OPINIONOPINION 13 
Mountain Views News Saturday, April 4, 2026 OPINIONOPINION 13 
Mountain Views News Saturday, April 4, 2026 
STUART TOLCHIN PUT THE LIGHTS ON 
DONALD TRUMP SENT TO DARK SIDE OF THE 
MOON 
As I opened my eyes this morning, I see the fog of the April 1st 
morning amid my thoughts of the fogs of war circulating world-wide, I 
thought it my duty to inform whatever readers who happen upon this 
article to alternative news which might possibly soon also be circulating. 
Perhaps there are alternative facts that will describe the presence of Mr. 
Trump locked into the Artemus rocket as it proceeds on its journey 
to the dark side of the moon. Perhaps you read on Tuesday that Mr. Trump had said to 
allies who he asserted had failed to support the United States in the U.S. war effort against 
Iran to “Go get your own oil!” Alternative facts might possibly involve a similar statement 
he made while aboard the Artemus Rocket as it was being prepared for its flight. As you 
read these alternative facts be aware that as stated in the Washington Post last week “what 
appears in print and reality have diverged so completely that it may as well be happening 
on different planets.” 
As you may have read Trump as the sitting President attended oral arguments 
for the birthright citizenship at the U.S. Supreme Court. This attendance is characterized 
in the New York Times as indicative of Trump’s attempt to use his power to bully and 
intimidate. Similarly, alternative facts may assert that Trump in a similar hands-on way 
entered the Artemus Rocket at a time very near the time it was intended to blast off. When 
told that it was time for him to leave the plane Trump may have responded by saying “This 
is my rocket. If you don’t like it, Go get your own rocket. He was not ready to leave but the 
take-off of the rocket blastoff could not be delayed and off went Trump accompanying the 
original four members of the Artemus II crew.
Included among this four-member crew is Christina Koch, a female and 
experienced astronaut. It is possible that upon meeting the female astronaut Trump acted 
in accord with his statement of May 5, 2023, that he is attracted as if by a magnet to grab 
the lower female private parts. (I refrain from using the actual term he used it because 
using the actual term might anger my wife.) Anyway, I imagine that some unwelcome 
predatory behavior took place much as was described this past week in relation to Civil 
Rights Icon Cesar Chavez.
As you know as a result of his now revealed behavior, Cesar Chavez has been 
immediately discredited, and holiday names and street names have been changed and 
monuments to him were eliminated. Imagine revealed Trump’s predatory behavior, 
perhaps including material found in the Epstein files causes a tremendous rethinking and 
need to dissociate from Donald J. Trump. A new interpretation of the U.S. Constitution 
may reveal that Mr. Trump is ineligible to serve as President because he is not of “sound 
mind”. This requirement of being of “sound mind” is of course an understood prerequisite 
to the operation of any last Will and Testament and should have been understood all along 
as a requirement for election to political office. Information has circulated that similar 
to the way insider Democrats hid the noticeable weakness and diminished capacity of 
President Joseph Bidin in a failed attempt to offer him as a strong candidate for reelection,
knowledgeable Republicans (if there are such things) may have hidden the psychological 
and possibly psychotical incapacity of Donald Trump.(Is there such a word) Accordingly, 
when and if Donald Trump returns from his voyage to the dark side of the moon he will 
no longer be considered as President. Because of their perfidy in hiding Trump’s true 
condition from the Public the sitting Vice-President and all cabinet members of the TrumpAdministration are to be similarly removed. Until the next scheduled mid-term-election it 
has been agreed by all parties that the present Pope Leo XIV, the Pope from Chicago, will 
function as a representative and caretaker of the United States... e news Who else would 
be acceptable, if not the Head White Male Christian in chief?
Dear readers, I hope you will understand and forgive me on this April Fool’s Dayfor engaging in some wishful thinking and trying to distract myself. So much of what we 
have heard and so much of what is going on all over the world is terrifying but only when 
I think about it. Unfortunately, I cannot stop thinking but I try and disguise the fear. This 
article is an attempt, successful or not. 
HAPPY EASTER EGG HUNTING 
RICH JOHNSON 
HE IS RISEN......STILL 
Significantly into my seventh decade (on this planet anyway), I am trying to calculate 
the number of years I have actually celebrated Easter. Easter is one of my two favorite 
holidays for a variety of reasons. The primary reason is, early on, as a small child, we 
celebrate the Risen Lord by consuming large quantities of candy. 
In my particular case, more candy is consumed on my birthday, primarily because 
my birthday lands squarely on another “spiritual” event…okay quasi spiritual event… 
Halloween. 
In case you need to know this, the number one candy consumed on Easter (in the good ol’ USA) is 
Reese’s Peanut Butter Pieces. One might think it carries over to Halloween but that is not the case. The 
number one candy on Halloween is Snickers candy bars at least in California and Nevada. 
It is ironical the two primary candy days of the year have 180 degree opposite beginnings. One celebrating 
the Resurrection of Jesus and the other, the 2000 year-old Celtic festival of Samhain honoring the spirits 
of the dead. 
My real spiritual journey began at, not surprisingly, a summer youth camp put on by the church. Still 
living in Minnesota, age 12, surrounded by many schoolmates in the middle of a forest, I publicly declared 
my new Christian faith. (2 months later back at school in 9th grade gym class a fellow camper (who was 
there at camp) asked me if I meant what I said and I buckled under the peer pressure and said a ringing“NO”. Fortunately, I learned the Lord is far more faithful to us than we are to Him. 
So, at 14, my family moved from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Van Nuys, California. TALK ABOUT 
CULTURE SHOCK! I hooked up with the local Lutheran Church and could not penetrate the cliquish 
high school group, so I hooked up with the college career group (I was starting 10th grade). I had started 
playing guitar by then and befriended a bearded fellow 10 years my senior named Ray. While I was busyfailing high school geometry, Ray was earning the first Ph.D. Doctorate with Distinction in Physics at 
UCLA. He invited me to join his Christian “folk group” (he played banjo lol) and sang like you might 
imagine a German might sing lol. We ended up with about 4 more girls and two more guys and called 
ourselves the “Church Folk Singers”. And the rest was history. 
My friend and youth director for a season was Kenn Gulliksen. Kenn went on to Calvary Chapel in Costa 
Mesa and later started a Jesus People denomination that became the “Vineyard” Churches. Kenn was 
also the Christian who led Bob Dylan to faith in Jesus. 
I may have surprised many of you by sharing my faith. It is very personal and important to me. But it 
is also very important to me to try to brighten your days and weeks with light, hopefully humorous 
bits of verbal fluff you can pass along to brighten the day of those around you. Truth be told I knew if I 
waited long enough, I would hear a little “ding” in my head from the heavenlies to share my beliefs. No 
big shock God would pick Easter to ding me. The fact is my faith is as real to me as my humor and, just 
possibly, lol a little bit more important. But not by much. If I have inadvertently, or advertently given 
you pause to consider your eternal destiny, here’s a plan: In bed tonight, look at the ceiling and say the 
following: “Jesus, if you are real and desire to be in relationship with me, please reveal yourself to me in 
a meaningful way”. If God doesn’t get back to you, you can “lawyer up” on judgment day (just kiddingkinda). 
Regardless, have a wonderful Easter Celebration, eat and drink too much, and love your family and 
friends with a renewed fervor. And listen for a little ding! 
RICHARD NIXON DOESN’T LOOK SO BAD AFTER ALL 
By Dick Polman -It’s hard for me to describe how much I once 
loathed Richard Nixon. 
As a college student during the Watergate scandal, I 
celebrated when he quit on the cusp of impeachment. I firmlybelieved, along with millions of others, that Nixon was theHOWARD Hays As I See It 
“You have not changed. Now, I’m not allowed to say this . . . but you 
may be even better looking, okay?” – President Trump to Fox News’ 
Dana Perino, responding to her question about accessibility of food 
lowest human being ever elevated to our highest office and 
his track record of anti-constitutional crimes would never be 
surpassed. 
and drinking water in Iran Jeez were we naive. 
MS NOW reports White House staffers say the president has become 
“bored” with this war. His team puts out teenage-gamer video memes Despite his serial abuses and aberrant behavior – 
- reconnaissance footage of exploding targets mixed with Marvel subugging 
his own office, ordering the Watergate coverup, rantperheroes, 
SpongeBob and rap music; our nation at war as (cringe) social media content. ing on tape about “the Jews” will stain him for eternity – when 
Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) reminds, “War is not a game. It’s not a spectacle. It’s not some-you compare Nixon to the current vile authoritarian, the for-
thing you pick up and drop when it stops entertaining you.” Governor Newsom adds, mer looks so good I’m tempted to wallow in nostalgia and give 
“American soldiers are dying . . . Republicans are cutting essential services to fund a war the guy his due.
no one but Trump and MAGA wanted. And now Trump is bored. Disgusting.” Think about it: At least Nixon wasn’t stupider than a 
slab of cement. At least he wasn’t a useful idiot of the Russians. poor) help themselves,” to “protect and preserve a basic right 
We hear from a president who, according to Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT), is “flat-out lying”. 
Trump says Iranians “want to make a deal so badly”, while their foreign minister says,
“we do not plan on any negotiations”. Trump posts we’re dealing with “A NEW, ANDMORE REASONABLE, REGIME” (his all-caps, not mine) – while new leader Mojtaba 
Khamenei is regarded as more hardline than his dad, with Revolutionary Guards still 
in charge. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) points out that this lying “telegraphed to Iran 
that Trump is desperate and in a corner, which has the impact of making talks even less 
likely.” 
Over this last year, we lost 10% (300,000 out of 3 million) of federal workers. Some were 
fired or accepted buyouts through DOGE. Many left or were forced out when it became 
clear competence and expertise came second to fealty to Donald Trump - including at 
the Pentagon and State Department. 
With no one having told Trump what he didn’t want to hear, he says Iran’s attacks on 
neighboring states came “unexpectedly”, that “nobody was even thinking about it”. GregSargent of The New Republic explained, “On one front after another, Trump plainlydidn’t prepare for eventualities that most experts fully did anticipate.” Matt Duss of the 
Center for International Policy added, “We know that Donald Trump does not do the 
reading. We know that Donald Trump has the attention span of a fly. We know that he 
just makes stuff up all the time.” 
At least he didn’t send people to storm the Capitol after narfor 
all Americans.” – Unlike the current addled warlord, whose ignorantrowly losing the 1960 presidential race. When the Supreme 
blunderings in Iran will likely accelerate a regional nuclearCourt ruled against him in 1974, forcing him to release the 
arms race, Nixon prioritized non-proliferation. He sat downOval Office tapes, he quickly complied. When fellow Republiwith 
the Russians to negotiate nuclear arms treaties; for thecans told him there were sufficient House votes for impeach-
first time, America and the Soviet Union placed limits onment and it was time to go, he went. He actually went.
their nuclear weapons arsenals.But that’s just for starters. Check out these points of 
– Unlike the current entitled brat, Nixon didn’t havecomparison: 
a racist rich daddy to grease his ascent. He grew up poor with– Unlike he who shall not be named, Nixon didn’t 
no connections in a rural California dust town. His father hadwork to destroy the mandate of the Environmental Protection 
a lemon farm that failed. Notwithstanding Nixon’s abundantAgency. Quite the contrary. He created the EPA, signed the 
character flaws, it’s beyond dispute that he worked his rear offClean Water Act, and signed the Endangered Species Act. In 
to get to Duke Law and beyond, to wind up in places like the1972 he praised America’s “environmental awakening,” and 
Great Wall of China, forging an historic detente with a com-said “the federal government must provide leadership.” 
munist power.– Unlike the current saboteur of NATO, Nixon 
I say all this without minimizing the traits so manyworked to keep it strong. In 1969 he called NATO “one of the 
of us despised – his lies, his paranoia, his willingness to enlistgreat successes of the postwar world.” He said “the American 
aides in criminal schemes that landed them in jail. He was ulcommitment 
to NATO will remain in force and it will remain 
timately destroyed by his own treachery and taught a genera-strong” because it is “more than a military alliance,” it “repretion 
of Americans to distrust their government. He also endedsents a moral force.” 
the draft, championed college loans for the poor, and create– Unlike the current enemy of affordable health care, 
the OSHA workplace safety agency. The complexities neverNixon repeatedly sought to enact sweeping health reforms – 
And who’s there to tell him? The position of National Security Advisor has been re-cease.“to ensure,” he said in 1971, “that no American family will be 
garded as one of the most crucial in the White House. Now, it’s a side gig for Secretary 
of State Marco Rubio. There’s no longer a functioning National Security Council. Our 
Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, last made news recovering 2020 election 
ballots in Fulton County, Georgia. 
prevented from obtaining basic medical care by inability to And as loathsome as he often was, he never inspired eight mil-
pay.” Indeed, Nixon’s provisions – employer-mandated insurlion 
Americans to flood the streets against him on a single dayance, increased federal subsidies – were actually more generin 
all 50 states. That alone tells the tale. 
ous than today’s Obamacare. (They failed because Democrats, 
led by Senator Ted Kennedy, didn’t think they were liberal Some 30 years ago, I covered an event at the Nixon Library 
Defense Secretary Hegseth preached at his monthly Pentagon “Christian” service, call-enough.)in Yorba Linda, California. Walking the grounds with a coling 
on God for “overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy", – Unlike the current guy’s quest to rig the judiciary league, I said, “Hey, isn’t he buried around here somewhere?” 
and to "break the teeth of the ungodly." He’s been axing those deemed as having suspect for the rich and favored, Nixon created the Legal Services My companion said, “You’re standing on him.” I leapt as if my 
devotion to his doctrine – including the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Corporation Act. Today, the LSC – a federal nonprofit entity – feet had been scorched. I looked down and, yes, there he was. 
Chief of Naval Operations, the Air Force Vice-Chief of Staff and now, with our country still provides legal aid to low-income people. When he signed Today, acknowledging his upside, I owe him a semi-salute. 
at war, the Army Chief of Staff. it into law in 1974, he called it a “constructive way to help (the 
Trump’s economic team probably didn’t foresee the consequences this would have for 
the multi-billions Gulf states had promised to invest in the U.S., a promised investment MY 1ST WISTERIA FESTIVAL & COMMUNITY IMPORTANCE 
they’d bragged so much about. Now that money will likely stay put to be spent on those 
countries’ own defense and eventual rebuilding. By Mandy Tzoc Rodriguez 
It’s doubtful Trump ever considered the consequences of spending the first year of his (EDITOR'S NOTE: Mandy Rodriguez is the newest member of the Mountain Views News Family) 
return bashing our allies: crazy tariff games, demanding Denmark cede control over 
Greenland, siding with Putin in his invasion of Ukraine, threatening withdrawal from 
NATO (as he still is). Now he’s throwing fits because they won’t bail him out of this war 
he chose for our country. 
As I walk through Sierra Madre Boulevard, I see the vibrant purple leaves and green vines covering various 
vendor booths and store windows at the 2026 Wisteria Festival. Many community members continuously greet 
one another, stopping to chat, always saying “Good Morning,” or “How are you?” This being my first Sierra Madre 
event, as someone from a neighboring town, I was unsure of what I would be getting to see and how many people 
Trump tells the U.K. to “go get your own oil”, “just TAKE IT” – after they wouldn’t alwould 
show up. 
low strikes from British bases. He called France “VERY UNHELPFUL” for not allowingmilitary flights over its airspace – though France says they’d only requested the U.S. get 
prior diplomatic clearance. Italy refused bombers landing in Sicily, because the U.S. 
couldn’t be bothered checking with its military beforehand. Spain closed off its airspace, 
Defense Minister Margarita Robles calling U.S. actions “profoundly illegal and 
profoundly unjust”. She added, “We don’t accept lectures from anyone in regard to our 
commitment to peace.” Whatever the reasons, Trump now labels them “COWARDS, 
and we will REMEMBER!” 
I was taken aback by the sheer volume of the Sierra Madre community coming out to support vendors, artists, 
and their community all while being excited to see the Wisteria vine bloom. There was a mass of families, 
animals, artists, vendors and community members who were thrilled to get to come together. For me, as a local 
from a neighboring town, I never heard of the Wisteria Festival nor of the Wisteria Vine. It was a completely new 
experience for me, but one that gave me insight on the history of Sierra Madre and to get to visually see how the 
community connects. It made me think of the significance of community events and how such events continue 
to promote connection between one another while boosting local businesses and artists. 
Meanwhile, 41 nations from around the world, led by France and the U.K., have joined 
in an international effort to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. is not involved (nor 
is Trump’s “Board of Peace” - remember?). The president got bored and has moved on: 
firing cabinet members, showing off new renderings of his ballroom, seeking to have his 
birthday declared a national holiday and arranging for an international summit - not on 
Iran, but “Antifa”. 
According to the University of Minnesota, “Connections are the ‘glue’ that hold communities together; without 
them, a community stagnates and the quality of life declines.” Community events, like annual festivals, provide a 
sense of community pride, allowing for the community to build relationships with one another while supporting 
the local economy. Furthermore, many artists and musicians are able to share their craft to the masses and allow 
for community members to listen or see something new they may not have seen before. It isn’t just about social 
connections, but also the culture and history of the community. Many new or returning attendees are able to take 
away new information about the city. 
Libbey Dean of NewsNation asked the president whether he’d need a deal with Iran before 
ending operations – repeating the question as Trump tried to deflect. He responded, 
“You’re a fresh person . . . We’ve had a lot of problems with you”. If I were Ms. Dean, 
as a journalist, I’d be much prouder having received that response from the president 
than being told I “may be even better looking” 
The “glue” that holds communities together is very visible during these events and continues to strengthen that 
hold. What enthralled me the most was getting to see a community share in the excitement of the annual Wisteria 
Festival and how connected the community of Sierra Madre is. I highly suggest neighboring towns to make the 
trip to visit to learn, connect and enjoy a new experience they may not have done so before. 

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