Author: Randall Reeder

COLUMBUS, Ohio: Today is Columbus Day, Oct. 12. Yes, it got changed to a Monday. I’m sure if Columbus had known about our love for Monday holidays he would have delayed landing for 24 hours.

Many Americans, except for Italians, are against celebrating a man who never got closer than a hundred miles to our shores. He thought he discovered India, so naturally he figured the people already living there were Indians. Oddly, nobody bothered to ask the Seminoles or Cherokees or Iroquois.

You might guess that Will Rogers, a quarter-blood Cherokee, would not be thrilled that Christopher claimed he discovered America. “Being an Indian, I don’t mind telling you personally I am sorry he ever found it. The discovery has been of no material benefit to us, outside of losing all the land. And I am proud to say that I have never yet seen a statue in Oklahoma to him.” (WA #190, Aug. 1, 1926)

In California, Will had a unique angle on Columbus Day, “The Columbus Celebration has rather an added significance to Los Angeles, as they want to celebrate the good fortune of his landing on the Atlantic instead of the Pacific side, because if he had landed out here, he never would have gone back to tell the Queen. He would have stayed right here and nobody would have ever known it but him.” (WA #49, Nov. 18, 1923)

In Ohio, I’m not sure I should admit I live in the Columbus area (Hilliard). We had a big statue of Columbus, but a couple of years ago folks claiming to represent Native Americans forced the mayor to remove it. Then they ran the Indians out of Cleveland.

The partial government Shutdown continues with Senators arguing over subsidies for health insurance. Most of us have no idea how much our doctors and hospitals cost because it’s free or we only pay about 10% to 20% of the bill. We need every bit of our modern medicine and nobody appreciates it more than me (or Will Rogers, who survived serious gall bladder surgery in 1927).

On Sept. 30, Republicans asked the Democrats to continue the same budget for 7 weeks. Two weeks later, if this Shutdown goes the full 7 weeks, we’ll all be headed to our doctor’s office because we’ll be sick of Congress.

In Israel and Gaza, it seems the Hamas terrorists will release the remaining hostages, including bodies of the dead. Not sure how the rest of the negotiations will pan out. The million or so Gaza civilians should be provided shelter and food. The Hamas terrorists should lay down their guns and be given scoop shovels and ordered to fill in the miles of tunnels they spent 20 years digging. The pro-Hamas protesters at our colleges should take a year off and go help with the shoveling.

Let me add two personal notes. In Los Angeles the police arrested an arsonist who set the fire that destroyed most of Pacific Palisades, including the house and barn at the Will Rogers Historic State Park.

The arrest surprised government leaders who blamed the fire on climate change. If they had cleared dry brush from the land instead of passing laws to prevent clearing, the fire would have probably caused only minor damage.

Also, a good friend is now in the Guinness World Record Book. Deborah Gardner of Peoria, Arizona, swam the 21 miles from Catalina Island to the California coast. Yes, hundreds of swimmers have done that. But Deborah is the only 66-year-old woman to do it. The previous record holder was a month younger and held the record for 9 years. She is probably congratulating Deborah and has no plans to go through the rigorous year-long training needed to reclaim the record.

Will Rogers commented on women swimming the English Channel.          “Another American woman just now swam in from France. Her husband was carried from the boat suffering from cold and exposure. She has two children, the smallest a girl, who is swimming over tomorrow.” (DT #27, Aug. 28, 1926)

Some folks are saying I’ve been too hard on Democrats lately. I’ll lighten up a bit because they are underdogs in Washington and having a tough time scoring on Republicans. I’ll overlook Zohran Mamdani in New York City; he doesn’t qualify as a true Democrat.

Senator Schumer of New York is putting up a courageous battle. He has to not only beat Republicans but hold off Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Senator Schumer and other Democrats are putting up quite a fight over the Covid pandemic subsidy for health insurance. They want to continue the 4-year temporary subsidy for 10 more years. Twenty-four million citizens are suffering because the transitory inflation added 20 percent to the cost of everything in 4 years. Now, there’s two words, “temporary” and “transitory,” that no politician ever found in Webster’s.

Can’t blame ‘em because a hundred economists assigned to count the number of new jobs every month were off by 900,000 over the past year. That’s 900,000 extra Americans without a job who still get sick once in a while. Add the 10,000,000 illegal immigrants after Covid and you end up with over-worked doctors and nurses, especially in sanctuary cities. Those cities and a few states need all the money they can claw out of Washington.

In Chicago, Mayor Brandon and Governor Pritzker told the federal agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement that they are on their own. The Chicago police have been de-funded to the point they can’t spare even a half-dozen on bicycles to help out. So, if you live in Chicago, and you don’t want to get shot, the safest place may be in the middle of the gang of protesters confronting ICE agents. Yes, those modern “G-men” are armed. But they know that the mayor and governor want them to shoot a couple of “free speech” protesters. That would be insignificant compared to the dozens that get shot every week. But it would boost the “Pritzker for President” campaign even more than losing 75 pounds.

Democrat office holders may not like ICE. But let me tell you who would have liked ICE. About 135 years ago the Cherokees, Seminoles, Osage and the other tribes in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) would have welcomed ICE to arrest and remove “intruders.” Back then thousands of white men, including armed criminals, from Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas illegally entered and settled in Indian Territory, stealing land, water, timber, and other resources. Residents implored the U.S. government to help. But Congress sided with the Intruders who entered illegally, much “sooner” than would be allowed after 1900.

Yes, before Jim Thorpe ever touched a football, the Intruders were the original Oklahoma Sooners.

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

“Senators are a never-ending source of amusement, amazement, and discouragement.” WA #345, Aug. 4, 1929

(I attempt to write with Will Rogers’ style, poking fun and reflecting on current issues. And I present nationally as a Will Rogers impersonator, sharing quotes and stories (mostly non-political) from Will’s widely popular talks and newspaper columns from the 1920s and 1930s, customized for the audience. My website includes “Quotes” in categories which give a hint to the variety of groups that like “Will Rogers.” As my business card reads: Hire me before I die… again. )

Randall Reeder
WillRogersToday (dot) com     614-477-0439

Plenty of important News this week. A government shutdown is looming Sept. 30. Republicans want to continue the same budget for a few more weeks, postponing a shutdown. But Senator Schumer insists on adding an extra Trillion to cover, among other expenses, Medicaid for illegal immigrants.

Meanwhile, mayors in several cities, including Chicago, Portland, New York City, and Boston, (plus Gov. Newsom of California) are determined to keep all of their illegal immigrants, including known criminals.

These mayors and Sen. Schumer have a plan. Stores and banks have to hire guards to keep from being robbed. If thousands of immigrants are sickly, more Medicaid dollars pay doctors and nurses. Police are leaving, frustrated because anyone they arrest is set free. These mayors are smart; more tax dollars flowing into city coffers and paying fewer police means more money is available to raise their own salaries.

If Congress can’t agree on a budget, don’t be overly concerned. Essential employees will be working, continuing essential services. Any that are laid off for a few days or weeks will get all of their salaries. A shutdown always costs money instead of saving it. They waste a lot of time preparing for a shutdown.

The ones hurt are private citizens or businesses who have “non-essential” contracts providing goods or services to the government.

Now, I don’t pretend to know all the details about shutdowns and ICE removing criminal illegal aliens. I wish there was more common horse sense in Washington and “sanctuary” cities and states. Politicians are riling up radical protesters to keep ICE agents from arresting criminals. I doubt there were any protesters decades ago when the federal “G-men” were tracking and taking out John Dillinger, Al Capone, and Bonnie and Clyde.

Former FBI Director, James Comey, has been indicted on two federal charges. It’s strange. Instead of charging him with actions that affected Presidential elections since 2016, he is charged with lying to Congress related to those actions. This trial won’t go anywhere because juries know that everybody lies to Congress. And Congress turns around and lies to everybody.

In case you older folks are wondering, J. Edgar Hoover, FBI Director for 48 years, did not directly lie to Congress, but he often misled them.

Farmers are hurting financially. This may be a surprise because you’ve seen the meat case with steak at $20 a pound and hamburger at $7.50. Widespread drought for a few years has reduced the cow herd. And a dangerous insect called a screwworm in Mexico is also reducing the amount of beef for sale.

The farmers hurting the most are growing corn, soybeans, wheat or cotton. Those commodities are selling for bargain prices while the inputs these farmers buy (fertilizer, seed, machinery) are all expensive. By the way, the corporations and local businesses serving these crop farmers are also hurting.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is trying to help. President Trump faces the same quandary President Coolidge had in 1923, “He wants ‘help for the farmers.’ But don’t want anyone to have to pay more for their food.” (WA #53)

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

       “If I was [Secretary of Agriculture] Wallace I would say, ‘Boys, you all are just too good farmers. You just raise too much. If you just wouldn’t be so expert for a few years… Your efficiency is driving you to the poor house. So please don’t be such good farmers.’” DT #2439, May 28, 1934

Across the country, students are failing. Schools are failing our students.

Third graders who can’t read; they don’t even recognize the letters. They don’t know the numbers. Seniors graduating who can’t read the cursive words on their diploma.

It’s not about the money. We invest more money in education than ever before. And some of the worst scores are from districts with the highest investment per student.

Several years ago we ranked No. 1 in the world. Now, at least 25 countries have jumped ahead of us. Other countries are doing a better job of educating students, while we are declining.

I come from a long line of teachers. And family members who are not teachers are strong supporters of education.

A hundred years ago schools taught the basic 3 R’s: “Readin’, Ritin’, and Rithmetic.” Students learned Geography, History, Music, Citizenship, Grammar and more. Many of those students were in a one-room school for grades 1 to 8. And they succeeded in life. (Have you seen a typical test required to “graduate” from 8^th grade? If not, you’ll be amazed.)

It seems easy to argue that students today need different skills. Critical thinking instead of memorizing historical facts, geographic locations and the multiplication table. But, no! Facts are the foundation for critical thinking. A student needs to learn about WWI and WWII to think critically about Russia/Ukraine or Israel/Hamas. Is an 18-year-old voter going to understand our $36 Trillion national debt if they can’t make change for a $10 bill?

One essential skill we can all agree on is knowing how to read. Will Rogers said, “We learn by two things: one is reading, the other is associating with smarter people.” Will is also known for saying, “All I know is what I read in the newspaper.”  (Of course, he learned from other sources, but not smart phones.) Will also wrote in 1924, “We are getting to be a nation that can’t read any more. If the [newspaper article] hasn’t got a picture of it, we are sunk.”

If Johnny (or Emma or Jamal or Liam) can’t read how can he learn math, science and history? How did grade school students learn to read 100 to 150 years ago? McGuffey’s Reader was a series for the first 6 grades. (Will Rogers joked that he spent 8 years in McGuffey’s Fourth Reader.)

Can you imagine the howl from the Department of Education in Washington if we suggested going back to McGuffey’s Readers? Of course, we would update some stories and change objectionable text. (One teacher with AI could finish that job in a week.)

For math, Ray’s Arithmetic and The Appleton Arithmetic are possible replacements for “new math,” whatever that is. Take those books (and others of that era for geography and science) and update numbers and facts. For example, if a math problem asks “if eggs are 5 cents a dozen how many eggs can you buy for 65 cents”, change the price.  Add new countries. Update science books; the basics of chemistry and biology haven’t changed. The air we breathe is still Nitrogen, Oxygen, and a little Carbon Dioxide.

Ok, that’s my contribution to solving the education problem.

I’ll let you folks figure out the rest. How do we get parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and the whole community to support the schools and students? Why do kids skip school? How do we attract and reward more good teachers? Are private schools fair competition for public schools? Are trades (electrician, welder, plumber,…) promoted adequately? How can AI and other technology improve student learning?

The memorial service for Charlie Kirk was held today in Arizona. Regardless of whether you agreed with his views on faith, family, free speech, the Bible and the Constitution, you have to admit he has had a huge influence on young people, especially young men. Other men in their thirties, two I could name, have been murdered and their influence continued to grow exponentially.

The Jimmy Kimmel suspension (update, back on air after 6 days) continues to be debated. ABC says it was a business decision. Others blame Trump for “cancelling free speech.” In a nutshell, Jimmy said the killer of Charlie Kirk was MAGA (a supporter of Trump) when he and his whole team should have known the killer was the opposite of MAGA. And he refused to correct the error. Kimmel is paid $17 million to be funny, tell jokes and be entertaining. Here is Will Rogers’ explanation: “Every Gag I tell must be based on truth. No matter how much I may exaggerate it, it must have a certain amount of Truth.” (WA #65, March 9, 1924) and “I have always noticed that people will never laugh at anything that is not based on truth.” (WA #103, Nov. 30, 1924)

You have already heard or read hundreds of comments about Charlie Kirk. My observations may not add to your knowledge or understanding. And that’s ok.

I never met Charlie Kirk. My opinions are based on two sources. One is videos of him speaking and engaging in intelligent debate with individuals on college campuses.

The second source is based on opinions of people who not only met him, but knew him well. So far, from those folks, I have heard only praise for Charlie Kirk.

Like you, I’ve heard and read plenty of negative comments about him and what he stood for. Those comments include that he was racist and hated transgender people and Jews. There is a common thread among the people with negative views: they never met Charlie Kirk or listened to him at length.

Let me take you back a few decades. On college campuses it was common for a person to stand at a prominent open space and start talking loudly. Often, they were promoting a religion or a deeply held opinion. They exercised their right to speak freely. They might attract a dozen students, but were generally ignored. None of those campus speakers, with perhaps a couple of exceptions, ever caught on. They never got the attention of any prominent group or organization.

Then along came Charlie Kirk. A young guy, without a college education, began speaking to students his own age about what was important to him: faith, family and country. He started attracting decent-sized crowds. Eventually he had a following on social media of millions, mostly teenagers, college students, and those in their twenties. (And several older folks, too.)

Why did this matter? Until a few years ago, most “voices” young people heard were liberals. Yes, we had conservative voices, including Ronald Reagan and Rush Limbaugh, but their main audience was adults. (A young Barack Obama, a liberal voice who became a Senator then President, attracted young folks.) The primary voices students heard were teachers and professors. Probably 90% were liberal and voted for Democrats. That’s logical since Democrats in power were more likely to favor raising their salaries than conservative Republicans. But instead of keeping their political views out of the classroom, many openly taught persuasively for liberal causes.

Along came Charlie Kirk and Turning Point USA with conservative views on sex, gender, marriage, love of country, capitalism, and other topics. He knew U.S. and World history, the Constitution, the Bible and basic beliefs of other worldwide religions. He welcomed debate.

Millions of young people adopted conservative practices. They became more interested in religion. After listening to Charlie and learning about his family, they saw value in getting married and having children (in that order).

And they VOTED for conservatives. This raised the ire of Democrats because young voters were supposed to belong to THEM. Charlie Kirk had become an “existential threat to democracy.”

By the way, that phrase and threatening words like Nazi, Fascist, and Hitler should never be used against anyone! You’re welcome to add derogatory words used by the other side. But I doubt if any of those “words” murdered 6 million people.

Why would anyone want to kill Charlie Kirk when they would have been welcomed to the microphone to present their point of view? How could an intelligent 22-year-old from a well-to-do religious family turn 180 degrees into an assassin?

Apparently, it has happened to several others. They leave home, either physically or emotionally, spend their time on vicious “gaming” platforms, communicate on obscure internet channels the rest of us never heard of (Discord), and become “friends” with the wrong crowd. They hear someone described as a “Fascist” (which they could never define) or “phobic” and decide to kill ‘em.

Utah Governor Cox asked us to stop the hateful rhetoric, have conversations with those we disagree with, and resolve differences peacefully.

As my friend LaDonna Gatlin asked, “Let us reach out in love to those in this hurting world who don’t necessarily agree with us.” And, in her beautiful singing “voice” she closed with the hopeful hymn, “Let there be Peace on Earth, and let it begin with Me.”

Randall Reeder

President Trump is always making big changes.  He changed the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America. He paved the Rose Garden and is adding a huge Ballroom to the White House.  He wants to eliminate the Dept. of Education. This week he switched the DOD back to its original name, Department of War.

While he’s in a changin’ mood, I have another suggestion. The USDA, formed in 1862, has outlived its service to farmers. Yes, it’s shameful. Less than 20 percent of the USDA budget goes to support farmers and ranchers. Since the other 80 percent is for SNAP (formerly known as food stamps) the Department of Agriculture needs to be renamed. From now on it’s the U. S. Dept. of Free Food.

Now, Secretary Rollins is an agriculture person. But even she will admit that very little of her budget is to provide relief for the farmer. Four-fifths goes to SNAP, providing free food to over 40,000,000 people.  And the part of the budget for soil conservation (which you’ll remember originated 90 years ago because of the Dust Bowl), is down to $100 million. That’s a pittance of the total USDA budget of $230 Billion.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a direct line to President Trump. Maybe I can get Senator Markwayne Mullin to suggest the change. He’s part Cherokee and is from Will Rogers country in Oklahoma. New York Senator Chuck Schumer is another possibility. He represents a lot more SNAP recipients than he does farmers so he should favor the change to USDFF.

In Chicago… have you ever heard of anyone as proud of their criminals as Governor Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson? And thousands of people joined them in protesting against any federal assistance in reducing crime. But the protesters were smart; they gathered in a safe part of the city, several blocks from where 60 people were shot last weekend. Mayor Johnson is complaining that the Legislature won’t give him an extra $1.6 Billion. Not for more police, but to reward the teacher’s union for their support.

Chicago politicians are determined to retain their reputation from a hundred years ago. John Dillinger robbed banks, and when jailed, a crooked judge and two guards helped him escape. Al Capone made millions on bootleg liquor and killed rivals, including the St. Valentine’s Day massacre in 1929. (See the quotes)

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

          (Radio broadcast from Chicago) “… broadcasting from a sound-proof studio, barricaded in the Wrigley Building. Now I will try to describe what is going on down on the street. The Bugs Moran gang are holding down the east side of Michigan Boulevard and the Capones are entrenched on the other side… There must be a thousand racketeers; there is not an empty gun in the place… Now, folks, you are not going to get me coming out here telling any jokes about these racketeers and gangsters. It is all right to scatter good humor at the expense of the Senate, for they are harmless. But these boys carry a gun.” Radio, June 22, 1930

         “America’s favorite ‘prodigal son,’ Scarface Al Capone, has returned to us and in his honor, we killed two fatted gangsters… Capone goes free to take up his useful life’s work.” DT #1137, March 18, 1930

        “See where they convicted Al Capone on five counts [evasion of federal income taxes]. Now comes the out-on-bail, new trial, change of venue, habus corpus, stay of execution and twenty-one other things that the law has invented to hinder justice. This case is a great boost for (Treasury Secretary) Mr. Mellon and his deficit, for if bootleggers and robbers are liable for an income tax, why our treasury will be richer than France.” DT #1634, Oct 18, 1931

 

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