>> TIME FOR ANOTHER OF OUR REGULAR SESSIONS WITH RON
CHIMELIS.
VIEWPOINT COLUMNIST FOR THE REPUBLICAN AND MASS LIVE.
AS USUAL, WE TOUCHED ON A LOT OF DIFFERENT TOPICS FROM HIS RECENT
COLUMNS, AND WE STARTED WITH THE RACE FOR THE WHITE HOUSE.
>> IT'S LIKE NO OTHER KIN THAT I'VE BEEN WATCHING, AND I AM NOT
A PERSON THAT LIKES TO MAKE THE STATEMENTS, NEVER HAPPENED
BEFORE BUT THIS IS UNLIKE WHAT I HAVE SEEN.
THE COUNTRY SEEMS TO BE VOTING, OR AT LEAST VOICING ITS BEEN ON
ANXIETY, AND TRUMP AND SANDERS YOU, IN DIFFERENT WAYS, TAP INTO
THAT.
PEOPLE ARE NERVOUS ABOUT PAYING FOR COLLEGE, THEIR HEALTH CARE,
AND THEY ARE NERVOUS ABOUT ISIS AND NERVOUS ABOUT IMMIGRATION,
AND THERE IS A LOT OF ANGER AND RESENTMENT IN THIS COUNTRY.
WHETHER THAT WINDS UP TRANSLATING INTO ACTUAL VOTES IN
THE BALLOT BOX, WE'LL SEE, BUT THE CAUCUS AND PRIMARY TELL ME
THAT, DON'T COUNT EITHER OF THESE PEOPLE OUT.
EARLY IN THE CAMPAIGN, I THINK WE HEARD, I HEARD PEOPLE SAY,
TRUMP CAN'T WIN, SANDERS CAN'T WIN, AND WE'RE HEARING LESS OF
THAT NOW.
>> ON THE DEMOCRATIC SIDE, HILLARY CLINTON, AGO YEARS AGO,
WHEN SHE LOST TO BARACK OBAMA, CLOSED THE CAMPAIGN OFF BY
SAYING WE HAVE MADE 18 MILLION, ONE FOR EACH VOTE SHE GOT,
18 MILLION CRACKS IN THE HIGHEST CLASS CEILING, AND EVERYBODY
THOUGHT THIS WAS A YEAR THAT SHE PUSHES THROUGH THAT, AND SHE IS
NOT, AND SHE IS NOT GETTING THE VOTES OF WOMEN, ESPECIALLY YOUNG
WOMEN, ONE OF HER SUPPORTERS, MAD LINE -- LINN ALBRIGHT SAID,
SOMETIMES IN GEST AT TIMES, IN HER OPINION, A SOME PLACE IN
HELL FOR WOMEN WHO DON'T HELP OTHER WOMEN, YOU HEARD ABOUT
THAT, AND THAT BOTHERED YOU.
>> IT DID BOTHER ME BECAUSE IF WE ARE GOING TO GIVE A QUALITY,
AND I DON'T BLAME HILLARY CLINTON.
SURE, SHE WANTS WOMEN'S VOTE AND SURE SHE WANTS TO TAP INTO THAT
BUT I THINK THAT SHE IS RUNNING A CAMPAIGN BASED ON HER MERITS
AS SHE WANTS TO PRESENT THEM.
AND SOME OF THE PEOPLE SUPPORTING HER ARE NOT HELPING
HER, MADELEINE ALBRIGHT IS NOT ONE OF THEM, I THOUGHT IT WAS
OFFENSIVE, GET IN LINE, BE QUIET AND GET IN LINE AND DO WHAT YOU
ARE TOLD.
NO VOTER WANTS TO HEAR THAT.
AND I DON'T THINK IT DID HILLARY ANY FAVORS.
I THINK THAT SHE HAS HAD TO APOLOGIZE FOR STATEMENTS THAT
SHE DIDN'T HAVE TO MAKE.
>> YOU KNOW, IT'S INTERESTING, AND YOU KNOW THE DAD OF A YOUNG
WITH YOUNG WOMEN, AND UNDER 30, NOBODY HAS SAID TO THEM, YOU
CANNOT BE A LAWYER.
YOU CANNOT BE A DOCTOR.
YOU CANNOT BE A SENATOR OR A PRESIDENT.
THAT JUST IS NOT IN THEIR MINDSET, AND GOOD, AND THAT'S
GOOD, AND BUT, THE OLDER FEMINISTS, THE MADELEINE
ALBRIGHTS AND HILLARY CLINTON AND THE GLORIA STEINAM'S WHO
OPEN THE DOOR CAN'T BELIEVE THE YOUNGER WOMEN ARE NOT READY TO
GET IN LINE.
>> THEY DON'T RELATE TO THE YOUNGER FEMINISM.
I AM NOT SURE THAT I WOULD SAY THAT ABOUT HILLARY CLINTON, I
WOULD SAY IT ABOUT GLORIA.
HER COMMENT TO BILL MAHAR WAS WORSE, SHE SAID THE ONLY REASON
WOMEN WERE SUPPORTING SANDERS WAS BECAUSE THEY WANTED TO MEET
GUYS.
HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT AND EXPECT WOMEN TO RESPECT WHAT YOU STAND
FOR?
I THINK THAT PEOPLE LIKE GLORIA FEEL THAT THEY HAVE BEEN
FORGOTTEN IN THE FEMINISM MOVE, AND NOT APPRECIATED, BUT THE
ISSUES HAVE CHANGED, AS YOU INDICATED, THIS IS A 19, THIS IS
NOT 1975 OR 1995.
IT'S A DIFFERENT EQUALITY, AND I THINK THAT THEY FACE SOME
OBSTACLES, WOMEN DO, BUT IT'S DIFFERENT, AND I THINK THAT THE
VOTING POPULATION IS GOING TO REFLECT THAT.
>> AND JUST BECAUSE YOU'VE BEEN TOLD, YOU CAN BE ANYTHING, WE
STILL HAVEN'T SEEN IT HAPPEN.
>> NO, NOT TO THE DEGREE THAT WOMEN WANT.
THERE ARE WOMEN SAYING WE WANT A WOMAN PRESIDENT BUT DON'T
NECESSARILY SAY IT HAS TO BE HILLARY CLINTON.
CARLY FIORINA IS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT AND I DON'T THE
FEMINISTS STANDING UP FOR HER.
>> SHE WAS.
>> SHE WAS, OK.
IT DID NOT GET AS FAR AS SHE WOULD LIKE BUT THE ISSUES OF
FEMINISM HAVE CHANGED BUT THE OLD GUARD OF FEMINISM IS
STRUGGLING WITH THAT CHANGE, I THINK.
>> IT'S AN INTERESTING COLUMN, WE KEEP SAYING, I KEEP HEARING,
AND I DON'T BELIEVE IT, BUT I DON'T FEEL IT, THAT, YOU KNOW,
1960s, THE NEW 40, AND NO, IT'S NOT, BUT YOU WROTE A COLUMN
ABOUT, THE AGES.
DONALD TRUMP, HILLARY CLINTON, AND 69 HEADING TOWARDS 70 BEFORE
ONE OF THEM WOULD BE PRESIDENT.
BERNIE SANDERS WILL BE 75 BY ELECTION DAY, I BELIEVE.
YOU WONDER, DO WE NEED TO TALK, AND ABOUT THE AGE OF PEOPLE
RUNNING?
>> I THINK IT'S A FAIR QUESTION.
I AM NOT SAYING DON'T -- I AM KIND OF STRADDLING ON THIS.
I AM NOT FAR FROM THOSE AGES, SO I HAVE TO STRADDLE, BUT, IT'S A
FAIR QUESTION THAT I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE FEEL EMBARRASSED TO
BRING UP NOW.
I THINK THAT YOU MIGHT REMEMBER AND I REMEMBER WHEN RONALD
REAGAN RAN FOR PRESIDENT IT WAS A MAJOR ISSUE.
THAT WASN'T THAT LONG AGO SO I THINK IT'S A FAIR ISSUE, NOT THE
ONLY ONE BUT I THINK IT'S WORTH TALKING ABOUT.
>> AND QUESTIONS WERE RAISED, PRESIDENT REAGAN, WHO DID GO
INTO ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE, AS HE AGED, THERE WERE QUESTIONS OF
WHETHER, IN HIS LAST TERM, PERHAPS, HE WAS EXPERIENCING
SOME OF THAT, AND HE WOULD HAVE BEEN IN HIS LATE 1970s.
>> THE QUESTIONS BY PEOPLE WHO LIKED HIM AND MEMBERS OF HIS
FAMILY, BERNIE SANDERS WILL BE 75 YEARS OLD ON ELECTION DAY,
AND MEANS HE WILL BE 79 YEARS OLD BY THE END OF SAID FIRST
TERM, IT DOES NOT MEAN THAT I'M SAYING HE CANNOT DO IT, BUT
LET'S THINK ABOUT THAT, AND THAT IS A FACTOR, AT LEAST SOMETHING
TO CONSIDER IN THE ENTIRE PACKAGE OF LOOKING AT
CANDIDATES.
>> LET'S GO IN ANOTHER DIRECTION, WOMEN AND THE DRAFT.
SOME TOUGH MILITARY OFFICERS HAVE SAID, WE HAVE NOW OPENED,
BASICALLY, ALL COMBAT ROLES TO WOMEN WHO WANT TO PARTICIPATE,
AND THAT LEVEL OF THE MILITARY, AND THEY SHOULD HAVE TO SIGN UP
JUST LIKE ANY OF THE YOUNG PERSONS, AND ANY MAN, AT AGE 18
FOR THE DRAFT.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
>> I THINK IF WE ARE SERIOUS ABOUT EQUALITY, WHICH THE MOVING
WOMEN INTO THE COMBAT ROLES TELLS ME WE'RE LOOKING AT TOTAL
EQUALITY OR SOMETHING VERY CLOSE, I DON'T SEE WHY THEY
CANNOT SIGN UP FOR THIS SERVICE, AND THAT'S JUST A PREPARATION.
IN CASE THERE IS A DRAFT.
AND THERE IS NO REAL COMMITMENT TO PUT THEM INTO COMBAT BY
ASKING THEM TO SIGN UP, BY NOT ASKING THEM TO SIGN UP YOU ARE
STILL HAVING A TWO TIERED SYSTEM AND I DON'T SEE ANY REASON FOR
THAT ANY MORE.
>> INTEREST YOU WROTE A, AN EFFECTIVE COLUMN, ONE YOU READ
THROUGH IT TWICE TO GET THE INTERFERENCE AND IS NUANCES.
>> I CONFUSED YOU THE FIRST TIME.
>> I THINK IT'S JUST ME, BUT A YOUNG WOMAN, WHO WAS WORKING IN
THE SPRINGFIELD SCHOOL SYSTEM, AND A PIECE OF VIDEOTAPE FROM
JUST A COUPLE OF YEARS BACK WHEN SHE WAS IN COLLEGE, AND COLLEGE
ATHLETE, AND CAME OUT, AND HORRIFIC STUFF.
SHE WAS SAYING RACIST AND HOMOPHOBIC REMARKS, WAS BROUGHT
TO THE CITY OFFICIAL'S ATTENTION AND DISMISSED FROM A POSITION,
WORKING WITH KIDS IN THE SPRINGFIELD SCHOOL SYSTEM, AND
THERE ARE THOSE WHO SAY HEY, SHE WAS PUNISHED AND PUT OFF THE
COLLEGE TEAM, WHEN THIS HAPPENED, AND TIME TO LET HER
MOVE ON, AND YOU SAID, AS HARD AS IT MAY BE, THIS WAS THE RIGHT
DECISION TO MOVE HER OUT OF THE SCHOOLS.
>> IT WAS A DECISION THAT I DEFENDED, AND I UNDERSTAND IT,
AND I WAS TORTURED BY WRITING THEM AND THE ONLY REASON -- I
HATE TO WALK AWAY FROM THE HARD ONE, AND I THOUGHT THIS WAS A
REALLY HARD ONE.
THERE WERE THOUSANDS DEFENDING HER, AND I UNDERSTAND WHY.
WOULD PEOPLE DEFEND A BLACK PERSON IN A REVERSE ROLE
SITUATION AND I WOULD HAVE TO SAY I WOULD DOUBT IF THEY WOULD
GET THAT LEVEL OF SUPPORT.
I DON'T WANT TO SEE HER LIFE RUINED.
I DON'T KNOW THE WOMAN.
I DON'T.
BUT, I DO THINK IF WE ARE GOING TO BE FAIR WE HAVE TO LOOK AT
THIS FROM BOTH SIDES OF THE GLASS, AND IN THIS CASE, IT HURT
HER, AND I CERTAINLY UNDERSTAND WHY, AND THE MAYOR AND THE
SUPERINTENDENT FELT THAT THEY HAD TO DO WHAT THEY DID.
>> ANOTHER INTERESTING COLUMN, IN RESPONSE TO THE REPORTS THAT
CAME OUT REGARDING CONDITIONS, HEALTH AND SAFETY IN SOME OF THE
AREA JAILS, NOT THE HAMPDEN COUNTY CORRECTIONS BUT PROBLEMS
IN THE JAILS, AND YOU WERE STRUCK NOT BY THE REPORT, BUT BY
THE REACTION AND THE COMMENTS PEOPLE POSTED, BASICALLY, SAYING
THAT TOO BAD IF IT'S NOT GOOD IN JAIL, AND WAS THE HECK, YOU DID
NOT GO TO CHOIR PRACTICE TO GET THERE.
>> THEIR RESPONSE, AND I KNEW IT WOULD HAPPEN, I DON'T ALWAYS
READ THE ONLINE COMMENTS, ESPECIALLY DIRECTED AT ME, BUT,
WHEN I DO READ THEM, THEY SAID LOOK THEY GOT WHAT THEY DESERVED
AND THEY SHOULD NOT BE THERE AND THEY ARE THE REASON THAT THEY
ARE IN JAIL, AND WHO IS GOING TO FEEL SORRY FOR THEM?
THE ONLY PROBLEM IS THAT THERE ARE RULES AND LAWS, THAT HAVE TO
BE ABIDED BY.
AND THE QUESTION WITH THE JAILS IS WHETHER THOSE WERE NOT BEING
ABIDED BY.
YOU HAVE TO FOLLOW THE LAW.
EVEN IF IT MEANS CLEANING UP JAILS WHEN PEOPLE SAY WELL, THEY
ARE THERE BECAUSE OF THEIR OWN DOING, THAT'S A SIMPLISTIC
ANSWER BUT A COMMON ANSWER.
>> AND I HAVE GOT TO GO TO ANOTHER AREA, TOTALLY DIFFERENT
BUT INTERESTING COMMENTS IN A COLUMN, ABOUT DECISION, A
DECISION BY WMA RADIO, AMHERST RADIO, CUTTING BACK FROM 12 TO
FOUR HOURS, THE WEEKEND POLKA MUSIC PROGRAMMING.
>> I FEEL FOR THE POLISH COMMUNITY.
I TELL YOU WHAT, THIS IS FOUR HOURS, NOT LIKE THEY ARE GETTING
SHUT OUT.
THERE WAS A CUTBACK BY THE U-MASS RADIO STATION TO GO TO
MORE STUDENT ORIENTED PROGRAMMING BUT THESE PEOPLE
SUPPORTED THE STATION AND USED TO THEIR POLISH POLKA
PROGRAMMING AND I LIVER -- LIVE IN CHICOPEE, AND THEY WERE VERY
UPSET, AND IT WASN'T A LAUGHING MATTER.
IT IS DISAPPOINTING, I THINK U-MASS HAS THE RIGHT TO DO IT
BUT I FEEL FOR THE PEOPLE WHO LOST THEIR SHOWS.
>> RON CHIMELIS, GOOD TO HAVE YOU IN AND INTERESTING STUFF.
>> THANK YOU, SIR.
>> THANK YOU, JIM.