Month: August 2024

A few folks have referred to Kamala Harris as the backup Quarterback who comes into the game after the starter suffers too many blows to the head, his brain is addled and he is removed from the game. (Some say the last of those blows was from his own teammates.)

Now, if you are not into football, you may want to stop reading. However, this analogy shows what can happen if football gets politicized.

A young Kamala Harris became a football Referee in Berkeley, California. No one was sure about her qualifications, but she came highly recommended by the respected Willie Brown. Her time as a Referee produced some odd results. Often a major penalty, such as crushing the quarterback, was reduced to a 5-yard penalty instead of 15. Several lower-level infractions were not called at all. If a defensive tackle jumped offsides only a half a second early, she ignored it even if the quarterback got smashed to the ground and broke three ribs.

After a few years, she was promoted to be the Referee for the state of California. She called a few major penalties on drug criminals, but overall, she closed her eyes to more crimes than she penalized.

This is where it gets weird. Based on her performance as a Referee, she was drafted as a football quarterback and sent to Washington. Before reporting, she somehow made them change their name from the Redskins to something less distinctive. In those early years with the team, she was mainly known as a passer. Not an outstanding passer, but that was her reputation despite having more interceptions than scores.

Then she decided to go for it all; she wanted to be the starting quarterback! During the early months of practice, she flopped so badly that she was the 12^th rated QB and dropped out of the competition. But soon a miracle saved her career; based on an odd set of qualifications and statistics, she was named the backup QB. In that role, she was determined to become a prolific passer. Twice, with time running out in a tie game, she made passes that won the game for her starting QB, earning her team a bonus of about Four Trillion Dollars to spend, much of it frivolously. No one connected with her team seems to know where the money came from. But millions of fans of other teams across the country are convinced it came out of their pockets.

Despite those critical passes, this backup QB fell into disfavor. Too many fumbles. Many connected with the team urged the top executives to demote her and bring in another backup QB for the tough, demanding games near the end of the season. As you get close to the playoffs, you need a competent backup QB.

Then another miracle; among the available high-ranking quarterbacks, none wanted to join as No. 2. They all decided that 3 or 4 more years of experience with their own team would give them a better crack at jumping directly to be the No. 1 QB in Washington.

In a sudden shock, the starting QB suffered brain damage and was forced to leave the game. The failure had been gradual over a couple of years, but his team supported him, propped him up, and almost made it to the championship.

Now they are desperate. The backup QB they all wanted to fire is standing there, jumping with excitement, shouting “Pick me! Me. Me. Me.”  In an unbelievable turnaround, this backup QB became the darling of the team. It was unanimous, one hundred percent, total support for QB Kamala Harris.

Remarkably, the new QB has rebranded herself. Instead of a passing QB, she is now a running quarterback. Naturally, everyone connected with the team is cheering for her success. With her unique charm, she has attracted fans from other teams. Imagine, abandoning your own team to cheer for a previously little-known opponent.

The coach, or whoever is calling the plays (and no one is sure who that is), installed a play just for her that is proving successful. Here it is: The other 10 players all form a tight wedge that is designed to overpower the 11 opponents, giving the running QB an open field to the goal line.

Stay with me; The 11players on defense are journalists. Their job is to tackle her and keep her pinned down long enough to make her answer important questions. But oddly, as she is running her favorite play, at least 8 of the 11 defenders back away, refusing to lay a hand on her. Three run off the field to get a drink. Five actually join the Offense, drowning out questions shouted desperately at the QB as she glides on by. As she crosses the goal line, she is filled with Joy, and laughs uncontrollably at her doubters.

Of course, the other team (Republicans) gets the ball and has their own chance to score. Their starting QB has been around for what seems like a long time. But only since 2016. He is reminiscent of George Blanda of the Chicago Bears. As Trump and his team take the field, suddenly the opposition (journalists) is alert and ready to pounce. No backing away now. The blocking and tackling is fierce. Tough questions get precise answers, such as, “On energy, we will become a supplier to the world. Drill, baby drill. On illegal immigration, when we say, ‘Don’t come,’ it will be backed up by a 30-foot wall. We will grow the economy, build more businesses right here in the USA, increase tax revenues without raising taxes, and bring down inflation.”

It’s not easy, but the Republicans score, tying the game.

Ok, this “game” will continue until November 5. Everyone expects it to be a tight score. As Will Rogers said on election day in 1932, “let everybody pray that it’s not a tie, for we couldn’t go through with this thing again.”

(Next week I’ll tell what I’ve been doing in August, including an Award that helps explain why this is a day late.)

Randall Reeder
WillRogersToday (dot) com

 

Democrats are gathering in Chicago for an unusual convention. It won’t be as wild as their convention 100 years ago. That one lasted 17 days and took 103 ballots before finally agreeing on John W. Davis as their nominee to take on Calvin Coolidge in 1924. I guarantee if this one goes even close to 17 days, the pro-Hamas protesters/rioters will tire out, leave Chicago, and return to college campuses to harass Jewish students.

You may recall that a month ago, Joe Biden was the nominee for a second term. He won all the primaries, without any real competition. And as recent as three months ago, he was being encouraged to drop Kamala Harris as VP and pick someone more competent.

Then Biden dropped out (forced out?), Kamala Harris was designated as his replacement, and the process of reinventing her began. She is already the “Czar of AI” (Artificial Intelligence) and is using it to the full extent. She still looks the same, even more joyful and beautiful, but her policies and deeply held beliefs have been turned 180 degrees. At least until November 5. Then the AI-generated Harris 2.0 will revert to the original Kamala of San Francisco, California.

After more than three weeks of ignoring the press, Kamala Harris promised a few key items for her “Opportunity Economy.” She will give first-time home buyers $25,000. That will have the same effect on house prices that generous student loans have had on college tuition.

Then she pointed out that food prices have jumped since Trump left office, specifically eggs and ground beef up 50%. That comment immediately caused Democrat voters to wonder, if Trump had been reelected would food costs have stayed low?

She plans to have the federal government control the price of food. She claims that Kroger, Aldi, and other grocery chains are making outlandish profits. She was reminded their profits are usually less than 3%. So, having learned that economics lesson, she may force grocers to pay their suppliers less. She wants farmers to get less money for cattle, hogs, chickens, and major crops such as wheat. After all, if the price of a loaf of bread is going to be set at $1.00, the farmer shouldn’t get more than a nickel for the wheat. That’s bad for the farmer, but worse for the rest of us. The bakeries will decide they will lose money at $1.00 a loaf, so they will shut down, laying off thousands of employees (who are making $20.00/hr thanks to a recent increase to cover inflation). At the local grocery store, the shelves in the bread aisle will remind us of Venezuela.

Maybe if Harris becomes President, she can go after successful companies with higher profit margins. I read that Apple makes over 25% profit. Instead of attacking food producers, how about setting the maximum price of an I-phone (and the same for Samsung and others) at $500. Having no new phones would get a howl from 300 million people quicker than going without bread.

I promised a couple of questions for Republican candidate, Donald Trump. You want to deport about 10 million people who came here illegally under Biden. For ICE to accomplish this in 4 years would require about 30 to 40 plane loads of illegal aliens leaving every day for countries around the world. How do you plan to do this, and where will they go? Suggestion: the first planes should haul away the hundreds of shyster lawyers who argue that illegal aliens aren’t illegal.

You promise to bring down energy prices (gasoline, diesel, electricity). Are you sure the oil companies, for example, will be happy with $50 a barrel instead of $80?

While thousands of pro-Hamas protesters/rioters (most of them well paid) are harassing Democrats in Chicago, the Hamas top leaders are lounging in their Penthouse suites in Qatar. They are smiling, laughing, and enjoying the spectacle of the U.S. and European nations negotiating with Israel.

Hamas has no fear of losing because they hold dozens of hostages. The longer Hamas terrorists hide behind Gaza women and children, the higher the price tag (in Billions of dollars) and the number of Hamas prisoners Israel must release to get their citizens returned, alive or dead. President Biden sent Secretary Blinken to Qatar, probably to promise even more Billions for release of hostages, including a few Americans. As Will Rogers wrote about diplomacy in 1923, “Our foreign dealings are an open book, generally a check book.”

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

       “You know I have often said in answer to inquiries as to how I got away with kidding some of our public men, that it was because I liked all of them personally, and that if there was no malice in your heart there could be none in your ‘Gags.’ And I have always said I never met a man I didn’t like.”  WA #392, June 29, 1930

Columbus: I was in Colorado for 6 days so I skipped a “Weekly Comments.” Did anything happen while I was gone?

Yes, the Democrat-designated nominee Kamala Harris made a decision on her running mate from among the 2 or 3 still interested in being a VP. She picked Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota. He seems to agree with her on everything. That’s important, kinda like Trump selecting Sen. JD Vance of Ohio.

Walz was governor in the summer of 2020 during the protests that turned violent. He did nothing to stop millions of dollars in damage and the destruction of several businesses. Like Nero, he fiddled while Minneapolis burned. And for any rioters that got arrested, Kamala Harris was coordinating with her friends to bail them out of jail.

If elected, Walz can continue the Biden Family policies with the Communist leaders in China. He spent a lot of time in China starting in 1989. He made about 30 trips, including for his honeymoon.

Meanwhile, Kamala Harris is surging in the polls. On social media, women (and a lot of men) are going wild over the prospect of her being the first woman President.

I read that, even though she is running for President, we are not allowed to ask probing questions because she is a woman and she is Black. Any serious question would be interpreted as racist or anti-female. We can ask similar questions of Donald Trump, Joe Biden, JD Vance, and other men, but not her.

So, I will abide by that rule. I will NOT ask her these 10 questions:

1. You changed your mind and now support hydraulic fracturing of oil and gas wells. With that 180-degree switch, do you also regret being the tie-breaking vote in the Senate on the mis-named Inflation Reduction Act that is borrowing $400,000,000,000 to spend on solar, wind, and EVs?
2. Do you still favor allowing transgender girls (biological boys) to compete in high school and college sports?
3. You announced in Nevada that you want to eliminate income taxes on tips. What other ideas already favored by Trump do you plan to adopt? Maybe complete the border wall?
4. You said recently you have a plan to manage illegal immigration. Why haven’t you and President Biden already used that “plan” the last 3 years?
5. As the California Attorney General, you wrote a bill titled “Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act.” It was “Prop 47” and of course the voters supported it. But instead of anything related to safety, it allowed thieves to steal up to $950 per day from stores with no consequences. Would you like to expand that law nationally, meaning criminals could legally steal over $300,000 in a year?
6. Do you favor adding the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico as new states?
7. To stop the killing of Gaza citizens, do you want the Hamas terrorists to surrender and release the hostages, including several American citizens?
8. What policy changes would you make to keep Iran from funding terrorists in Lebanon, Gaza and Yemen?
9. Do you want Ukraine to regain territory taken by Putin and remain a free, independent country?
10. You challenged Trump to debate. He accepted and has scheduled 3. Will you accept all 3, and more if requested?

As I said, we’re not permitted to ask her those questions. So I won’t.

A dream job this summer would be a journalist assigned to cover Kamala Harris. Since she was named as the Democrat nominee for President 3 weeks ago, she has held no press conferences. So, no effort needed to come up with unique, in-depth questions. The daily report would be simple “No comment from the VP today.” Get to enjoy flying around the country on Air Force 2. And the Vice-President says she will continue to ignore the press corps until the end of August. Wow, what a job!

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

“You know the American custom is when you can’t beat a man at anything why the last straw is to Debate him.” Life magazine, Aug. 9, 1928