Mountain View News May 9, 2026 
1313OPINIONOPINION Mountain View News May 9, 2026 
1313OPINIONOPINION 
STUART TOLCHIN PUT THE LIGHTS ON 


I AM NOW I want to stop forgetting things and to 
be able to understand what people are

THE SAME 

saying and who they are. On my iPhoneAGE AS OLD there was a very long video with Bill 
PEOPLE Gates explaining that he had created a 
Last week I was supplement containing special honey and 
coconut oil that if taken for three months

invited to breakfast 

by a man who read would completely restore memory and 

my articles and texted cognitive function. For me that would be 
asking to meet and have lunch. I was a dream come through. I tried to order 
pleased to hear from a reader, and we it but was unable, at first, to hit the right 

agreed to meet at Nano’s. He offered to keys. I went downstairs and asked my 

pay for both of us, and I was fine with wife for help. This time she wouldn’t help 
that. I read the menu and in the appetizer telling me that the whole thing was a scam 

section saw an appetizer plate that I preying upon vulnerable old people like 
thought cost $8.38, and that was what I me. Of course she’s much younger. 

ordered. When the food was brought to Determined to purchase the supplement 
me, it was gargantuan in size and I was myself I went back upstairs and managed 
very surprised. I ate only a small amount to place the order using my Visa Card. 
but made a point of looking at the bill My wife came upstairs and showed me 

when it came. that she had checked the veracity of the 
The price was huge and I asked my lunch supplement online and read that it was a 

mate about it. He laughed and said, “well scam that had used AI to present Bill Gates 
that plate you ordered cost thirty–eight attesting to something that was not true. 
dollars.” I was humiliated and realized We immediately checked my order and 
that what I thought was a dollar sign on learned that payment had already been 
the menu was a three. I did not want to processed. She somehow managed to 

let the man, who I hardly knew pay that stop the payment by cancelling the credit 
exorbitant price but realized I did not cards. Oops, maybe that’s what happened 
have enough cash to pay for it. Luckily, to my Credit Card, as you know, I forget 
my wife came to pick me up and she paid things. 
the bill. A couple of days earlier I had My entire life I have been against 
forgotten my credit card at Kaiser and had violence, although selective service 
not gone back to pick it up. Remember, as rejected my application for Conscientious 
I think I have mentioned before, my wife, Objector status during the Viet Nam War. 

DMV, and the insurance company have But that’s another long story. What is 
all agreed that I should not be allowed to important now is to protect vulnerable 

drive any more. old easily confused people like me. Maybe 
I admit I have trouble recognizing faces capital punishment is too extreme, but 

and when people say hello Stuart, I just we oldsters need protection. Most of the 
say hello, but don’t know to whom I am time we are unable to protect ourselves 
speaking. There are important events and are not competent to make important 
such as medical operations I have had, decisions. I really believe that there should 
or my children have had, that I really be some geriatric restrictions preventing 
don’t remember. I admit that having people of my age from making significant 
conversations with anyone has become decisions without supervision. By the 

difficult as I either don’t hear what is being way, you should know that the age of our 

said or completely misunderstand. American President is about the same age 
Often, I can’t read the small print and as my own. I think we would all feel safer 

regularly press the wrong keys on my if restrictions simply based on his age were 
iPhone, but I keep scrolling. I started placed upon him. Actually, that would be 
this article pretending to myself that more satisfying to me than punishment 

my main problem was embarrassment. of the evil doing scam makers, and I wish 
That is not my main problem. The main that would happen. In exchange for that, 
problem is that I have lost confidence I would happily forego ordering things 

relating to my own mind and to myself. and accept any additional restrictions. 


HOWARD Hays As I See It 

“It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who 

gets the credit.” – Harry S Truman

 Inability to establish one’s own record of accomplishment 

sometimes leads to disparaging, or even trying to dismantle, 

accomplishments of others. In politics, regardless of whatever 

success and benefit a program might have - if the other party can 

take credit, it becomes a target.

For ninety years, an enduring accomplishment of President Franklin Roosevelt’s 
New Deal has been Social Security – enacted at a time when a third of our seniors 
ended up in poverty. And for ninety years, the other side has disparaged and tried 
to dismantle it. Every year we hear it’s on the verge of bankruptcy, while every 
year the cap on income subject to the Social Security tax can be raised to take care 
of it – as it was meant to work. There’s always talk of “privatizing” Social Security, 
as was pushed by President George W. Bush in 2005. Americans breathed a sigh 
of relief with the Great Recession of 2008 – imagining how retirements across the 
country would’ve been wiped out had that plan been in effect.

Before enactment of one of President Obama’s signature accomplishments, 
the Affordable Care Act, we suffered pre-existing condition bans, benefit caps,
“recissions” (coming up with excuses to cancel your policy when you most needed 
it), bare-bones high-deductible “junk” policies and an untenable number of 
Americans with no coverage at all. From 2014, when the ACA went into effect, 
through early 2022, the number of uninsured Americans dropped from 45.2 
million to 26.4 million; from 14.5% to 8% of the population.

Because the ACA was working, Republicans had to find a way to kill it – constantly 
calling to “repeal and replace”. A major part of the ACA was expanding Medicaid 
eligibility, which ten mostly Southern red states refused to do. As a result, 1.6million working adults across the region who made too much to qualify for regular 
Medicaid but not enough for ACA subsidies were forced to go without coverage – 
just so their Republican leaders could stick it to Obama.

Under President Biden, ACA yearly enrollment increased by half – from 31 
million to 45 million. Trump began his second term determined to reverse this 
accomplishment; shortening enrollment periods, increasing paperwork and 
cutting 90% of funding for ACA “Navigators” and outreach personnel. Then in 
last year’s budget bill, while continuing tax cuts costing $5 trillion over 10 years, 
there was no continuation of ACA subsidies – 22 million Americans expected to 
see premiums doubled and 4.2 million priced out of coverage altogether. 

Among President Biden’s accomplishments was launching 74,000 projects, $695 
billion in funding with 940,000 construction jobs throughout 50 states and U.S. 
territories: highways, bridges, rail and transit, broadband expansion, clean water 
and energy projects. With Biden accomplishing what Trump never could (though 
every week was “infrastructure week”), Trump had to dismantle it. He started by 
trying to block appropriated spending – but got pushback from Republicans in 
red states where the projects were enthusiastically welcomed. Then, during the 
government shutdown, he tried freezing funding in blue states. Ultimately, he 
simply removed signs identifying Biden infrastructure projects and replaced them 
with signs giving credit to President Donald J. Trump.

A major foreign policy accomplishment under President Obama was the Joint 
Comprehensive Plan of Action agreement with Iran, the five permanent members 
of the U.N. Security Council, Germany and the European Union. Because it had 
Obama’s name on it, Trump tore it up. By the end of his first term, international 
inspectors were gone and Iran announced it was no longer bound by restrictions 
on nuclear development under the JCPOA. Now, after $75 billion spent and 5,000 
killed, if we could walk away with a deal even partially as good as the one Trump 
tore up eight years ago, he’d credit himself for a great victory.

Accomplishments under President Lyndon Johnson include Medicare, Medicaid, 
Head Start, Job Corps, National Endowments for Arts and Humanities, Consumer 
Product Safety Act, Civil Rights Act, etc. The one in the news this past week has 
been the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Those who’ve been trying to dismantle it 
for the past sixty years weren’t concerned that LBJ was getting credit, but that the 
principles embodied in the act were those they simply could not abide.

Now there’s the Supreme Court decision on Louisiana v. Callais, which Justice Elena 
Kagan calls the “latest chapter in the majority’s now-completed demolition of the 
Voting Rights Act”. Louisiana’s population is a third Black. So is its Congressional 
delegation; of six seats, two are Black Democrats and four are white Republicans. 
But those two seats are two too many for the Republican majority, so they argued 
the map creating them was drawn on an improper racial basis.

The Court ruled that gerrymandering is just fine - as long as the underlying intent 
is political rather than racial, regardless of the outcome. Louisiana jumped at the 
decision, halting elections already underway to rush through new maps. Other 
mostly-Southern states are following suit. Whatever the underlying intent, Justice 
Kagan credits the ruling with likely bringing “the largest reduction in minority 
representation since the end of Reconstruction.”

 Someday, new Republican leadership might convince their party to earn votes 
through records of accomplishment, rather than trying to rig outcomes. That itself 
would be an accomplishment – regardless of who gets credit. 

RICH JOHNSON 


CELEBRITIES WHO "ALMOST" MADE IT THEN MADE IT

 Have you experienced almost making it in your past experiences? I confess I never 

made “Who’s Who?” But I did make “What’s That?” (Many are still wondering about me 

to this day.) My parents and myself included. I can safely say one can never really make 

it unless you risk almost making it. Or as we call it in the profession “failing miserably”. 

Here’s some examples of risk takers:

 Harrison Ford (ever hear the name?) was a struggling young actor reduced to getting 

small roles at even smaller venues (I don’t know if he ever performed at the Sierra 
Madre Playhouse). You may have seen me there on the stage and mistook it for Harrison. I get that a lot. 
Harrison had to support his family by falling back on being a self-taught “professional” carpenter. He 
built a recording studio for Sergio Mendes, installed a door for Francis Ford Coppola, added a deck on 
Sally Kellerman’s house and built cabinets for a guy named George Lucas. And the rest is history.

 If you have even just a microdot of talent, please audition to go on shows showcasing your amateur 
talent. You never know what could happen. Before “American Idol” and “America’s Got Talent” there was 
a talent competition series you might remember…”Star Search”. Ring a bell? Ding-ding!

Ever hear of Sharon Stone? She competed in the “Spokesmodel Category”. Didn’t win lol. She might 
disagree with you…in the long run.

 Star Search” birthed the careers of people such as Brittney Spears, Dave Chappelle, Adam Sandler, 
Beyonce. Others included Canada’s own Alanis Morissette, a then 8-year old Christina Aguilera (before 
her debut in the “Mickey Mouse Club”!

 “Star Search” successfully exposed the world to another pop sensation later known as Justin Timberlake 
(performed using his middle name Justin Randall). Remember LeAnn Rimes? Youngest Grammy award 
winner, winning TWO when she was 14. She debuted on “Star Search” when she was 8. 

Drew Carey popped up on the show in 1988 and we haven’t been able to shake him ever since. The later 
star and host of “The Price is Right” Carey didn’t win the grand prize, but certainly won what was behind 
the curtain. Same with comedian Kevin James, Martin Lawrence, Norm Macdonald, Ray Romano.

 Rosie O’Donnell popped on camera on Star Search in 1984. Usher didn’t win (lol who says) He walked 
away with a contract and he is a household name to this day. Didn’t win…lol!
Let’s talk for a minute about not making it, not making it, then losing it and maybe making it back (Say 
that 10 times real fast!)

Oprah -Early in her career Oprah worked on a news show as prime-time co-anchor, which she then 
lost. She didn’t give up and found a talk show (you may have heard of it…the Oprah Winfrey Show) and 
the OWN network.

 Moving on, 20th Century Fox agreed to take a risk on a young film maker. Already turned down by two 
studios “Fox” agreed to roll the dice. Making the movie was ridiculously difficult. It fell behind schedule, 
the first edit was a disaster and 40% of the movie DID NOT MAKE the final cut. The rough cut was sent 
to several of the director’s director friends who all gave it a thumbs down. Fox decided against their 
better judgment to go forward. Of course, there judgment wasn’t all that great. Listen to this “factoid” 
(You’re gonna love it) When Fox was debating to release it or not, George Lucas told them they could 
keep the $500k directing fee they owed and let him keep the licensing and merchandising rights. Fox was 
convinced the movie was going to bomb so they enthusiastically agreed……LOLOLOLOLOL. Because 
of the “brilliant” decision by Fox to trade $500k for merchandising rights, George Lucas can now put the 
title “billionaire” after his name instead of “millionaire”.

 So, let me end this with one question: How many Star Wars toys and figures do you have packed awayin your garage? George Lucas thanks you.

I just want all of you who read my column for reading it. If there is a topic you would like me to bungle, 
attack or misinterpret please let me know through the paper. And if you want, I will “out” you giving you 
credit. For a fee, I won’t bring your name up.
Have a great week! 


TOM PURCELL I wish every child could be blessed to have a mother like mine. 


When my five sisters and I were babies in her womb, she never took so 
much as an aspirin for a headache — never ingested anything but the nutrients we 
needed to grow healthy and strong. 

As a child, my world was rock-solid because of her. She put our needs so far before her 
own that we didn’t know she had needs of her own. She loved us without condition. 

I was so unaware of the fear and pain that less fortunate children suffer that I didn’t 
even know such concepts existed. 

I still can’t tell a lie, thanks to her, and I even blush when I’m innocent and people 
think I’m lying. The only thing she hates more than dishonesty is phoniness. 

She made sure we were, above all, genuine — genuinely concerned about the needs of other people 
rather than our own. 

She enjoys simple things. The smell of a flower sends her into fits. The silliness of a child makes her 
laugh for days. 

Until we lost our dad four years ago, she sat outside on the deck every morning enjoying the smell of 
spring, the taste of fresh coffee and long conversations with her lifelong companion — the man who first 
struck her fancy in 1951, when she was only 14. 

She prizes graciousness and friendliness. She treats everyone the way she wants to be treated. She is 
always full of compassion, understanding and curiosity. 

The phone still rings constantly at her home, with people calling for consolation, reassurance or to be 
cheered up on a down day. 

Her blessings extend far and wide in our family. She has 17 grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren and 
another on the way — and few things bring her more excitement than a new family member entering 
the world. 

We threw a surprise 89th birthday party for her recently. Her children came in from out of town. Old 
friends and neighbors were there. 

It was wonderful to hear so many stories about her from so many different points of view. It was eyeopening 
to learn the profound impact she had on every person in that room. 

Her impact on me is deep. 

Thanks to her, I see beauty in all things. I love coffee on the deck every morning. I love the smell of 
spring flowers, and simple things can make me laugh for hours. I became a writer because of her endless 
encouragement. 

For 64 years, she has toiled, struggled, suffered and sacrificed on my behalf. She’s given everything she 
has without asking anything in return. 

I am aware of how blessed I am to have my mother in my life for so many years. 

Her presence and example propel me toward greater beauty and goodness — they inspire me to be a 
better person. 

Since the beginning of time, mothers like mine have been the key to all things great and good in 
humanity. 

As Abraham Lincoln said 176 years ago, “All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.” 

Me too, Abraham. I wish every child could be blessed to have a mother like mine. 

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