Author: Randall Reeder

President Obama says the economy is strong. The stock market is up, energy production is booming, and the unemployment rate keeps dropping.

But when you ask people how they feel, you get mixed answers. It depends on where they live. The President lives in Washington, DC where unemployment is about zero. But folks in the rest of the country, except in Texas, North Dakota and other oil/gas boom states, are still waiting for jobs and wages to show up. One survey reported that 3 of every 5 people say they are worse off than 6 years ago. Business Week says that Texas added 1.1 million jobs since 2008, while the other 49 states lost 350,000. We all know that Texas is big, but that is HUGE.

Old folks will remember that the Great Depression that began in October 1929 did not end as a result of President Roosevelt’s policies. No, the economy was still in the dumps in 1941 when Japan dragged us into World War II. The war didn’t end the economic misery; it just replaced it with a worse misery.

It’s not only the poor and middle class who are complaining about economic conditions. Former chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, was complaining about a $600,000 mortgage on his Washington home. Here’s a man who makes $250,000 every time he gives a speech, and he’s frustrated he can’t get a lower interest rate on a 30-year home loan. First, why would a 60-year old have a 30-year mortgage? Why not give three speeches next week to Wall Street cronies and pay it off?

It turns out he is like a lot of other rich people; he wants a tax deduction. I have said for years the tax code needs to be overhauled, including elimination of deductions for home mortgages, especially for anyone over 60, and for second homes. And eliminate the deduction for state income taxes; that simply favors the governments in states like New York, Illinois and California where taxes are high.

I’ve got other ideas on pumping life into the economy in case anyone in Congress asks. But I know they won’t. They’re all back in their home states trying to get reelected November 4.

Columbus Day is October 12. About all we get out of it is a day off and sales on mattresses and old model cars. Some of these car companies have a huge challenge to get all their 2014 models sold before they have to recall ‘em.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“Christopher Columbus was about the first of the foreigners to start comin’ over. He beat the immigration law… Somebody would have found America though, even if he hadn’t, for you couldn’t hardly get around without running into it…. 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

#808 Sept.21, 2014

The Islamic State (ISIS) has declared war on us. They beheaded two Americans, but the President is still reluctant to say we are at war with them. He not only won’t call it a “War”, he won’t call them Islamic either. He promised we will not have “boots on the ground” in Iraq and Syria, so the 1600 soldiers already over there are required to wear sandals.

Obama promised voters in 2008 that he would end the war in Iraq and bring all our soldiers home. He does not want to reverse course and send them back, no matter what. Maybe we can persuade the “not-Islamic State” to move to another part of the world. If they were somewhere else, like in South Africa, or New Zealand, or even New Mexico, President Obama might feel different. He could fight ‘em not only with boots, but guns, bombs, and missiles.

I don’t blame Obama for not calling it a War. After all, President Johnson started the War on Poverty 50 years ago, and $22 trillion later, Poverty seems to be winning. We have 40 million receiving food stamps so they can eat, but a substantial number of those folks somehow find money to buy a car or two, a flat screen TV, computer, cell phone and other things that are more associated with luxury than poverty. What’s needed to reduce poverty is more jobs, and more people who would rather work than live on the dole.

Scotland held a vote on separating from Britain. We separated from Britain with a Revolution, but Scotland, being quite frugal, wanted to do it with a vote. Well, the vote failed. But England promised them the opportunity to set their own taxes. According to newspapers, the members of Parliament from Scotland are all Liberal and favor raising taxes. However, I think the old time Scotsman would prefer to keep their taxes low, but raise ‘em on England.

Have you heard of KAIROS? In church this morning the preacher told about this volunteer organization that arranges for a group of church members to visit a prison and talk with the inmates. The idea is that if a prisoner learns about Christian principles and the Ten Commandments he might reform and live a useful life when he gets out. The minister also added, “The ACLU opposes KAIROS activities.” That got me thinking; the ACLU also opposes religion in schools. Maybe if students learned some Christian principles in school, fewer of them would end up in prison.

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

“Scotsmen are the most liberal and hospitable people you ever saw. Grouse is Scotland’s principal export. You’ve got to rent a castle, then rent some drivers to drive the grouse by the castle. The grouse have been shot at so much they know just about who can hit ‘em and who can’t. It’s a racket, and the grouse and the Scotsman work together and the Americans and the Englishmen pay the bill.” DT #2535, Sept. 19, 1934

The Number #1 problem on the desk of President Obama this week is ISIS (or ISIL or Islamic State). With September 11 this week, it gives us even more reason to fear a terrorist attack.

There are no easy choices for dealing with ISIS. In the Middle East a half dozen Muslim countries, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Iran hate ISIS. They have well equipped armies and abundant air power, so why don’t they wipe out those blood thirsty heathens? Other than the Kurds, I think these Muslim military men are chicken. They are nothing like our soldiers. The Iraqi soldiers who turned and ran in the face of the ISIS invasion are a prime example. Why would anyone in a perfectly good tank (provided by the US) climb out and run away when faced with a few guys with guns in a pickup truck?

So what is President Obama going to do about ISIS? If you asked the average American, the answer would likely be, “Kill ‘em.” But the President is less direct. He is reluctant to take the role of LEADER in this battle. He does not want to go to war, but somehow wants to reduce ISIS to a “manageable” problem. President Obama says he will announce his strategy for ISIS this week. Some are criticizing him because he won’t make the announcement in the Oval Office. I’m just thankful he’s not speaking from the 19^th hole.

Back in 1940, you may remember that Franklin Roosevelt ran for his third term, mainly on the claim that he kept us out of war. We had a small military at the time. But when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941, FDR did not hesitate. He immediately became pro-war. The current situation makes you wonder: What if Obama had been president in 1941? Would we be speaking Japanese?

On a lighter note, the Ice Bucket Challenge is winding down. I would like to see just one more; there’s a famous statue on the campus of Texas Tech University, of Will Rogers astride his favorite horse. A bunch of  students could find a tall ladder and hoist an ice bucket high enough to douse him. Will wouldn’t mind because it’s in memory of one of his favorite baseball players. The folks with the research foundation for ALS, better known as Lou Gehrig disease, raised enough money to keep the research going for several years. I hope the donors are equally generous toward other diseases that destroy the lives of a hundred times as many people.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers: (on Lou Gehrig)

“If Pittsburgh walks Ruth and Gehrig every time, they can beat ‘em.” Oct. 2, 1927, DT #373

“The old radio pays for itself during the World Series.”   “Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig chased both (presidential) candidates and all their accomplices right off all the pages again today.”  Sept. 28 & 29, 1932  DT #1919 & 1920

 

California Governor Jerry Brown gave a speech to a large audience in Los Angeles that included Mexican President Nieto and a whole lot of other Mexicans. Now, mind you, I wasn’t there and did not write down the governor’s speech word for word, but this is pretty close to what he said:

“You’re all welcome in California, whether you are visiting or have lived here illegally for years. Entering California from Mexico should take no more than 20 minutes, if you are Mexican. Of course if you’re an American Marine, it can take many months, and I don’t care.

“I love Mexicans so much that, by executive order, I’m changing the name of this state to North Mexico. We want even more millions of Mexicans to come to the new state of North Mexico. We have sunshine, beaches, mountains, forests, farmland, milk and honey, fruit and nuts. Lots of fruits and nuts, especially in Sacramento. And deserts. Lots of deserts.

“In fact we have everything except water. I suggest you bring your own water, preferably a tanker truck full of water. But we’re gonna solve our water shortage, and you Mexicans are essential to the solution. My plan is to dig a ditch from our fine parched state all the way to Minnesota, the land of 10,000 lakes. It may take a couple million of you with picks and shovels to build this 2000-mile long trench but it will be worth it. I understand they have excellent lake water at Duluth, in fact it’s superior.”

The economy is still moping along in low gear, with no early prospects of shifting into high. More people are pessimistic today about the economy than they were five years ago. But economists are optimistic that things will look up in 2015. Of course, a year ago those same economists said the same thing about 2014. There are a couple of bright spots. If we can avoid an early freeze in the Midwest, a record crop of corn and soybeans will help keep food prices low. And our booming American oil and gas production will keep a handle on energy costs.

 

Putin has invaded Ukraine, the same as Hitler invaded France except Putin didn’t have to go through Belgium to do it. Putin is as determined to turn Ukraine into “West Russia” as Nieto and Gov. Brown are to covert California to North Mexico.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

Will wrote a mock “debate” between California and Florida. Here is one exchange:

“FLA: We have 3,000,000 acres of Everglades, and when they are drained they will support 3,000,000 people.
CAL: California has 20,000,000 acres of mountains, and when they are leveled out they will support the whole of India, with the Chinese nation invited as week?end guests. I know you may ask, ‘Who is going to flatten the mountains?’  Why, the same fellow that drains the Everglades. In fact, to show them that there is no hard feeling, and that we don’t even look on them as a competitor, we will give them enough dirt to fill up their Everglades.  They can’t drain their Everglades, as there is nowhere to put the water.  If they drain them into the ocean, why, that will raise the ocean higher than the land.”

And one more poke at California: “As for California, Mexico and the United States had a war… The war was really over the following question: ‘Who will have to take California?’ Mexico won and America had to take it.” May 29, 1926, Saturday Evening Post

“Tomorrow is Labor Day, I suppose set by an act of Congress. Everything we do nowadays is either by or against acts of Congress. How Congress knew anything about labor is beyond us…” Sept. 1, 1929, DT #967

The recession is still hanging on, at least for many of us. A survey showed that only 20% of American parents think their children will be better off than they are. The others think the future is bleaker for their kids. Is it a coincidence that about 20% are currently on welfare or other government support? It’s probably the same 20%.

I read a report that 400,000 more women are employed now than before the recession hit, but 600,000 fewer men have jobs. (There will be no jokes about the “weaker sex.”) The same report said consumer spending is down. That’s no surprise; with all the women working, they don’t have time to go to the mall.

Golf is suffering a downturn. President Obama may appear lackadaisical and uninterested on foreign affairs, deficits and the Keystone pipeline, but he is using all available powers to support golf. If the man with the most important, most demanding job in the world can take time to play a couple of rounds a week, so can the rest of us.

I heard that the biggest ranch in the country is for sale. The family of “my” old friend, W. T. Waggoner, wants to sell it for $725 million. (See quotes below.) I hope it does not get split up into tiny pieces. Maybe Donald Trump or some other Wall Street billionaire will decide it would be more fun to own a ranch than a football team.

It’s a shame what is happening in that little St. Louis suburb of Ferguson.  A young man, who looked like he could play tackle for the Rams, was shot by a policeman, apparently soon after stealing cigars from a convenience store. That’s a tragedy for the family and community. But what followed was almost as bad. Looters and troublemakers and agitators from outside Ferguson descended on the town. Looking back, there are plenty of “what if” questions. What if the policeman had been black? What if he had been on foot instead of in a police car? What if the store clerk had been armed?

Meanwhile in Chicago, 25 young men were shot this week and nobody offered even a sympathy card for the grieving families. What does it say about us, that we take murders in Chicago for granted? Well, it is the home of Al Capone.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

    “I am on a ranch of 600,000 acres, belonging to W. T. Waggoner, with 25,000 cattle and some of the best horses in any state (at Vernon, Texas). He is one cowman that was smart enough to solve the low prices of cattle and make ranches pay: every cow has her own oil well.” DT #1846, July 6, 1932
(2 years later)  “A fine old friend and one of the last great cowmen died in Fort Worth, Texas, W. T. Waggoner.  One of the biggest ranches in the United States. It had oil all over it, and it made him sore every time they found a new well, for it was always on the best grass land and just spoiled it for that many cattle. He would rather lose a dollar on a cow than make a thousand on an oil well.” DT #2606, Dec. 12, 1934

  “Buy a ranch somewhere in the West. All your life every man has wanted to be a cowboy. Why play Wall Street and die young when you can play cowboy and never die.” DT #1549, July 10, 1931

Congress left town for a 5-week vacation. You may be wondering: “Vacation from what?”
President Obama joked that Republicans want to sue him, and then impeach him. If you’re like me, you are wondering which of the many crises they are fighting about is worth a lawsuit. Well, most of those Republicans are lawyers and in any lawsuit the lawyers pocket a third. So the surprise is what took ‘em so long. But they may end up with nothing. Obama can say, “Hey, I’m dead broke. In fact, I’m worse off than Hillary; I’m in the hole 17 trillion dollars.”
But impeachment is a whole different ball game. Democrats claim that Republicans are planning to impeach the President. I think they are actually encouraging impeachment because in 1998, after President Clinton was impeached, Democrats in Congress, surprisingly, picked up seats. Whether impeachment can work in 2014, I got my doubts. Does President Obama even have an intern?
Both parties are ignoring the problems facing the country. Instead they spend their time raising money for the election. Shucks, if they worked together to solve the problems, they wouldn’t need to raise millions of dollars. Voters would know how to vote without being bombarded with political ads.
Did you know the Al-Qaeda terrorists have a branch in Gaza? It’s called Hamas. There’s another branch of Al-Qaeda in Iraq and Syria, called ISIS. The goal of Hamas is to kill Jews and wipe Israel off the map. The goal of ISIS is to eliminate Christians, and so far, they are succeeding. Maybe we should start treating these terrorists as terrorists, not as a “government entity.”  Recently, our leaders have seemed more interested in protecting Muslims than Christians or Jews.
Hamas terrorists have proven they have no interest in honestly governing the residents of Gaza. The only skill they have is building tunnels. What about firing rockets, isn’t that a skill? Well, Hamas has fired thousands of rockets, but so far they have killed more of their own people than they have the enemy. Not very skillful.  But back to tunnels. They love to build tunnels, good ones lined with reinforced concrete. Let ‘em build a tunnel all the way from Gaza, under Israel, to the West Bank. It’s only about 20 miles. Then let the 1.8 million Palestinians in Gaza walk through it to the West Bank and resettle there, or in Jordan.
With 30 miles of available beachfront property on the Mediterranean imagine what a great luxury resort Gaza could become. Gaza could top the French Riviera and Monaco. Why climb steep hillsides when you can lie on a sandy beach in peace and tranquility. That’s just my idea, and I doubt it will ever get very far, because this is not a time for common sense.

Historic quote by Will Rogers:
“In this country people don’t vote for, they vote against… And this year it will either be for or against (the President). The whole thing will depend on conditions.” Radio, June 9, 1935

For those Americans who figured the fighting in Ukraine never mattered to us, think again. Putin has treated us like fools ever since he took over in Russia. This spring he stole Crimea, an area as big as New York and Pennsylvania. He then moved Russian soldiers and KGB leaders into the eastern part of what’s left of Ukraine. The world stood by quietly while the Russians in eastern Ukraine shot down three airplanes in a week. Only when they shot down a fourth plane, a Boeing 777 with 298 people onboard, did anyone notice. Putin is the person responsible for killing those people, and he’s the only one who can end the war in Ukraine.

If you’re confused by the battle between Israel and Gaza, consider this comparison. Gaza is one-tenth the size of Rhode Island. Suppose Islamic terrorists took over one small corner of Rhode Island and started firing a few dozen rockets every day into Massachusetts. Would we complain if Boston decided to fight back, and maybe wipe out a few hundred terrorists? Would Secretary of State John Kerry rush to Martha’s Vineyard to insist on a cease fire?

Immigrants from Central America continue to pour across the Rio Grande. President Obama announced a proposal to spend almost $4 Billion to take care of ‘em. His announcement, translated into Spanish, means “Welcome to America, future citizens. I have set aside more than $50,000 for each child for food, clothing, medical care, and a hotel with a pool.” That’s not what he said, but it’s what they heard.

Here’s a suggestion: Any Congressman that votes in favor of the $4 Billion appropriation will get a proportional share of the immigrants dropped into his district. One huge group should be sent to Nancy Pelosi’s neighborhood in San Francisco.

With the recent outbreak of catastrophes, would you like advance notice of the next one? Well, here’s a surefire way to predict it: check the President’s schedule for speaking at Democratic fund raisers. The middle of this week, he will be in Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles, so be prepared!

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

    “Russia is a country that looks like it was invented for arguments’ sake.” Notes, undated.

  “It’s great to be friendly with a foreign nation, but it’s terribly expensive. If the worst comes to worst, and we do have to be friendly with any of ‘em, why, let’s pick out little ones that haven’t got the nerve to ask for much.” Saturday Evening Post, Feb. 27, 1932

  “A statesman is a man that can do what the politician would like to do but can’t, because he is afraid of not being elected.” DT #2472,  July 5, 1934

COLUMBUS: Those loud booms you heard this week were not just fireworks; the economy is also booming. Not extremely loud, but still better than the whimpers of the last few years.

Almost 300,000 people found jobs and unemployment is down near 6 percent. And the stock market hit 17,000 on the Dow Jones, up from 7000 in early 2009. If you happened to have a pile of cash five years ago that you converted to good stocks, you’ve got plenty of reasons to celebrate with fireworks.

But we’ve got over 90 million adults not working, and the only way the ones that are working can afford to support ‘em is to get wages a little higher.

The President made a speech about immigration. As usual he ignored my advice from last month. Instead of suggesting a halt in the flood of Central American children, he made it worse by encouraging them. I wish Gallop would take a worldwide poll asking, “Would you like to move to the USA and become an American citizen?” I bet the response would show that at least half a billion would jump at the chance. It is nice to be popular, but we don’t have room for ‘em. Who knows, maybe in 100 years we could handle 800 million living here, but not next year.

I was in San Diego last week. Lovely city. That’s probably where the extra half a billion would like to move to. Beautiful climate, except for one thing: lack of water. Back in the Midwest we sometimes complain about getting 40 or 50 inches of rain, but we’re eatin’ pretty good. In San Diego, you can’t grow much food on less than 10 inches. Flying back by way of Las Vegas, about all I could see was brown, bare ground. Hardly any green crops until Kansas. As I said one time, out West “water ain’t gold, it’s platinum and diamonds.”

The Supreme Court stirred up a hornet’s nest again, almost like 2012 when they declared that Obamacare was a tax, and therefore legal. Last week they ruled 9-0 that the Senate itself, not the President, has the exclusive right to decide if it is “in session.” Now, it’s understandable that when the President, or another alert observer, looks in on the old Senate chambers, the absence of any discernible movement on important bills could cause you to figure they are, in fact, comatose. But the old Justices told the President if he wants to appoint someone so poorly qualified he or she can’t get the support of even 50 semi-conscious Senators, he has to wait until the Senate admits it is in recess. Or a comparable declaration is made by the county coroner.

Historic quote by Will Rogers:
“The Supreme Court, they have been the talk of the town this week. They hadn’t agreed on anything unanimously in over eighty years. Even I’ve kidded them so much that I think they all got together and said, ‘Boys, we’ve got to agree on something.’ …
Well, those nine, very fine old gentlemen – they pondered, and they finally thought of something. They come to the conclusion that the (National Recovery Act) was 100 percent in disfavor with them, so they all agreed…
Now what was the effect? All the big strong Republican papers, why you would have thought that Armistice Day had been declared. Big business, they threw confetti, cut salaries, and had a big time. They all hollered, ‘At last we’re back to the Constitution.’…
Mr. Roosevelt come in office, and he saw, or he thought he saw, that there was a great many social injustices, you know, a lot of things that ain’t right. There was a lot of things that wasn’t hardly split up so that everyone had an even break. So he told Congress some of his ideas… But where Roosevelt made his mistake was in making these changes without reading the Constitution.” Radio, June 2, 1935

The economy is slowly picking up. And do you know where it is getting a nice boost? Agriculture. Farming is still a tiny piece of the overall economy, but in states where it is a big piece, like Iowa and the Dakotas, those states are recovering more quickly. So three cheers for our highly productive farmers. And maybe offer a prayer that 2014 continues to be a good year for crops and livestock.

As if the problems around the world weren’t challenging enough for the President, we’ve got a flood of children crossing the Rio Grande into Texas. The Border Patrol is overwhelmed and is putting them on buses and airplanes to Arizona and other states. Arizona says they have enough immigrants of their own to deal with, and don’t want any more. Here’s an idea: instead of Arizona, send them to the White House and let the First Lady feed them “school lunch” food. In a week they will be begging to be sent back home.

Seriously, the problem developed since President Obama openly stated we would not deport any immigrant youth, regardless of how they got here. Now, he did not mean forever. But everybody in Central America saw an opening and figured if they could get across Mexico and wade the Rio Grande they would be taken care of and not deported.

Here’s another idea. Remember when the President and Secretary of State Clinton went on television in the Middle East after the Benghazi attack and apologized profusely for the offensive video. Well, this time, the President can make a video where he says clearly, forcefully, unequivocally, “Illegal immigrants, regardless of age will be deported. Period.”

Then show it as a commercial during World Cup games broadcast in Mexico and the other Central America countries. They say everybody in the world watches all the World Cup games (except us) so this might stop the thousands of boys and girls from leaving home.

Of course, the apology in September 2012 for the “objectionable video” did not stop radical Islamic terrorists. If fact, it got them riled up. Another unintended consequence of Washington decisions.

Iraq has blown up in our face. We’ve spent more than ten years trying to help average Iraqis improve their lives. We believed that they would treat us like the French did seventy years ago on D-Day when we stormed ashore at Normandy. But Muslims are different.

Maybe 20 years ago, Americans knew there were about a billion Muslims in the world. Most of us knew some Muslims and they were (and continue to be) good people.  We assumed that a Muslim is a Muslim is a Muslim. But it has become clear that a Muslim is not just a Muslim. There are Sunni Muslims, Shiite Muslims, Shia Muslims and over 100 other sects of the Muslim religion. And many of them seem to hate each other almost as much as they hate Christians, Jews, and the civilized world in general. Christians have many denominations (sects), but you don’t hear about “radical” Methodists organizing an army and going on a rampage to slaughter women and children of the Baptist faith. In geography class we learn some of the country names in the Middle East, such as Syria, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Jordan. But the boundaries of those countries are artificial; the real boundaries are those of Sunni, Shiite, Shia, and whatever other sect has the majority of the population in a geographic area. And those boundaries will be temporary because there’s always a radical few who prefer to spend their time killing instead of improving civilization.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

    “We will stop those Chinese [Muslims?] from fighting among themselves if we have to kill them to do it.” DT #160, Feb. 4, 1927

“(A war) over religion is really the most bitter.”  WA #350, Sept. 8, 1929

#800   June 8, 2014

Here’s a headline in today’s Columbus Dispatch: “Country stagnating amid political fighting.” The story had a quote by an economist, “People are just holding their breath. Until the political uncertainty is resolved, a lot of people do not want to invest.”  Wow, does that describe our economic problems? Then I read further. The article was not about the United States; it was about Haiti.

Fortunately, we’ve had some good economic news. (We’re not really as bad as Haiti.) Our economy is getting back to normal after suffering from a severe case of frostbite during the winter.  We are back up to the same number of workers we had six years ago. The bad news is that’s the slowest job recovery since the Great Depression 80 years ago.

In the six years since 2008 we added more than 10 million people, so we have a long way to go to add enough jobs to keep up with population growth.

You might point to the stock market for good news. Yes, the Dow Jones is close to 17,000; but it has only gained 3 percent a year since it peaked in 2007.

President Obama asked the Amir of Qatar to negotiate a trade, getting one American soldier returned by the Taliban in exchange for 5 top radical Islamists held at Gitmo. Can we get the Amir to negotiate a trade for our Marine in a Tijuana, Mexico jail? You may ask, what can we offer in return? Well, maybe we could offer to return a few million Mexicans.

This deal for Pvt. Bowe Bergdahl may be the worst “trade” since the Boston Red Sox sent Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees for a measly $125,000. Of course we’re glad Bergdahl is free. But we released 5 Islamists who are responsible for killing Americans and thousands of Muslims. Yes, they killed women and young girls of their own religion. We’ll be out of Afghanistan in a year or two, but the Afghans will still be there, including plenty of terrified women and girls.

I’m happy to see Joni Ernst win the Republican primary for Senate in Iowa. I don’t know anything about her Democratic opponent, so my “happiness” is based on her experience at “cutting pork.” For comedy purposes, if nothing else, we need more hog farmers in Congress to debate the best way to castrate overly fat budgets. They also know how to shovel out waste.

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

    “I am glad for once in our lives we got our Marines back home. I know they are laying off, waiting for some war somewhere. There is one in Afghanistan. But we got nobody in Washington that knows where it is, so the Marines will have to stay till Hoover tells the War Department where this place is.”  WA #335, May 26, 1929