Month: June 2026

          COLUMBUS, Ohio: We are in the middle of celebrating our 250^th birthday.

Oddly, we have a lot of Americans who are not celebrating. Their lack of enthusiasm is offset by the wild applause from visiting soccer fans. Why do soccer fans from Europe and around the world love America?

If these disgruntled Americans visited a few other countries for a month, they might come home with more appreciation for the blessings offered here. They would likely experience expensive food and fuel, fewer choices in stores, higher taxes, less or no freedom of speech or religion, and no opportunity to protect yourself with a gun. And during a heat wave in Europe, no air-conditioning.

Socialists are trying to take over the Democrat Party, ignoring the effect if they eliminate Capitalism. I heard a suggestion that we split the country. Half would be a Socialist “country” and the other half Capitalist.

Well, Will Rogers had a somewhat similar suggestion on his radio show, June 9, 1935. Will spent about 10 minutes humorously describing how it could be done, with Democrats splitting the country with Republicans. Allow me to shorten and paraphrase that idea, with “Socialists” replacing Democrats. This is a mix of authentic quotes and my paraphrasing. “We ought to split this country up.” Socialists get New York, California, and several other states; Republicans get the other half. The Socialist half would be led by Mandani; the Republicans would run their half “with a board of directors.” “The Republicans would have all the money, but the Socialists would have all the fun.”

         “If the country split that would naturally do away with the national debt. The Republicans would perhaps continue the same way, but the Socialists wouldn’t take long to dig up a deficit.” “I doubt if the plan will ever get very far because this is not a time for common sense.”

Here’s a quote from 10 years earlier, “Half the people in the United States would rather collect one dollar from the Government than get $10 from an individual [meaning business].” WA #119, March 22, 1925

The Great American State Fair is underway on the National Mall. Each state has a booth. Our Governor, Mike DeWine, welcomed folks to the Ohio booth. There you’ll see a map with industries and attractions represented. But, to see the butter cow and enjoy ice cream treats, you need to visit the real Ohio State Fair, starting July 29 in Columbus. (The Iowa State Fair also has a butter cow.)

West Virginia has FFA students showcasing pigs, chickens and other livestock that is a main attraction at most state and county fairs across the country.

The Oklahoma booth includes cowboy culture, small-town life, and famous natives including Will Rogers. Note: Will starred in the 1933 movie, “State Fair.”

The Supreme Court has been busy. For two decisions, they had to explain the meaning of “temporary” (as in, nowhere near 15 years) and “in” (meaning not close by). Tomorrow they may explain the meaning of a complex phrase, “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”

For my farmer friends and anyone who likes nutritious food, the USDA announced a plan to support soil health that is backwards. Taxpayers will be rewarding corn and soybean producers for improving their soil health to grow crops for FUEL. Instead, we should be rewarding farmers who improve their soil health to produce healthier FOOD. (The nutrient density of food from healthier soil is greater, and better for us.) Only a third of our corn goes into ethanol fuel; most of the rest feeds animals, which we then enjoy eating.

Historic quote from Will Rogers: (after an around-the-world trip)

“Oh, boy. I was glad to set my old big feet on American soil, even if it has got a second mortgage on it. Had the greatest trip I ever had in my life and I believe if everybody made it, they might come back poorer but better off in the feeling toward our country.” DT #1730, Feb. 9, 1932

You may wonder why I’m concerned about Democrats. After all, a well-known quote is, “I’m not a member of any organized political party… I’m a Democrat.”

It’s not Democrats that concern me, it’s Socialists. Socialists have been a minority party for decades. Eugene Debs ran for President in 1900 and four more times. You probably don’t know him because he never got any serious votes.

Socialists realized they weren’t getting anywhere as socialists. So, starting with Sen. Bernie Sanders, they are horning in on the Democrat Party. The mayors of New York and Seattle got elected on Socialist promises. Candidates, including Senators in Maine, Michigan and Texas, and candidates for Congress and city council are running as Democrat-Socialists.

Who votes for these Socialists in a Democrat Primary and/or General Election? Mainly people who are ignorant of common sense, and government union members. They like the persuasive campaign promises of more services without paying for them. They believe the high-income wealthy will gladly “share the wealth” (a phrase made popular by Sen. Huey Long of Louisiana). We’re at high risk as a society when the voters who are “on the dole” or working for a government check outnumber the voters who are manufacturing products such as cellphones, cars and life-saving drugs (and growing our food).

Here is a key fact these folks ignore: Socialism is only possible in a capitalist society. Otherwise, they “run out of other people’s money” (quoting Margaret Thatcher).

Journalists and Democrat leaders need to ask these candidates, “How has socialism worked in Cuba and Venezuela after the capitalist economy was eliminated?” And the follow up question, “How do you keep the capitalists from leaving your city or state or country?”

As we celebrate 250 years since July 4, 1776, we have had plenty of Presidents, from George Washington to Donald Trump. A few were unpopular. But I don’t recall a time when political opponents decided a good way to express their hatred of a President was to vandalize the National Mall. A few weeks ago, vandals sprayed Roundup on the grass to write a threatening message. Now the refurbished Reflecting Pool is getting a lot of attention from the media. Not sure if vandalism is involved or just bad luck with the paint and algae.

Our Department of Homeland Security has its hands full protecting fans at World Cup games and, incidentally, stopping an organized attack on the White House grounds on June 14. They should not have to send dozens of armed guards to protect the entire area from the Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol.

The World Cup is drawing huge crowds and compliments from foreign fans. They like us! They like our food! Even Waffle House. Scots in Boston drank all the beer in town and joyously sang, not a hit song from Scotland, but one of my favorites, “Country Roads, take me Home.” The Japanese cleaned up the trash in their section of the stadium. Meanwhile our own NY Knick fans trashed their city.

I watched part of a game today, Belgium vs. Iran. After 90+ minutes the match ended, 0 to 0. The Ayatollah praised the team for a huge win over Infidels.

As a soccer outsider, I offer a few tongue-in-cheek ways to add excitement and reduce the number of games ending 1-0, 2-1 or 0-0. Increase the width of the goal by 3 meters (that’s 10 feet here). Add a shot clock. Games can go 10 or 20 minutes with no one taking a shot. Count turnovers. That could give the clock operator something to do between starting the clock and stopping it 45 minutes later. Keeping track of 200 to 300 turnovers in 90+ minutes could improve the kicking. What player would want to be reminded, “You had 47 turnovers.” He would be encouraged to get that down to a league average of 22.

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

On a Mother’s Day tribute, 1935, Will added, “Father had a day, but you can’t find anybody who remembers when it was…  It’s been so confused with April the first.”

          COLUMBUS, Ohio: Los Angeles will have two nearly identical Democrats running for Mayor in November. The outsider, Spencer Pratt, was in second place behind Mayor Bass from election day until a week later. They kept the voting open until enough additional ballots arrived to knock out Pratt. Then they quit counting.

In Sacramento, they tried the same strategy but finally gave up when Tom Steyer could not buy enough extra votes to move ahead of Steve Hilton in the race for Governor.

Keep in mind there is no evidence the above “speculations” are true. But the California voting system is so messed up that this scenario seems logical. Democrats already have 85% of registered voters and they seem determined to drive out the other 15%. They are jealous of Putin who gets 98% of the vote.

You may disagree, but Democrats in a few races across the country have gone over the edge into socialism, bordering on communism. Platner in Maine and candidates in New Jersey, New York and Michigan are prime examples.

The New York Knicks won the NBA championship, repeatedly coming from behind to defeat San Antonio. In one game they were down by 29.  You won’t see that in any of the games for the World Cup.

New York is celebrating after going 55 years without a Knicks’ championship. Being New York, the “celebration” included burning busses and cars, fights, and dozens of arrests.

Maybe next we can all get behind the Cleveland Browns; in 60 years they have never been to the Super Bowl. We’ll take a chance on any unruly celebrations.

You’ve probably heard about a fly called the New World Screwworm. Despite a billion-dollar effort to keep it from crossing the Rio Grande, Screwworms have grabbed onto healthy calves and other animals in Texas and New Mexico. There’s no safety concern about beef and other meat. But unless the infestation is discovered on an animal and treated, it will die.

To keep the Screwworm out, the border wall should have been covered with screen wire. Of course, the screen wall would need to reach a couple of hundred feet high to stop the flies. The real effort has been to breed millions and millions of sterile male flies to overwhelm the number of “normal” Screwworm males. The problem is that some of the female flies have gotten smart and avoid “sexual advances” by the sterile males. (With that, I have far exceeded my knowledge of entomology.)

Today is Flag Day. It commemorates June 14, 1777, when the Continental Congress officially adopted the design of the first American flag, as sewed by Betsy Ross. By chance, today is also the 80^th birthday for President Trump.

President Trump just announced a deal with Iran. Will the Strait of Hormuz really be opened? Will Iran give up all access to nuclear weapon material? And did he get this deal without giving them a boatload of money?

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“Elections are really a good deal like marriages; there’s no accounting for anyone’s taste. Every time you see a bridegroom, we wonder why she picked him, and it’s the same with public officials.” WA #126, May 10, 1925

“If I was running for office, I would rather have two friends in the counting room than a Republican slush fund behind me. More candidates have been defeated after 6 o’clock in the evening than were ever defeated during election day.” WA #100, Nov. 9, 1924

California voted this week. The votes will be counted sometime this month.

The California Legislature decided that everyone who lives in or used to live in California deserves to vote. They mailed millions of ballots to residents (not necessarily American citizens). No one checked to see if they were still living in California (or still living!).

I figure that five ballots showed up in the mailbox at the Will Rogers family home in Pacific Palisades. The house burned down but mailbox is still there by the road. Now, if a neighbor who’s house also burned down happened to collect those ballots and forge our signatures, the votes probably will show up for Spencer Pratt and Steve Hilton.  But if someone hired by Tom Steyer followed the mail truck and grabbed the ballots, you can guess who got those phantom votes.

Yesterday we remembered D-Day, June 6, 1944. At that time every Senator and Congressman supported our efforts to defeat the Nazis. As we look ahead to 2027, do you suppose a similar war, whether against Nazis, radical Islamists or Communist China, would have 100% support?

The Southern Poverty (Shyster) Law Center should have gone out of existence about 15 years ago. Created to oppose racism, they should have declared victory and closed up shop. We had elected a Black president. South Carolina had elected a Black man to the U.S. Senate. Wow, success!  But the money-hungry shyster lawyers decided they needed to stir up racial hatred again. The figured a way to pay the dwindling KKK and other hate-groups to create confrontations where they paid BOTH sides. The SP(S)LC bought lumber for KKK crosses, then paid KKK to burn them in front of churches.

Democrats are canceling women. The New York legislature has removed “Mothers” and replaced them with “gestating” something or other. That’s the same adjective used to describe hogs about to give birth to pigs. A candidate in Texas replaced “woman” with “person with a uterus.” I’m not sure that’s a surefire way to attract votes from women. Or men.  Congress refused to approve a new museum devoted to women of achievement unless certain persons without a uterus would be included.

On a personal note, today I was at a family gathering in West Virginia at Wildcat. Not downtown Wildcat on the north bank of the Little Kanawha River, but a mile uphill at a cattle farm. It’s a family farm; the kind you hear so much praise for across the country. It’s my family, mainly cousins. From us old folks to hard working middle agers, to outstanding high school and trade school students, to toddlers and more on the way. And near as I could tell, we all get along, helping and supporting each other.

Families like this across the country are the reason we are celebrating 250 years. Not just farm families, which are less than 2% of the population. But all optimistic families who are determined to make life better for themselves and others in America and around the world.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

       “The American people are a very generous people and fill forgive almost any weakness, with the possible exception of stupidity.” WA #63, Feb. 24, 1924

      “You give an American a one-piece bathing suit, a hamburger, and five gallons of gasoline and they are just as tickled as a movie star with a new divorce.” DT #2211, Sept. 4, 1933