Mountain Views News Saturday, March 14, 2026 
1212 OPINIONOPINION Mountain Views News Saturday, March 14, 2026 
1212 OPINIONOPINION 
MOUNTAIN 

VIEWS 

NEWS 

PUBLISHER/ EDITOR

Susan Henderson 

PASADENA CITY 
EDITOR 

Dean Lee 

SALES 

Patricia Colonello 
626-355-2737 
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WEBMASTER 

John Aveny 

DISTRIBUTION 

Peter Lamendola 

CONTRIBUTORS 

Lori A. Harris 
Michele Kidd 
Stuart Tolchin 
Harvey HydeAudrey SwansonMeghan MalooleyMary Lou CaldwellKevin McGuire 
Chris Leclerc 
Dinah Chong WatkinsHoward HaysPaul CarpenterKim Clymer-KelleyChristopher NyergesPeter Dills 
Rich Johnson 
Rev. James SnyderKatie HopkinsDeanne Davis 
Despina ArouzmanJeff Brown 
Marc Garlett 
Keely TotenDan Golden 
Rebecca WrightHail Hamilton 
Joan Schmidt 
LaQuetta Shamblee 

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STUART TOLCHIN PUT THE LIGHTS ON 
MUST WE CHANGE EXPECTATIONS? 

I know something is wrong and that I need help to get through 
the day. Each morning, I start by listening to the news and reading 
the paper and everyday things seem to make less sense. I have 
continued to read books describing the information brought to 
the world by Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman, which I first 
discovered when I read the book The Undoing Project by Michael 
Lewis. 

At first, I found that information very reassuring as it emphasized that one should 

not rely on the expertise as experts were influenced by their own biases and what 

Tversky and Kahneman refer to as “noise”. What is meant by bias was easy to 

understand. The category “noise” described factors which are not easily noticed 

such as the time of day, or what had been eaten for breakfast, or the lighting in 

a room, or the kind of clothes someone was wearing. The ultimate message I 

received from Lewis' book and the subsequent book by Kahneman aptly called 

NOISE has convinced me that I cannot assume that anyone, including myself, re


ally knows what they are talking about. Great; wonderful! What do I do with this 

information? 

I already knew the news media and television, and social media were provided by

billionaire owners who were interested in making more billions rather than be


ing truly interested in social welfare or my own welfare. I know these are private 

enterprises, part of our capitalistic system, designed to enrich their owners. Of 

course, there is an inherent benefit associated with these enterprises in that they 

create jobs for people who therefrom earn wages and pay taxes to the Federal 

State. And Municipal governmental entities. These workers then use their earn


ings to support their families and pay their rent and pay their gas and electric 

bills and medical bills and pay for higher education and their education of their 

children. The public entities such as the Federal Government have the responsi


bility to safeguard individuals from harm, and risk. I have always believed that the 

Government has the responsibility to ensure that the water is safe to drink and the 

air is safe to breathe and that Governmental funds are dispersed for the purposed 

of maintaining the general Welfare rather than for providing gifts to office holders 

and appointees. 

In every field, public and private, I have always assumed that there are experts 
who know what they are doing and act accordingly. I also understand that there 
are fixed beliefs concerning raced, ethnicity, age, religion, gender, class that undermined 
the fair application of whatever standards are established. The American 
electoral system has always emphasized a kind of transparency which allowed 
interested voters and consumers to make predictions about future consequences 
of their votes and purchases. 

Well, according to Tversky and Kahneman there actually is little we can learn. 

Politicians and experts don't act consistently or rationally and neither do we. Doc-

tor's viewing the same test results for the same patient make different recommen


dations for seemingly irrelevant reasons. Judges,potential employers, insurerers, 

and couples pondering marriage also have no idea why they make the decisions 

that they do. Perhaps this explains why everything seems so messed up.

Alright-where does that leave us? The only thing we can change is our expecta


tions. We can choose to ignore as much as we can and just assume everything will 

be all right or at least okay until it isn't. One thing that is suggested is that making 

snap decisons is a mistake. When possible be aware of the total context surround


ing what you are doing and don't worry about being consistent. Realize that your 

feelings can change from day to day or even minute to minute. Being consistent 

assumes you knew what you were doing in the first place - you probably didn't. 

Seriously, if you knew how you would feel after you read this article would you 

have bothered to read it in the first place. Similarly, would I have bothered to 

write it. What did you EXPECT me to say? 

HOWARD Hays As I See It 

“I guess.” – President Donald Trump, when asked if Americans should be 
concerned about a retaliatory attack by Iran in the U.S. 

The president then added, “Like I said, some people will die. When you 

go to war, some people will die.” We can only guess how big of a threat 

we’re facing. Earlier this month, the DHS, FBI and National Counter-

terrorism Center prepared a joint report for state and local authorities 

titled, “A Public Safety Awareness Report: Elevated threat in the United 
States during U.S.-Iran conflict”. It was all set for release, but blocked by the White House for 
“review”. There’s no indication when or if that “review” will ever be completed. 

DOGE cuts from a year ago at both the State Department and DHS (though no cuts to military 
spending) haven’t helped. We were simply unprepared for the thousands of Americans 
stranded in the Middle East when this war broke out. The American Foreign Service Association 
noted that among those DOGE forced out were professionals with “critical regional, 
crisis management, consular and language expertise, including specialists in Farsi and Arabic 
– skills that are indispensable in moments like this”. 

CNN reported elimination of a separate office at the State Department specializing in “Iranlinked 
terrorism” – work now done elsewhere, mainly by outside contractors and staffers 
lacking the background and expertise. That’s a DOGE problem throughout government; 
professionals with specialized knowledge and experience replaced by those whose primary 
qualification is being mega-MAGA – loyalty to the president over ability to do the job. 

There were cuts at DHS to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. A major 
function had been regular discussions with private cybersecurity firms – sharing the latest 
on Iranian hacking; how to recognize, combat and protect against it. Now, those in the business 
complain the talks just aren’t happening – leaving us all more vulnerable. At FEMA 

– with the loss of so many with actual experience in crisis preparedness, management and 
response – much of whatever response now would be on-the-job training. 
Days before the initial attack, FBI Director Kash Patel fired a dozen agents and staff from its 
CI-12 counterintelligence unit – responsible for monitoring threats from Iran. They were 
fired because of their involvement investigating Trump’s stashing classified docs at Mar-a-
Lago. Attorney General Pam Bondi began her new job by going on a firing-spree – targeting 
those with long-held counterintelligence responsibilities. CNN reported on her demoting 
the acting head of the National Security Division because he still had a portrait of Joe Biden 
in his office. 

Miles Taylor, head of counterterrorism at DHS during Trump’s first term, listed five waysTrump has left us vulnerable: 

1. No evident involvement by agencies charged with protecting us at home, like DHS and 
the FBI, prior to attacks being launched. Taylor notes that in the widely-distributed photo of 
that makeshift “situation room” at Mar-a-Lago, “For some reason the Treasury Secretary was 
there, but where was the Secretary of Homeland Security or the FBI Director?” 
2. Thousands of DHS border officers and analysts, specialists in counterterrorism and 
monitoring foreign threats, transferred to help ICE with immigration raids “or worse, to 
confront American protesters”. Taylor reminds, “DHS was built in the wake of September 11 
to ensure that no bureaucratic gap would again allow a catastrophic attack to proceed undetected. 
The current administration is recreating exactly those gaps — this time deliberately, 
as a matter of policy — while simultaneously escalating tensions with one of the world’s most 
capable state sponsors of terrorism.” 
3. The administration insisting the biggest terrorist threat facing us is Antifa. “This 
is what happens when political actors at the top — like Trump and his White House aides 
— demand that national security agencies redirect their resources toward the U.S. political 
opposition instead of against real threats.” He adds, “By fixating on a phantom menace while 
dismantling the agencies responsible for going after the real ones, the Trump administration 
is making it far likelier that Iranian terrorists will succeed.” 
4. Taylor cites FBI Director Patel’s firing of those counterterrorism experts. “Let that sink 
in. At the precise moment when Iran has the greatest motivation in years to strike American 
targets, the FBI has fired the people who knew the most about how Iran operates inside this 
country . . . Talk about a self-inflicted wound on American national security, delivered in the 
service of one man’s political grievances.” 
5. Despite being in control of the presidency, the House and Senate, Trump takes us to 
war without a fully-funded DHS. “Instead, the president dug in his heels and refused to accede 
to demands that DHS stop violating the First, Second, Fourth, and Fifth Amendment 
rights of American citizens . . . and was content to let the Department’s budget lapse.” 
Before closing, I want to correct an omission from last week’s column. In identifying those 
benefiting most from the war, I neglected the obvious winner – Vladimir Putin. With markets 
disrupted, the value of Russia’s oil has skyrocketed – and to help Putin cash in, we’ve 
relaxed sanctions so he can make the most of it. 

When asked about reports of Russia feeding intelligence to Iran for targeting us in the region,
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said, “It really doesn’t matter”. But shouldn’t it 
“matter” if we’re helping Putin make a killing off his oil, increasing his influence around the 
world, while at the same time he’s helping Iran target our troops? I guess. 

RICH JOHNSON 
NEVER INTERRUPT YOUR ENEMY..... 

“Never Interrupt Your enemy when he is making 
a mistake.” 

The above quote and title of my column was first uttered by 

a politician who had a mostly successful career. After all, he 

WAS the Emperor of France for 10 years. His name? Napoleon 

Bonaparte. His uber mistake? He invaded Russia. Historians 
think he thought he could win accompanied by 600,000 troops to help him.
Napoleon hurried back with less than 100.000. (Your highness: Next time invade 
Russia in spring not right before winter. I know these things. I’m from 
Minnesota). 

Springing forward into this century, we are certainly living in a politically 
charged atmosphere. It’s gotten so bad and so contentious I often find myself 
disagreeing with…errr myself. Fortunately. it hasn’t come to blows…yet.
Left or right really doesn’t matter… the battle remains the same. 

Whether firmly entrenched on the left or solidly fixed on the right, you and I 
need to equip ourselves with appropriate repartee. Sparring banter.
To help equip us I have sought the knee-jerk reaction of a few score of my close, 
close friends. Take notes, or at the very least, cut this column out of the paper 
and plaster it on your refrigerator door. Let’s start with a brief overview of those 
people who lead us, on a national scale into bad moves: 

Henry Kissinger, noted advisor to professional politicians summed it up by 
saying: ”Ninety percent of politicians give the other ten percent a bad name.” 
Professional politician and one-time president, Teddy Roosevelt chimed in: 
“When they call the roll in the Senate, the senators do not know whether to 
answer “present” or “not guilty”. 

It was said of Winston Churchill: “Winston had devoted the best years of his 
life to preparing his impromptu speeches.” (P.S. If you don’t get this quote look 
up the definition of impromptu.) 

When columnist Dorothy Parker was told that former president Calvin 
Coolidge had died, she responded: “How can they tell?” 

Humorist Mort Sahl chimed in: “Washington could not tell a lie; Nixon could 
not tell the truth; Reagan could not tell the difference.” 

The senior senator from my home state of Minnesota, Eugene McCarthy said 
this about politics: “Being in politics is like being a football coach. You have 
to be smart enough to understand the game and dumb enough to think it’s 
important.” 

When asked about living in the White House, Bill Clinton chimed in: “I don’t 
know whether it’s the finest public housing in America or the crown jewel of 
the federal prison system”. 

President Calvin Coolidge demonstrating his keen mind on understanding the 
problems of the president: “When large numbers of men are unable to find 
work, unemployment results.” (No wonder the Depression lasted so long!) 

I’ll wind down this scintillating column with seldomly used rare and amusing 
one-word insults. I offer these expressions as a rather benign way of equipping 
my valuable readers with the ability to express your rugged opinion without 
making your opponent feel bad.
Sir, you are a…

Snollygoster (an unprincipled but shrewd person)

Pillock (a foolish person)

Smellfungus (an excessively faultfinding person)

Ninnyhammer (a ninny, simpleton, fool)

Mumpsimus (a stubborn person who continues in error despite being shown 

that it is wrong)

Milksop (a unmanly man)

Mollycoddle (a pampered boy or man)

Hobbledehoy (an awkward, gawky young man)

Pettifogger (underhanded lawyer, a shyster)

Mooncalf (a foolish or absentminded person)

Saltimbanco (a person who sells quack medicines from a platform) 

On Saturday, March 28th two important events are taking place in the small 
kingdom of Sierra Madre. The annual Wisteria Festival which ends at 5:00pm 
and the JJ Jukebox rock and roll concert at Nano Café, which begins at 6:30. 
Nano Café is located at 322 W. Sierra Madre Blvd. (right near the intersection 
of Sierra Madre Blvd and Lima. Call the restaurant at (626) 325-3334 after 5:00 
Wednesday through Saturday for more information. If you like good food and 
the music of groups like The Moody Blues, Eagles, Creedence Clearwater and 
the Doobie Brothers, come join us for dinner, drinks and dancing. 


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