Month: August 2025

 

Democrat Governors from California to Illinois to New York and Massachusetts are complaining about states with Republican majorities redrawing lines for their Congressional Districts. Texas is the first to do it this year.  The complaints are odd considering that those states did the same thing over the last several decades to elect more Democrats to the House.

Now, Republicans will admit they have 12 states with no Democrats in the House. That adds up to 30 Republicans. California alone has them outnumbered with 43 Democrats.

Democrats are saying they will redistrict to counteract any increase in Republican-leaning districts. The Massachusetts governor was excited to join in until she was told their Congressional delegation is already 100% Democrat.

How about some common horse sense. For Democrat and Republican leaders, maybe the best way to elect more Congress members from your party is to attract more voters with good solid policies that are good for America. In the 2026 election about half of registered voters will vote. For many districts, if either Democrat or Republican leaders can persuade three-fourths of their party in a district to vote, they will win.

You might have heard this week that a pro football player got engaged. There hasn’t been this much excitement for a professional sports star getting hitched since Joe DiMaggio of the Yankees married Marilyn Monroe in 1954. Now, a tight end in Kansas City will never be as famous as DiMaggio. But the young woman he gave a diamond ring is more popular than Marilyn, especially with teenage girls and women of all ages. Taylor Swift will keep on performing and singing beautifully. Chief fans are hoping Travis Kelce can keep his focus on catching the football.

As I mentioned last week I drive a Ford F-150. I filled the tank today with gasoline at $2.76. I heard that Ford has lost more than $45,000 on every Electric Vehicle sold. Henry Ford was criticized for hanging on to the Model T for too many years. I think the current Ford leaders should have got out of EVs before they got in, and the sooner the better. Let Elon have that share of the market.

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

         “Tomorrow is Labor Day. I suppose set by act of Congress. Everything we do nowadays is either by or against acts of Congress. How Congress knew anything about labor is beyond us, but any how tomorrow is Labor Day. It’s a day in the big cities when men march all day [in parades] and work harder than they have in any other of the 365. Even the ones that ain’t working, labor on Labor Day.” DT #967, Sept. 1, 1929 (This was 2 months before the stock market crash that started the Great Depression.)

COLUMBUS, Ohio: I’m a day late because I got home last night from a conference (more details below) in Herndon, Virginia, a suburb of Washington. We didn’t see any National Guard or federal officers in the vicinity of our Marriott. And I didn’t hear of any murders or stolen cars there either. My Ford pickup sat in the parking lot for four days, unscathed.

According to President Trump, Washington has gone 12 days without a murder. That just shows what an extra thousand heavily armed officers can do in a city that’s only 10 miles across. The want-to-be criminals are getting a clear message: if there’s a guy in DC you want to kill, first you have to come up with a plan to lure him to Baltimore.

Did you see the latest idea to stop illegal immigration? The 30-foot wall of steel I-beams along the Rio Grande apparently is not stopping intruders who are experienced climbers. Homeland Secretary, Kristi Noem, came up with a plan. She found a hot deal on black paint and ordered a million gallons. I’m not sure if she intended to buy a million gallons, or just hit the wrong button on her Amazon order.

Secretary Noem knows from growing up on a ranch in South Dakota that black steel can get mighty hot in the summer sun. She decided that painting those tall I-beams black would get ‘em so hot it would curtail the climbers. On paper, it looks like a good plan. But she and her partners forgot a couple of minor details. When the sun goes down, black steel is the same temperature as plain old rusty steel. And prospective illegal immigrants who can’t wait until sundown can buy a pair of oven mitts. Or insulated work gloves.

President Trump and the Trump family got good news from a New York court. You may remember that NY Attorney General Letitia James demanded they come up with $500,000,000,000.00 (including interest) before Trump could appeal the ruling. The Appeals Court threw out the excessive fine.

Since that $500 Billion load is off his back, the President can help Secretary Noem buy more paint. And he might kick in enough to buy a couple of high-powered paint sprayers so she doesn’t have to use a roller with a telescopic handle to reach the top.

The conference I attended in Herndon, VA, is the Veteran Speakers Retreat. In this case, “veteran” means older, not military. The founder of this great group, however, is a veteran of WWII, 97-year-old Dave Yoho. He continues to speak with a strong voice, and is often called on to speak for, and represent, those who served in WWII. (Do the math and you’ll realize he lied about his age to join the Merchant Marines.)  For our annual 4-day retreat, the group is limited to about 75, including a few spouses. Many are still in their prime as professional speakers. Eleven attendees are past-presidents of the National Speakers Association. I feel honored to be included.

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

        “I am not going to tell you any jokes today. 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

The meeting between Trump and Putin in Alaska on Aug. 15 was about as successful as the flight 90 years earlier by Wiley Post and Will Rogers. The difference is no planes crashed and no one died.

But Trump learned the deep-down honest truth about Putin: He is a ruthless, brutal, uncivilized Communist dictator. He smiles, and can utter nice words, but it’s a coverup. Unlike Trump, who wants to end the war against Ukraine to save lives, Putin places no value on a human life. He doesn’t care if he has lost a million soldiers fighting Ukraine. He cares even less about Ukrainian lives. The more Ukrainians who die or leave the country, the better. Putin wants to take over ALL of Ukraine, and if the remaining 35 million people leave, that means Putin will have fewer enemies and can repopulate Ukraine with Russians.

Will Rogers had insight about Hitler, and a good understanding of Russia. As you will see near the end of this series of quotes, Will predicted World War II.

          “Russia is starving her own people in order to feed propaganda to the rest of the world. A guy named Hitler has Germany like Capone has Chicago.” (DT #1320, Oct 16, 1930)

           “Well, we just wake up in the morning to see who will get the headlines. ‘Mussolini is moving into Abyssinia,’ ‘Stalin builds up the Red army to one million,’ but today Hitler took the play away from not only the dictators but away from St. Patrick.” (DT #2687, March 17, 1935)

        “Hitler broke out on me and tore up the Versailles Treaty. It wasn’t a good treaty, but it was the only one they had.  And he tore it up.  And they had been about a year fixing it all up, all these nations. We got in on the signing of it.  We got nothin’ out of the treaty, outside of the pen that we signed with. And last week England sent a delegation over to talk with Mr. Hitler, and see if they couldn’t get some other understanding with him. But England didn’t get to say a word.  Hitler talked all day, and it wasn’t in English, and England didn’t know any more when they went home than they did when they got there. What they was tryin’ to do was to see if they couldn’t get him to make some other arrangements about the treaty.  So now, another man named Mr. Eden from England has gone on to talk to Russia. No nation don’t like Russia, and they don’t like communism and all that, but they would use them in case a war come around. Well, they’ve told Russia, ‘Now, you’re communistic, and you believe in dividing up everything.’  And they said, ‘Ordinarily, we don’t. We don’t believe in it.  But it looks like we’re going to have a war over here and we would like to split it with you boys.’ So they’re going to let Russia in on a good thing in case it shows up.” Radio, March 31, 1935

So, Putin is today’s Hitler. He has been in power in Russia for 25 years, which is longer than Stalin. He expects to stay in power as long as it takes to restore the old USSR. No matter if he only wrangles 20% of Ukraine today, he will eventually capture the entire country. And then Poland will be in his gun sights.

Tomorrow, Trump will meet with Zelensky and several European leaders at the White House. What can they do to stop or slow down Putin’s invasion of Eastern Europe? Will economic sanctions work? Can they cut off Putin’s access to the international banking system? Can they eliminate the export of Russian oil and gas, except to China?

Speaking of China, watching all of these negotiations is Xi Jinping. If Putin is rewarded with 20% of Ukraine, he may launch an invasion on Taiwan. Grabbing 20% of the island would give him a foothold. Like Putin, he doesn’t care about the lives of his own people. Even if an invasion cost him two million of his own military (highly unlikely), he still has over a billion people. And if all 20 million on the island die or leave, like Putin in Ukraine, Xi would be thrilled.

Let me close by admitting I don’t have any special insights on Putin, Russia or China. This Will Rogers quote is a good summary, “If I wanted to start an insane asylum that would be 100 percent cuckoo, I would just admit applicants that thought they knew something about Russia.” (DT #1291, Sept. 12, 1930)

President Trump and Russia’s Putin will meet to negotiate peace in Ukraine in Alaska on August 15. Yes, August 15, in Alaska.

Exactly 90 years ago (Aug. 15, 1935), Will Rogers and Wiley Post died at Point Barrow, Alaska when Wiley’s airplane lost power on takeoff and crashed, nose first, into a few feet of water along the coast.

You might wonder what clout Trump has over Putin and Ukraine President Zelensky? Putin’s Army controls about 22% of Ukraine territory. And Zelensky says he will not give up any territory to Russia. None!

Trump mentioned a possible “swap” between the two countries. But what is there to swap? Putin is determined to eventually take back all the Eastern European countries that were behind the Iron Curtain after WWII, including Ukraine. I’m sure he’s mad that his predecessors, in 1867, sold Alaska to the U.S. for a pittance, only $7,200,000. He may try to convince Trump that that payment barely covered the value of the barren land, and Russia actually kept the mineral rights to the oil and gas.

President Trump has used the economic power of the U.S. to force peace between other warring rivals. In this case, he has indirect influence over the amount and price of oil that Russia exports because 40% of it goes to India. Trump figures he can convince India to stop buying Russian oil through increased tariffs and other trade restrictions.

Back to Zelensky’s point… Since Russia invaded Ukraine and is singularly responsible for the billions in damages and loss of life, why should they get to keep ANY of Ukraine territory. After WWII, did Germany get to keep a piece of France? Did Japan get the Philippines? Of course not.

Let’s go farther. Ukraine should get to take over an area of Russia equal to the 22% of Ukraine that Russia has occupied, and largely destroyed. Land adjoining Ukraine is some of the best farmland in the world. Seems totally fair compensation.  Of course, this common horse sense solution will never be accepted, or even proposed.

Texas Democrats are in a quandary. To keep Republicans from redrawing Congressional district boundaries to favor Republicans, they flew off to Illinois, California and New York. Those 3 states are experts at Gerrymandering district lines to favor Democrats.

Democrats have traditionally been better at Gerrymandering than Republicans. But look at Oklahoma today. Kamala Harris got 36% of the vote but not one of the 5 Representatives in Congress is a Democrat. Every county voted for Trump, meaning it would take some incredible manipulation of boundaries to make up a majority-Democrat district. Maybe a couple of my Democrat friends can work on that for 2030.

In case you are wondering, my recovery from heart surgery on July 15 is pretty amazing. No pain. I’m walking 30 to 40 minutes a day. Driving a little, and should have no driving limits in a week or so. Still being cautious so my chest bone gets welded back together. Even my scars are nothing to brag about.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“This Alaska is a great country. If they can just keep from being taken over by the U. S., they got a great future… There is only 30,000 white people in Alaska and there is seventy commercial planes operating every day, in winter on skis… There may be some doubt about the Louisiana purchase being a mistake, but when Seward in ‘67 bought Alaska for $7,000,000 he even made up for what we had overpaid the Indians for Manhattan Island.” DT #2815, Aug. 13, 1935

“Well, we had a day off today and nothing to do, so we went flying with friend Joe Crosson, Alaska’s crack pilot, who is a great friend of Wiley’s, and Joe Barrows, another fine pilot. In a Lockheed Electra we scaled Mount McKinley, the highest one on the American Continent. Bright sunny day and the most beautiful sight I ever saw… Flew right by hundreds of mountain sheep, flew low over moose and bear down in the valley.” DT #2816, Aug. 14, 1935

Weekly Comments: Random News: Jeans, Jobs, Russia, and Food for Gaza

#1270    Aug. 3, 2025

COLUMBUS, OHIO: Catching up on News this week. Congress adjourned for their August recess (vacation?) which removes one source of frivolous news.

President Trump announced a rebirth of the Presidential Fitness Test for students. I suggest he extend it to adults. Continuing with muscle building exercises and weight control has many benefits. One we seldom think about: if I’m in good physical shape I’ll be in much better condition to survive major surgery or illness and recover quicker. And more likely to avoid knee or hip replacement.

Meanwhile, an attractive young woman in excellent shape appeared in an ad promoting denim jeans. Critics jumped on Sydney Sweeney because she credits her “genes” with helping her look great in “jeans.” Where were these critics when Gloria Vanderbilt invented and modeled “designer jeans” fifty years ago? Beyonce, Brooke Shields, and other beautiful women with good genes have helped sell billions of pairs of over-priced denim. Not to brag, but I get my favorite “Rustler” denim jeans at Walmart for $25. So far, no one has criticized my choice in fashion.

Speaking of critics, the Bureau of Labor Statistics is being criticized for publishing inaccurate jobs numbers each month. The numbers are typically off by 40%. A former official defended the statistics, saying that teams of “hundreds” compile the monthly data. Here’s a suggestion for the President: fire the entire department. Bad data is worse than no data. Stop announcing a monthly jobs number that is a wild guess.

In a similar vein of inaccurate information, we’re just now learning the source of the fake Trump-Putin love affair story that partially derailed the first Trump Administration. Our top intelligence officials (Comey, Brennan, Clapper) and Democrats on the House Intelligence committee constantly spouted off about the Russians providing votes to Trump that helped him defeat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. Even John Durham’s multi-million-dollar investigation could not get access to secret messages between these top officials and Clinton.

You might wonder, why didn’t investigative journalists with the “mass media” dig into the details of the “Steele Dossier” and determine the logic of Putin’s opposition to Clinton. The simple answer is they all wanted Clinton to win. In Weekly Comments, I brought up an economic fact: Russia depends on crude oil sales for a major part of gross income. Would Putin prefer a U.S. president who wanted oil to sell for more than $100 a barrel (Clinton), or one who wanted a low price of $60 (Trump)?

One more contentious news item. In Gaza you have seen videos of tractor-trailers loaded with food entering the country and pallets dropped by parachute. Yet, we are hearing horrifying reports of children starving. So, who’s fault is it that food is not getting to the ones who need it? Is it Israel, the U.S., moms and dads, or Hamas? The only answer is Hamas terrorists. They use Gaza civilians as human shields, with no regard for their safety. The more civilians, especially children, Hamas can claim have starved in Gaza, the worse they make is sound for Israel and the U.S. Unfortunately, Hamas propaganda is winning. College students and European countries are taking the pro-Hamas side against Jews and Israel.

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

“I am just like a politician. The less I know about anything, the more I can say about it.”  Jan. 27, 1935