Not a bad week for “fake news.” There were only two major fake news stories that made the rounds last week, and one that started this week.

First, the mainstream media reported that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein threatened to quit over the Comey firing. The story, unsubstantiated of course, ran in the major media. When asked a few days later, Rosenstein said he never threatened to resign.

Another manufactured media story intended to hurt Trump.

Second, a story saying that FBI Director Comey was fired because he requested more money for the Russia/Trump investigation circulated for days, was commented on 24-7 by CNN and other news organizations. 

It was later determined to be totally untrue. The FBI does not request money for individual cases, so it was a lie on its surface and easily debunked.

Our government is on a “single payer” system, i.e., our unlimited tax dollars. We watched our FBI director fly in a private Gulfstream 550, which costs us $62 million a year, from a “recruitment meeting” in LA. Maybe that’s the story.

But spending and facts do not serve the media’s agenda — and the media wonder why they are not trusted.

The media slams Trump for his 41 percent approval rating. Yet mainstream media’s approval rating has plummeted to about 12 percent.

The most daunting thing facing the liberal media about Trump, which seems to stump their agenda at every turn, is the truth.

The week before, the media pushed the narrative that the repeal of Obamacare was "racist." They broadcast the celebration of all those white men at the White House signing ceremony. It made me understand why the media hate the Constitution so much. Imagine all the horrifying paintings of nothing but white men signing that thing.

Voters sent Trump to Washington to “drain the swamp.” And there is nothing more swampy than an FBI that is political, distrusted, private-jet-riding, and which too often decides to prosecute based on an agenda.

Democrats called for Comey to be fired for months. But once Trump did it, they were against it and assigned nefarious motives. It never ends.

After he fired Comey, the media started comparing Trump to Nixon. That is unfair. Nixon regularly used the "n-word," was anti-Semitic and made a lot of tapes. It would be more accurate to compare Nixon to a rapper.

Dems dubiously continue to attribute to Russia the hacking of John Podesta's Gmail account. The FBI did say a while back, “Bad actors have repeatedly tried to hack us.” “Bad actors” does not necessarily mean Russia; they could be Iran, China, Nicholas Cage, Barbra Streisand in “Little Fockers” or Miley Cyrus in any of her performances on “Hannah Montana.” I guess what I am saying is there are a lot of bad actors out there, not just Russia.

Dems have now spun this "Russia collusion" story into a tale of its own. With no evidence, they continue to want to try to rewrite history: Hillary lost because of Russia colluding with the Trump campaign.

It is simply untrue, but the truth has never stopped them.

Even the allegation that Trump supposedly told Russia our intel secrets (which the Washington Post again anonymously sourced), speaks more to the “deep state” undermining Trump than to anything meaningful with national security.

Trump wants to expedite this Russia witch-hunt, and he should. Dems count on the ADD of Americans and that all we will remember is that the feds went after Trump. That is their end game, just to discredit their political opponents. Since they have few workable policies, it is the only tool left in their toolbox.

Comey said he didn’t indict Hillary, et. al. because he saw no “intent.” Setting up an illegal server apparently was not “intent.”

Prosecutors can do what they please. So many layers of laws upon laws make citizens confused and vulnerable to prosecutorial agendas. For example, in America, if your teacher sleeps with you, it is punishable by 10 years in prison, but in France, it gets you elected president. 

Ron Hart, a libertarian op-ed humorist and award-winning author, is a frequent guest on CNN. Contact him at Ron@RonaldHart.com or @RonaldHart on Twitter.

What's your view? Write a letter to the editor.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: If at first you don't succeed, lie, lie again

As a proud two-year member of the Crestview Area Chamber of Commerce, I was taken aback by former city councilman Bob Allen’s comment, “…what is this organization doing for the community? Monthly breakfasts and annual barbecue and Halloween events do little to attract outsiders to want to come to this fair city and invest their resources.”

Mr. Allen, you may think Crestview citizens know little about how a municipality works, but it’s more than apparent to me that you do not know how a chamber of commerce works.

The purpose of a chamber is to gather business owners to network with one another and help each other in advancing their own businesses. I know the staff and many of the executive board members personally and I can assure you they work diligently to make sure that the chamber’s members are well accommodated.

The Crestview Area Chamber of Commerce is also the most forward thinking in the county concerning young professionals, despite the city of Crestview’s tendency toward the contrary.

The Crestview Chamber has the first active young professionals committee among the county’s other chambers and has a chair-elect that is in her early 30s.

The Crestview Chamber is really the biggest asset to keeping Crestview businesses alive in a city that levies unnecessary hardships on entrepreneurs. If you don’t believe me, just look at all of the empty buildings downtown and along the highways.

When business owners had to fight to get the Crestview City Council to lift an antiquated alcohol ordinance to allow more businesses to open in the downtown area, it became the embodiment of what the city of Crestview thinks of accommodating new business.

On top of the Gerrymandering of the city itself, the high asking price of commercial property plus taxes and the dubious fast-track process the city allows for corporate businesses to sprout like mushrooms while entrepreneurs are required to nearly bankrupt themselves in order to get established, it’s obvious that the city, not the chamber, is the problem.

Furthermore, when outsiders come to invest their resources into making the city itself more efficient, they tend to get run out of town by one particular city councilman who not only shoots down new ideas, but calls said outsiders everything short of “damn Yankees” in the process.

Thankfully, there is a new wave of progress coming to our fair city: something I like to call the “Hub City Spring.”

Crestview citizens are calling for change in the form of a Facebook group, and it’s already made a dent in the good-ole-boy way of thinking in this town.

Crestview Citizens for Change still has a long way to go, but at least its members are taking steps in the right direction. 

Johnny C. Alexander is a Crestview resident and freelance writer, photographer and videographer.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview, not the chamber, is the problem

I’ve requested information about Crestview's 2012 charter review commission; who was on it, how were they chosen, what was their charge and responsibility, what did they consider, who did they consult, what did they find, what did they conclude, and what did they officially recommend.

We do know that, after a long and thorough research and debate, the 2012 commission recommended the following, which is the text of the official 2012 Okaloosa County ballot.

“Shall the city of Crestview replace its current charter with a new charter providing for:

•A council-city administrator form of government with an appointed city administrator, replacing a mayor-council form of government;

•A five-member council and mayor elected by the electorate of the city;

•An appointed city clerk, replacing a city clerk elected by the electorate of the city; and other administrative changes as described in Ordinance No. 1474.”

The ballot measure was declared invalid because someone in city hall failed the voters and put an incorrect date on the official filing. (Didn’t we have a city lawyer to review critical official city filings to protect the interest of the city, voters and taxpayers?)

Many, myself included, were happy to see the council begin to act to make our city government more efficient and accountable.

However, many are now concerned that some in city hall are prejudicing the process and outcomes by limiting the commission size, diversity of opinion and excluding consideration of core issues, like the responsibilities and appointment of a city clerk instead of an elected clerk, as we have now.

I’m a member of Crestview Citizens for Change. Most our 1,000-plus members are younger families, many new to the area, and make up a large portion of the city’s population. Will we be represented on the seven-member commission handpicked by the current elected city politicians?

Few of our members are new to Crestview politics and government. Will new voices and opinions be represented on the commission, or just the same crowd protecting the status quo?

Voters need to understand why the 2012 commission thought it was important to adopt the best practices outlined in the ‘model city charter’ employed by the overwhelming majority of municipalities in Florida and around the country.

That information will help inform voter consideration and increase voter confidence in the current effort.

Professionally, I manage technology and systems support and am all about ‘best practices.’ Here’s what the expert competent authorities at the National Civic League says about the appointment of charter review commissions:

“The appointment of this group of individuals, typically between 15 (and) 20 registered voters… (a)ll segments of the community should be represented…” the league’s “Guide for Charter Commissions, Sixth Edition,” states. “While in many cases the mayor and/or council plays a role in the appointment of commission members, the involvement of elected officials should end at that point. The charter process functions best when it is rooted in citizen involvement rather than one influenced (intentionally or unintentionally) by political officials directly serving as members.

“The most effective charter commissions are not dominated by lawyers, scholars and accountants, but made up of civic-minded, intelligent lay people with a common-sense approach to things. The members should a) be in touch with the perspectives present in the community; b) command respect from local residents; and c) bolster the confidence of citizens in the process and the work of the commission.”

Please, don’t stack the deck. Give us a voice. 

Matt Gates is not to be confused with Matt Gaetz, the U.S. congressman. He lives in Crestview.

What are your thoughts? Write a letter to the editor. 

Editor's note: The first version of this column stated a public records request to the city of Crestview had yet to be filled. That's no longer the case. 

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview Council, please don’t stack the deck

In the past several weeks, I have read articles concerning a lack of understanding of the wishes of the electorate in years past, and an obvious lack of knowledge about the proper role of municipal government.

In the paragraphs that follow, let us look at both subjects.

The idea of altering our city administration has once again raised its ugly head. Thrice in the past decade, or perhaps a little longer, it was suggested that the city employ a city manager, hired and supervised by city council, while reducing the role of the elected mayor to one who rides in parades, attends ribbon cuttings, and kisses babies, and three times the electorate voted down the idea.

When one considers this idea, it appears on the surface to be as a matter long overdue for adoption. But, think about this subject for a little while.

A professional city manager, based on classified advertisements that I have seen, does not come cheap: annual salaries are approximately $125,000, plus whatever benefits cost, plus a city automobile, plus a secretary and that individual's salary and benefits, plus a private office complex.

Add all this up and it is obvious that it would cost well over $200,000 per (year) for not much more than is already had.

The City Council, consisting of five individuals who normally meet twice a month to discuss city business, and who are not allowed by the state's Sunshine law to discuss any business outside of an open meeting would find it extremely difficult to garner a majority and timely vote to express a supervisory directive to a manager.

In other words, once hired, the city manager would virtually do what he, or she, wanted, or not. Assuming that the manager performed unsatisfactorily, it would require the council to bring up a discussion of concern in an open meeting and then have a majority vote to direct the manager to act otherwise.

As council would be entrusted with hiring a manager, it would also mean that it would be the duty of the council to dismiss the manager. This would mean that three out of five members, in an open meeting, would have to agree to act.

One recent article about this subject stated that of the 400-plus municipalities in Florida, only a handful of cities and towns function without a manager. Therein, it was implied, since most of the other places function with a manager, Crestview should do likewise.

This thought reminds me of the old joke in which a mother was asking her juvenile, "If Johnny Smith jumped off that bridge, would you have to do likewise?" Except, here we could ask, "Should Crestview have a manager just because others have managers?"

Obviously, there (are many) factors to be considered before a decision is made.

Before the citizens can be wooed into making the above-cited changes, I, for one, have a different solution, if it is deemed that our current form of government is lacking.

Like Pensacola — and I am not saying that we should mirror that municipality — I would strongly urge that the thought be given to converting to a "strong mayor" form of government. In this way, should the mayor be found lacking, it would be up to the electorate to fire the incumbent, either at the polls or by impeachment, should matters so warrant such an action.

The second item of concern is about City Council failing to bring more businesses, restaurants and places for the kiddies to play to Crestview.

It is apparent that those who voice these opinions are not familiar with the proper role of municipal government.

The role of municipal government, simply, is to provide those services that the individual citizens cannot provide for themselves, i.e., police and fire protection, roads and sewer systems, and whatever other services are deemed to be necessary for the body politic.

I once heard a distinguished educator and a former member of the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania state very emphatically, "If they want something else, let them go out and build it."

Granted that this is a hard line to take, but if analyzed it has merit. Council has no more authority in our form of government to create a business or open a restaurant than any citizen.

One solution to this dilemma is to address such concerns to the local chamber of commerce. Locally, this organization boasts of a membership of some 500, but what is this organization doing for the community? Monthly breakfasts and annual barbecue and Halloween events do little to attract outsiders to want to come to this fair city and invest their resources.

I earnestly suggest that great research and study be conducted regarding these subjects. 

Bob Allen is a former Crestview City Council member. 

What's your view? Write a letter to the editor.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview doesn't need a city manager

Dr. Glenn Mollette

I wish I had my mother this Mother's Day — actually, every day. How sweet it would be to talk to her on the telephone and talk about the weather, family and friends and hear about what she was doing.

How better yet it would be if life was such that I could take her to G.C. Murphy's snack bar and buy her a hotdog. Dad and Mom gave me $5 and bought me a bicycle if I agreed to have my tonsils removed when I was about 7 years old.

When Dad gave me the $5, I wanted to pay for our lunch, which consisted of hotdogs and Cokes at the old soda fountain bar in the now defunct G.C. Murphy's store in downtown Paintsville, Ky. It was the most money I had owned in my life and it felt good to treat Mom and Dad.

I never got the opportunity to do more for my mom and dad than they did for me. I would have liked to but time ran out. I hear stories about rock stars who buy their parents cars and houses and stuff like that. That's cool, but then often I hear about some of the same rock stars going broke and Mom losing the house, so that's not cool.

This is all beside the point. I just wish Mom were alive so I could buy her Sunday dinner and give her some flowers.

I took her some flowers on her birthday, Sept. 3, 2001. She was on a breathing tube and wasn't aware of my presence. I wanted to give her some flowers one more time while she was living.

Hindsight is always 20-20. We know people are going to die but we seldom make the most of our time with people.

Mom was a loving lady. She was a hard worker. She demonstrated Christian faith and perseverance and much more.

My wife and mother of my two sons passed almost 15 years ago. She was a great lady and mother to our children. She loved my boys more than life and the last thing she asked me to do was to please take care of them. I've tried, but no one takes the place of a child's mother.

My two grandmothers have passed on. My Mama Mollette and Mama Hinkle were just incredible women that would brighten any grandson's day. I wish I still had them.

There are numerous wonderful women who I can call and wish Happy Mother's Day and I think I will this weekend. Special moms need to know they are worthy.

I do have one very special mom in my life and that is my wife. She's great. She loves our five children and three grandchildren. She tries her best to go the third mile with each of them. She works, she cleans, she bakes, she washes clothes, worries, prays, cries, helps and is just an all-around great wife and mother. She is worthy of praise, love, flowers, candy, dinner and whatever I can come up with to give her.

I just hope that I can cherish the day with a great lady, wife and mom, because time, unfortunately, is not really on our side when it comes to lots of tomorrows.

On Mother's day, or any day, take lots of time and thought for the Moms in your life — while you have the chance.

Glenn Mollette is an American syndicated columnist and author.

What's your view? Write a letter to the editor.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Take time for Mom — before it’s too late

Americans pay too much in taxes. President Trump's idea to eliminate four of the seven tax brackets is an excellent idea.

Most Americans are sick of paying everything they make in taxes. If you enjoy paying taxes and disagree with what I am writing, simply write the Internal Revenue Service a check every month and mail them more money.

Let's consider some of the big money people first. A single person making $415,051 is in the upper tax bracket and pays 39.6 percent of their wages. To make our math simple we might as well say 40 percent or about $166,000. This would leave the affluent single person with about $249,000.

For all the Americans making minimum wage or living on disabled social security, they may wag their heads, point their fingers and say, "That's a heck of a lot of money and those dang people should be paying a lot more tax than that!"

The single person paying this much money, on the other hand, probably calculates that they are carrying seven or eight non-working Americans and could feel a bit irritated by how much tax they are paying.

Let's stay in the upper bracket and consider two married people working, filing jointly and making $466,951 will also pay 39.6 percent of their income or let's say 40 percent. For a round figure, they will pay about $186,780 in taxes. This would leave them with about $280,177. This is a lot of money to live on. However, imagine handing the government almost $187,000!

The adage is if you make it then you should pay it. My contention is who wants to work longer hours and harder and then pay most of it in taxes? We have our Congress people to keep up in their lifestyles. We have roads and bridges to maintain. However, everywhere I go I see tolls for roads and bridges. What about our tax dollars?

Let's go to the low bracket people. A single person making $9,276 is in the 15 percent tax bracket or $1,391 roughly in taxes, which is a lot of money! This leaves the single person with only $7,885. I realize there are other considerations and possible deductions, but this is simply for analysis and thought. The main point is no one can do much on $9,276 and much less on $7,885. If this person is placed in the 10 percent tax bracket, they pay $927 and this is a gain of $464. This is a lot of gasoline money for someone on such a meager income.

However, the standard deduction would nearly double under Trump's proposal.

"We are going to double the standard deduction so a married couple wouldn't pay any taxes on the first $24,000 income they earn. So in essence, we are creating a zero tax rate — yes, a zero tax rate for the first $24,000 that a couple earns," said Gary Cohn, head of Trump's National Economic Council, during the news conference that introduced the new plan.

The standard deduction for single filers is $6,350 and $12,700 for married couples filing jointly for 2017.

Too many Americans have an attitude that it's okay for the wealthy to pay 39.6 percent and even more but realistically every American gets tax-weary. We want a strong military and a strong country along with Medicare and Social Security but more and more tax dollars is not appealing to anyone who has to shell it out.

President Trump's idea of only three tax levels of 10 percent, 25 percent and 35 percent will encourage the current workforce and stimulate the economy with more working people. Less people working cannot carry this country even if they were paying 50 percent in taxes. A smaller percentage of money from millions more of employed people going to work will generate more money for our government and overall economy.

Trump's proposed corporate tax rate of 15 percent will also help us keep some jobs and bring some jobs back home.

Regardless of your tax bracket, let out a big "hooray for less taxes!" We can only hope. 

Glenn Mollette is an American syndicated columnist and author.

What's your view? Write a letter to the editor.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Why Trump’s tax plan benefits everybody

College presidents, the lambs of administrators, stand silent on the matter of free speech — unless, of course, it is far left speech, with which they agree.

That’s cool.

It is only differing opinions, which they label as "hate speech," that they want to silence and of which they are the sole arbiters. This is yet another term they have manufactured in order to silence opposition.

UC-Berkeley was the home of the 1964-65 protests, gaining fame as the birthplace of the Free Speech Movement. Provocateurs like Ann Coulter, hardly an extremist, salivate at the chance to speak there. Her speech on reasons to halt illegal immigration was bureaucratically strangled and then canceled by the administration at Berkeley.

The left does a great job of moving the goalpost with wordsmithing that suits them.

If you are against raising taxes, you "don’t want to pay your fair share."

If you do not want illegal immigration, you "hate Mexicans."

If you are against sanctuary cities, which ignore federal law and do not arrest illegals, you are "xenophobic."

Soon they will say if you have a black iPhone and tell Siri to do something, you are OK with slavery.

The left's articles of faith are that the U.S.A. is redneck, homophobic, supportive of white privilege, racist, xenophobic and treats immigrants horribly. Thus, we should allow all illegal immigrants to come here to enjoy all sorts of benefits.

“Comic” Hasan Minhaj predictably went after Trump as being a pawn of Russia at the self-congratulatory nerd party called the White House Correspondents' Association dinner. 

Of course, they never made any jokes about Obama. It is said in Moscow that every comedy club has an adjoining, state-owned graveyard. We have the equivalent of it here: entertainment industry retribution and the Department of Justice.

Hasan had one Hillary joke, at which the press hissed, proving again that you can only joke about Republicans, never Democrats.

Offering no proof or examples, Hasan closed with the lie that Trump does not believe in the First Amendment. Of all people, Twitter-happy Trump believes in free speech. It was his ability to get around the media’s historic censorship and contorting of speech that got Trump elected. And the media are mad. Historically, they control the narrative, so this was upsetting.

With their own credibility sinking, the big media met and made fun of Trump’s 45 percent approval rating. The day after the Correspondents' Association dinner, a poll came out; only six percent of those polled said “they have a great deal of confidence in the press.”

 Six percent! 

In a country of hyper-partisan political discourse, no one uses free speech more than the left; they call Trump a “fascist, Nazi, racist and pawn of Russia.”

One would think they would look inward and contemplate who is really engaging in “hate speech.”

About free speech, The New York Times said, “The idea of freedom of speech does not mean a blanket permission to say anything anybody thinks. It means balancing the inherent value of a given view….”

In short, you have the right to their opinion, not your own.

That isn't how it works.

Kids today are "owed" a college experience, and campuses are a fun place to spend four years while your parents pay your tuition.

But an important part of the mission of colleges, and especially UC-Berkeley, is to encourage free speech. The tenured, liberal professors who fought university power to protest the Vietnam War are now the ones in power, shutting down the free speech of others. Nothing changes in America without free speech; often initially unpopular ideas like gay rights, civil rights and ending stupid wars come to mind.

Robust free speech with competing ideas vets out what is best for America. If Ann Coulter cannot come to promote her book to a few college Republicans, what does that say about our expensive — and unaccountable — higher education system?

The left, who have stifled free speech, live in a world of hypocrisy. Can the left put a price on free speech? Obama just did: He charged a Wall Street firm $400,000 for one speech and signed a $60 million book deal.

Ron Hart, a libertarian op-ed humorist and award-winning author, is a frequent guest on CNN. Contact him at Ron@RonaldHart.com or @RonaldHart on Twitter.

What's your view? Write a letter to the editor.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Free speech suffocated on college campuses

To every resident bearing a Crestview mailing address,

As you are probably very aware by now, a small group of citizens is working to help move our City Council to establish a short-term committee to evaluate a change to our city charter to re-structure our form of government.

We currently have a weak mayor/council form of government with an elected clerk and have had this form since Crestview’s inception. The change many of us hope to make is to move to a manager/council form of government, as was suggested by experts in city development over the years, and more recently an expert from Mason-Dixon Polling.

The main argument is based on Crestview’s population growth — our taxes being the highest in the county — and with the current structure being part time, we can stand to significantly improve our government’s efficiency by having a full-time professional bearing credentials in public administration and city management.

Every other city in our county with similar population size has had a city manager over their cities for a very long time. Fort Walton went to a city manager in 1941.

I’ve heard from a number of citizens who are against this move, citing “the way we’ve always done things” as the reason, or just a general aversion to change.

I have yet to hear a quantifiable argument in favor of what we currently have, which is why I’m writing this letter.

I would like to hear a valid argument for keeping what we have, preferably an argument that can extinguish any of the benefits cited for a city manager. Bear in mind, a change to a manager/council form is not going to change the heart of Crestview or suddenly make us like large cities. Mary Esther has 4,000 citizens (we have 24,000) and they employ a city manager.

The manager is tasked with ensuring the taxpayers are receiving the highest value for their taxes and to act as a professional check-and-balance individual. Most save at least the amount of their salary within the first one to two years just off efficiency alone.

The only quantifiable reason I’ve heard so far is the cost of a city manager’s salary because the average in this area is $120,000 per year. To this argument, I’d refer you to the city’s adopted operating budget for the 2016-2017 fiscal year, which, if you resolve the math, you find nearly enough unaccounted for to where you could fund a city manager for one year.

The money might be accurately allocated, and this document is flawed, which, if that’s the case, our current structure did not identify this discrepancy while a city manager overviewing things like this would have spotted.

In a nutshell, in our current structure, we do not require any credentials related to running a city, because they’re all elected. That is to say, the minimum requirement to be elected to any of the offices is to satisfy the requirements to run for any elected office.

There’s nothing that says, “To serve as ______, you must have experience related to but not limited to _______.” Our city charter was last amended in the 1960s. The last attempt was in 2012 and the ballot item was thrown out due to a clerical error, which invalidated the item.

Our group also advocates for mail-out ballots, so instead of a 3.8 percent voter turnout like the last municipal election, maybe we can dramatically move that number higher. Whether you support change or not, we should all be involved.

So, in closing, if you’re against this change, I invite you to defend what we have so I can understand your perspective, understanding that moving to a city manager won’t fundamentally change Crestview’s amazing community.

Our group is called Crestview Citizens for Change, and you can find us on Facebook. The next council meeting is on May 8, and details can be found in our group or on the city website at www.cityofcrestview.org.

Matt Gates is not to be confused with Matt Gaetz, the U.S. congressman. He lives in Crestview. 

What's your view? Write a letter to the editor.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview needs a city manager

If you haven’t seen the YouTube video “The Hot-Crazy Matrix,” please Google and watch it. It’s a tutorial on dating, worthy of a Nobel Prize in science.

First, like the man-made global warming narrative, the video involves graphs and science and, therefore, cannot be denied. Second, its host is a Franklin, Tenn., council member who wears a sidearm and thus represents authority.

We can’t have substantive discussions on matters of importance like this — (analyzing women for their beauty or mental state to make informed dating decisions) — in America because we are a nation full of people just waiting to be offended. And if people aren’t offended, the liberal media are eager to tell people why they should be offended.

It seems everyone can produce a scientific study. For example, one study says drinking wine and eating chocolate are good, but the next week another study says they’re bad. I would think both men and women benefit when ladies drink. Alcohol lowers bad cholesterol, which is good for women, and it lowers their standards, which is good for us men.

The same study determined that women who carry a little more weight live longer – certainly longer than men who point it out.

Another study concluded that most 50,000-year-old cave drawings were done by women, proving that, since ancient times, men have had no say in home decorating.

As a gender, we men are not much. Women’s expectations of us are way too high, leading to their disappointment upon marriage. We are immature in college and really don’t improve much from there.

The blame for women’s unrealistic expectations of men lands squarely on Hollywood’s romantic comedies. For years, women have watched movies where a frumpy woman meets somebody like Hugh Grant. He is cute, listens to her, never married, likes to cuddle, and works in media or rescues kittens at a nonprofit in New York.

Yet, inexplicably, he lives in a $4 million, impeccably decorated brownstone. Yes, ladies, these sorts of men exist — and they are gay.

Meanwhile, in real life, Hugh Grant was arrested for picking up a prostitute while he was dating model Elizabeth Hurley.

The guys in your office watch only ESPN and “Jackass” movies, sleep on a futon and have a FICO score of 200. You do not want to look at their browser history.

Women mystify men with questions like, “Do you love me for my brain or my looks?” Don’t answer, men; it’s a trick! There is no right answer.

To men, women can seem to defy logic. We know you love garage sales. And you like lingerie. But, as I found out the hard way, you don’t like lingerie from a garage sale.

How are we to interpret all this? “Women are from Venus, men from Mars.” Aside from one gender being able to check out of a hotel room without first making the bed, there are vast differences between the sexes that the PC police want to erase. That explains the growing confusion.

A guy friend of mine took the bait from his girlfriend and went to see a shrink about their relationship. (Guys, never do this; it will not turn out well.) After he spent a year and $5,000 on a psychologist for his “personal journey,” I asked him what he had learned. He said he found out that, deep down, he is really shallow.

In short, ladies, you cannot go wrong by lowering your expectations of men and by watching fewer romantic comedies. As Oscar Wilde noted after visiting tacky Niagara Falls hotels for the first time, their honeymoons would be the first of many disappointments for young brides.

Just recognize that we are different, and enjoy the ride!

Ron Hart, a libertarian op-ed humorist, and award-winning author, is a frequent guest on CNN. Contact him at Ron@RonaldHart.com or @RonaldHart on Twitter.

What's your view? Write a letter to the editor.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Women and men are from completely different planets

An encumbrance will often weigh us down or prevent us from going forward.

Trinity Lutheran Church in Columbia, Missouri, should not receive taxpayer dollars for their preschool daycare playground.

A few years back, they requested money from the state to rubberize the surface of their daycare children's playground. The money was denied and it has become a case appearing before the Supreme Court. 

A church asking the state for money sets a bad precedent — especially if the Supreme Court rules in their favor.

If churches and any of their ministries take money from the federal government, then they should pay taxes from their weekly offerings and endowment funds that some churches pile up for future endeavors.

Most churches couldn't make it if they had to pay such taxes. A state-controlled church is the last thing America needs. Once this happens to the church, there will be no going back.

I don't think Christian churches want to be told they have to hire gay and lesbian leadership. Many churches already do so by their own choice, but they make the choice, not the government.

The churches that do hire gay and lesbians don't want to be told they can't.

Most churches do not want to be told they must hire a Muslim to teach daycare Bible stories, either.

Churches have demanded and fought for a few liberties, and it's not wise for any church or religious group to give up their freedom to teach and exercise their faith free from most federal encumbrances for money.

Speaking of encumbrances, Bill O'Reilly or Fox News should never have paid a dime to anyone if the allegations of sexual harassment were false. Paying out $13 million does not speak of innocence.

We understand $13 million to O'Reilly and Fox is small change.

We understand wanting to settle and move on without further encumbering themselves.

Unfortunately, malignant cancers return unless met head on and dealt with in a conclusive fashion. Putting a little salve or a Band-Aid on a tumor does not bring about real resolve or a cure.

The result is a network that is now reeling and the greatest primetime cable program in history is now history.

Speaking of encumbrances, Kim Jong-un of North Korea is a pain in the neck. The world has faced aggravations and rear ends, and now we are staring at one again.

The people of South Korea have to live in the realm of, “What if Kim Jong-un really messes up and fires a missile at Seoul?” America cannot battle North Korea, Iran, Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Russia. We don't have enough tax dollars to fund enough military or the weapons and ships to cover all the territory.

I remember a cartoon character that ran out of breath trying to keep seven plates spinning on sticks. He was successful, but only for a few seconds.

Our wars and nation building go on for years while our country and people are neglected. I would rather fight any war in another country than have one come to America.

We must be defensive in our daily strategy against terrorism and threats like Kim Jong Un. If we have to attack, then so be it, but how many nations can we battle before we begin to crumble?

Encumbrances come to all including churches, national figures and even our nation.

Avoiding, or freeing ourselves, from too many encumbrances, or the wrong ones, seems too difficult for most people. 

Glenn Mollette is an American syndicated columnist and author.

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This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Encumbrances — state churches, O'Reilly fallout and Kim Jong-un