While I was in Washington last week I stopped in the âold joke factoryâ to see what Congress is up to. Mainly I went up on Capitol Hill to visit âmyâ Oklahoma Congressman Markwayne Mullin. His office is in the Longworth House Office Bldg, named after an old friend, Speaker of the House from Ohio, Nicholas Longworth. After chatting about ten minutes he said, âIâve got to go cast a vote. Come with me and weâll take some photos in front of your statue.â Now I ainât bragginâ, but I bet thereâs not a one of you that ever had your Congressman offer to pose for a picture in front of your statue.
At the start of the tunnel leading to the Capitol I had to go through security. Those guards do a fine job protecting the Capitol because I had to empty my pockets just like at the airport. Congressman Mullin carried my saddle bags and lasso because he wasnât sure if they would be allowed in there for a visitor, even one with a statue, but they trust a Congressman. Striding through that long tunnel he looked right at home with saddle bags slung over his shoulder with a lasso hanging down, because heâs a rancher. He also runs a plumbing company but I wonât get into that. But I can see where plumbing tools could come in handy in Congress, especially when a bill gets clogged up with too many crappy amendments.
Well, we got to the entrance to the House, and right there, keeping an eye on Congress, is âmyâ statue. One of his assistants, Liz, shot a few photos of us, and he said âSo long,â and went in to vote. Liz helped me find my way out. We went through the big rotunda under the dome, and she said it would be closed soon because of construction. Youâve all seen the scaffolding surrounding the dome on the outside; now they are ready to start work on the underside of the dome.
Meanwhile, Secretary Kerry was telling the Senate about the Iran nuclear deal he negotiated. He likes it, President Obama likes it, Iranâs Ayatollah Khamenei likes it. Also Russia, Hezbollah, and the UN. But Israel, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, and average Americans donât trust Iran with a nuclear bomb. We donât even trust âem with a bazooka.
Do you know Donald Trump is running for President? Of course, itâs all over the news, and I mean all over it. Thereâs 15 other Republican candidates who are lucky to get 5 seconds of air time. Trump was in Laredo, Texas, facing off against Mexico. Next week, August 6, heâll be in Cleveland facing off against 9 of those other candidates. What a show! Even Hillary will tune in.
President Obama continues to insist the Gitmo prison needs to be closed because it is costing far too much taxpayer money to house a few Islamic terrorists. Meanwhile, he is on a 2-day trip to visit his relatives and leaders in Kenya, costing us taxpayers $1,000,000,000. Wouldnât it be more sensible to fly a thousand Kenyans to Washington for 2 days? Bring a few Ethiopians, too.
Historic quotes by Will Rogers:
âA diplomat is a man who tells you what he donât believe himself, and the man he is telling it to donât believe it any more than he does.â Saturday Evening Post, June 9, 1928
âDuring this hot weather I donât want the blame of settling anything wrong⊠Heat and reason donât go together. Thereâs going to be a lot of spouting from the radio and from the speakersâ platforms all this summer. Thereâll be more perspiration than common sense flowing.â Radio, June 9, 1935
âWhat this country needs is more working men and fewer politicians.â WA #95, Oct. 5, 1924