EL SEGUNDO HERALD January 29, 2015 Page 5 One Man’s Opinion Parenting is Easy By Gerry Chong Easy, peasy, parenting is easy and anybody can do it. And not having been a parent myself, I am the foremost judge on good parenting. After all, I’ve made zero mistakes, which is more than any parent can say. So it was, on the night of the President’s State of the Union address, I watched him, the Republican response, and a game show. After a glass of wine, I thought about how much fun it would be to have Republicans and Democrats appear as game show contestants to display their parenting skills. The show would go something like this: The first contestant on stage would be a smiling, confident and eloquent Democrat, delivering a skillfully written speech worthy of William Jennings Bryan; fiery oratory at its best. In that, the Democrat would describe his approach to parenting. “First,” he would say, “we gave our kids the basics: food (Food Stamps), housing (Section 8), a spending allowance (welfare) and free medical care (Medicaid). “Then we moved up the chain of requirements for a decent life like cars (cash for clunkers), cell phones (Obamaphones), and birth control (Obamacare). “You know,” he continued, “kids like to have friends, so we invited other kids to illegally bust into the neighborhood and share all the gifts we have given our kids And the best part is that they never need to go home. “But life is still too harsh for our kids, so we want to show them how much we love them by giving them more. After all, we’re better than this…. life is about more than the basics. So here’s the thing, we need to give them a free college education. We need to lower the interest rates on the mortgage contracts they voluntarily signed. And student loans they took? Pshaw, let’s eliminate them entirely. “How about time off from work for paid sick leave? Gotta have it, babe. Oh, oh, oh, don’t forget free child care for their little rug rats?” As the Democrat said, these aren’t wanna haves. These are gotta haves. Then there is the paying of a higher wage for the least skilled and least motivated among us. Of course! With parenting like that, we will have the kids we deserve. And how do we pay for all of this indulgence? We tax Joni Ernst. With that, Senator Ernst, the Republican parent humbly steps to the podium. “I was raised on a farm in Iowa, feeding pigs. I had only one pair of shoes so my mother wrapped my feet in bread wrappers to keep the weather from ruining them. I was educated in a state university, married a soldier, raised my kids, became an Army Lt. Coronel, and fought in Afghanistan. Now I am a U.S. Senator. My kids and I are boot-strap raised.” “Boooooo,” hisses the audience, thumbs down. “We don’t want responsible parenting, we want overindulgent parenting. Tax her and everything she stands for.” Fade to black as the show ends. Sleep well, America. • Another Man’s Opinion Stop Complaining, Enjoy Ourselves By Cristian Vasquez Right from the start I will admit that I am a Bradley Cooper fan. Cooper has been in good movies and he’s an Eagles’ fan so in my book, we are cool. I am also a fan of Clint Eastwood. So when I saw the previews for the new film “American Sniper,” I was pretty excited. Mr. Cooper’s acting and Eastwood’s directing are a sure thing if you’re looking for a good movie. Unfortunately, there are people who can’t just enjoy a good film and have to politicize everything. While my critique is directed at popular and liberal moviemaker Michael Moore, I am also mad at anyone who lacked the sense to ignore him and which contributed to the creation of this “controversy” regarding the movie. For anyone who claims “American Sniper” is pro-war, or that is mad because the film leaves out the “truth” about the war in Iraq, stop it and enjoy the movie. Moore is entitled to make his comments; he should not have to apologize or take them back. If Moore truly believes that snipers are cowards that is his prerogative. However, why can’t he just enjoy the movie? Why does this film have to become a political battle over the legitimacy of the war in Iraq? Is it really necessary to take the personal story of a highly-capable sniper, who served his country, to make general statements about the politics behind the war? The answer is no. This movie tells a story; it shares an intimate tale of a veteran serving his country and struggling to leave the war behind upon returning home. If you want a film that is pro-war or antiwar, watch a documentary. There are plenty of Friday and Saturday January 30 - 31 128 Sierra Street, El Segundo 90245 Sometimes We All Need to Furniture, Appliances, Designer Clothing, Housewares and More! Biggest Sale of The Year!!! Additional Savings on Everything The semi trucks have arrived! those out there to satisfy and solidify whatever political ideology you might already have. “American Sniper” is a movie and while it is based on a person’s life, it is not an educational piece. It is not and academic masterpiece nor is it a dissertation: it is a movie and movies are made to entertain. I remember watching “Inglorious Basterds” back in 2009. There was much anticipation on my end to get to the theater and when it finally happened, I was more than happy. Despite the fact that the heroes in the movie kill Hitler and his henchmen in a theater while watching political propaganda, it didn’t ruin the film for me. The creative liberty and historical inaccuracies portrayed by writer/director Quentin Tarantino didn’t ruin the experience because it’s a movie. Anyone who watches a movie and is upset about historical inaccuracies needs to remember that movies are there to entertain and not to educate. A film should never be a person’s primary source of information and if it is, then there are bigger problems that we need to address as a society as a whole. “American Sniper” is a good movie; it is entertaining. The one lesson that we should walk away with from this film is that we should be reaching out to our veterans even more in order to ensure their transition back into society. We need to listen to our veterans and find ways to help them move beyond trauma of war. So instead of calling snipers cowards, or labeling this a pro-war or anti-anything movie, let’s accept it for what it is: an entertaining movie about a veteran struggling to leave the war behind him. • An extended weekend with new semi trucks unloaded! UP TO 90% OFF RETAIL PRICES! HUGE 2 DAY SALE HUGE SHIPMENT OF DESIGNER CLOTHES IN! Biggest Weekend Ever OVER 100,000 ITEMS! EVERYTHING MUST GO!
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