Category: Uncategorized

          COLUMBUS, Ohio: President Trump spent two days in China with Xi Jinping. The two leaders seemed to be friendly. Trump is more casual and free flowing. Xi is always serious. Trump took about 30 major CEOs with him. They all had something to sell China, or maybe buy. Xi made a few promises, such as buying Boeing airplanes, soybeans, and Nvidia chips. But Xi is like politicians here, as described by Will Rogers 98 years ago, “Promise everything, deliver nothing.” (WA #289, July 8, 1928). There were no promises by either side about the future of Taiwan.

We’re in a new era in warfare. Maybe not new because it reminds me of David vs. Goliath. If a country has a million “Davids” (small armed drones) they can hold off a Goliath with all of their superior stealth bombers, missiles, submarines, and aircraft carriers.  When Trump threatened to arrest Raul Castro, the Cuban leader retaliated, “We may not have much fuel in the tank, but we have enough electricity to charge the batteries on thousands of drones. And we can attack Gitmo and even Mar-a-Lago.”

Last week the Supreme Court outlawed gerrymandering Congressional districts to favor one race or another. This week certain Democrat leaders are suggesting that star football and basketball players avoid playing for a college in the Southeast. This is intended to punish states that obey the Supreme Court and eliminate racial gerrymandering, such as Alabama, Tennessee, Texas and Florida.

But what about the star players? Consider a player who is offered a million dollars, or five million. Would you advise them to play for Syracuse or Boston College or UCLA where state income taxes are around 10% instead of in a state with low- or zero-income tax?

Will Rogers wrote about accomplishments of his children once on a while, including this about his oldest son, known as Will, Jr., who “was in the Stanford graduating class and Mr. Hoover made them quite a fine speech.” (WA #653, July 30, 1935)

So, I’ll do a little bragging about two granddaughters. Last Saturday, Sophie graduated from Ashland University and will continue at Kent State to get a Masters degree in human nutrition. Today, Katie graduated from Ohio Northern University after six years and is a Dr. of Pharmacy (DPharm).

Yesterday, the Ohio chapter of the National Speakers Association gave me the Pat Vivo Award. This is a special honor because she was a fabulous person, funny while teaching important messages, and a dedicated leader.

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

          “Always dodge the ‘expert who has lived in China, and knows China.’ The last man who knew China was Confucius, and he died feeling that he was becoming a little confused about ‘em.” (DT #1696, Dec. 30, 1931)

This weekend, mothers deserve top billing. So, let’s start with Historic quotes.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“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.” Radio, May 11, 1930

“Mother’s Day, it’s a beautiful thought. And someone [Anna Jarvis, Grafton, WV] said, ‘Let’s give Momma a day. We’ll give her a day.’  Give her a day, and then in return why Mother gives you the other 364… The florists just practically corralled this Mother’s Day business. They got mothers, too. But they’ve got more flowers than they’ve got mothers, and they’ve got a great organization…  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.” Radio, May 12, 1935

A week ago, the Supreme Court ruled that states can’t gerrymander districts based on race. This week the Virginia Supreme Court ruled that, “No, the state cannot have gerrymandered districts that could end up with 5 people elected to Congress who live within 12 miles of each other in Washington suburbs.”

That’s another way of saying, Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Claus. But he can’t fly around the world in one night in a sleigh pulled by 7 Democrat reindeer and one Republican.

Instead of skewing the boundary lines, maybe the goal for both parties should be to educate the voters, persuading them to vote in favor of their policies. It might take a few years to convince a majority to switch their vote, but that’s more common sense than redrawing the lines every 2 years.

Iran is continuing to delay their surrender. Iranian leaders think they have time on their side. In Iran, the people may starve while locked in their homes, but they aren’t allowed to vote. Here, President Trump is pressured because Americans don’t like to pay more for gasoline and food, and they vote.

While we’re convinced economic sanctions and the blockade will force a surrender, Iran is willing to dump millions of barrels of crude oil into the Persian Gulf to keep their wells pumping and the price high.

President Trump is heading to China to meet with Xi Jinping. You can bet that Xi will ask for some of that Iranian oil to go into tankers headed for Beijing. Trump will likely counter, “Send those empty tankers to Alaska. We’ll fill ‘em up for you.”

The Supreme Court took a major step against racism. States will not be allowed to gerrymander congressional districts based on race. You might have thought with the changes in our laws and general attitude in the last 75 years, we wouldn’t be focused on race today.

Despite secret ballots, the folks who create boundaries for congressional and state legislative districts seem to know exactly how everyone votes. And whichever party is in control wants EVERY district to include at least 55% of their loyal voters.

After 76 days, Congress finally decided that Homeland Security folks should get paid. The Secret Service protected 2500 from a mass murder last Saturday night, so it’s a good idea to pay ‘em.  Democrat Senators had attempted to hamstring ICE and Border Patrol, but after 76 days they got nothing out of the bill.

I may give up on trying to help the Democrats. They are optimistic about winning elections without relying on common horse sense. You may disagree, but they seem to go against majority opinions on important issues. They believe there are enough “Mamdani voters” across the country to take control of Congress.

Americans are getting frustrated with the war in Iran. Even though it’s only been about seven weeks, we’re a microwave society. While celebrating 250 years since 1776, we need to remember the Revolutionary War lasted seven more years.

War is unpopular. We don’t like paying a dollar more for gasoline. Our armed forces destroyed Iran’s “big” armed forces (ships and planes) in a couple of weeks. But their “little” forces (drones and motor boats) are giving us fits.

There is no reasonable alternative but to continue taking out radical Islamic leaders and their economy. Ultimately a new government can remove all nuclear materials and bomb making equipment and open the Strait for free shipping.

A week after the third assassination attempt on President Trump, have any critics apologized for their harsh language? Has anyone admitted they were wrong for their (possible) role in causing seemingly smart young men to think they need to “follow orders” from prominent Trump-haters?

Will Rogers listened to critics and admitted when he was wrong. After writing a column criticizing holding companies, including, “a holding company is like a fellow handing the other fellow the swag while they search you,” he admitted he didn’t know anything about holding companies. He even printed comments from a dozen letters criticizing him: “Now you will say, why did you pop off when you didn’t know what you were talking about? Well, if you are going to stop that, why America would be speechless.” (WA #640, March 31, 1935)

(This last paragraph is from our little book, “Common Horse Sense from Will Rogers: Seven Timeless Tips for Leaders and Everyone Else.”)

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

       “I just got back from Washington D.C. (Department of Comedy).” (June 8, 1924)

      “You know, Washington D.C. is the only place where our public men can do foolish things and they look kinda plausible at the time.” (Notes, undated)

If you can imagine an attempted murder witnessed by a thousand newspaper and television reporters… that’s what happened last night.

I wasn’t at the Washington Hilton so I can’t add any details to what you have already heard or read. The gunman seems to be an intelligent person who used to have common sense. Like many others who kill or try to kill a president or other prominent leader, he changed 180 degrees. He was influenced by insults and hatred against the intended victim.

For President Trump, this was the third attempted assassination. It’s time for those who openly spew hatred, including many in that Hilton ballroom and Congress, to stop the personal hateful attacks. It’s fine to disagree on policies and express those thoughtfully and logically. No need to cuss and call someone another Hitler. (If you think Trump, or Charlie Kirk, or the CEO of an insurance company, could kill 6 million people, then express that in logical way with numbers.)

Meanwhile, the topic I planned to discuss today is rampant fraud involving our tax dollars. Keep in mind that losing 2 or 3 percent to fraudsters is usually acceptable. It would likely cost more to prevent that loss than the amount saved. But lately in Minnesota, California, Maine and other states, the fraud adds up to 25 to 50 percent, and millions or billions of tax dollars.

Fraud is hard to prevent. And it’s almost impossible to prevent when governors and other office holders are benefiting from the fraud.

A different kind of fraud has been practiced by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Such a wonderful name: an organization set up to use the law to fight poverty (and racism) in the South. Wealthy people and businesses have generously financed this group of lawyers to root out racism, starting in 1971.

Attitudes changed over the recent decades. Government support and personal donations for the poor have reduced poverty. Voters elected a black man as President in 2008. While racism did not disappear, it greatly diminished.

So, did the SPLC declare victory and close up shop? No. That wouldn’t do for the 80 shyster lawyers and 150 staff people.

They decided to INCREASE racism. Yes, they gave $3,000,000 to the KKK. The SPLC revived this nearly defunct white supremacy organization, sponsored a deadly racial conflict in Charlottesville, Virginia (funding both sides), and persuaded the major news media to report on the terrible racist acts by white people. The SPLC attracted more supporters by naming Christian and conservative groups as racists who should be shunned and banned from society.

Now, the Justice Department is charging the Southern Poverty Law Center and going after fraudulent spending of health and education funds in states. Let’s hope these lawyers can claw back our money and make it much harder to fool those who allocate tax dollars and folks who give generously to charities.

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

(Will Rogers spoke to the American Bar Association annual convention) “They didn’t think much of my little (newspaper article) yesterday about driving the shysters out of their profession. They seemed to kinder doubt just who would have to leave.” DT #2791, July 16, 1935

Iran forgot the Strait of Hormuz has TWO ends.

Is the Strait open or closed? Depends on the day. Friday it was open. Saturday it was closed.

Here’s a reminder… the Strait of Hormuz is international water. No one owns it. It is about 20 miles wide at the narrowest point, bordered by Iran on one side and Oman and United Arab Emirates (UAE) on the other. Compare it to the Strait of Gibraltar which is only 8 miles wide. Nobody in Spain or Morocco is shooting at ships entering or leaving the Mediterranean.

Interestingly, that was not always the case. For a couple of centuries, the Barbary Pirates ruled the Strait of Gibraltar. But 225 years ago, President Thomas Jefferson sent the U.S. Navy and Marines to stop the illegal activity. You may know the Barbary Pirates were Muslims, ancestors of the current Iranian Muslim (radical Islamic) leaders.

In Iran, news reports say at least 40,000 innocent citizens and protesters have been killed, including an Olympic wrestler. And currently they are planning to hang a young woman. The violent executioners are the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) which has about 150,000 elite soldiers.

Now, if the radical Islamic political leaders somehow surrender completely, forcing the IRGC to give up their guns, what’s next? The 90 million freedom-loving citizens have been stomped on and persecuted for 47 years, and they watched in horror as 40,000 have been killed. They will rise up, form a democratically elected government, create a judicial system, and those executioners will be tracked down, tried, and executed.

The temporary leaders who, so far, have refused to give in to U.S. demands are looking out for their own hides. If they give in, the well-armed IRGC will kill them before Israel can do it. Do you think President Trump would allow these current leaders to come here under the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program? No way! Especially since Congress voted to change the definition of “temporary.”

For most of us it still means a short period of time. But thanks to Congress, for 350,000 natives of Haiti who were welcomed here temporarily, temporary means permanent.

Back to the war in Iran. Despite threats to ships in the Strait, Iran has little defense left other than drones and small motorboats. Now that the war is 90% over, Europe has finally decided to help out.

This reminded me of the story of the Little Red Hen. You probably remember it. Here is the story, with a few modest updates.

The little red hen finds a bag of certified Hard Red Winter wheat seed and asks the other barnyard animals “Who will help me plant the wheat?” “Not I” said the cat, “Not I” said the dog, “Not I,” said the pig. So, the hen said “Then I will plant the seed myself.” After the wheat was growing in the Spring, she asks, “Who will help me apply nitrogen fertilizer?” “Not I,” said France. “Not I,” said England. “Not I,” said NATO.

At each later stage (harvest, threshing, milling, preparing, and baking the bread) the hen asks for help. “Not I,” was the response. When the little red hen removes the bread from the oven, she asks “Now, who will help me eat the bread?”

You know the end of the story. All were eager to eat fresh bread. “No, you did not help me plant, nor help me harvest, nor help me mill, nor help me bake the bread,” so the Little Red Hen ate the bread and gave it to her chicks. And Trump said to Europe, “No help needed now. Forget receiving oil from Iran. You can buy it from us. And Liquefied Natural Gas, too.”

Reid Wiseman and the other three astronauts on Artemis II left no doubt about their belief in God. After seeing Earth against the blackness of the universe, and the eclipse of the sun behind the moon, “Humanity has not evolved to comprehend what we saw.”

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

       “That’s one good thing about European nations: They can’t hate you so much they wouldn’t use you.” Radio, March 31, 1935

Let’s start with the great news from NASA. Most of us old folks will remember the beginning of manned space flight, with John Glenn and other astronauts in 1962. Then we watched Neil Armstrong take “one small step for man” on the moon, July 20, 1969. Even more amazing was the fact they could leave the moon surface and fly home safely. After a couple more moon landings, no American had gone to the moon since 1972. The focus for human space flight shifted to low Earth orbit, ignoring the moon.

Now, 54 years later, we have Artemis II. Young students today need to be excited at the opportunities and challenges. Can you imagine the physics and engineering involved in sending 4 people on a 10-day, 700,000-mile flight around (behind) the moon? And they landed exactly on schedule, 8:07 p.m., within a mile of the exact target in the Pacific. And we won’t have to wait 54 more years for the next steps. Landing on the moon and setting up a permanent base at the South Pole.

Then on to Mars. Wow! I had to look this up: Mars never gets closer to us than about 35,000,000 miles. It will take about 100 days to fly there.

There’s no deal with Iran. The (temporary) leaders met with V-P JD Vance in Pakistan and refused to budge. No change in 47 years of dealing with the Islamic terrorist regime. They choose death over common sense.

Here at home, there’s some doubt over who’s winning the war in Iran. It depends on which TV network, newspaper, or social media “expert” you’re paying attention to. The Iran military is reduced to fighting with guerilla warfare tactics. Their air force is reduced to drones; their navy is mainly small motorboats. The Strait of Hormuz is an international waterway, not owned by anybody. Unlike some turnpikes, there is no toll booth. Freely shipping oil, nitrogen fertilizer and other goods through the Strait is essential for the global economy.

Every recent President has said that Iran can never have a nuclear bomb. But until now, no President did anything to prevent Iran from having a nuclear bomb. Critics claim that Iran’s enriched nuclear materials do not pose an “imminent threat” to us. I reckon the threat wouldn’t become imminent until a missile with a bomb attached was a half hour from landing in New York City.

Meanwhile, income taxes are due this week. Most of us will be happy to know that the top 10% of income earners pay about 75% of all Federal income taxes. Imagine our tax bill if those top earners took their income and moved to Guatemala.

Will Rogers had plenty to say about taxes. Enjoy a few of his quotes.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers, on Taxes. 

“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

“If your Income Taxes go to help out the less fortunate, there could be no legitimate kick against it in the world. This is becoming the richest, and the poorest Country in the world. Why? Why, on account of an unequal distribution of the money.” WA #421, Jan. 18, 1931

“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

“There is a tremendous movement on to get lower taxes on earned incomes. Then will come the real problem, ‘Who among us on salary are earning our income?’” DT #1051, Dec. 8, 1929

“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

“The crime of taxation is not in the taking it, it’s in the way that it’s spent.” DT #1764, March 20, 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

Being Easter Sunday, let me begin (rather than ending) with Will Rogers quotes.

         “I heard (‘Easter Bonnet’) on the radio. It’s pretty. It’s my favorite tune, with it being Easter.” Radio, Apr. 21, 2935

         “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

        “I was raised predominately a Methodist, but I have traveled so much, mixed with so many people in all parts of the world, I don’t know now just what I am. I know I have never been a nonbeliever. But I can honestly tell you that I don’t think that any one religion is the religion…. Which way you serve your God will never get one word of argument or condemnation out of me.” WA #524, Jan. 8, 1933

Was the No Kings activity last Saturday successful? Well, within hours after it ended, I saw the announcement that an important visitor is planning to come to the White House: King Charles of England. I guess he wants to learn how a man with no royal heritage seems to have dominating power.

Ten million “No Kings” followers are determined to keep ten million others from being deported. Even King Charles himself will admit he has no power, and if he did, he would also deport a bunch of intruders, mainly the ones who have walled off parts of the UK and replaced English law with Sharia laws. Of course, the No Kings protesters have other goals and some are mighty popular. Mainly, they want Donald Trump and all Republicans out of office. And the sooner the better.

On this day, Christians around the world all agree there is only one true king. If you’re not Christian, and don’t believe that Jesus died on a cross, was buried, and three days later rose from the dead and lives with us today, then that’s ok. Followers of Jesus Christ are not going to cut off your right hand or slice your tongue just because you practice a different religion, or none at all.

Meanwhile in Iran, both pilots of the F-15 shot down have been rescued. President Trump has told the new Ayatollah and his henchmen (what’s left of ‘em) their time is running out. Clearly, we don’t want to destroy essential infrastructure, but if that’s what it takes to get free and clear use of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, then that’s THEIR choice.

Here at home, the main complaint is gasoline costing $4.00 a gallon. We forget that four years ago it was even more expensive. Let’s hope that this war ends quicker than the Russia invasion of Ukraine, which is still raging!

Congress is a mess.

When Congress is handing out money, the battle is over who gets the credit. Today, it’s a different battle: who gets the blame.

You may remember that the House voted to fund the Dept. of Homeland Security more than 40 days ago. The bill went to the Senate where 60 votes, not a simple majority, is needed to pass a bill. Democrats refused to fund DHS because they hate ICE. But ICE was already funded for ~3 years. So, no change for the component of DHS they hate. But no pay for TSA meant total chaos for airport security. And no pay for the Coast Guard, FEMA and Secret Service either.

Last week, somehow in a middle-of- the-night vote, the Senate passed something. Not sure what changed, but the House Republicans refused to accept the Senate version.

Instead of working on a compromise, they all went home. Not for a weekend. For two weeks!

So, President Trump took the matter of ridiculously long lines at airports into his own hands (maybe like a King?). He ordered the new Secretary of DHS, Markwayne Mullin, to pay the TSA agents. Now, as I joked on Facebook, it didn’t take Sec. Mullin long to use common horse sense and find the money. As a recent Senator he knows that each Senator has an average of about $4 million in their “office account.” With 47 Senators voting against funding for DHS, that totals almost $200 million. Commandeering those accounts should be enough to keep TSA agents on the job. And we’ll see how those anti-ICE Senators and their staff like going without pay.

More “No Kings” rallies were organized Saturday. A report said the protests cost $3 Billion. I think that’s exaggerated. But the total number of protesters is not exaggerated. Here’s a question Democrat Party leaders need to ask, why can’t we get ten million wildly enthusiastic, sign-waving, drum-beating supporters to attend “pro-Democrat” rallies? How many will spend a Saturday standing along a street cheering for their local, state, and national candidates? Most of the Democrat’s main policies, including open borders, no deportations, no voter ID, ignore fraud, and add taxes instead of cut spending, are supported by only a fourth of the voters.

A friend pointed out that “No Kings” was not actually about Kings. Really? The only King most of the No Kings protesters can name is King Charles of England who has no real power. Recently, two countries that were ruled by a powerful king-like person lost those leaders: Venezuela and Iran.

I wonder how the No-Kings Democrats would react if, against all odds, the “kings” of Russia and China were deposed. Would they welcome success?

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

“I have made a comfortable living by telling the truth about public men and politicians. I have had all kind of suggestions and offers to stop telling the truth about them and start lying for them, but, NO, I have gotten by this far on one thing. Why should I change and take a chance of failing?” WA #89, Aug. 24, 1924

Will Rogers frequently said, “All I know is what I read in the newspaper.” A hundred years ago newspapers were the only source of news, except the local barber shop and Women’s Club. Will often read 2 or 3 daily newspapers, especially when preparing for a presentation that night.

Today, more people depend on TV networks for their News. But one major national story seems to have slipped past those folks. A young independent journalist, Nick Shirley, has investigated and uncovered government fraud, first in Minnesota, and recently in California. Where are Lester Holt of NBC, Aaron Katersky and David Muir with ABC, or Jake Tapper, CNN?

Nick Shirley investigated and showed that Billions in federal tax dollars in Minnesota were wasted, with up to 90% going to Somalis who claimed it was for autistic children and day care centers. You might have seen the empty “Learing Center” in Minneapolis.

Then Mr. Shirley went to Los Angeles. He visited a day care that had only a couple of kids and no adult present. Also, a huge former motel, nearly empty, that received $170 million for hospice care.

Did the Governors of MN and CA thank Nick Shirley for exposing the waste? No, they belittled him. But that won’t stop him. He may show up in your state next, including here in Ohio.

Here’s a hint for a possible Ohio investigation: did you ever invite a friend or family to stay with you “temporarily?” And 15 years later, they refuse to move out?

California Governor Newsom has other disastrous boondoggles. The $33 Billion high-speed Los Angeles to San Francisco railroad is costing at least $140 Billion with zero tracks laid. If it is ever finished, to recoup the cost a round-trip ticket would cost over $2000.

If that isn’t enough waste, a few folks in Los Angeles convinced Newsom to commit $114 million to build a bridge over the famous 101 highway. You might be thinking, that must be an important interchange for I-10. No, it’s a bridge demanded by a few wildlife lovers for a couple of cougars and a flock of… butterflies.

Now, exactly how wide does this bridge have to be, even if two cougars decide to cross in opposite directions at the same time? Six feet should be plenty. But no, the cougar devotees calculated that for cougars to meander across, without interference from butterflies fluttering overhead, the bridge had to be 175 feet wide!

How does this bridge compare to the iconic Golden Gate Bridge? This bridge is 210-foot long. Would you believe, at the inflation-adjusted cost for the 9000-foot Golden Gate, per foot of length this Cougar-Butterfly Bridge is 6 times more expensive?

I haven’t seen the signs directing the cougars to the bridge. If they work as well as “deer crossing” signs in Eastern states…

The shutdown of TSA and other parts of Homeland Security continues. Since ICE agents are still getting paid, President Trump is moving ICE to help the undermanned TSA at airports. How will Sen. Schumer react at LaGuardia when he reaches the front of the line and an ICE agent asks for his ID?

The President gave Iran an ultimatum: open the oil shipping lane or we’ll destroy your electric generating plants. Will the lights go out in Tehran tomorrow?

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“The old newspaper in the morning is my breakfast. Course I don’t entirely depend on it. I like it accompanied by some ham and eggs, and a few biscuits, a series of cups of coffee…”  WA #257, Nov. 27, 1927

“These big wars over commerce, they kill more people, but ones over religion is really the most bitter.” WA #350, Sept. 8, 1929

I spent Friday and Saturday in Ireland.

Okay, this Ireland is a small community in the middle of West Virginia. For 44 years they have put on the Irish Spring Festival, centered around the Community Building (formerly a 2-room school) and the Methodist Church. Activities for all ages include square dancing, basketball, kite flying, bingo, costume contest, a parade, gospel sing, 5k Walk/run, and Road Bowling. Plenty food and homemade crafts.

These country folks, including several of my relatives, know how to have a good time while serving the community. They select a King and Queen (three candidates for each). The process raises money to maintain the community building and upgrade the kitchen. The candidates who attract the most money, a penny a vote, are the winners. (Not much different than most of our elections.) With inflation, and a shortage of pennies, next year it will cost a dollar per vote.

Road bowling may be a new term for you. The ball is about the size of a tennis ball, but quite heavy. The sport is conducted on a country road. The ball is tossed, somewhat like a regular bowling ball, and the farther it rolls without careening off the road, the better. Each successive toss is from where the ball stopped rolling. The course is about 3 miles, up and down hills and around curves, and the team that gets to the end with the fewest throws is the winner.

The Festival continues until March 20. At 10:46 a.m., to mark the official start of Spring, a spirited group will climb to the top of a steep hill where a huge rock has been christened the “Blarney stone.” Whether anyone kisses the Blarney stone may depend on evidence of any birds recently perched thereon.

Meanwhile in Washington, the Senate is locked in an argument over funding the Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS). Republicans want to fund the whole department while Democrats have shut down payments to the workers with TSA, the Secret Service, FEMA, and the National Guard because they want to get rid of one part of DHS: ICE.

Suppose Congress treated the Department of Agriculture the same way. Republicans might favor passing the 20 percent of the budget that supports farmers and reject the 80 percent that is mostly for SNAP (food stamps). And Democrats would be the opposite. So far, they have had enough common horse sense to fund USDA as a whole. (The delay in passing the “Farm Bill” is an issue for later.)

Back to the argument over DHS and ICE. A simple question will tell you where your Senator stands. Ask, “Do you favor deporting people who are here illegally, especially those who have committed other crimes?”

Did you know this? ICE is funded for the next 3 years! There’s nothing Congress can do to eliminate the ICE budget. So, to get even with ICE employees (who are executing a law passed by Congress), Democrat Senators are essentially forcing employees in TSA, FEMA, and other DHS agencies to work without getting a timely paycheck. Somehow, they think this action will attract votes from citizens who are asked to go to the airport 3 or 4 hours early to get through TSA.

The war in Iran continues. The armed forces of Israel and the U.S. have wiped out Iran’s Navy and Air Force. Political and military leadership in Iran has been decimated. (The current Supreme Leader is represented by a cardboard cutout.) Yet, Iran still has missiles, cluster bombs, drones, and small swift boats which are causing havoc across the Middle East and blocking the Strait of Hormuz.

Again, there is disagreement in Congress. Many Democrats say we should stop the war immediately. Yet, a few years ago the same Senators were strongly in favor of stopping Iran from having nuclear bombs and being run by radical Islamists. Now that a President has actually taken action toward those goals for the first time in 47 years, they object.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

         “This country has gotten where it is in spite of politics, not by the aid of it. That we have carried as much political bunk as we have and still survived shows we are a super nation.” DT #1948, Nov. 1, 1932

        “They [Congress] wouldn’t be so serious and particular if they only had to vote on what they thought was good for the majority of the people of the U. S. That would be a cinch… They first must consider is, or was, it introduced by a member of the opposite Political Party. If it is, why then something is wrong with it from the start, for everything the opposite side does has a catch in it.” WA #78, June 8, 1924