Tag: Editorial & Opinion

You’ve noticed that your teenager barely speaks of how pretty the girl next door is. He has girlfriends, but they are more like pals. Someone comments that he isn’t hanging out with the guys like he used to.

One sunny afternoon, as Bob and I drove down Lamb’s Canyon, we noticed about fifteen people lined up along the top of a deep ravine, just staring down into the side of the canyon. Thinking something was amiss, we pulled over and joined the lookie-loos. And then we saw it - a car had plunged down the steep side of the hill and had flipped over at the bottom, leaving two scared teens in distress. One was standing but his friend was not moving and laying flat on his back.

Pardon me for a little of what we used to call a “reporter’s notebook” story. An old truism exists in broadcast journalism that “there’s a story around every corner.” I first learned that in 1996 but, unfortunately, I just learned it again today. Russian bombs and bullets, and Putin’s psychotic ego, have destroyed one of the very few good things to come out of a worldwide disaster 35 years ago.

Rising gas prices are an immediate problem — rising seas are not. Yet in his State of the Union address on Tuesday, President Biden had nothing new to say about bringing gas prices down. Releasing a few barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is not a solution; it's a Band-Aid that will last about two days. Yet all that Biden can do is repeat the outworn bromide that global warming is a catastrophe bringing drought, storms, and rising seas.

Adolph Hitler first came to power in 1933 when he was elected Chancellor of Germany. He soon replaced the elected president and became a dictator. In 1934 he signed a non-aggression pact with Poland. In his book Mein Kampf he told the world exactly what he planned to do, but most people treated it as a new novel. However, political minds were quickly changed after he remilitarized the Rhineland (1936) and annexed Austria (March 1938).

This speech was given Feb 8, 2022 at City Council meeting. Last night, Hemet’s City Council, City Manager and City Attorney said nothing when I finished speaking.

Like many others, you may have decided not to comply with the vaccine mandate, or your employer is bearing down on you, and you have not decided. You're thinking about how you would make a living, care for your family, and how the government could arbitrarily defy your constitutional rights. I know the feeling because I was there...over twenty years ago. Except it wasn't over a vaccine, but over a prayer. It wasn't called being "canceled," but being "blacklisted." Twenty years later, I am still here. Perhaps reading my story will give you encouragement for the road ahead.

I just finished reading Rusty Strait's article (How Long Before Oblivion?) in the November 19th edition of The Chronicle. I have to say that Mr. Strait does keep my blood pressure up! Rusty gave us a brief history lesson on the rise of Hitler's Germany and then linked it with President Trump and his supporters, also addressing the January 6th march at the capital by Trump's supporters.

Once upon a time, there was a faraway country when the world seemed to be in great disarray. But this country was above the fray. Oh yes, there was great economic chaos. However, lurking in the background was a leader who appealed to those seeking a better world. This leader was a great orator. His ideas generated great interest among the masses, especially the young and lower-middle-class, i.e., small store owners, office employees, laborers and farmers. He was conservative and promised his country that he would make all misery go away and everyone would enjoy life as it was meant to be enjoyed. He formed a political party from those who decided to follow his lead, and they were in the millions. Like a sandstorm, he swept onto the scene and clouded the horizon to such an extent that only his image hovered over the land. Some saw him as a savior for mankind. His deeds and arrogance were embraced like an evangelist's spiel on tour.

Has it occurred to anyone that our causes are turning into mean and hateful religions? What used to be 'causes' were subject to negotiation and compromise. Today it is my way or the highway. No room for compromise because the sect sees only with one eye straight ahead. Whatever happened to the days of Ronald Reagan and Tip O'Neil or Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich, Presidents and House speakers who sat down after work had a brew and came to conclusions that were more concerned with America's welfare and less about fundraising and reelection.