’t like. These judges take 
their oath to the Constitution seriously, even 
as the president doesn’t.

Last month, the Court blocked that wholesale 
“funding freeze”, finding “no evidence that 
the Executive has followed the law by notifying 
Congress and thereby effectuating a potentially 
legally permitted so-called ‘pause’”. 
Another order came as it became clear the 
White House chose to just play games with 
the court’s decision.

A third ruling came as state attorneys general 
sued for enforcement, stating "The broad categorical 
and sweeping freeze of federal funds 
is, as the Court found, likely unconstitutional 
and has caused and continues to cause irreparable 
harm to a vast portion of this country". 
A federal judge has now ruled the Trump administration 
in violation of its order, leaving 
the door open for contempt charges.

Federal unions filed suit regarding outside 
access to taxpayers’ personal information at 
the Treasury Department, arguing, "People 
who must share information with the federal 
government should not be forced to share information 
with Elon Musk”. Access to those 
records was then blocked by another judge 
hearing a states’ attorneys general suit – citing 
risks of improper disclosure and hacking. 
Musk called for that judge’s impeachment. 

As for striking clear language in the Fourteenth 
Amendment, a judge ruled, “If the 
government wants to change the exceptional 
American grant of birthright citizenship, it 
needs to amend the Constitution itself. That’s 
how our Constitution works.” Two separate 
decisions concurred.

A judge blocked the buyout offer to over 2 
million federal workers pending further argument. 
The lawsuit by representatives of 
800,000 federal workers noted that while 
the offer included a promise of pay through 
September, only Congress could appropriate 
those funds – and the current budget expires 
March 14. Again, two separate decisions 
concurred.

A temporary restraining order blocked putting 
2,200 employees of USAID on leave. According 
to the lawsuit, “These actions have 
generated a global humanitarian crisis by 
abruptly halting the crucial work of USAID . . 
. They have cost thousands of American jobs. 
And they have imperiled U.S. national security 
interests". It argued that an entity created 
by Congress could only be dismantled by 
Congress. USAID employees then returned 
to court to file a notice of non-compliance 
with the previous order.

There are procedures in place for doing much 
of what the president wants without having 
to go to court. To freeze funds already allocated, 
it’s sending a request to Congress under 
the Impoundment Control Act. He could 
get Congress to change existing laws or make 
new ones – with his party controlling both the 
House and Senate. Amending the Constitution 
requires going through the states, but it’s 
been done before. 

Going through the courts instead, though, 
establishes precedent – and they’re hoping a 
favorable one might help remove whatever 
guardrails are still in place. Trump’s self-assurance 
hasn’t changed since Access Hollywood; 
“when you’re a star, they let you do it. 
You can do anything”. Elon Musk’s net worth 
increased $150 billion since election day after 
investing a quarter-billion to get Trump 
elected, and he intends to maximize return on 
that investment. For apologist Republicans, 
they’re cowed both by Trump’s influence with 
MAGA and by Musk, who could bankroll a 
successful primary challenge with an hour’s 
worth of his earnings. 

For Vice President Vance, he’s laying the 
groundwork trying to shape the position he 
sees for himself once Trump is gone. Reacting 
to the decision blocking Musk’s access to 
taxpayers’ personal information, Vance complained, 
“Judges aren’t allowed to control the 
executive’s legitimate power.”

Former Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) responded, 
“Yale Law School should be embarrassed. 
The judge's legal role is to define what executive 
powers are legitimate. It's called separation 
of powers, which you apparently don't 
believe in."

Six years into the Revolutionary War and 
seven years before ratification of our Constitution, 
Thomas Jefferson saw that “powers 
of government should be so divided and balanced 
. . . as that no one could transcend their 
legal limits without being effectually checked 
and restrained by others.”

As Jefferson put it, “An elective despotism was 
not the government we fought for.”


Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285