Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, February 22, 2020

11

OPINION: 

Mountain View News Saturday, February 22, 2020 


STUART TOLCHIN

GONE WITH THE WHIM

I hope not

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LaQuetta Shamblee

 
I kind of like to believe there will come a time when we 
all, everyone on the planet, will experience a kind of ecological 
balance, social and economic justice, religious and political 
freedom, class and gender equality and other fundamental 
human rights. In short, in the words of Matthew McCaughey, 
everything will be alright, all right! I think I can accept death of 
the individual, even my own death without the possibility of an 
after-life. I mean I’m okay with the idea, you know I wouldn’t 
kick it out of bed; but that belief is not vital to my sense of well-
being.

 It’s funny; last week I had a conversation with my son, who is a person with 
intellectual disabilities, and we were talking about our dreams. We both had 
recently had dreams that included my deceased mother, gone about 8 years, and he 
wondered if the fact that she was in our dreams meant that she was alive in a certain 
way. Really, when you think about it, whatever the “truth” is, there is a metaphysical 
possibility. After all, as long as a person is present in someone’s dreams, or even in 
someone’s memory, they are still alive in a certain way. This may sound crazy, but it 
can be seen as a partial explanation of why, even with the shortage of space and the 
expense involved we still bury our deceased in cemeteries and, in my family’s case, 
talk about visiting the cemeteries where we believe our parents and grandparents 
are buried. As long as we know that they are in place, it is not necessary, that we go 
and visit the actual graves. All right, after writing this I am going to make a point of 
visiting my parents and grandparents’ graves together with my son. In fact, if there 
is a time when my daughter can take some break from her impossibly busy schedule, 
maybe she will join us and bring the baby with her.

 Today is a Wednesday, and that is the day that we, my wife, son, and I have 
the great privilege of tending to our new family member whose name is Justice. . 
My wife and I are retired and my son is off-work and today we take care of Justice 
while my daughter is out in the world fighting injustice as an Immigration Attorney. 
Recently, she tells us that the type of cases she had formerly won are now being 
lost perhaps because of the great backload of cases. Still today is Wednesday and 
being around my granddaughter and particularly exchanging smiles with her really 
makes me believe the world is headed in the right direction. We have all marveled 
at the phenomenon of watching the growth of a new person coming to awareness 
in this world. It is wonderful to realize that almost every adult person in this world 
shares the experience of being a part of this observation of this miracle of existence. 
Certainly, the beauty and growth of a newborn is a message that there is reason to 
always hope for the future no matter how bleak the present may seem.

 I have written all of the above attempting to maintain a positive experience 
as I learn this morning of the President’s clear exercise of authoritanism as he has 
pardoned high status criminals, wealthy individuals who have caused great damage 
to our system by doing things such as selling the open position of Senator of Illinois. 
The pardons seemed to occur simply as a result of a Presidential whim, or perhaps 
to ready the Country for more pardons of Presidential pals. More than likely he is 
proving to himself that he is above the rule of Law and he if he is successful it would 
seem that our whole democratic system of government is threatened and is replaced 
by a system governed by Presidential whim. Wait a moment, my granddaughter and 
I just exchanged smiles again and remarkably I again feel that this miracle indicates 
that, no matter what, things will go in the direction of being alright—All right?! 

 What must we do to bring about this utopian future? For me at least, the first 
and most important thing is to maintain the experience of the wonder of our 
own existence. It may seem naïve and privileged but being alive at all is just plain 
miraculous. Sure things for sure could be better and things for sure could be worse: 
but if a desire to share our joy of existence like we share the joy of a smile with a baby 
as it becomes aware of its own existence then notwithstanding the events of this 
day, or any day, there really is reason to hope. I just heard that some billionaires are 
willing to give away some of their money just to save the planet and mankind. Isn’t 
that nice; but it will take more than money to make things right and I do believe that 
each of us has something to do with the direction of the world. At least I hope so. 

TRY TO REMEMBER THERE IS REASON TO SHARE A SMILE

As you can tell I’m trying and it ain’t easy


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LEFT TURN /RIGHT TURN

MICHAEL REAGAN

YES, TRUMP’S INTERFERENCE WITH 
OUR INSTITUTIONS IS THAT BAD

POOR MIKE

JOHN L. MICEK


I never thought I’d feel sorry for a billionaire – a 
$60 billion billionaire.

But watching Mike Bloomberg getting beat up 
in the Democrat debate in Vegas Wednesday night 
was almost tragic.

It was like watching a old boxer who gets clocked 
early in Round 1 and then wobbles around the ring 
in a daze for the rest of the fight while he’s pounded 
unmercifully.

Mike never recovered from the opening series of 
left hooks and below-the belt punches delivered by 
Bernie, Liz, Pete, Amy and old Joe.

For two hours he was slapped around and bullied by his much taller, 
much poorer and much better-prepared opponents.

Mini-Mike found out fast that he was definitely not among friends.

For millionaire socialists like Bernie and Liz, simply being a multi-billionaire 
capitalist was an unforgivable original sin – no matter how self-
made he was, how hard or smart he worked or how much of his wealth he’s 
given away.

And thanks to the accusations about his sexist tongue, his allegedly racist 
remarks about New York’s stop-and-frisk crime policy and his arrogant 
quest to buy the Democrat Party presidential nomination, Mike was put on 
the defensive all night.

Even the refs – NBC’s all-liberal moderators – had no mercy.

They didn’t challenge Mike’s opponents’ low blows or question their ludicrous 
plans to have the federal government fix everything wrong with 
America.

By now everyone in the country knows that Mike’s debate debut was a 
total disaster. Like Governor Perry and Mayor Giuliani in 2016, he turned 
out to be all media hype and hope.

Along with his advisers, even his makeup person fell down on the job. 
Mike didn’t appear anywhere near as youthful or sharp-minded as he does 
in his slick TV ads.

Mini-Mike’s failure reminds me of what Homer Simpson said to his 
daughter Lisa after she asked him how she did when she sang at a school 
concert.

“Honey,” Homer said, “you tried your best. You failed miserably. The lesson 
is, never try.”

Homer would give the same advice today to Mike, who spent more time 
apologizing than explaining how his policies differ from his competitors.

He did get off a few sarcastic quips. But apparently he was so afraid of 
stepping into a politically incorrect hole he didn’t take ownership of the 
good things he’s accomplished or get even a little bit mad at being a public 
punching bag.

Liz, Pete, Amy and Joe all got their jollies taking cheap shots at Mike and 
his fat wallet.

But they did nothing to stop the juggernaut that is going to run all of 
them over in the coming primaries – Bernie Sanders.

Bernie was stronger than ever in Vegas. He looked crazy and sounded 
great as usual.

And no matter what the issue was, he always managed to end up on the 
same ideological soapbox shouting for more socialism, more taxes and 
stricter government control over evil capitalism.

Liz was tougher than usual and quick on her feet.

But she was also her annoying professorial self – a tiresome know-it-all 
and a leftwing moral scold who along with Bernie wants to save the planet 
by implementing the Green New Deal and outlawing fossil fuels.

Mayor Pete – the youngest and poorest candidate – did pretty well. When 
he wasn’t having a high school lunchroom catfight with Amy, his fellow 
moderate, he seemed to be the only adult on stage. She did her standard 
third-place job.

Poor Joe. No one picked on him or paid much attention to him because 
his candidacy is in a death spiral. He was not as incoherent as usual. But he 
embarrassed himself by bragging so much about how much experience he’s 
had in DC that he made it sound like President Obama had been his VP.

So the consensus is clear.The big loser of the night – other than the Democratic 
Party – was Mini-Mike and the big winner was Bernie.

But we all know that in the long run the real winner – for the ninth 
Democrat debate in a row – was Donald Trump.


Susan Collins was absolutely right about this much: President Donald 
Trump has learned his lesson. And he’s learned it by heart.

Thanks to the Senate’s cowardly abdication of its responsibilities, 
the Republican president now feels absolutely emboldened to trample 
on what few constitutional norms remain standing in Washington 
D.C.

In the small amount of time that has elapsed since Maine’s senior 
senator and her fellow Republicans acquitted Trump on the two 
impeachment articles sent over from the U.S. House, the authoritarian-
in-chief has purged the White House of perceived critics, 
demanded a reduced prison sentence for a crony, and declared he has “a legal right” to 
intervene in court cases.

“There has been considerable hyperventilation, some perhaps by me, about the grave harm 
Trump is doing to our democratic institutions,” wrote Washington Post columnist Eugene 
Robinson, who added he wasn’t hyperventilating now. “Public faith in justice is a delicate, 
precious thing. Once squandered, it is incredibly hard to regain.”

I’m not hyperventilating now either. There is a profound difference between the daily, 
schoolyard bullying that’s sadly become a routine part of the former reality television star’s 
administration, and his direct, incredibly damaging, and ongoing assault on the judiciary.

It’s already well-established that when Trump isn’t treating the law like his personal plaything 
by issuing pardons to such friends and supporters as former Maricopa County, Ariz. 
Sheriff Joe Arpaio, he’s insulting or undermining judges and courts he believes should bend 
to his will.

That includes U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, whom Trump disparagingly referred to 
as “Mexican” in 2018, despite the fact that Curiel was born in Indiana. Trump has also used 
the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, based in San Francisco, as a personal punching bag 
because it’s dealt Trump a series of legal setbacks on some of his most radioactive proposals.

“I mean, it’s really sad when every single case filed against us is in the 9th Circuit,” Trump 
told a gathering of governors at the White House in 2018, according to CNN. “We lose, we 
lose, we lose, and then we do fine in the Supreme Court. But what does that tell you about 
our court system? It’s a very, very sad thing.”

What it would tell anyone with even the most cursory knowledge of the judiciary is that the 
system is working. Courts follow law, and they follow precedent, not the political whims of 
whoever’s sitting behind the Resolute Desk, or whichever party commands a majority on 
Capitol Hill.

That’s why it was possible in 2008, for instance, for the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice 
Antonin Scalia to simultaneously declare that, while the U.S. Constitution provided for an 
individual right to bear arms, the government still had a compelling and legitimate role in 
regulating them.

“Nothing in our opinion should be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on 
the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying 
of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing 
conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms,” Scalia wrote in the landmark 
District of Columbia v. Heller case.

Scalia, an icon to conservatives who was appointed to the high court by President Ronald 
Reagan, also noted in his opinion that, “like most rights, the right secured by the Second 
Amendment is not unlimited … [it is] not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever 
in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose.”

That’s being guided by the law. And it was a point amplified by U.S. Supreme Court Chief 
Justice John Roberts, who in 2018 was compelled to publicly defend the judiciary when 
Trump derided yet another judge as an “Obama judge.”

“We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges,” Roberts 
said in a statement. “What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing 
their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them.”

In that stirring defense, Roberts added “that independent judiciary is something we should 
all be thankful for.”

That’s the beauty and the sanctity of our system. And that’s what’s at risk when a president 
who already believes he’s above the law has that delusion enforced by a legislative branch 
that refuses to live up to its constitutional duty to serve as a check on his excesses.

That’s not hyperventilating. That’s a warning. You won’t know how much you’ll miss a fair 
and impartial judiciary until it’s gone.

An award-winning political journalist, John L. Micek is Editor-in-Chief of The Pennsylvania 
Capital-Star in Harrisburg, Pa. Email him at jmicek@penncapital-star.com and follow him on 
Twitter @ByJohnLMicek.

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