Month: August 2026

 

Tonight, Will Rogers himself is writing this column.

I was sad to learn that Dolly Parton died. I heard a couple of folks say we have several similarities.

I wrote a lot of words, almost 2 million total, that got published in newspapers across the country. I got paid quite well for those words.

Dolly was a whole lot smarter as a writer. She wrote fewer words, but they rhymed! And she sang those words, and let others sing ‘em too.

See, the difference is, I got paid once. She gets paid every time her songs are bought and played on radio, and paid even more when other great singers record her rhyming words.

Now, right there’s a huge difference. I’m not a singer. I joked one time about two singers on a Vaudeville show with me. Honestly, they were not good. They called themselves the Cherry Sisters. I said they must have been named before lemons were invented. And my singing was worse. More like prunes.

Dolly and I both came from rural America, her from the Smokey Mountains and me from Indian Territory. I said one time, “I’m just an old country boy living in a big town trying to get along. I’ve been eatin’ pretty regular and the reason I have been is because I’ve stayed an old country boy.” Dolly could make the exact same quote, changing it to “country girl.”

She and other poor folks from East Tennessee were called hillbillies. Folks from my area became known as Okies. As Dolly said once, we may not have been as sophisticated as city folks, but we were blessed with common horse sense.

We both know the value of reading. I said, “We learn by two things: one is reading, the other is associatin’ with smarter people.” I also said, many times, “All I know is what I read in the newspaper.” Dolly did most of her reading in books. And she has made sure that our young children get plenty of books to read, with a gift program called Imagination Library.

I read a wonderful compliment to both me and Dolly from a former councilman in the Cherokee Nation, Keith Austin. He wrote, ‘They have the kind of universal fame that allows them to connect with kings and queens, movie stars and presidents, while still speaking directly to the common man and woman. Both helped us see and connect with people who lived and believed differently, not by lecturing, but through humor, music, storytelling and kindness.’

Keith, I thank you for those kind words. And I know Dolly appreciates them and all of the other thousands or millions of accolades since her untimely death.

I’ve heard suggestions that a statue of her should be sculpted and placed in the Tennessee Capitol. And attach her name to the airport in Nashville. Now, with humility, I know a little bit about statues and naming airports.

Actually, I prefer having her statue in the U.S. Capitol. Each state has two. One representing Tennessee is John Sevier, an honorable former governor. Now I hope my Cherokee blood is not making me prejudiced, but Dolly Parton should replace the other one in there, Andrew Jackson.

I would be mighty proud to have her placed right next to me. You probably see me frequently on television because I’m near the entrance to the House of Representatives. I guarantee that when various Congressmen are interviewed on news programs with us standing proudly behind them, viewers would prefer seeing Dolly’s smile and beautiful, ahem, shapely body, more than mine.

I just returned from a wonderful conference of “older” professional speakers in the DC area. Next week I’ll tell you about it, including a delightful 60-minute conversation with Winston Churchill and Florence Nightingale. Yes, the three of us were interviewed by Terry Brock, in an updated version of the old Steve Allen program, Meeting of the Minds.

COLUMBUS, Ohio: We got hit with the News that our Federal Debt is $40,000,000,000,000. Last week I mentioned that in 1925 our debt was $20,000,000,000. Is it possible our debt is 2000 times higher than 100 years ago? Both Republican and Democrat Parties share the blame.

If we treat this like a family debt, the question is, what are you willing to cut back on? It’s easy to name items that others are receiving, but what are YOU willing to reduce by 10 percent?

A water crisis in 7 Western states is raising a similar question. Severe, historic drought in the Colorado River basin means water usage must be curtailed or hydroelectric power generation will come to a halt at major dams.

While Congress can create money out of thin air (increasing the Debt), no one short of God Almighty can create more rain and snow in the Rockies. Few Americans remember a time when a hand pump was the fresh water source instead of simply turning a knob at the sink.

Meanwhile, here in the East we would eagerly share some of the excess rainfall from the last few weeks. Parts of West Virginia, Ohio, and other states suffered devastating floods. In two weeks, I emptied 10.5 inches out of my rain gauge.

President Trump is in a tariff dispute with Canada. Between good neighbors, there shouldn’t be any tariffs. And any tariffs the U.S. and Canada put on imports from other countries should be equal. It’s common horse sense for each of us to produce whatever we do best.

Canada’s got lumber, if they don’t let their forests burn. They have an abundance of water, quite a bit in the form of ice.

We have warm beaches and our farmers produce crops and livestock that don’t grow well up North. They have crude oil and we have refineries. They produce hockey players and we hire the best ones to play here.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

        “Everybody here is excited over the proposed dam at Boulder Canyon on the Colorado… California wants all the power and water. Arizona says, ‘Just half of it belongs to you, so if you want to, why dam up your own side of the river and use it, but don’t use any of our side.’ Utah says, ‘You are both cuckoo.’ WA #76, May 25, 1924

        “The dam is entirely between Nevada and Arizona. All California gets out of it is the water.” DT #1900, Sept. 6, 1932

COLUMBUS, Ohio: “Will Rogers” will be speaking at an annual event of the American Farm Bureau Federation this week. I am including some history here from a hundred years ago.

On December 7, 1925, President Coolidge addressed the American Farm Bureau Convention in Chicago with over 5000 farmers. (In comparison, my speech Tuesday evening will be in Columbus to about 50 farmers.)

The convention was at the historic Sherman House. Will Rogers was there and took notes. He wrote a Weekly Article, dissecting the speech. You folks probably do something similar. You hear promises and phrases in a speech by a politician, then you interpret in your own mind what he or she said. Here are a few examples I plan to share.

President Coolidge said, ‘The future of farming looks exceedingly secure.’  Will’s response, “Of course it’s secure. In fact, it’s SECURED, mostly by 2 mortgages.”

He tried to console the farmers by telling them, ‘There’s lots of people worse off than the farmers.’  “Well, I don’t know who could be worse off unless it’s the fellow who holds the mortgages on the farm.”

Coolidge said, ‘I want you to know the government is with you.’ “The Government IS with them. The government owes 20 Billion and the farmer owes all he’s got.”

He reminded them about generous farm Loans. ‘We have loaned out over one billion dollars to 350,000 farmers.’ “In other words, we can’t help you make any money, but we can show you where you can owe some more.”

[This is from Weekly Article #158, Dec. 20, 1925]

Keep in mind, this was in the middle of the Roaring Twenties. The economy was growing. The stock market was setting new records. Women in town were dancing the Charleston and wore flapper skirts with hems above the knee!

In case you’re wondering, Will liked President Coolidge. And the President liked Will. He invited Will and Betty to the White House and they stayed overnight. You may know that Coolidge campaigned on “Economy.” And he was economical; for supper they served fish hash. And the next morning, breakfast was leftover fish hash.

Later, Will offered his own advice to farmers: “If you don’t raise anything you are fortunate. Because it costs you more to raise anything that you can sell it for, so the less you raise, the less you lose. And if you don’t raise anything, you’re ahead.” (WA #235, June 12, 1927)

With the ’26 election looming, the historic quotes below definitely apply.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

          “The Democrats have a lot of advantages over the Republicans. The Republicans have to stay in power and explain why they haven’t done what they promised to, while the Democrats can just set back and talk about what they WILL do if they get in. That’s why the Democrats can always make a better speech than the Republicans. Promises always sound better than explanations. The Republicans ran on their record, which was a brave thing to do. The Democrats ran on their promises, which was a natural thing to do.”  (from a Weekly Article, maybe after the 1924 election)

“There is one thing you can bet on this year. No voter is going to do anything that a politician thinks he will do. The way most people feel they would like to vote against all of ‘em if it was possible.” DT #1797, Apr. 27, 1932

COLUMBUS, Ohio: Are you interested in saving the Democrat Party from calamity? In Michigan, Democrats nominated a highly educated, slick talking Socialist-Communist as their nominee for the Senate.

This may be my last attempt.  You’ve heard “me” say often, “I’m not a member of any organized party. I’m a Democrat.” The token leaders are proclaiming proudly they are a “Big Tent” Party. Everybody is welcome.

A few decades, ago, the Democrat Party occupied a prominent site, built of steel, concrete and brick on a foundation of solid rock. Presidents such as
Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy, and Clinton. Now they have traded a secure, paid-for, structure that has weathered many storms for a highly mortgaged tent. The “Big Tent” that Democrats are bragging about is made of canvas, supported by thin aluminum poles. The tie-down straps are wrapped around plastic posts driven six inches into pure sand. The flimsy walls sway with the breeze, which ever way the wind blows. Interlopers can easily get their nose under the flap and slip in.

Meanwhile, the hard-working middle class, proud flag-waving Americans who manufacture and build our economy have slipped out.

Who are the Democrats who voted for Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan? And earlier, Ocasio-Cortez and Mamdani in New York City?

A couple of analysts I’ve seen on television broke down support for Abdul El-Sayed this way: college towns, with highly educated, “downwardly mobile”, women supported him. Other areas of the state (including minorities) voted for two other candidates. Dr. El-Sayed has impressive medical degrees but never became licensed to practice medicine. He went directly into college teaching and government health administration without ever treating patients or doing surgeries.

Before I get into criticizing college degrees as a whole, let me exclude graduates in engineering, nursing, business, physics and other degrees that result in secure careers. The ones who blindly support Socialist principles chose easier courses at expensive universities and find themselves worse off financially than a high school classmate who became a plumber.

If you ask them, many of these folks agree with the economic principle of “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.” Yes, take excess cash from millionaires and provide free housing, food and medical care to the downtrodden masses. Perhaps these folks were not taught that quote in history class. It is from the founder of Communism, Karl Marx, in 1875.

Voters, especially young ones, complain about affordability. It’s true that a single mom or dad with college loans, working at McDonald’s, can’t afford the mortgage on a $400,000 house. But they probably don’t realize that since the end of WWII, the percentage of our income spent on food, clothing and furniture has DECREASED.

Taxpayers already provide free food to 40,000,000. And most poor families receive Medicaid. More than 70% of federal income tax dollars come from the top 10% of wage earners.

Why do so many highly educated Democrats lack common sense? (Or as Will Rogers would say, common horse sense?) Did no one teach common sense principles of working hard, finishing the job to the best of your abilities, serving your community, and aspiring to a better life for yourself and your family?

Instead of common horse sense, were socialist principles pushed by school teachers and college professors? Did they reverse JFK’s famous comment to “Ask not what you can do for your country, ask what your country can do for you?” Are they claiming that any college degree is fine; don’t bother with tough courses?

Maybe, like Arizona State University is saying, get a degree in “Influencing.” Be a slick talker, attract a few million viewers on social media and you’re set for life. You might even get elected to Congress.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

        “America is a land of opportunity and don’t ever forget it… [Florence Hale] was elected to a very high office, president of the [National] Education Association [NEA], just a common sense woman. She is head of the rural schools in Maine.” DT #1541, July 1, 1931

       “If all politicians fished instead of speaking publicly, we would be at peace with the world.” DT #2251, Oct. 20, 1933

Thanks for letting me take a week off. I attended the annual conference of the National Speakers Association, called “Influence,” in Austin, Texas. Then, I flew to Arizona to relax as guests of wonderful friends (former NSA members) in Cave Creek.

Will Rogers was a professional speaker and author. If the National Speakers Association had existed back then, he would have received all of the top awards currently presented to outstanding speakers who are role models. Will understood effective communication.

He wrote this compliment a week after FDR was inaugurated: “Mr. Roosevelt stepped to the microphone last night and knocked another home run. His message was not only a great comfort to the people, but it pointed to a lesson to all radio announcers and public speakers what to do with a big vocabulary: leave it at home in the dictionary. Some people spend a lifetime juggling with words, with not an idea in a carload.” DT #2061, March 13, 1933

(The first “Historic quote” below reflects Will’s views on comedy and humor in speaking and writing.)

I was hoping that Congress and the President would wrap up a few important issues while I was ignoring them. But they disappointed me, and probably you too, because nothing changed in two weeks. Iran is still shooting at ships while pretending to have a cease fire. Congress can’t agree that only US citizens should vote in US elections. And Democrat leaders can’t conjure up enough nerve to denounce “Communist-leaning” candidates and anti-Jew hatred in their Party.

Meanwhile, President Trump is learning why politicians like to run on an issue, but never solve it. After the problem is solved, voters move on to another troubling issue, forgetting to give thanks for the one solved. You can probably name a few examples over the years. The current one is illegal immigration. Trump “solved” it, and now the voters have jumped to a “newer” issue, the cost of gasoline, electricity, and food. That one is harder to solve.

You may have heard that Dr. Fauci appeared at a Senate hearing. I say “appeared” because he refused to testify. He used the Fifth Amendment over 100 times in responding to questions from Republican Senators. His repetition reminded me of the old commercial, “Is it live, or is it Memorex?” He could have used a Memorex cassette tape, on continuous loop.

Dr. Fauci has many supporters. They credit him for making bold recommendations that saved millions of lives. Of course, his detractors blame him for shutting down the country, closing schools, destroying businesses, and separating families from terminally ill relatives. He claimed that vaccinations were essential to save lives and would assure you would not get Covid.

My questions relate to Dr. Fauci’s actions before we ever heard of him, or Wuhan, China. If Dr. Fauci believed that “gain-of-function” was important to create an extremely dangerous virus, why would he ever send millions of tax dollars to fund that research in a Chinese Communist location? Shouldn’t we do that here where we have reasonable controls? Did he believe the Chinese scientists were 100% loyal to the US?

Then after Covid “escaped” and one or more Chinese workers at Wuhan got sick and died, why did Dr. Fauci keep insisting that Covid had no connection to the Wuhan Lab research that he funded?

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

         “I am not going to tell you any jokes today, as jokes are not good for you to read every Sunday. You will have to look to the Washington (news stories) from Congress for your Humor this week. 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

        “There is quite a big communistic hold in certain parts of China. The influence is growing rapidly.” WA #520, Dec. 11, 1932