Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, March 26, 2022

OPINIONMountain Views-News Saturday, March 26, 2022 B4 OPINIONMountain Views-News Saturday, March 26, 2022 B4 
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Susan Henderson 

PASADENA CITY 
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Dean Lee 

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John Aveny 

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Peter Lamendola 

CONTRIBUTORS 

Stuart Tolchin 
Audrey SwansonMeghan MalooleyMary Lou CaldwellKevin McGuire 
Chris Leclerc 
Bob Eklund 
Howard HaysPaul CarpenterKim Clymer-KelleyChristopher NyergesPeter Dills 
Rich Johnson 
Lori Ann Harris 
Rev. James SnyderKatie HopkinsDeanne Davis 
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Keely TotenDan Golden 
Rebecca WrightHail Hamilton 
Joan Schmidt 
LaQuetta Shamblee 

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A member of 
the 
California 
NewspaperPublishers 
Association 

Mountain Views News 

Mission Statement 

The traditions of 

community news


papers and the 

concerns of our readers 


are this newspaper’s 
top priorities. We 
support a prosperous

community of well-
informed citizens. We 


hold in high regard the 

values of the exceptional

quality of life in our 

community, includingthe magnificence of 
our natural resources. 


Integrity will be our guide. 

STUART TOLCHIN 
PUT THE LIGHTS ON 


CHANGING TIME 

Is it time to create a new Constitution that better meets 
the needs of our times? 

In 
Law 
School, 
fifty 
seven 
years 
ago, 
our 
Constitutional 
Law professor entertained us with the initial propo


sition 
that 
the 
Constitution 
meant 
whatever 
five 
or 
more 


members of the United States Supreme Court said it meant. 

Remember 
at 
this 
time 
there 
were 
absolutely 
no 
Peopleof 
Color 
(who 
knows 
what 
we 
called 
them 
then) 
and 
only 
two 
women 
in 
our 
class. 
Roe 
v. 
Wade, 
which 
protected 
a 
woman’s 
liberty 
to 
choose 
to 
have 
an 
abortion 
without 
excessive 
government 
restriction, 
would 
not 
be 
decided 
for 
almost a decade. In 1965, a few of the male Law Students 
approached 
other 
students 
trying 
to 
borrow 
money 
so 
as 
to 
assist 
paying 
for 
illegal 
Mexican 
abortions. 
To 
me 
this 
time 
was 
not 
so 
long 
ago 
and 
I 
can 
remember 
attempting 
to 
discuss 
the 
question 
of 
abortion 
with 
my 
pretty 
much 
non-English-speaking 
grandmother. 
Withadismissinggrimace,shecalledmea“nar”whichItooktomeana 
fool 
or 
a 
mule 
or 
something 
like 
that. 
I 
had 
no 
trouble, 
however, 
in 
understanding 
her 
intent 
which 
was 
to 
let 
me 
know 
that 
I 
was 
too 
naïve 
to 
understand 
the 
true 
problems 
that people faced. 

AsIcametolearnlatercoat-hangerabortionsorattemptatsuchabortionswereacommonpracticeamongpeopleofhergenerationandthattheresultsweresohorrifying 
that 
people 
did 
not 
ever 
want 
to 
talk 
about 
them. 
Today, 
in 
2022, 
fifty 
seven 
yearsafter 
Law 
School, 
theright 
toanabortionisanintegral 
partofthe 
questioningdirected 
to 
Ketanji 
Brown 
Jackson 
in 
the 
questioning 
prior 
to 
being 
confirmed 
as 
a 
SupremeCourt 
Justice. 
I 
was 
glued 
to 
the 
television 
as 
I 
watched 
Senators 
attempt 
to 
discuss 
questions 
of 
viability 
of 
the 
fetus. 
I 
believe 
it 
was 
Senator 
Graham 
who, 
when 
not 
screamingoftheneedtoputpurveyorsandconsumersofchildpornographyinjaillongenough 
to 
die 
in 
prison 
as 
some 
sort 
of 
deterrent 
(I 
imagined 
my 
grandmother 
sayingsomethingequivalentto“what’shesoafraidof”)askedquestionsaboutphilosophyandother abstractions 

Judge(hopefullysoonJustice)Brownfocusedontheneedtolookatrealinjurytopeople. 
Ibelievemygrandmotherwouldhavebeensickenedbytheacademicquestioning 
which 
avoided 
the 
reality 
of 
the 
pains 
of 
everyday 
life. 
I, 
with 
my 
law 
School 
education, 
and 
a 
privileged 
life 
free 
of 
real 
knowledge 
of 
coat-hanger 
abortions, 
found 
the 
confirmation 
hearings 
extremely 
educational 
and 
interesting. 
Speaking 
of 
“education” 
I 
remember 
some 
sort 
of 
conversation 
with 
my 
grandmother, 
shortly 
before 
her 
death, 
about 
the 
need 
for 
continued 
education 
even 
after 
High 
School. 
My 
father 
had 
gone 
blind 
and 
money 
was 
needed 
and 
I 
was 
subject 
to 
the 
draft 
connected 
to 
the 
Viet 
Nam 
War. 
I 
explained 
to 
my 
grandmother 
that 
if 
I 
went 
to 
School 
I 
would 
likely 
to 
receive 
a 
2S 
deferment 
which 
would 
allow 
me 
to 
avoid 
military 
service. 
My 
grandmother,
whoseonesonhadbeenwoundedinWorldWarII,lookedatmeindisbeliefand 
said“geyshein”whichItooktomean“Sogoalready.” 
I,ofcourse,wentontoSchool 
and,withalittlecleverness,completelyavoidedthedraft. 


Now,thesesamedecadeslater,Ireflectontheseopportunities. 
Didthegovernment 
purposely 
create 
a 
system 
wherein 
privileged 
males 
would 
not 
have 
to 
risk 
theirlivesandbeabletoscrewaroundinCollege“gettinganeducation”foryearswhilelessprivileged 
kids 
were 
taken 
from 
their 
homes 
and 
sent 
far 
away 
to 
potentially 
fight 
and 
die. 
Now, 
upon 
some 
reflection, 
I 
am 
sickened 
by 
the 
whole 
business 
of 
governmentsmaking 
class 
distinctions 
affecting 
the 
lives 
of 
their 
populations. 
I 
think 
of 
the 
youngUkrainiansandRussiansfightingandkillingoneanotherasapartofsomegovernmentalpoliciesthatfindspurposeintheirsacrifices. 


As 
I 
watch 
today’s 
hearing 
I 
see 
a 
woman 
of 
color 
being 
questioned 
about 
the 
trueintentoftheConstitution. 
TheverysameConstitutionwhichsawherasbeingonly2/3ofapersonbecauseofherraceandasanon-personincapableofpropertyownershipbecause 
of 
her 
gender. 
The 
unquestioned 
ability 
of 
this 
woman 
makes 
very 
clear 
the 
need 
for 
a 
more 
enlightened 
understanding 
of 
what 
is 
important 
and 
what 
is 
progress. 
I 
believe 
we 
are 
all 
entitled 
to 
live 
in 
a 
peaceful 
harmonious 
world 
and 
that 
this 
is 
our 
debt 
to 
future 
generations. 
Cleverness 
will 
not 
meet 
all 
these 
needs, 
although 
it 
did 
keepmeoutofthedraft. 
Educationisimportantbutsoishumansurvivalandlessons 
learnedfromexperience. 
Weneedtobeallworkingtowardaworldnotpursuingfinancialwealthandpowerforindividuals;
butrathertousewhateverwealth,knowledge,orcreated 
for 
the 
common 
good. 
I 
think 
my 
grandmother 
would 
be 
encouraged, 
as 
I 
am, 
bythetelevisedhearingsfortheworldtosee. 
Somethingaboutherpointedme,inwhat 
I 
believe 
to 
be, 
the 
right 
direction. 
That 
continues 
to 
be 
my 
hope 
for 
myself 
---and 
for 
you! 


PETER ROFF 



AMERICA MUST GIVE ZELENSKY THE 
TOOLS HE NEEDS 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s speech to Congress last 
week may not have been the Churchillian moment people had hoped 
for, but it got the job done. He asked for what his country needed, 
plainly, simply, and without folding into a grand discourse on the responsibilities 
of the world’s democracies to keep it safe from fascism as 
the late, great British leader might have.
Zelensky’s remarks showed him to be a most practical man, leading a 
country under siege. He should get all he asked for, all of it and more. 
He won’t, because the Biden administration fails to accept that his fight 
is our fight, whether we like it or not.

Some in Congress insist on shying away from that reality as well, going so far as to shamefully 
vote against suspending normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus as one more punishment 
for the aggressive war of national interest being waged against Ukraine.
Zelensky can see what far too many policymakers and influencers in the United States cannot. 
As he explained to Congress, the Russian attack on Ukraine “is a brutal offensive against our 
values, basic human values. It threw tanks and planes against our freedom, against our right 
to live freely in our own country, choosing our own future against our desire for happiness, 
against our national dreams, just like the same dreams you have, you Americans, just like anyone 
else in the United States.” 
America has been called to the fight and must answer in the affirmative. Thus far, the Biden administration 
has been leading from the back, reluctant to place the United States in the center 
of the global stage where it belongs. To Zelensky’s requests, it responded with a firm, unforgivable 
“no.” 
The sanctions were slow in coming and have not, contrary to what White House spokesman Jen 
Psaki’s boast crushed the Russian economy. The military aid most needed is blocked, by design 
and by bureaucratic inertia. Most importantly, because the national security establishment is 
more worried about what might come next if Putin were ousted, his country still has avenues 
available to trade with the rest of the world. 
It doesn’t have to be that way. It wasn’t all that long ago when Democrats like Biden led a global 
effort to isolate a sovereign state over a domestic matter the rest of the civilized world considered 
an offense against God and man. How does the invasion of Ukraine not call for a boycott 
of Russia and its Balearian ally led by the United States any less vigorous than what America 
and the other freedom-loving peoples of the world did to bring the Republic of South Africa’s 
apartheid government to its knees? The time to wreck the Russian economy, to give an incentive 
for the Russian people to throw off their masters in pursuit of a genuine democratic system 
is at hand. 
George Washington wisely warned against any involvement in messy foreign entanglements 
when America was a new nation needing time to find its feet. Wise advice at the time, it became 
increasingly dangerous as the nation grew in economic might and military power until isolationism 
proved very, very costly to overcome.
From Teddy Roosevelt to today, the United States has strutted boldly across the world stage, 
stealing the scene from every pretender to global leadership from the Kaiser to Stalin to Saddam 
Hussein. We have expended American lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to defend the 
right of people to live free. This time that is not being asked of us. Zelensky and his people have 
shown they can and will fight. Some even say they are winning. Fear of what Putin might do if 
he’s backed into a corner cannot be allowed to be the determinant of U.S. policy. Fight now or 
fight later. That’s the choice.
We found that out 
in 1917. And in 
1941. And in 1950. 
And at other times 
when the fascists 
on the left and 
right threatened 
freedom. Today is 
not much different 
except Zelensky is 
asking only for the 
tools needed, as 
Churchill famously 
said so many 
years ago “So we 
may finish the job.” 
It’s up to America 
to make sure he 
gets them.
Peter Roff is a former 
UPI and U.S. 
News & World Report columnist who is now affiliated with several Washington-D.C.-based 
public policy organizations. 


RICH JOHNSON NOW THAT’S RICH 


A 
SIMPLE EXPLANATION OF 
BASEBALL 

Here we are little more than a week away 
from the 2022 Major League base-ball season. 
And it has come to my attention there 
are many, many folks who still don’t really 
understand America’s favorite pastime. 

Let your humble correspondent assist in 
increasing your understanding of the game. I need to also point 
out the best way to comprehend this descrip-tion of baseball is to 
read it out loud. So, repeat after me (out loud): 

“A Simple Explanation of Baseball” 

This is a game played by two teams, one out, the other in. The one 
that’s in sends players out one at a time to see if they can get in 
before they get out. If they get out before they get in, they come 
in, but it doesn’t count. If they get in before they get out, it does 
count. (with me so far?) 

When the ones out get three outs from the ones in before they get 
in without being out, the team that’s out comes in and the team 
in goes out to get those going in out before they get in without 
being out. 

When both teams have been in and out nine times, the game is 
over. The team with the most in without being out before coming 
in wins unless the ones in are equal. In which case, the last ones in 
go out to get the ones in out before they get in without being out. 

The game will end when each team has the same number of ins 
out but one team has more ins without being out before coming 
in. 

There, that should clear it up for those of you a bit in the fog regarding 
base-ball. 

New rules adopted this year regarding America’s pastime: 

1. Rosters will expand from 26 to 28 players in April 
2. An automatic runner will start on second base in extra innings. 
This applies only for 2022. (Oh, is an automatic runner 
anything like an au-tomatic sprinkler?) 
3. A pitcher who is in the starting lineup as a hitter can remain 
in the game as the DH (designated hitter) after being pulled from 
the mound. Referred to as the “Shohei Ohtani rule”. (Shohei is a 
pitcher who is also a great hitter. He hit 46 homeruns in 2021) 
4. Double headers have returned to each being nine innings 
long. (Re-duced to seven innings during COVID.) 
Finally, this upcoming Saturday, April 2, Miss Jane Fuller will be 
performing a dinner concert at Corfu Restaurant. Showtime will 
be 6:30-8:30pm. Accom-panied by extraordinary guitarist Mike 
Gallegos, Miss Fuller (a wonderful singer/songwriter and guitarist) 
will perform a blend of rock, pop and jazz favorites. 

Call Corfu at (626) 355-5993 for reservations. Corfu is at 48 W. 
Sierra Madre Blvd in Sierra Madre. See you there! 

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