7 May, 2015
Valley Voice • 3
Political Fix An Adoring Fan
I rarely get feedback on Political Fix, so I was happy when a reader finally took the time to send me a personal email. It was Wayne Millies from the Whitlatch Group. He said, “It’s quite clear you’re a progressive liberal hack from your previous columns; however, you’ve outdone yourself this time with some very snarky David Letterman type top 6er’s for Republican candidates, Rubio, Paul and Cruz. I look forward to your six things we probably didn’t know about Ms. Clinton next edition. Perhaps you’ll enlighten us as to where she was at 3 am when the phone range during the Benghazi attack.” I initially thought six facts about Ms. Clinton would just be too boring, to which Mr. Millies replied, “you’re absolutely correct, she’s dull in message and appearance. As Rubio pointed out, yesterday’s news:) I look forward to your top 6 Clintonoids.” So by popular demand, my top six Clintonoids: 1. When Ms. Clinton was 12 years old, she wrote to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration asking how she could become an astronaut. She received a reply saying that NASA didn’t accept women in the astronaut program. 2. Ms. Clinton’s parents were Republicans and so was she. She considered herself a Goldwater Girl and a Rockefeller Republican. She said, “I liked Senator Goldwater because he was a
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Catherine Doe
rugged individualist who swam against the political tide.” Voters in Arkansas questioned the stability of the Clintons’ marriage because after they wed in 1975 she kept her maiden name. After Bill Clinton lost his reelection in 1980 she succumbed to the pressure and took his name. She hasn’t driven a car in almost 20 years. The last time she drove was in 1996. Ms. Clinton will be 68 when she runs in 2016 and regularly shows her age. She says her favorite TV show of all time is The Ed Sullivan Show. The show stopped airing in 1971. Her favorite music: the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. “I’m a child of the ’60s, which is before any of you were born.” She was the only First Lady in American history to be subpoenaed. She was subpoenaed for her role in the Whitewater scandal.
What’s New in Visalia
The Visalia Citizens Advisory Committee completed their yearly public opinion survey on April 25. The object of the survey is to give the city councilmembers a bird’s eye view of how residents feel about the city. Twenty questions long, the survey focused on public safety and quality of life issues. It was taken in all four corners of the city to get a variety of opinions.
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Final results will not be available until July, but I--being one of the survey takers stationed at the SaveMart in Mary’s Vineyard--got a sneak peek. It seems that Visalians are pretty happy with how things are going. In answering the question, “How do you rate the city’s efforts at providing a safe community?” all but two of my 23 respondents rated the city at average or high. Even more impressive was their response to how they would rate their quality of life in Visalia. All were average to very high with only one saying low. Time to say goodbye… There will be an empty chair at the staff’s table next city council meeting. April 20 was Nancy Loliva’s last city council meeting as Visalia’s Community Relations Manager. When asked why she was retiring she said, “because I can! After 32+ years of asking ‘what’s next?’ I am taking a little break from planning, spend time with family, do some traveling, and find whatever it is that I want to do to help Visalia be the wonderful city I call home.” Last Term for Greg Collins It’s still three years out, but Councilmember Greg Collins has decided this will be his last term in office. “No need to keep it a secret.” He thought the advance notice would give a chance for good people to start thinking about running for his seat. He said that there is still some heavy lifting so far as decisions to be made but is hoping to wrap up loose ends before his term is up. By the end of his term, Collins will be 68 years old, and he and his wife are looking forward
to traveling. He will have been on the council for 27 years by 2018.
What’s New In the Presidential Campaign
What do Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush have in common? They are both running against Marco Rubio for president. The rest of the crowd barely registers on either candidate’s radar. Mr. Rubio is a young, charismatic, first-term senator from Florida who will break racial boundaries if elected. Sound familiar? Ironically, the reasons for which the Republicans criticized Mr. Obama are Mr. Rubio’s most intriguing assetts. He does step in it too much to be considered a polished candidate. Mr. Rubio commented on Ms. Clinton’s presidential announcement by saying, “now just yesterday, a leader from yesterday began a campaign for president by promising to take us back to yesterday. Yesterday is over and we are never going back.” This statement coming from a man who is anti-pot, anti-marriage equality and clings to a relic of Cold War policy--keeping Cuba isolated. Mr. Rubio doesn’t sound like yesterday. He sounds like the 1959. Ms. Clinton does finally has some competition other than the flat earth society. Not just an Independent, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders challenging her for the Democratic nomination, but in Republican Carly Fiorina. Ms. Fiorina officially announced her candidacy May 4, saying, “I think I’m the best person
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