Author: Randall Reeder

Countries around the world are mad at us for equalizing tariffs. They remind me of a beautiful woman who latches onto a wealthy man (or in reverse, a young guy with a rich lady). Everything is hunky-dory as long as the cash keeps flowing. But one day the wealthy man (or woman) admits to the loving companion, “Honey, I can’t afford this anymore. I’m in debt $36,000,000,000,000.00.”

See, our diplomats have used our wealth to make friends and calm stormy waters around the world. As Will Rogers wrote, “There’s the one thing no nation can ever accuse us of and that is Secret Diplomacy. Our foreign dealings are an Open Book, generally a Check Book.” (WA #45, Oct. 21, 1923)

President Trump thought he could reason with Putin to end the war in Ukraine “in one day.” But Putin cannot be reasoned with. Like Stalin, he doesn’t care how many of his own soldiers die, or how many Ukrainians he kills. He is determined to take ALL of Ukraine. And the fewer Ukrainians who survive the war, the better. Then Putin wants to take the other countries that were behind the Iron Curtain forty years ago.

China’s Communist leader, Xi Jinping, is watching Putin. If he succeeds in Eastern Europe, Xi will attack Taiwan with the same goal and brutality. And an open check book won’t persuade either Putin or Xi.

Elon Musk left Washington to return to building Teslas and finish plans to inhabit Mars. A lot of folks are thrilled. While he and his DOGE team uncovered horrible wasteful, useless spending, I agree that many good and needed Federal employees were fired or coerced into leaving. The DOGE guys are now in the different departments and agencies. While it proved nearly impossible to stop fraudulent projects already funded, don’t be surprised if the Secretaries and Agency Administrators cut future spending on ridiculous ventures and unneeded positions.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“You will try and show that we are prosperous, because we HAVE MORE. I will show where we are NOT prosperous because we haven’t PAID for it YET.” Life magazine, Aug. 9, 1928

“There is dozens of great humanitarian things that could be done at very little cost, if the tax was properly applied. It’s the waste in government that gets everybody’s goat.” WA #622, Nov. 25, 1934

“There are 800 people at work in the Library of Congress. Didn’t know there was anybody there but a watchman. Why, that’s a librarian to each book… The total salary in there is $773,300, so the Democrats figure there is about $750,000 of this is a total waste to the country.” DT #2147, June 21, 1933

News from Washington lately has highlighted a total contrast. President Trump was in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and United Arab Emirates (UAE) and brought back promises of billions of investments and a new airplane for the Defense Department. With a lot of arm twisting, a big budget bill was passed by the House Republicans. Whether Senate Republicans will agree on the 1100-page bill is yet to be determined. Note that I said “Republicans” because so far, no Democrat has dared a ‘yes’ vote on it.

In contrast, news about Joe Biden and his Presidency has been sad. He is suffering from advanced prostate cancer. And half the country is just now learning that he suffered from declining mental capacity for most of his 4 years as President. I said “half the country” because their favorite TV news networks and newspapers failed to report the news. The other half were getting their news from the much-derided (faux) Fox News. (I realize this statement will upset some readers. But can you point to any newscaster on the traditional TV networks who questioned President Biden’s mental condition before the June 2024 debate?)

President Trump with his “tariff diplomacy” is causing financial gyrations around the world. Oddly, a lot of folks think Trump invented tariffs; that they did not exist previously. But the reality is that other countries have had higher tariffs on our goods than we had on theirs. That was a financial disadvantage for us. Most Americans would prefer zero tariffs everywhere.

Democrats are scrambling. With no apparent leader, they are left with only anti-Trump messaging. Oddly, Will Rogers noticed the same situation in November 1934, two years after FDR was elected. Switch party names, and FDR for Trump, and you are looking at 2026: “The Republicans have had a saying for some time, ‘The Roosevelt honeymoon is over.’ If there is one thing the Republican party has got to learn it is that you can’t get votes by just denouncing. You got to offer some plan of your own. They only had one platform, ‘Elect us, and maybe we can think of something to do after we get in, but up to now we haven’t thought of it, but give us a chance, we may.’”

Then two days later, Will wrote this: “The day after election I said the Republicans lost because they had nothing to offer but criticism. No plan. Denounce, but don’t suggest…It’s nothing but the old saying, ‘You can’t beat something with nothing.’… I imagine Roosevelt is wrong, but there ain’t nobody just smart enough to tell where he is wrong.”

On Memorial Day I’ll be attending a special memorial to a veteran of World War I. On Wildcat Road in Lewis County, West Virginia, a bridge will be dedicated to PFC William Lowther. Better known as “Uncle Bill” to folks around Walkersville, Ireland and Duffy, he lived to age 105. (And for me and my cousins, he really was our great-uncle.) I don’t know much about his experience in Europe, except that he learned how to take a rifle apart, clean it, and put it back together in total darkness. Uncle Bill was a sharpshooter. Even at 100, he could pick off a squirrel, groundhog or a buck deer.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

 “Another Decoration Day passed and Mr. Abraham Lincoln’s 300-word Gettysburg Address was not dethroned. I would try and imitate its brevity if nothing else. Of course, Lincoln had the advantage; he had no foreign policy message to put over. He didn’t even have a foreign policy. That’s why he is still Lincoln. (signed) Yours for shorter and better speeches,” DT #268, May 31, 1927

“From what I can gather from everyone I talk with, things are definitely picking up. If they just get more folks to working, there is no way to stop this country. Just quit listening to the politicians…. The Constitution will remain as is.” WA #655, July 14, 1935

COLUMBUS, Ohio: Will Rogers was good friends with Henry Ford. That friendship gave Will “permission” to joke about the Model T Ford. At one time, half the cars on the road were Model T Fords, not counting the ones on the side of the road, broke down.

Here’s Will, on his radio program, June 1, 1930: “You know, I was going to talk on Henry Ford last week, and I told you about mine going ‘Flooey’ on me when I started to drive in here last Sunday evening, and I was afraid I wouldn’t give Mr. Ford a fair deal. Well, the next morning I got a wire from Mr. Ford himself, saying ‘What was the matter?  Was the tank empty?’

          I know he has got quite a sense of humor.  A few years ago I was out to his home in Dearborn.  I was playing there with the Follies, and I went out to his home and it was the time when the Star car was supposed to be going to cut quite a dash in the Ford sales, so I asked him, ‘Mr. Ford, I know it is rather inquisitive, but in case these opposition things get to cutting the prices and all, just how cheap could you sell your car?’

          He said, ‘Well, Will, that is kind of personal but if the worst comes to the worst, I could give it away, as long as we retain the selling of the parts.  You know, Will, one of these things will shake off enough in a year to pay for itself.’”

            Here’s my own recent experience with one of Mr. Ford’s machines, my 7-year-old F-150. Is there anything more annoying than when the “engine light” flashes on? You have no idea whether it’s something simple like a gas cap too tight or a major overhaul. After driving for a few more days, with no apparent problem, I got it into my local Ford garage. They do wonderful work and I appreciate them because these modern-day vehicles are not built like the Model T.  Back then everything was simple. Ordinary men, and even women, could find and fix about any problem that popped up. (Except Will Rogers, who claimed he knew nothing about machines, “If I raised up the hood and a Rabbit jumped out, I wouldn’t know but what he belonged in there. I drive ’em, but I sho don’t try to fix ’em.”)

          So the head mechanic connected my smooth-running truck to a computer and a minute later discovered I needed a new catalytic converter. The labor charge for this discovery was $189, and the charge for the computer was $25. That was just to find the problem. The new catalytic converter cost $760, plus $4 for two nuts to hold it in place. Labor was $560. Now off hand, that seems a little steep when, by comparison, a rank-amateur thief can crawl under a car, remove a catalytic converter, and get away in 30 seconds. Even worse, I learned that a Ford F-150 has TWO of these $760 converters, meaning I can expect that annoying engine light to flash again in a few months.

The mechanic also recommended I get new spark plugs and rear brake pads. I know what you are thinking; didn’t you use to replace those yourself? Well, yes. By the time I was 14, I could replace the spark plugs in our 4-cylinder Ferguson tractor in about 20 minutes. In later years it was an easy job on our cars and Ford pickups. But now, the engine compartment is so full of chips and other paraphernalia that it can take an expert mechanic to even locate the spark plugs. This expertise comes with a price; labor cost was $50. For each plug!

Two brake pads and rotor assemblies cost $420 and labor was $280.

He also replaced the air filter element ($27) with labor only $23. (The air filter must be twice as easy to locate as a spark plug.)

With an oil change and a charge for miscellaneous shop materials the total bill was $3100 plus sales tax. That included $1600 for labor for a day and a half.

Now I ain’t complaining. I will point out, however, $3100 is more than the total cost for my first new car. You’ve heard the old joke about the customer complaining to the mechanic, “This cost is outrageous. I didn’t even pay my doctor that much to fix my migraine headache.” The mechanic replied, “Yes, that’s why I quit doctoring.”

I know that some of the charges for labor and parts goes to keep the lights on, heat or cool the huge shop, and pay the clerk who adds up all these charges and collects the money. The good news is that vehicles today get double the gas mileage compared to the years before anyone heard of catalytic converters and unleaded gas. And spark plugs, brake pads and catalytic converters last 90,000 miles.

A few closing compliments by Will Rogers about Mr. Ford, “There is more jokes told about it than any other thing. A Ford car and a Democratic Convention has kept a lot of us comedians alive.  He is the first man to realize that every joke sold a car and every joke bought one… A Ford car and a marriage certificate is the two cheapest things there is. We no more than get either one than we want to trade them in for something better…I always liked Mr. Ford. I think he is a great man, and I wish we had a lot more like him.” (Radio, June 1, 1930)

Will Rogers on his Sunday evening radio broadcasts paid tribute on Mother’s Day, in 1930 and 1935. Here are brief excerpts.

“This is Mother’s Day. Of course, it’s pretty late in the evening now to remind you of it. If you didn’t know it before, there’s not much you can do about it now, unless you, well, you might possibly shame you into going to a florist.

They’re keeping open this evening just to accommodate late consciences…

My own mother died when I was ten years old.  My folks have told me that what little humor I have comes from her.  I can’t remember her humor but I can remember her love and her understanding of me. 

Of course, the mother I know the most about is the mother of our little group.  She has been for twenty-two years trying to raise to maturity four children, three by birth and one by marriage. You know, there ought to be some kind of a star given to any woman that can live with a comedian.  Now, that little compliment ought to repay for the flowers that I forgot to get today…

Florists, they got mothers, too. But they’ve got more flowers than they’ve got mothers, and they’ve got a great organization.

The florists, they’ve just practically corralled this Mother’s Day business…

There’s nothing in the world more beautiful than flowers. The florists and the horticulturists, they’ve done great things to nurse these flowers along until they’re beautiful beyond anything we could possibly think of. 

And every home that can possibly afford ’em should have flowers all you can. But on the other hand, there’s an awful lot of need and want in the country, and I got a plan. My plan is not to eliminate flowers. I’m strong for flowers, but they’ve just got one drawback. You can’t eat ’em. And I imagine an awful lot of mothers today would not have rebelled if you’d sent ’em a ham. Yeah, a cut of beef or a whole lamb or something.

Suppose the meat growers had been on the job and linked Mother’s Day up with their organization like the florists have. If they’d done that, instead of receiving a bunch of hollyhocks, she’d receive a cluster of pork chops.”

If you are reading this as soon as I send it, you still have time to rush to the store. Based on what I saw yesterday at Walmart, Sam’s Club and Lowe’s, there should be plenty of flowers still available. And the grocery stores have meat display cases full of beef, ham, lamb, and pork chops. If you wait until tomorrow, the flowers might be half price. But not the meat.

I intended to also write about Henry Ford and my experience with the “engine light” flashing on my F-150. But I’ll save that for another Weekly Comments.

President Trump is celebrating his first 100 days. It has been a whirlwind of actions, often compared to the first 100 days of President Franklin Roosevelt.

Will Rogers totally supported FDR in 1933. On May 9 he wrote, “I don’t believe there is a thing that this man Roosevelt couldn’t put over if he was a mind to. He is so strong with the people, and so convincing over the radio, that if he ever got in a fight with Congress, all he would have to do is to take it to the people, via the air, and he would lick any of ’em.”

We may learn in the next 100 days if Trump is equally powerful. Meanwhile, during the first 100, he has made a lot of folks happy and a lot of others mad.

Trump has shut down the border and is rapidly deporting criminals who came here illegally. Most Americans support this plan. But others, including a few judges, seem to prefer the Biden policy. With a President Harris, 100 days would have seen a million more sneak into the country.

Trump, with help from Elon Musk and the DOGE crew, has discovered billions of dollars of waste and fraud. Most Americans appreciate the potential savings that amount to about $1000 for every taxpayer. Others are disgusted because it was their favorite fraud that’s being cut.

Many are convinced their Medicaid will be eliminated. Question: should young, able-bodied working age men be freeloading off of Medicaid and SNAP? Would you believe that 6 out of every 10 in that group are sitting on the couch all day, essentially stealing funds intended for others who deserve it?

Tariffs are causing a strong split in the country. Trump does not like that we imported $1.2 Trillion more in goods a year than we export. He seeks to balance our trade with other countries, especially China, by threatening them with high tariffs. The trouble is that means imports will cost individuals more. And we have angered our closest neighbors, Canada and Mexico. Farmers are concerned that China and other countries will cut back on imports of our corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, almonds, beef, chicken and other products.

Trump’s tariff announcements on April 2 caused a major drop in the stock market. And if you had to cash out stocks on April 9 to pay income taxes, you’re mad because you probably lost about 20%.

Trump announced plans for a huge military parade on Flag Day to celebrate the 250^th anniversary of the Army. June 14 is also Donald Trump’s birthday. Many object to bringing 6000 troops and hundreds of Army vehicles to Washington. Will Rogers has a better plan, “If we really want to honor our (soldiers), why don’t we let THEM sit in the reviewing stands and make the people march by.”  Another idea is to have all these Army soldiers honored right where they are with parades on June 14. Or since so many towns have scheduled parades on July 4, include a special tribute to the Army at that time.

Trump took a jab at Harvard. He not only threatened their federal funding, but uttered the ultimate insult to the revered Ivy League institution by ranking the Harvard Crimson below the Crimson Tide of Alabama.

Now I have a personal request of President Trump and his DOGE team: Reduce the so-called “Medicare open enrollment” period to 2 weeks instead of 12 months. I’m sure other old folks are as tired as I am of getting a dozen robocalls calls every day from solicitors. If they refuse to limit those calls to only 2 weeks, I suggest putting a tax of $1.00 on every call they make. That should shut them down for 50 weeks a year. But, if they balk and the calls continue, that dollar tax could pay off the national debt.

The 80^th Anniversary of Victory in Europe is this week. On May 8, 1945, German forces surrendered to the Allies and is known as VE Day. (Japan did not surrender until August, ending World War II.)

This occasion may be a good time to remind the French and other Europeans of the dominant role the U.S. played in providing their freedom.

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

      “The more I see of politics, the more I wonder what in the world any man would ever want to take it up for. Then some people wonder why the best men of a community are not the office holders.” WA #146, Sept. 27, 1925

I joked a few months ago that the fastest way to deport illegal immigrant criminals is to, first, deport their lawyers.

Now, it seems a few judges could face deportation. It is understandable that liberal judges would go easy on certain immigrants who came here illegally, or overstayed their visas. There will always be honest debate and disagreements between liberals and conservatives. But when judges side with and protect convicted criminals, they have gone far beyond legal jurisprudence. (I think that’s a fancy word lawyers use.)

The “tariff war” with China is hurting our farmers. You may know that we grow a lot more corn, soybeans, wheat and cotton than we consume here. And China is shifting their purchases to buy more grain from Brazil and other countries to feed 1.4 billion people. You may be surprised to learn that we are now a “net importer” of food products. This is largely because of imports of fresh fruits and vegetables in winter, and products we can’t economically grow here, such as bananas and coffee.

I heard about a scientific report from a group that wants all of us to become vegans and only eat food grown on organic farms. We have over 8 billion people on Earth. A hundred years ago, when almost all food was grown organically (without chemical fertilizer or pesticides), the total population was 2 billion. Even with that global population, there were a lot of hungry people in the 1920s and 1930s. If all farm chemicals were banned worldwide, and there were no farm animals which provide milk, eggs and meat (and organic “fertilizer”), what would happen to the world population?

The world celebrated the life of Pope Francis yesterday. For the next week or two, Catholics will be focused on the Vatican, waiting to see who the Cardinals pick as the next Pope.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“Of all the cockeyed things we got in this country at the present time, it’s some of our judges.” DT#1374, Dec. 18, 1930

“Wish all the Farmers would move to town one year; that’s the only way I know to clear the thing up.” WA #452, Aug. 23, 1931

Thirty years ago, April 19, 1995, Timothy McVeigh parked a Ryder truck in front of the 9-story Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. He and Terry Nichols had spent a year planning an attack to kill as many federal employees as possible. The truck was loaded with 13 barrels filled with two and a half tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, half a ton of liquid nitromethane, plus diesel fuel and time-delayed ignition devices.

The blast at 9:02 a.m. destroyed the front third of the federal building and destroyed or damaged over 300 other buildings. The blast shattered glass in businesses and houses up to 12 blocks away. 168 people were killed and 800 injured.

McVeigh was executed in 2001 and Nichols is serving 161 life sentences in federal prison. They were corrupted by their hatred of the federal government to plan and carry out such a horrible mass murder.

Recently, there is some “hatred of the federal government” but it’s only directed at one side. Today, it’s Republicans. Previously, it was Democrats targeted by hatred. Instead of adding “fuel to the flame” we need to tone down the criticism of policies and practices we don’t like.

One way to reduce the intense disagreements would be to talk one-on-one instead of instantly saying, “Change to my way of thinking or I’ll sue.”

Will Rogers joked about lawyers, so I decided to look up some numbers. A hundred years ago we had about 115,000 lawyers, or 0.1% of the US population. Now we have TEN TIMES as many lawyers. As Will wrote in 1931, “Did you read how many thousands, not hundreds, but thousands of students just graduated all over the country in law? Going to take an awful lot of crime to support that bunch.” (DT #1527, June 15, 1931)

A hundred years ago about 30% of our population was farmers. Can you imagine if the farm population had increased the same as lawyers? Instead, the number of farmers has plummeted. Back then a farmer had trouble even finding a lawyer. Today there’s almost one lawyer for every farm. Unfortunately, several of those are shysters trying to make it harder for farmers to farm.

While I’m joking about too many lawyers, Senator Van Hollen of Maryland wants even more lawyers, thousands more. He flew to El Salvador to visit a citizen of El Salvador who had been living in Maryland for years, illegally. The Senator insists that every individual here illegally, even active members of MS-13 and other gangs, must have a hearing in federal court before he can be shipped out, either to his home country or to prison. What does that mean?

If President Trump wants to deport the 10,000,000 that came here in the last few years, each one must appear in court, one at a time. That requires a judge, a federal prosecutor, and a defense attorney (all 3 paid for by our taxes). Times ten million! Now, whether our Constitution requires that extreme measure will be decided by 9 prominent lawyers. Yes, the Supreme Court.

Happy Easter. I know it’s late in the day. For the 80% of us who are Christians, Easter is truly the happiest day of the year. Easter celebrates the day Jesus was resurrected. Once dead, but now He lives.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“I bet any Sunday could be made as popular at church as Easter is if you made ‘em fashion shows too… We will do anything, if you just in some way turn it into a show.” DT #2718, Apr. 22, 1935

“You see that’s one thing about Democrats that make ‘em different from Republicans. This fellow (President) Roosevelt has got the nerve to defy those fellows if he thinks it’s for the good of all.” WA #553, July 30, 1933

We welcome more than a million foreign college students every year. Most are brilliant, have common horse sense, and go on to have successful careers in their own country, or here.

Recently, a few hundred decided their hatred for Israel (and Jewish students) is more important than the special opportunity to study here. And it’s shocking how many American students (and professors) agree with ‘em.

Well, I have a suggestion. These students from a foreign country who are pro-Hamas should take their educational goals to a different foreign country where they will fit right in: Iran. At the University of Tehran, they will love being surrounded by others who hate Israel and America.

Meanwhile, scientists are thinking about bringing back to life a few extinct animals including the woolly mammoth, passenger pigeon and dodo bird. While they are pondering, I suggest they follow the same guidelines that President Trump has set for new regulations. For every new one, eliminate 10 existing ones.

Maybe a few woolly mammoths would be welcomed. But I don’t want them roaming through my cornfield or back yard. Send them to northern Canada, Greenland or Siberia.

So, which 10 species should we eliminate?  Here are 5 to start with: rats, groundhogs, mosquitos, prairie dogs, and rattlesnakes. Any suggestions?

One irritating species a lot of folks would like to get rid of is the IRS. (See quotes below)

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“The income tax has made more liars out of the American people than golf has.” WA #17, April 8, 1923 (also WA #99, Nov. 2, 1924)

“There is some talk of lowering (the income tax), and they will have to. People are not making enough to pay it.” WA #17, April 8, 1923

“Our financial ills will never be settled till you fix it so every man will pay an income tax on what he earns, be it a farm, grocery store or municipal or government bonds.” DT #2068, March 21, 1933

“We got a long-sighted government. When everybody has got money they cut the taxes, and when they’re broke they raise ’em.” DT #1770, March 27, 1932

“It costs ten times more to govern us than it used to, and we are not governed one-tenth as good.” DT #1770, March 27, 1932

Yesterday was a national day for protesters. Anyone who has ever protested against anything was welcome to protest. Even rank amateurs with a box of crayons and a piece of cardboard could join the party.

The common theme, if there was one, was “Hands Off.” Apparently, they want the Trump administration to stop searching the $6,000,000,000,000 federal budget for waste, fraud and abuse. I saw a lot of different “hands off” signs. One I didn’t see, but should have been prominent, is “Hands Off my Fraud.”

The biggest protest was in Washington, DC.  Maybe half a million protested against the reduction in the number of federal employees. Many of the protesters are employees who don’t want to go to their offices during the week, but they showed up there on Saturday.

If Kamala Harris was watching these huge anti-Trump protests across the whole country she was probably yelling at the television, “Where were these millions of folks when I needed them on November 5?”

The protesters probably missed the news that the Senate and House each passed a bill to keep the tax cuts that all taxpayers benefited from since 2017, plus additional reductions. Now, this is two different bills, and they will do some horse trading to come up with a final bill.

Whether this tax bill will make up for the recent stock market losses will depend on how long you can hang on to your stocks. The tariffs announced Wednesday have rattled stocks around the world. I’m no stock prognosticator. But I’m optimistic the Dow Jones will rebound within a few months. A lot of countries are ready to deal on tariffs.

On the other hand, a pessimist might point to October 1929. During the Great Depression that followed, the Dow dropped about 80%. It did not return to the 1929 high until 1953.

Let me come back to federal employees. I know several people in the Dept. of Agriculture. They do valuable research that helps keep our farmers in business and food affordable. The Soil Health unit with about 20 professionals was wiped out. At a time when dust storms are rampant and we are losing valuable topsoil through water erosion, we need more focus, not less, on practices that make our farmland healthier. No-till and cover crops instead of degenerative tillage.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“New York can’t sleep tonight wondering what the stock market will open at tomorrow. Radio just had its usual amount of static over the weekend… ‘Why does this have to happen?’ They say, ‘It’s for the good of the country.’ Now you tell one.” DT #793, Feb. 10, 1929

“(The old pioneer) wanted to plow up the land that should have been left to grass.  We’re just now learning that we can rob from nature the same way as we can rob from an individual.  All he had was an ax, and a plow, and a gun, and he just went out and lived off nature. But really, he thought it was nature he was living off of, but it was really future generations that he was living off of.” Radio, Apr. 14, 1935

Democrats and comedians are having a field day with jokes and accusations over a bungled phone call among Trump’s top officials.

President Trump said it was a mistake to use Signal, which allowed a reporter, Jeffrey Goldberg, to get added to the call. It’s easy to criticize Goldberg for not alerting the top officials, “Hey guys, you’re using I-phones to discuss attacking Houthis. Maybe you need a more secure communication system.”

Some of us are old enough to remember “party line” phones. Maybe ten families on the same line. Each had their own number, such as 3 short rings and 2 longs, but conversations were open to all. If you picked up the phone and two people were talking, you would usually hang up. But, if a young guy was chatting about intimate plans with his girlfriend, would you hang up or keep listening?

This controversy is about the call, not about the attack on the Iran-backed terrorist Houthis in Yemen. It was successful. Probably more attacks will be needed to knock out the Houthis. I doubt the planning will be on Signal.

Closer to home, what do you know about Greenland? Other than it is not green. Did any President before Trump ever mention Greenland? Greenland is three times bigger than Texas and reaches almost to the North Pole. If you have a World Globe, look down on it. You’ll see the Russian Border on the Arctic Ocean is also close and stretches across 9 of the 24 time zones. Unlike the South Pole, the North Pole has no land. There’s no Santa land with grass for reindeer, only ice and snow. Submarines can zip below the surface, moving along the coasts of Russia, Finland, Greenland, Canada and Alaska.

China has eyed the Arctic Ocean for years, mainly for the wealth of minerals under it. They plan to use Greenland as their Arctic base. We need to get there first.

Here’s my plan to win over the 55,000 Greenlanders. Offer them a reward if they declare their independence from Denmark and vote to become a Territory of the US. That would make them similar to Guam and the Virgin Islands.

So, what’s their reward? Every voter would receive $500,000. Plus, divided evenly among them, they would receive 5% of all revenue from minerals we extract in the next 30 years.

Yesterday, Elon Musk haters across the country protested against Tesla. A few protested by trading their Tesla for a Chevy or Ford. Other protesters set Teslas on fire, but never their own. Ironically, most of the young protesters or their families own a piece of Tesla. They claim to hate gasoline and diesel fueled vehicles, but protest an EV built entirely in the US by American workers.

I guess with 330 million people, we’re always stuck with our share of nuts. Protests are against reducing fraud and waste in government programs. Several want illegal immigrants to be declared legal. Even a federal judge wants El Salvador to return the notorious MS-13 and Venezuelan gang members to walk in freedom on our streets. Students at elite universities protest against other students and demand the administrators divest stocks that help pay their scholarships and fees. Are these universities offering degrees in professional protesting?

Elon Musk and his DOGE crew have been rough on NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations). Many NGOs have been thriving on our tax dollars. Regardless of the value of the services, no organization claiming to be “non-government” should receive any government funds. If they want to live off the generosity of Congress and bureaucrats in DC, they should be called an FFO (Federally Funded Organization).

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

“We say our government is nutty…  that it’s throwing away money.   But anytime any is thrown our way, why we’ve never dodged it.” Radio, Apr. 7, 1935