Month: December 2024

Jimmy Carter died today at age 100.

As the President for four years between Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan his accomplishments were often overshadowed by problems with high inflation and 52 Americans being held hostage by Iran for 444 days.

However, for 44 years he has been our most outstanding former president ever. He was an engineer, farmer, Sunday School teacher, and builder of homes for Habitat for Humanity. He was a true servant leader.

Now, on to the main topic for this week. I have friends who are lawyers. We are blessed with plenty of good, honest lawyers.

We also have an oversupply of lawyers who mess with the natural flow of our economy and our justice system. This is not new. Will Rogers made the same point ninety years ago, “Went down and spoke at some lawyers’ meeting [American Bar Association convention] last night. They didn’t think much of my little squib yesterday about driving the shysters out of their profession. They seemed to kinder doubt just who would have to leave.” (DT#2791, July 16, 1935).

Here is an example. President Biden granted clemency to 37 federal prisoners on death row for murder. Instead of being executed, they will remain in prison for the rest of their lives. (Yes, Joe Biden has a law degree. He graduated in 1968 from Syracuse in the bottom 10% of the class.)

You have already read or heard complaints about this undeserved leniency. I have a different take on the issue. In one case a policeman in Columbus was murdered and the man confessed. That happened TWENTY YEARS ago. Why wasn’t he executed a few weeks or months after his trial? Most of the 37 have been on death row for many years. Why?

In these examples, our legal system is out of control. Most, if not all, of those 37 men should have been executed years ago. Biden did not grant clemency to three of the very worst who killed multiple victims. One, Dylan Roof, killed 9 church members in South Carolina and was convicted 7 years ago. Why is he still “enjoying” life in a federal prison?

Illegal immigration highlights another example. Lawyers who favor open borders prevent rapid court decisions on deportation, meaning that once immigrants sneak in, it takes years to kick them out. Sanctuary cities have mayors who are… lawyers.

President-elect Trump has promised to deport illegal immigrants, starting with those who have committed heinous crimes. That’s probably over a million. Here’s my suggestion: Make every illegal immigrant we deport take his lawyer(s) with him. That would speed up the deportation process and save us Billions of dollars. (Do you realize we taxpayers are paying the salaries, directly or indirectly, of these lawyers?)

Guatemala announced they would accept our deported immigrants with no place to go home to. But I rather doubt they would accept their lawyers.

While I’m picking on shyster lawyers… we have too many lawyers and not enough professional engineers. I’m not taking sides on Elon Musk’s comment that we need to allow companies to hire more foreign engineers. But it’s a fact, our schools and universities are not producing enough engineers, scientists, and other technical experts. Too many lawyers decided algebra and physics classes were too hard, so they chose an easier path through school.

Happy New Year to you!  (including lawyers!)

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

       “A comedian is not supposed to be serious nor to know much. As long as he is silly enough to get laughs, why, people let it go at that. But I claim you have to have a serious streak in you or you can’t see the funny side in the other fellow.” WA #13, March 11, 1923

      “Did you read how many thousands, not hundreds, but thousands of students just graduated all over the country in law? Going to take an awful lot of crime to support that bunch.” DT#1527, June 15, 1931

Did you read the huge “breaking news” story in the New York Times? The journalists at the Times revealed that President Joe Biden has had mental issues almost his entire term. Wow. What a surprise.

For people who only get their news from the NYT or television networks (other than Fox), this really is breaking news. They had no idea of the President’s limited mental capacity until June when he stumbled through the debate with Donald Trump.

The “lame duck” Congress debated and wrestled with a budget bill to avoid a government shutdown. A 1600-page bill, loaded down with “pork barrel” items, was killed when Elon Musk, supported by Trump, pointed out the goal is to reduce federal spending, not increase it. Finally, on the third or fourth vote, a 118-page bill passed at midnight Friday.

Several TV commentators decided Elon Musk was the one in charge, not Trump, and started calling him “President Musk.”

Considering Joe Biden’s mental condition, do they still call him “President Biden?” Who in the White House is making the decisions? Who decided to sell the unused steel components of “The Wall” for a few pennies on the dollar? Who decided to ban exports of LNG? Who decided to let federal employees continue to work from home for five more years? And, looking back to 2021, who decided to encourage millions to cross our borders illegally?

Switching to a heavier topic… San Francisco has a budget deficit of over $800,000,000. So, Mayor Breed decided to ADD to the deficit to address an essential issue for the future of the city. She hired a person to build up the self esteem of fat people. You read that right. She hired a fat woman to encourage overeating by the residents of San Francisco. Any average size person who eats enough to become obese will receive a tax break. And folks who are currently fat, including illegal immigrants in the sanctuary city, can receive the same tax rebate if they gain 20 pounds.

Ok, I’m joking about the tax breaks. I think the mayor is counting on restaurants and grocery stores to profit handsomely and pay more taxes to cut her deficit to around $799,000,000.

Merry Christmas from the Reeder family and Will Rogers.
Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“This was a very happy Christmas for me, in fact the best I have enjoyed in years. The shirts my wife gave me were the right size for the first time since wedlock. Of course, they were the wrong color, but one, if married, must not be too particular. For a while it looked like I would spend a perfect Christmas. Then about noon a necktie arrived.” WA #108, Jan. 4, 1925

“Still getting straggling Christmas cards. But they were mighty welcome I tell you. Just on first thought a Christmas card don’t mean much, but the older you get the more you like to open ’em and know that someone has remembered you.” WA #525, Jan.15, 1933

HILLIARD, Ohio: If the barrage of drones had come 75 to 100 years ago, we would have figured it was Martians. But we’ve learned enough about Mars to rule out Martians. Oddly, we don’t know enough about Russia, China or Iran to rule out any of them.

President Biden may be going after the record for pardons that was set almost a hundred years ago. Texas Governor “Ma” Ferguson pardoned more than 3200 convicted criminals during her two-year term. We don’t know who in the White House is drawing up the list of criminals to receive pardons or commutations. Unlike Santa Claus, no one is “checking it twice to find out who’s been naughty or nice.” There’s a few scoundrels on Biden’s list that rank up there with Al Capone and John Dillinger.

If the handsome 26-year-old that shot the insurance company CEO in the back can get convicted before January 20, some love-struck woman in Biden’s administration may wrangle him a pardon. Meanwhile, a few jerks are mad that Daniel Penny is a free man. He is the Good Samaritan who protected New York subway riders from catastrophe by subduing a crazed man. Anyone who admires the murderer and hates Daniel Penny needs an appointment with a psychiatrist, even if their health insurance doesn’t cover it.

Time magazine gave their Person of the Year award to Donald Trump. He was the obvious choice. A few disgruntled Democrat commentators are having fun comparing Trump to Stalin and Hitler who were also honored as “Man of the Year” by Time.

Kamala Harris was on the short list of potential Time honorees. All she had to do to be Time’s Person of the Year was win the election. That’s all. And if she had, those same commentators would be happily comparing her to Taylor Swift, the Person of the Year for 2023. Only difference is that Taylor Swift has made a Billion dollars, while Kamala Harris squandered a Billion.

Will Rogers always bragged about accomplishments by heroes from his home area of Claremore and Oologah, Oklahoma. So, I’ll highlight the star player in the Navy upset of Army, 31-13. Quarterback Blake Horvath is from right here in Hilliard, Ohio. He ran for 204 yards and 2 touchdowns, and threw for 2 more TDs.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“Time (magazine), that’s where all the authentic news comes from.” WA #446, July 12, 1931

“I have always been a reader of the magazine ‘Time’ ever since it started.” WA #604, July 22, 1934

Last Sunday I said the President’s pardon of Hunter Biden would give “America something to argue over other than college football upsets and positions in the 12-team playoff.”

The pardon and college football playoff have dominated conversations this week. The Clemson narrow upset of SMU knocked out Alabama. The Big 12 feels jilted because only one team, Arizona State, got in while the Big 10 has four. The first round will be played Dec. 20-21.

In addition to the playoffs, there are 35 other Bowl games. Wow. Old-timers will remember when there were only a half dozen Bowl games. And the smallest was probably the Tangerine Bowl.

Now these Bowls have names including Duke’s mayonnaise, Scooter’s coffee, Idaho potatoes, Cheez-its, and Pop-Tarts. (Those will be hard on my diet. I would prefer an Omaha Steaks Bowl.) Others are sponsored by a Mortgage (with a Guaranteed Rate?), Snoop Dogg, Gronk, and Tony the Tiger. I guess we’ll have to watch the games to find out what Radiance, Isleta, Wasabi, Reliaquest, and Transperfect represent. One Bowl is sponsored by… Bowling.

President Biden pardoned Hunter for any and all crimes committed since 2014 and into the future. It also has the effect of protecting the entire Biden family from prosecution for any financial deals since Joe became Vice-President in 2009.

Democrats are hinting that President Biden might “pre-pardon” several top Democrats that President Trump might decide to prosecute for made-up charges connected to impeachments, the 2020 election, and January 6 trials. Names mentioned include Adam Schiff, Liz Cheney, and Dr. Fauci.

One person NOT mentioned is VP Kamala Harris. I think Biden might pardon her, but he will never excuse her for wasting $1,500,000,000.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

     “These post-season football games never decide anything… Yours for games that decide something.” DT #1049, Dec. 5, 1929

     “Pittsburgh is coming out to play [the undefeated University of Southern California] New Year’s in what we humorously call our ‘Rose Bowl.’” DT #1982, Dec. 10, 1932 (USC beat Pitt, 35-0)

Columbus: Is losing a football game as disappointing as losing an election? If it is Ohio State losing to Michigan for the fourth straight year, the answer is “Yes.”  Even if the election was for President. (Read the Historic quote below)

Here’s what I wrote after the Nov. 5 election, and it might apply on the Columbus campus Monday: “In some of our top universities, with our top students, the election results were so troubling that professors canceled classes Wednesday so they could get therapy, hold hands and play tiddlywinks. And that was just for the professors. “

The Michigan players were not satisfied with a 13-10 win.  Instead of running into their dressing room to celebrate, they embarrassed themselves and their university by planting a Michigan flag in the middle of Ohio Stadium. “An unsportsmanlike gesture by the Michigan players,” said Fox announcer Gus Johnson. “They won the game!”  Naturally the Ohio State players reacted and a skirmish broke out. Police used pepper spray to break up fights. A lot of Buckeye fans wish the players had had that much “fight” in them during the game.

Interestingly, a couple of other college teams won on their opponent’s field and followed the Michigan example.

Speaking of the election, President-elect Trump continues to nominate people who support his campaign promises to top positions. TV news commentators seem surprised Trump is choosing men and women who agree with him. Kash Patel as Director of the FBI is drawing the ire of Democrats who fear he will serve the political interests of the President. Oddly, they seem to forget that the FBI under Presidents Obama and Biden did exactly that. The Russian collusion hoax, targeting parents who complained at PTA meetings, and the Peter Strzok-Lisa Page love affair overshadowed the great law enforcement activities of the FBI agents on the ground across the country.

Tonight, President Biden changed his mind and pardoned Hunter. No one should be surprised. Despite a gun charge and tax evasion, Hunter was usually acting on behalf of his dad and helped accumulate millions of dollars for the Biden family, including “10% for the Big Guy.”

Biden’s 180-degree turn gives America something to argue over other than college football upsets and positions in the 12-team playoff.

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

        “Dr. Wilce, the Ohio State coach, just showed me their new stadium, seating 100,000, built by hard study and excellent scholarship. They can seat 200 students to every book in the university. They lost to Michigan by a kick after touchdown. He has 400 students practicing day and night to kick goals.”  DT #139, Jan. 14, 1927

(Note: On Saturday, the OSU kicker missed 2 field goals in the 13-10 loss to Michigan.)