Author: Randall Reeder

Are you tired of hearing about Russia?

In the last few years Putin took over the country of Georgia and a big chunk of Ukraine. He rolled into Syria on the side of President Assad, not “our” side. Russia threatened to cut off the main source of natural gas for European countries.

Russia is a huge country, but economically it’s small. The whole country produces far less than California, and even less than Texas.

Now whether our Senators or the President’s representatives should be talking to Russian diplomats, I ain’t so sure.  Those birds know what they’re after, and nobody in Russia cares how they get it. But here, when anyone even speaks to a Russian, if the whole of the conversation is not published the next day some Congressman on one side or the other will demand a resignation.

Oprah Winfrey and Mark Cuban say they might run for President in 2020. Apparently they were inspired by my 2016 “Will Rogers for President” campaign and are convinced they can do better. They could be a good ticket if Mark is willing to be Vice-President. Instead of “Anti-Bunk,” their theme would be “2 Billionaires is better than 1.”

The big controversy this weekend was a “wiretap” in Trump Tower. President Trump stirred up a hornet’s nest Saturday morning while everyone else was asleep. Based on all the evidence so far, it seems he uncovered an old baby monitor installed years ago. Can’t blame Obama for that.

The Senate has one more Cabinet member to approve: Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue. He was Governor of Georgia at one time, but I think the main qualification is that he is a veterinarian. He’s smart. As Will Rogers said, “The best doctor in the world is the Veterinarian. He can’t ask his patients what is the matter; he’s got to just know.”

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

          “If I wanted to start an insane asylum that would be 100 percent cuckoo, I would just admit applicants that thought they know something about Russia.” DT #1291, Sept. 14, 1930

“These old diplomats you see sitting around, they don’t look (like) much but they out-deal foreigners all their life.” Jan. 19, 1935

“A man in the country does his own thinking, but you get him into town and he soon will be thinking second-handed.” Sat. Eve. Post, May 1, 1926

We’ve been hearing a lot lately about a thing called “fake news.”  Some big newspapers and television networks have been accused of putting out stories that are no more accurate than what you’re likely to see on Facebook or Twitter. Well, I want you to understand that anything I write should never be considered as “news.” Therefore, I have a clear conscience regardless of whether it’s fake or real.

In Washington, a successful businessman who has hired thousands of workers was forced to drop out as a candidate for Secretary of Labor. Instead the job will go to a lawyer who never hired anybody, at least not with his own money.

For the Environmental Protection Agency, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt got confirmed, even though about 90 percent of EPA employees don’t like him. Too many environmental employees are determined to keep adding regulations until you can drink a glass of water directly from the Mississippi River. They should go to Pittsburgh or Cleveland and ask an 80-year old person how the air quality compares to the 1950s. Is it 99 percent cleaner?

The EPA has done a masterful job of cleaning up our air and water since it was started in 1970. It met its goals. Maybe it’s time for employees to return to their home states, work in a steel mill or coal mine or on a dairy farm or cattle ranch. See what the conditions are, first hand, and learn about the cost of meeting the latest EPA dictates, such as the “Waters of the U.S.” regulation.

Next we come to the Department of Education, which used to be part of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Has it met its goals of making American students the best prepared in the world? Not even close. Companies have to hire immigrants because we don’t produce nearly enough engineers, business entrepreneurs, and doctors and nurses.  Of course not every student is brilliant. Those should be taught how to weld, saw a 2×4, operate a backhoe, and most important, how to work. I read a report from Florida where hundreds of unemployed Americans were hired to work in the vegetable fields and only a handful lasted a month. The others quit, and had to be replaced by immigrants. Maybe Secretary DeVos can ask a few old retired teachers how they managed a classroom forty or fifty years ago and prepared their students to become productive citizens. I bet teachers have not changed. What changed is the way they are managed from Washington.

Plenty of folks are upset with President Trump. Protests are as common as 5K races, Awards shows, and Cheerleader competitions. You can’t go a week without a million showing up to march and carry placards. But the stock market and other parts of the economy seem to like the direction we’re headed.

California has been so concerned about years of drought they never considered what might happen if it rained.  They built the Oroville Dam fifty years ago, and not once had any water gone over the emergency spillway. Now the emergency spillway is the emergency. Even though the dam is made of earth, not concrete, and is taller than Hoover Dam, legislators have been focused on high-speed rail, snail darters, and environmentalists who hate dams.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

          “We’re up here working on a picture (Steamboat ‘Round the Bend). We’re working on the Sacramento River. We could have worked on the Los Angeles River, but they’d have had to haul the water too far. I hope some of these relief agencies (will) irrigate the Los Angeles River.” Radio, May 19, 1935

“We are celebrating the birth of George Washington. He was not only the Father of our country, but he was the most celebrated woodsman that ever lived. He gained more fame with his hatchet than Lincoln did with his axe.” Feb. 22, 1925

Trump has heads spinning in his first few days as President. Kinda like FDR in 1933 (see quotes below). FDR used “fireside chats” on the radio like Trump uses Twitter.

Trump nominated more successful business people than lawyers and politicians to key positions. Maybe it should be no surprise that many of those nominees are opposed by lawyers/politicians. They hate to see their clout slip away.

Neil Gorsuch was nominated to the Supreme Court to fill the “Scalia” seat. Scalia believed in the Constitution and so does Gorsuch. So why are Senate Democrats battling this pick? Why not wait for the next (potential) Supreme Court vacancy when Trump might want to replace a “liberal” Justice with a Constitutionalist. That should be the battle.

You wouldn’t believe how many travelers and their families were delayed because of the restrictions on people arriving from 7 countries where ISIS dominates. Thousands and thousands were affected at airports across the country. Actually the ruling affected about a hundred who were delayed a few hours; the thousands were hindered by the protesters. Hundreds protested at the Columbus airport even though there was not a single affected foreign passenger arriving.

Later, a federal judge ruled against Trump. When the ‘Muslim Ban’ protesters were informed they had won and could go home, they declined, “Hey, we’re protesters, we’ve got lots of signs: ‘No Wall,’ ‘No Borders,’ ‘Pro Choice,’ ‘Black Lives Matter.’ Some are written on the back of ‘I’m with Her.’”

Ever since Trump’s election, the economy seems to be looking up.  Not sure that’s the reason, but the Dow-Jones topped 20,000, more people are working, wages are inching up, pipeline construction approved, and companies and are announcing thousands of new jobs. Let’s hope it continues. The recovery from the Great Recession was too sluggish with growth of only about 2 percent a year.

I wonder how many sports writers had written their Super Bowl stories in advance with the headline, “Patriots Win Big.”  Kinda like political writers November 8 with, “Clinton elected President.”  Well, it took 31 points in a row, the biggest Super Bowl comeback and overtime, but Tom Brady and Bill Belichick won their fifth. The real headline: Brady Deflates Falcons 34-28.

It was wonderful to see President George Bush and Barbara handle the coin toss. He predicted it from his hospital bed a couple of weeks ago. Awesome.

On a “Will Rogers” personal note, his great niece, Doris “Coke” Lane Meyer died last week at age 97. She was the daughter of Will’s sister, Maud Rogers Lane and the last relative old enough to remember him. I was fortunate to see her about every year, at the celebration of Will’s birthday in November. She was 15 when her “Uncle Will” died, and had delightful memories of his visits home to Oklahoma.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

          “America hasn’t been as happy in three years as they are today… The whole country is with (President Roosevelt). Even if what he does is wrong they are with him. Just so he does something. If he burned down the Capitol we would cheer and say, ‘Well, we at least got a fire started.’” DT #2054, March 5, 1933

“Say, this Roosevelt is a fast worker. Even on Sunday… why this President closed all the banks and called Congress in extra session.” DT #2055, March 6, 1933

“America can carry herself and get along in pretty fair shape, but when she stops and picks up the whole world and puts it on her shoulders she just can’t get it done.” DT #2063, March 15, 1933

 

On Friday at noon a million people in Washington saw Donald Trump become our 45^th President. On Saturday a million women were in Washington complaining about the job Trump is doing as President.

A fellow has to be careful what he says these days. Years ago a guy could say something witty or sarcastic, and even controversial, and people would say, ‘Oh, he’s just trying to be funny.’ But now, if you put something on Facebook or Twitter it don’t take much to get ‘em riled up. I put this on Facebook last night: If Hillary Clinton watched the millions and millions of women marching in over a hundred cities she must have been disgusted with them, “Where were you on Nov. 8 when I needed you?”

Although President Trump has no laws passed, it seems the women’s protest was related to birth control. A lot of the women were wearing hats that looked like a cat, ironically unaware that the main method of birth control for cats is spaying.

Ringling Brothers circus has been forced to shut down. The radical anti-animal groups HSUS and PETA took away their elephants. As Will Rogers noted in 1928, putting on a stage show without a name performer would be “like Ringling bringing in his circus and announcing that he is sorry but the elephants, clowns and horses were not with it.”        The circus will soon be history, so HSUS will take on zoos, rodeos, county fairs, and farms that produce eggs, milk, steak and bacon.  HSUS gets their money from people who sign up for a $19 a month forever commitment (thinking the money is going to local animal shelters), and includes a bunch of the women who marched in their cat hats.

As President Obama moves into retirement, we want to compliment him and his family for serving as a role model for our youth and young parents for 8 years. The family flew to Palm Springs for a vacation in sunny California. The only problem is rain and floods arrived with them. Maybe they can go kayaking on a golf course.

The New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons won their football games today over the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers. Both games were lopsided; the combined score of the two was 80 to 38. Let’s hope the Super Bowl is more exciting.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“(Roosevelt) is a fast worker. He was inaugurated at noon in Washington, and they started the inaugural parade down Pennsylvania Avenue, and before it got halfway down there, he’d closed every bank in the United States.” Radio, Apr. 30, 1933

“There is nothing impresses ‘common folk’ like somebody that ain’t common.” DT #612, July 12, 1928

“Things in our country run in spite of government; not by the aid of it.” DT #1930, July 28, 1930

“People don’t change under governments; the governments change, but the people remain the same.”  There’s Not a Bathing Suit in Russia, 1927

“Every man gets an opportunity once in a lifetime.” DT #2077, March 31, 1933

The country is preparing for an Inauguration in a few days. We have gone 24 years with just three men holding the reins, and folks are not sure what to expect from the next one.

Since the election President Obama has been giving orders left and right, trying to cement his legacy. And Trump has been giving his opinion on practically everything. On January 20, they will reverse roles. Trump has used Twitter for his pronouncements; Obama will use the media to stay in the news.

Have you been invited to the Inauguration? Are you going? Eight years ago a million people filled the Mall all the way to the Lincoln Memorial. This year there is more news about who is not attending the Inauguration than the ones who are. Protesters may outnumber the ones there to honor the new President. And the next day, more busloads of protesters have promised to show up. Now, I know that Trump is a fast worker, but it’s doubtful he will get any laws passed through Congress in 24 hours, so what are they going to protest?

The ones who have a beef with Trump are lawyers. The lawyers and other lifelong politicians have been running the government as their own, and Trump wants to replace a bunch of ‘em with business people. Paper companies are worried because it takes a lawyer a thousand pages to write a new rule, and a top business person will say the same thing in a page or two.

Radical Islamic terror seems to be ramping up. It used to be during a war we would hear how many had died in various battles. Now, there’s no declared war, but every day the newspapers have another story about an attack: a shooting at the Ft. Lauderdale Airport, a truck ramming soldiers in Jerusalem, a fuel truck explodes in a Baghdad market, slaughter in Aleppo. And if somehow ISIS misses a day, we can depend on Chicago to kill and maim a few. Even Al Capone would be shocked at the Chicago murder rate.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

          “How do we stand all this uncertainty? Here it is ten days till inauguration time and we don’t know what (President-elect) Hoover is going to do and we don’t know what (President) Coolidge is going to do. Mr. Hoover ought to announce his Cabinet at once, for lots of times a Cabinet attracts more attention between the time they are announced and the time they take their seats, than they ever do afterward.” DT #801, Feb. 19, 1929

“Say, this (new President) Roosevelt is a fast worker. Even on Sunday when all a President is supposed to do is put on a silk hat and have his picture taken coming out of church, why this President closed all the banks and called Congress in extra session, and that’s not all he is going to call ‘em either if they don’t get something done.” DT #2055, March 6, 1933 [the “bank holiday” lasted 5 days]

“If there is one thing that a Politician hates it’s somebody that is not in their business.” May 31, 1928

“They talk about civilization. Say, there ain’t no civilization where there ain’t no satisfaction, and that’s what’s the trouble now, nobody is satisfied.” WA #367, Jan. 5, 1930

Will Rogers wrote about 3 of the 4 teams in the 2016 college football playoff games, Alabama, Washington and Ohio State (but not Clemson).

The University of Alabama was selected to play in the Rose Bowl, Jan. 1, 1926, against the University of Washington. Alabama was a huge underdog because southern schools had no respect from college football powerhouse teams in the North and West.  But that changed when Alabama won 20-19.

Will Rogers was at the Rose Bowl game and wrote, “I could tell from the way they played that the whole of Alabama was a football fool. And if Washington thinks it was a fluke, I will bet my last piece of rope and chewing gum that “Old Tuskegee,” the monument to Booker T. Washington, can come out here and confirm the victory. After seeing that game you will never make me believe that the Civil War was fought on the level. Poor refereeing must have beat ‘em.”

Alabama played again in the Rose Bowl, Jan. 1, 1935, and beat Stanford 29-13. Will was there, and had written a week earlier that pro football had become so popular by passing the ball more, “Audiences like clever passing and lots of scoring, not 0 to 0, or 7 to 6…. Well Alabama must [have read my article] because they just said it’s easier to throw this thing over there than it is to carry it over and, as a consequence, 85,000 people went nutty… I don’t blame Stanford for not getting in the way of those passes. Why, those things would kill you if they hit you.”

Will Rogers also wrote about Ohio State University football, in January 1927: “Dr. Wilce, the Ohio State coach, just showed me their new stadium, seating 100,000, built by hard study and excellent scholarship. They can seat 200 students to every book in the university. They lost to Michigan [17 to 16, on Nov. 13] by a kick after touchdown. He has 400 students practicing day and night to kick goals… I suggested they practice making another touchdown, they then wouldn’t have to worry about the goal kicking.” (Coach John Wilce was also a professor of clinical and preventive medicine.)

On Saturday undefeated Alabama beat Washington 24-7, and Ohio State was shutout by Clemson, 31-0, setting up the championship game January 9.

OSU could not score a touchdown and their kicker missed 2 field goals, handing them the first shutout since 1993. Urban Meyer makes enough coaching football he doesn’t have to moonlight as a professor of medicine.

As I prepared to write this last column of 2016, I looked back at the first one on January 3. Although I made no prediction on the divisive presidential race that was developing, I believe the opening paragraph hinted at the eventual outcome:

“President Obama (has pondered) the most important issues facing the country in his last year as president: stagnant wages, stagnant stock market, high unemployment rate for minorities, higher costs of health care, soaring national debt, Islamic terrorism in America, Russian aggression, Chinese cyber-attacks, and Islamic terrorism in the Middle East. After all that pondering he announced that the biggest issue is… gun control.”

Even though Hillary Clinton captured the popular vote thanks to big city Democrats who favor tighter gun control, rural voters gave the Electoral College vote to Donald Trump.

If you heard this week that the United Nations had taken a major step toward peace in the Middle East, you might assume the UN was forcing Assad in Syria to resign and Iran and Russia to pull out of Syria so the country could have peace and millions of refugees could return home. Or maybe a UN plan to wipe out ISIS. But no, they voted to punish Israel. The United States could have vetoed that action against our closest friend in the region but President Obama declined. Now, if you wonder why he waited until his final month as president to abandon Israel instead of doing it in his first year, you don’t understand politics. Mr. Obama prefers friendship with Palestinians over Israel, and most of the UN agrees with him.

I hope you had a Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“There is very little dignity, very little sportsmanship, or very little anything in politics.” DT #1949, Nov. 2, 1932

“Politics is not the high class, marvelous thing that lots of you picture.” Nov. 10, 1932

“Well, there is lots more good cheer this Christmas than last (or the last three). It’s in the heart, in the confidence and in the renewed hope of everybody.” DT #2306, Dec. 24, 1933

 “Well, Christmas has passed. I was just thinking if there was some way to make the Christmas spirit continue during the other days of the year, why we would be the most happy and wonderful Nation on Earth. Gosh, if all of us that was able would just feed and do things for folks without waiting till Christmas. I think we mean well, but we just sorter got in our heads that about one day a year pays our obligations off, then we swell up and hide our Conscience till the next gift day comes along.” WA #628, Jan. 6, 1935

America lost a hero last week. You probably know John Glenn was the first American to orbit the Earth, on Feb. 20, 1962.

But that was not the beginning of his service to the country. He left Muskingum College (Ohio) in 1942 to fly fighter planes for the Marines in World War II. He also flew 63 combat missions in the Korean War and then became a test pilot, setting a transcontinental speed record in 1957. In 1959 he was selected as one of our first seven astronauts.

After retiring from NASA, he returned home to Ohio. He was elected to the Senate in 1974 and served 4 terms. As his Senate career was winding down, in 1998 he returned to space for 9 days on the Space Shuttle. He was 77.

Still not ready to completely retire, he became an Adjunct Professor at Ohio State University in the unit that was later named the John Glenn College of Public Affairs. He spent a lot of time on campus until a few months ago.

I enjoyed a story in the Columbus Dispatch today. The Editor told of a chance meeting with Annie and John Glenn two years ago. They had stopped at the newspaper office to pick up the morning paper. In a brief conversation Mr. Glenn talked about how valuable newspapers are to society. His own appreciation began with his first job: delivering the local paper in New Concord, Ohio.

John Glenn may be remembered for his courage and heroism in the air, but he was a down-to-earth, common sense, easy-to-talk-to gentleman. One of a kind.

Donald Trump is interviewing a wide range of potential Secretaries of State. Observers are debating whether the Secretary needs to be a seasoned diplomat or if an international businessman, such as the top man at Exxon Mobil, could deal with these foreign leaders without losing his shirt.

You have heard complaints that Trump only selects billionaires or Generals for top positions, but what could be wrong with selecting successful people. They seem to know how to hire, train and work with the good people, so why can’t it work in the federal government. I don’t know if it’s ever been tried before.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

          “What constitutes a life well spent? Love and admiration from your fellow men is all that anyone can ask… You must judge a man’s greatness by how much he will be missed.” WA #139, Aug. 9, 1925

“Diplomats are nothing but high class lawyers; some ain’t even high class.” WA #5, Jan. 14, 1923

“(Europe’s) diplomats are trained; it’s their life’s business. Ours make a campaign contribution and wake up in Belgium and don’t know which ocean they crossed to get there.” Jan. 19, 1935

Now that the election is over, it’s time to ponder all sides of the outcome. If you supported Trump for president have you considered how the Democrats feel? If you were whole hog for Hillary Clinton have you thought about views of the Republicans in Middle America who gave Trump the edge in the Electoral College?

In the Historical Quote (below) you will see that it’s a good idea to look and listen to the other fellow’s viewpoint. A Republican farmer in Kansas or Nebraska could contemplate how a young female in a big city back East could be devastated and exasperated that more people did not vote for the first woman president. Is this first-time voter, who has lived almost half her life under President Obama, scared that Trump will set the country back fifty years?

Or, let’s reverse it. If you live in San Francisco, Chicago, New York City or Boston, where you can walk or bike everywhere you need to go, can you understand how country folks don’t want to lose access to fossil fuels? These farmers and ranchers work hard to grow your food, which you may think magically appears on grocery shelves from a 3D printer.

Trump is rapidly filling out his Cabinet and selections for other top officials. Not everyone agrees, but the men and women picked so far seem to be successful in business or the military or governing a state. None of ‘em are dead broke.

Folks are concerned about Trump’s vast business empire. I’ve heard Democrats insist he must sell all of it to avoid any conflict of interest. Maybe we should think this through. Henry Ford contemplated running for President. Would he have been forced to sell the Ford Motor Company if elected? In West Virginia the incoming governor owns a lot of coal mines and the famous Greenbrier Resort. Should he be forced to sell? If we want successful business folks, to run for high office, including President, we need to remove or minimize obstacles, not erect new ones.

This Wednesday is the 75^th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. We don’t have many veterans left from World War II, so this is a good day to honor and thank them again.

Historic Quote by Will Rogers:

“(Indians say) the reason a white man always gets lost and an Indian didn’t was because an Indian always looked back after he passed anything so he got a view of it from both sides. You see, the white man just figures that all sides of a thing are the same. That’s like a dumb guy with an argument, he don’t think there is any other side, only his. That’s what you call politicians.

The Indians say you must never disagree with a man while you are facing him. Go around behind him and look the same way they do, when you are facing him. Look over his shoulder and get his viewpoint, then go back and face him and you will have a different idea.”  WA #514, Oct. 30, 1932

Thanksgiving kinda sneaked up on us. We’re still recovering from the election and most of the country stayed warm until a few days ago.

Driving to Grandma’s house will be a bargain with gas around $2 a gallon. And so will the fancy Thanksgiving dinner. The Dept. of Agriculture says the cost of feeding a family of 10 will be only $50. Thanks to scientific advances, improved efficiency and productivity, this meal is an amazing bargain, costing less than it did  30 years ago, adjusted for inflation.

Of course it could cost you three times as much if you insist on serving a fresh free-range turkey, organic mashed potatoes, gluten-free hot rolls and green beans grown without weed control chemicals.

If you decide to serve beef or pork you’ll find that’s a bargain also. Beef is so low “these old cattlemen are eating their own beef.” (1931)

A lot of farmers across the country are suffering from low prices. Dairy farmers have Got Milk alright; too much milk. Eggs are less than a dollar a dozen (unless you want free-range brown eggs for $5). Wheat, corn, soybeans and cotton are all at a low price because farmers around the world have benefited from good weather. Not all of ‘em, but enough to keep prices low. As I said back in 1931, “Wish all the farmers would move to town one year. That’s the only way I know to clear this thing up.”

Donald Trump is organizing his team. Folks on television are wondering how he will get his businesses in a “blind trust.” There’s never been a President who owned businesses in several countries as Trump does.  You have to go back almost a hundred years to find anybody comparable. Henry Ford thought about running for President and was promoted by a lot of folks, including Will Rogers. At the time, half of all the automobiles on the road were Model T Fords. If you can figure out how the biggest car company in the world could be run as a blind trust, maybe Trump’s hotels, golf courses and office buildings would be a piece of cake.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. The more turkey you eat at dinner the less hash you will be bothered with the rest of the month.” DT#92, Nov. 24, 1926

“(Thanksgiving) was started by the Pilgrims, who would give thanks every time they killed an Indian and took more of his land. As years went by and they had all his land, they changed it into a day to give thanks for the bountiful harvest when the boll-weevil and the protective tariff didn’t remove all cause for thanks.” DT #417, Nov. 23, 1927

“Thanksgiving Day. In the days of its founders they were willing to give thanks for mighty little, for mighty little was all they expected. Those old boys in the fall of the year, if they could gather in a few pumpkins, potatoes and some corn for the winter, they was in a thanking mood.” DT #2594, Nov. 28, 1934