Author: Randall Reeder

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

Will Rogers joked on different occasions, “I’m not a member of any organized political party… I’m a Democrat.”

Then he would follow with a serious point, “But really, I don’t take sides with anybody politically. I kid those folks. But I know that they all get in there and do the best they can. None of ‘em from any party are going to purposely ruin the country.”

Will wrote in 1928, “The Parties will never be changed as long as we live, for you can’t change human nature.” (WA #278, Apr. 22, 1928) I think Will was too optimistic. The Democratic party of Harry Truman and John F. Kennedy is not the same party today. Republicans have also changed.

Will walked a fine line, often using humor to make a serious point, “I certainly know that a comedian can only last till he either takes himself serious or his audience takes him serious, and I don’t want either one of those to happen to me till I am dead, if then.” DT #1538, June 28, 1931

So, I’m going out on a limb tonight with my observations about Kamala Harris. If you disagree, don’t blame Will.

We always heard about political deals made in a “Smoke-filled room”. This time I think the deal was made in a Ladies Powder room.

Democrats claim that Republicans, especially Trump, are a “threat to democracy.” So various Democrat leaders forced out Joe Biden, who received 14,000,000 votes in the 2024 primaries, and anointed Kamala Harris, who received zero. Was that “preserving democracy?” When she ran for President in 2020, she received no votes in a primary and none at the Democratic National convention.

V-P Harris is so determined to win Michigan and Minnesota with the Palestinian vote, I’m surprised she hasn’t named Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib as her running mate.

She may go against the DEI defining principles of the Democratic Party and name a white man. But not a Jew. Preferably someone non-religious (except Muslim). You will remember, as a Senator she voted against Amy Coney Barrett for Supreme Court because she was religious.

She wants to eliminate ICE, the agency responsible for deporting immigrants who are here illegally, comparing ICE to the Ku Klux Klan.

She wants to eliminate “fracking.” Hydraulic fracturing of gas and oil wells has been common for more than 60 years, making our major energy supply more economical. After eliminating fracking, she wants to eliminate all fossil fuels. She broke a tie vote in the Senate that approved the $750 Billion (misnamed) Inflation Reduction Act. And if Sen. Joe Manchin hadn’t resisted for months, it would have cost twice as much.

She claims that defunding police makes cities safer. She wants to take meat off the “food pyramid” and ban plastic straws.

Does she support Israel? She blames Israel for failing to get over a hundred hostages released (including 8 Americans) rather than blaming Hamas and Iran. She wants a “cease fire” instead of encouraging Israel to wipe out Hamas terrorists.

Kamala Harris is a strong Liberal from San Francisco. I have good friends in San Francisco, from both Parties. Some love her and can’t wait to vote for her again. Others see her in the same vein as ousted district attorney Chesa Boudin, Gov. Newsome, who is bankrupting the state, and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has enriched herself. Her parents are natives of India and Jamacia. Both were professors at Stanford University.

Surprise!! Will Rogers received more delegate votes at a Democratic National Convention than Kamala Harris has. She ran in 2020 and got zero votes.

At the 1932 Democratic Convention Will Rogers got 22 votes on the sixth day. (Read Will’s version of that day below.)

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

        “Politics ain’t on the level.  I was only in ’em for an hour but in that short space of time somebody stole 22 votes from me. I was sitting there in the press stand asleep and wasn’t bothering a soul when they woke me up and said Oklahoma had started me on the way to the White House with 22 Votes.

          I dropped off to sleep again, and that’s when somebody touched me for my whole roll, took the whole 22 votes, didn’t even leave me a vote to get breakfast on.

Course I realize now that I should have stayed awake and protected my interest, but it was the only time I had ever entered national politics and I didn’t look for the boys to nick me so quick.  Course I should have had a manager but the whole thing come on me so sudden and I was so sleepy. No man can listen to thirty-five nominating speeches and hold his head up.  And I am sure some of these that did the nominating can never hold theirs up again.

Now I don’t want you to think that I am belittling the importance of those 22 votes. They was worth something there at that time. Not in money, mind you, for there is not $2.80 in the whole convention. 

But they buy ’em with promises of offices. I expect at that minute Roosevelt’s bunch would have given me Secretary of State for that 22. And I could have sold Al Smith for maybe Mayor of New York. Ritchie would have given me the whole State of Maryland with the Vice Presidency thrown in just for amusement sake.

And what do I do? Go to sleep and wake up without even the support of the Virgin Islands.”  Article #6, Democratic Convention, July 2,1932

For the second week in a row, I am tossing out most of what I already wrote. Maybe I should leave my computer off until Sunday evening.

President Biden announced this afternoon he will not be the Democrat candidate for 2024. He wants Kamala Harris to succeed him.

VP Harris is not a shoo-in because she is less popular than Biden. She has not won a single vote in a primary election. In the 2020 campaign she dropped out before the Iowa caucuses. Of course, she did not run in the 2024 primaries because her boss was the “chosen one.” However, any prominent young Democrat who challenges her, especially a white man, would be committing political suicide.

The Democratic National Convention is scheduled to start Aug. 19. In reality, it started today. If VP Harris is the pick for President, the race will be for her running mate.

You may remember my comments last week about the 1924 Republican convention. As Will Rogers wrote, that convention 100 years ago, was simply to choose a VP. Two leading candidates turned it down! Will any top Democrat accept the VP slot with Kamala Harris?

West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin just announced he may challenge Kamala Harris. With all the chaos, this is another reflection to 1924. If you don’t know the history, you will be shocked. The 1924 Democratic convention lasted 17 days! Sixteen candidates received votes. It required 103 ballots before the delegates agreed on a candidate for President. Yes, 103 ballots! And the candidate they finally agreed on was John W. Davis. He is the only person to be selected as a nominee for President from the state of… West Virginia.

The Republican convention ended with a rousing unanimous endorsement of the Trump-Vance ticket. Republicans seem to be happy with the selection of JD Vance for VP. He’s a young Senator from Middleton, Ohio, with deep roots in eastern Kentucky. He is better known as the author of “Hillbilly Elegy” than as a politician.

Donald Trump gave a 90-minute acceptance speech Thursday night. That was too long for several folks in the media (and many watching at home). I think he did it as a challenge to Joe Biden. If Kamala Harris speaks on the closing night of the Democratic Convention, she may keep it to half an hour just to limit the risk of too many uncontrollable bouts of laughter.

The Secret Service is expected to be the most elite agency in the government. But last Saturday was a colossal failure. The Secret Service has 7000 people, but they couldn’t spare enough of them to adequately prepare and protect the presumed Republican nominee for President. Director Kimberly Cheatle refuses to resign and Biden has not fired her.

The 20-year-old killer was a “rank amateur”, but he was smart. One of the brightest students in his high school class. So why didn’t he go to college?  He fired 8 shots before a Secret Service sharpshooter killed him with one shot. The first shot at Trump was accurate, within a half inch of killing him. But the other 7 were far off target. If he had been steady, probably a couple Secret Service agents (the ones who did their job exactly as trained) would have died. Instead, three men in the stands behind Trump were hit. Cory Comperatore was killed.

In the hour before Trump was shot, officials missed opportunities to foil the attempted assignation. Here is one you probably have not heard speculated. When the killer was spotted on a roof, a local policeman was helped by a fellow officer to reach the edge of the roof. He was holding on with both hands when the killer turned and pointed the rifle at him. He dropped to the ground. He and his partner immediately got on their “radio” to warn about the shooter. Did they call the Secret Service? No, there was no direct communication connection. So the delay allowed the shooter to fire at Trump.

But suppose, as soon as the policeman dropped to the ground, he would have pulled out his gun and fired several shots into the air. What would have happened? Hearing shots, the Secret Service agents near Trump would have immediately got him on the floor of the stage and laid on top of him.

I don’t know how the 20-year-old would have reacted. But Trump would not have gotten shot.

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

“If we got one-tenth what was promised to us in these acceptance speeches there wouldn’t be any inducement to want to go to Heaven.” DT #645, Aug. 20, 1928

This is not the same column I started yesterday morning.

A 20-year-old killer at a Trump Rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, tried to change history. Based on what we know now, his first shot nicked Donald Trump’s right ear. Fortunately, Trump had turned his head facing in the general direction of the shooter. If he had been facing the audience… we would likely be noting July 13, 2024 as the date former President and 2024 Republican candidate Donald Trump was assassinated.

The killer apparently fired 3 more shots, killing Cory Comperatore, and severely injuring two other men. Those shots were aimed at Trump, missed him, and hit these three who were unfortunately sitting in the line of fire.

The top leaders of the Secret Service are being blamed for not recognizing the potential for an assassin to shoot from the roof of a building only 160 yards away. And a local police officer climbed a ladder to the roof, engaged with the man, but retreated back to the ground.

Question: have we reached the point in this country where a police officer refuses to shoot a man, who is obviously intending to kill someone, because of public backlash for “killing a guy who had done nothing wrong?”  Also, the two Secret Service snipers appear to be looking in the direction of the killer before he shot Trump. Were they waiting for orders that would allow them to “shoot first?”

With the Republican National Convention starting tomorrow in Milwaukee, let’s look back 100 years.

Will Rogers attended the 1924 Republican Convention in Cleveland. He wrote five “Convention Articles,” June 9-13. President Coolidge was the obvious choice to continue as their candidate. The intrigue was in selecting a V-P. Two prominent Republicans turned it down (Senator Borah of Idaho and Illinois Governor Frank Lowden). On the third ballot, Charles Dawes won the nomination.

Here are a few quotes from Will’s Republican Convention Articles, 1924:

“(Republicans) preach Economy, and here are hundreds of thousands of dollars being wasted to ship all these Delegates to a place to announce something that everybody  in the United States knew six months ago.  He could have been nominated by post card.” 

      “Mr. Mondell in his Chairmanship keynote speech (repeated) the same gag that Mr. Burton finished his with yesterday: ‘We want Republicans that will stick together, not Republicans in name only.’” [probably the first use of RINO]

      “Why at the last Republican Convention [1920] they were days nominating Mr. Harding and just as they were putting on their hats to leave, someone happened to think, ‘Why, we haven’t nominated a Vice President.’ So someone who happened to have read  of  the  Boston  police  strike  suggested  Mr.  Coolidge, so they nominated him that minute, and the others went home to read the next day who he was.”

       “Mr. Coolidge has gained well deserved fame by being our first public official to know when not to say anything.”

Will’s five columns, in their entirety, have more humor (and maybe more valuable information) than anything you will read this week from Milwaukee. I’m tempted to print one a day on Facebook.

I hope you enjoyed colorful Fireworks in your local town or city. Or backyard.

In Washington, the “fireworks” in the Biden-Harris campaign generated more heat than light, and more fizzles than powerful booms.

The taped interview on ABC Friday failed to show President Biden as a strong leader. NATO leaders will be in town this week, giving him opportunities to shine on a world stage. Getting the President in front of reporters, even if it’s only between 10:00 and 4:00, is essential to restoring confidence in his mental capacity to serve another term.

Speaking of reporters, last week I wrote about the journalists with direct access to the White House: “Why did they accept the obvious lies about what terrific shape Biden was in ‘behind closed doors?’ The apparent answer is that they were in on the deception.”

This week, my question is: Why haven’t those lying journalists been fired? Or why haven’t they resigned en masse? Many of them changed from a bulldog during the Trump years to a lapdog with Biden.

The CEOs of several networks and major newspapers must do a clean sweep of the biased journalists covering the White House (and their editors). So, who do you replace them with? My suggestion is to hire people who are covering sports, especially radio broadcasters of basketball and football. The play-by-play announcers report accurately what they see and hear. They are well trained and experienced. When they summarize at the end of the basketball game that your team won 85 to 80 you know it’s the truth. You won’t find out the next day that your team lost 75 to 62.

President Biden insists the debate was a “one-off.” He had a bad night because of jet lag and a cold. Do you wonder how he did during the rehearsals? I’m sure they videotaped the 90-minute practice debates, with moderators and Trump impersonators, on at least 2 or 3 nights. If he was brilliant in those practice sessions, then we’ll believe he had an off night.

The chaos among leaders of the Democrat Party is because of the fear of losing not only to Donald Trump, but losing seats in Congress and the Senate. Logically, if the President is truly suffering mentally, the 25^th Amendment would allow him to be removed and replaced by the Vice-President. But they know a President Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket would probably be worse.

The dilemma goes back to the 2020 election when Biden promised to select a woman of color as V-P. That narrowed the field to a handful of prospects. He promised to serve one term. The obvious choice to run in 2024 would have been V-P Kamala Harris. But in various tasks she was assigned, such as “Border Czar,” she demonstrated no competence to serve as President. So, an older, mentally challenged Joe Biden was selected as the designated candidate for 2024 and ran without serious challenge, winning all primary elections overwhelmingly.

Based on what we have seen of President Biden’s decline, who is making decisions in the Oval Office? While First Lady Jill Biden is leading her husband around and helping him, a growing concern is that Hunter Biden is the main “adviser” to his dad. Both Jill and Hunter are determined to enjoy the perks of the Presidency for another 4 years.

Jill Biden’s role reminds us of another First Lady a hundred years ago. Woodrow Wilson was elected President in 1912 and served two terms. He suffered a paralyzing stroke in October 1919 that left him incapacitated. His second wife, Edith Wilson, who he married a year after his first wife died in 1914, kept the President isolated and proceeded to handle the day-to-day responsibilities of the Executive Office for the next year and a half. Many historians refer to Edith Wilson as the first female President.

Are you wondering, why didn’t Vice-President Thomas Riley Marshall take over? Will Rogers wrote an entire “Weekly Article” praising him, with these closing sentences, “Tom Marshall was an AMERICAN if there ever was one, and he knew, and he cared. Show me another man that would have refused the Presidency when the Senate wanted him to take it when President Wilson was so very ill! But NO, he was loyal and he was modest. There are thousands of wonderful things that could be placed as an Inscription on his tomb… I would like to see the following one, “WHAT THIS COUNTRY NEEDS IS MORE TOM MARSHALLS.” WA #131, June 14, 1925

        Historic quote by Will Rogers:

“I’m not a member of any organized political party… I’m a Democrat.”

Did you watch the entire Biden-Trump debate? Congratulations.

You may be surprised at how I watched it. I decided to concentrate on the content for each candidate and ignore “performance or style.”

A couple of comments I predicted last week came up. Biden mixed up “millions, billions, trillions.” Trump responded once with “I really don’t know what he said.”  “Convicted felon” was expected. “We finally beat Medicare.” was not.

As I said, I watched for content. As to style and performance, both Trump and Biden were pretty much as we have seen them the last couple of years.

Here is the shocker. After the debate, I was surprised to hear TV journalists and commentators, almost unanimously, say that Biden failed miserably. This was on CNN and MSNBC! Was this the first time they ever saw him confused, stumbling over words, mumbling incoherent answers? Where have they been the last 4 years? Did they expect a full week of practice would produce a brilliant orator? I’m glad they recognized that Biden had a terrible debate.

These are journalists (“news hounds,” as Will Rogers called them) with direct access to top people in the White House. Why did they accept the obvious lies about what terrific shape Biden was in “behind closed doors?” The apparent answer is that they were in on the deception.

The New York Times, Washington Post, and the mainstream TV networks totally supported Biden’s policies. By contrast, do you remember any major policy of the Trump Administration that they applauded?

As a part time professional speaker, I’m wondering about seven days of preparation and practice for 90 minutes on stage. Since Biden had a full stage setup at Camp David, I’m sure that almost every night at 9:00 they did a mock debate with moderators and Trump impersonators. I also bet they were recorded because that’s how speakers (and speech coaches) would make improvements. How did he do in the practice debates? I doubt we will ever see those videotapes.

Interestingly, the next day President Biden gave a campaign speech in North Carolina. He was forceful and determined, not bumbling and incoherent, illustrating the huge difference between Teleprompter Joe and Debater Joe.

The Supreme Court handed down a couple of major decisions this week, with another due tomorrow. One might free a lot of people on trial for entering the Capitol on January 6.

For me, the most far-reaching decision gives judges, not bureaucrats, the final decision on interpretation of laws passed by Congress. The Judicial Branch will no longer “defer to federal agencies to interpret the law if a statue is unclear.”  The decision overturned a requirement that fishing boats must pay for a federal inspector onboard full time.

More broadly, for example, it means an environmental activist in the EPA cannot prevent a rancher from building a pond a couple of miles from a small stream. And the Energy Department can’t make rulings intended to outlaw gasoline powered cars. The Bureau of Land Management cannot randomly change 20,000,000 acres of federal land from grazing to “Wilderness.” Any such “mandates” may now be appealed to a judge (and jury).

The challenge now is for Congress to write laws that are “plain and understandable only one way.” (See Will’s quote about lawyers.)

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

       “There is very little dignity, very little sportsmanship, or very little anything in politics, only ‘get the job and hold it.’”  DT#1949, Nov. 2, 1932

      “The minute you read something and you can’t understand it you can almost be sure that it was drawn up by a lawyer. Then if you give it to another lawyer to read and he don’t know just what it means, why then you can be sure it was drawn up by a lawyer. If it’s in a few words and is plain and understandable only one way, it was written by a non-lawyer.” WA #657, July 28, 1935

The Biden-Trump debate will be this week, June 27, on CNN. President Biden is spending all week preparing. As President he has access to a lot more details than Trump. His staff are feeding him a lot of specific numbers, such as the price of eggs, gasoline, insulin, and rent. He will memorize data about the economy, global warming, immigration, Covid deaths, January 6, Ukraine, Israel, China and Russia. Regardless of the question asked, he is advised to insert “Trump” and “Convicted Felon” into his answer. Don’t be surprised if he starts an answer with, “Jake, where did that question come from?” He might reply to Trump, “There you go, you keep lying about my record and now you lied about yours.”

His debate coaches fear he will mix up millions, billions and trillions, and that he will absentmindedly switch to a story about his childhood. He is even practicing standing behind a lectern for 90 minutes, without wandering off.

Meanwhile, Trump is receiving a lot of advice, whether he wants it or not. He’s been told to be kind and gentle, not bombastic. To keep his answers short and distinct. Never mention any previous election or January 6. When your mic is off, stay quiet, and no physical reaction.

He is practicing different responses to possible Biden answers. Such as, “I have no idea what he just said.” Or, “Congratulations Joe, you answered that question exactly as you rehearsed it for the last 7 days.” Or, “As you know, I’m under a gag order so I’m not allowed to respond.”

That’s enough foolishness. I hope the debate goes well for both candidates and that we learn insights on how they plan to govern as President, 2025-29.

Do you remember the 30 pro-Hamas rioters at Columbia University who took over Hamilton Hall, held three men hostage, and caused millions of dollars in damage? They will not be charged. The prosecutor, Alvin Bragg, freed these professional agitators so they can protest the Republican Convention in Milwaukee.

President Biden continues to defy the Supreme Court in transferring student loan payments from the ones who signed for the loan to the rest of us taxpayers.

One lucky recipient of a bailout did what I suggest that all of them do: Benjamin Kamens bragged about it on the internet. Every student who gets out of a loan repayment must be identified and give details like this example: “Joan Doe, Wellesley College, European Art History and Gender Studies in 2008, $92,500 forgiven, museum night janitor.” Most of us would be disgusted. However, we might be pleased with this example: “Laura Doe, Central State, Elementary Education in 2012, $7,600 forgiven, public school teacher.”

Many of the grads from elite colleges should vote for Trump. His plan for student loans is better than Biden’s. The good news for grads with degrees in fields without a career path is that Trump plans to eliminate income taxes on tips. With the money saved, they can repay their student loan.

Trump’s suggestion to eliminate the income tax on tips is good. These are mostly low-income workers. While many are completely honest and keep track of their tips, as a whole much of that income goes unreported. The IRS probably spends more money trying to collect the tax than they end up collecting.

But Trump is wrong on widespread tariffs. We learned that lesson in 1930 when the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act was signed by President Hoover. Other countries retaliated with their own tariffs. World trade came to a halt. Other countries stopped buying our manufactured goods and farm products. Tariffs made the Great Depression far worse.

Do you like simple math problems? Try this one. If it takes 2 years to build a pipeline 1200 miles, how long would it take to build one 300 miles long? Maybe ask a 10-year-old to solve it.

Here are the details. The 1200-mile pipeline (actually two in parallel most of the way), were the Big Inch (24-in diameter) and Little Big Inch (20-in), from Texas to the Northeast Coast. Delivering crude oil and refined products. Built in 2 years during WWII, 1942-44.

The 300-mile pipeline is the Mountain Valley Pipeline, 42-inch diameter, across West Virginia to southern Virginia. It began delivering natural gas last week. So, was it built in 6 months? Unfortunately, no. This is more of a political problem than a simple math problem. The answer is 10 years.

Historic quote by Will Rogers: (running for President, 1928)

       “It just looks like the only way we can get the ‘Issues’ of the day straightened out is in a Joint debate… it looks like I am going to have to take you [Herbert Hoover] and Al [Smith] on before the votes are in the can this fall… I will meet you anywhere in joint debate–in any Joint you name.” Life magazine, Aug. 9, 1928

I’m starting this column in memory of Will Rogers’ good friend, Henry Ford. And I’ll go ahead and tell you the end of my story: Henry’s grandson, William Ford, must stop throwing away $5,000,000,000 a year.

Back to the beginning. Henry invented the Model T Ford. Now I just learned why it was Model “T.” He had already gone through the alphabet… Model A, Model B, and so forth were all failures. It was only after Model S that he figured out how to set up an assembly line and make ‘em so cheap that everyone could afford one. Or at least the monthly payments on one. That was in 1908. In 10 years, half of all cars on the road were Model T Fords.

Henry thought the Model T would be the top seller forever. But by 1927, after selling 15 million Model T’s, Ford was losing out to dozens of other car manufacturers with fancier models. So, Henry’s son, Edsel, had to force his dad to stop making the Model T and switch to a new, modern Model A.

Now the story jumps to late 1957 when Ford introduced a new model, the 1958 Edsel. After spending millions on the new design and marketing, it flopped. Only 120,000 Edsels were sold in 3 years.

Today, Henry’s grandson, William Clay Ford, has a tough decision for the future of Ford. Similar to ending the Model T and the Edsel, Ford should stop manufacturing Electric Vehicles. Immediately!

For every Ford EV sold, the company is losing $130,000. For 2024 the expected loss on EVs is $5 BILLION.

Get out of the EV business. Focus on vehicles that are popular and profitable. Ford leads the industry with the F-series. Americans want an F-150 Lariat, not a Lightning. For buyers who want a smaller pickup with 40 miles per gallon, design a brand new F-50. Make it smaller and lighter than the Ranger. For inspiration, look back a hundred years at the Model T Huckster.

For those who yell, “Electricity from solar and wind is the future,” I say consider the present and the next 25 years. The proud owner of a $100,000 EV needs to know that 85% of the electricity to charge the battery is generated from natural gas and coal. And with the demand for electricity accelerating faster than subsidized solar and wind systems can be built, EVs will likely depend on fossil fuels for 50% to 75% of their energy beyond 2050.

I intended to write about Trump’s tax plan for tips (good) and for tariffs (bad), Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s admission about January 4, 2021, and Rudy Giuliani’s comments about Hunter Biden’s computer before the 2020 election. Maybe next week.

But I have to include a tribute to Jerry West. When he starred for the West Virginia University basketball team for 3 years, 1958-60, we listened to every game on the radio. None were televised. Then he starred for the Los Angeles Lakers for 14 years. After coaching the Lakers 3 years, he became one of the most successful team executives in NBA history. You probably know the NBA logo is a profile of Jerry West. In the NBA he is one of the best ever. In West Virginia he is THE GOAT. (Greatest Of All Time)

Historic Quotes by Will Rogers: (on Henry Ford) (Radio, June 1, 1930)

“Ford’s success is due to the fact that he uses common sense in his business.”

“When he found he was wrong in his [anti-Semitic comments] with the Jewish people, he apologized.  He saw them in a Chevrolet and he says, ‘Boys, I am wrong!  I am wrong!’”

“A Ford car and a marriage certificate is the two cheapest things there is.   We no more than get either one than we want to trade them in for something better.”

“There is more jokes told about [a Model T] than any other thing.   A Ford car and a Democratic Convention has kept a lot of us comedians alive.  He is the first man to realize that every joke sold a car and every joke bought one.”

“He has got quite a sense of humor… He is a great old fellow and he is very, very human. I always liked Mr. Ford. I think he is a great man, and I wish we had a lot more like him.”