Category: Uncategorized

My next debate proposal is to give Hillary Clinton a practice session. I’m not optimistic she will come out of hiding to face me.

But really, she has all the advantages. She has a Yale Law degree and more than 30 years in government. I sneaked out of Kemper Military Academy in the middle of the night and my only time in politics was a short stint as Mayor of Beverly Hills.

When it comes to making money in farming and ranching, she’s got me beat. I learned, almost from the day I was born on a ranch at Oologah, about caring for beef cows and their calves, letting ‘em graze on big bluestem, then in a couple of years we would drive those fattened cattle to the railhead in Kansas City. But Mrs. Clinton learned how to buy cattle futures and almost overnight turn a thousand dollars into $100,000.

I was never ornery enough to attract attention of the FBI so I don’t know how I would come out of an encounter with them. But they seem to love Hillary Clinton. And they love holidays. They interrogated Secretary Clinton on Saturday of the July 4 holiday weekend (and on July 5 said she was extremely careless with top secret emails, but should not be prosecuted). Then late on Friday of Labor Day weekend they released their notes from that interview, with more damning information. My guess is the next bombshell from the FBI will be released on Thanksgiving Friday. Yes, after she’s been elected and everyone is at the Mall.

In our debate, I won’t ask her about anything that happened more than a couple of weeks ago. If I did, she would just say, ‘I don’t remember.’ If she desires, she can have her Blackberry on the lectern. Or 13 of ‘em. For my opening remarks, I’ll just read a couple of her deleted emails, even if they are boring.

Historic quote by Will Rogers: (This is Will Rogers’ debate challenge in 1928. As you read this, replace Al Smith with Hillary Clinton.)

“Gov. Al Smith: This is the open season for Debates, and I believe you and I could put on about as good a one as one of these others.  So I hereby challenge you the way I challenged the other fellow last week. Now the trouble with most Debates, they are confined to a subject.  Now we won’t let that worry us, we won’t let issues or questions worry us at all, we’ll just rent Madison Square Garden.

I hate old records.  I won’t dig up how you voted on every bill since you been in office. I think what a man did years ago has nothing to do with what he is doing today. Your old records mean nothing to me.

What you and I want to talk about is, “What will we do if we get in?” The first thing I will do is to have that White House painted green, so they can’t call it the White House any more.

Prohibition: let’s not mention that.  It has stirred up enough trouble already. Farm relief: you know how a Farmer votes.  When he gets to the polls he reaches in his pocket and sees how much he’s got.  If it’s only a few cents, why, he says ‘Throw the rascals out.’ But if he’s got as much as a dollar he guesses that the rascals is on his side after all, so maybe he’d better leave ’em in.

I challenged Hoover, but he wanted to make it over the radio.  Now, that’s no way to debate. There is too many people listening in that have no vote, so what’s the use trying to convince them? A Debate over a radio would be just about like a game of chess by telegraph.

Al, you want to make your appeal to the common people. Well you can’t make any commoner appeal than I can.  The poor people are my people till election, too.

Let’s hold it in New York City. We’ll hold it at midnight and draw a big crowd. So I am just practicing till I hear from you, and I hope it will be soon. You and I can pack ’em in.”

This Presidential campaign is degenerating into mudslinging and name calling. Some of the names they are calling each other, you need a dictionary to understand ‘em.  Often campaigns start on a “high plain”, but this one began “low” and has dropped so deep you have to dig a mine shaft to catch a glimpse.

I promised last week to challenge Donald Trump to a debate. He hasn’t found anyone else to practice on, so I’ll assume he is considering my offer. Whether my experiences and positions on issues will help him prepare for Clinton, I got my doubts. They both have Ivy League diplomas, so my tenth grade education will have to be supplemented with common sense.

My experience with air travel started on U.S. Airmail planes whereas Trump has his own 767, and Clinton spent all four years as Secretary of State on an airplane, only getting off to write emails and visit with Clinton Foundation donors.

I went bankrupt only once, and I worked my way out of it by giving entertaining lectures in 90 towns in 90 days, traveling mainly by train and Model T Ford. If that don’t seem like work to you, go ask any professional speaker. Trump went bankrupt four times (that he admits to), and seemed to get out of it by borrowing more money. The Clintons were dead broke 15 years ago and gave enough speeches to have $200 million in the bank. If I got paid as much as they did for every speech I’d probably have $300 million.

So Donald, I’ll look for your response. You can contact me through my website: WillRogersForPresident.com.

Historic quote by Will Rogers: (This is Will Rogers’ debate challenge in 1928. As you read this, replace Hoover with Trump, and Al Smith with Hillary Clinton.)

“Mr. Herbert Hoover it just looks like the only way we can get the “Issues” of the day straightened out is on the Platform in a Joint debate.

You know the American custom is when you can’t beat a man at anything why the last straw is to Debate him.

There is just millions of Guys I wouldn’t waste a Debate on. But in the natural course of events it looks like I am going to have to take you and Al Smith on before the votes are in the can this fall. So I thought I would start in with you and see how I made out, and if I had any luck against you why then I would take on Al.

So I will meet you anywhere in joint debate — in any Joint you name.

Now the rules of the Debate are as follows: the first half of the debate is to settle on what the Issues are, and the last half of the Debate is just to Debate on ’em. In case there is no Issues, like it would be if you was debating with some Democrat, why then of course there would be no use holding the last half.

Now, you got by without a lot of Bunk. And the debate might be that you ought to be in my Party, “The Anti-Bunks.” But you let yourself be hitched to a Platform that is nothing but Bunk. As a man is known by the company he keeps, I will show you that, now that you have entered Politics, you will be mixed up with more Bunk than you ever thought existed.

You say that “Prohibition [of alcohol] is a Noble Experiment.” I would say that it was an “Amusing” or “Exciting” experiment, but it has hardly reached the “Noble” stage.  Then there is Farm Relief, Tariff [free trade issues], and all of the usual Bunks, and I will debate you on those too. For the debate we will charge admission and the money goes to a good Charity.

They tell me that Lincoln and Douglas had a debate one time, and they say Douglas won it, so even if I lose and just become as well-known as Lincoln why it won’t be so bad.

Now Herbert, you’ve got to debate with somebody before this Dog fight ends in November and it might as well be me.

While the “Will Rogers for President” campaign continues to roll smoothly, both of my esteemed opponents are hitting potholes and speed bumps.

Donald Trump has shaken up the Campaign Manager positions. Paul Manafort was let go. Will Rogers has no such problem: “I have no Campaign Manager to take care of.”  Trump has speechwriters preparing his remarks. He’s still learning how to read off a teleprompter, but he’s getting better.

Hillary Clinton is facing another round of questions about her private email server, and this time she is under oath to tell the truth. I had assumed she was under oath when questioned by the FBI and by Congress, but I guess not. The questions will be in writing and she will have a month to come up with the answers. She’ll have more lawyers than Trump has speechwriters working on the precise wording to each question. Their goal will be, as I wrote in 1935: “The minute you read something and you can’t understand it you can almost be sure that it was drawn up by a lawyer. Then if you give it to another lawyer to read and he don’t know just what it means, why then you can be sure it was drawn up by a lawyer. Every time a lawyer writes something he is writing so that endless others of his craft can make a living out of trying to figure out what he said. Of course perhaps he hadn’t really said anything; that’s what makes it hard to explain.”

The Clintons are also getting hammered over the tens of millions of dollars given to their Foundation, especially by foreign governments and shady characters while she was Secretary of State. Here’s my suggestion. Follow the example of their friend Warren Buffett, and give all the money in the Clinton Foundation, every penny, to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  Do it now, not after the election.  If she gets elected, after four or eight years in the White House they can start over like they did in 2001 when she said they were dead broke.

I’m ready to challenge the Republican candidate to a debate. “I will meet you in joint debate– in any Joint you name.” I hear that Trump can’t find anyone to practice against before taking on Clinton Sept. 26, so he just might accept. I can even buy a blonde wig. Of course I already wear pants.

The Olympics ended in Brazil with Americans claiming over a hundred medals, including 46 Gold. Good sportsmanship from all the world’s athletes, except for one swimmer who I won’t name.

Louisiana is suffering from a thousand-year flood. And it has nothing to do with the Mississippi River or a hurricane. Twenty inches of rain, and maybe more coming; 40,000 homes flooded. Here’s a taste of what Will wrote when the Mississippi flooded in 1927:  “BATON ROUGE, La., June 2 (1927): I have flew over more water today than Lindbergh did, only this had housetops sticking out of it.”   (in other articles)  “A Navy flier took me for hundreds of miles over nothing but a sea of water and housetops.  If you have never seen a flood you don’t know what horror is… I don’t really believe that 80 or 90 per cent of the people realize just what flood disaster means.”

Historic quote by Will Rogers: (campaign for President, 1928)

“Our support will have to come from those who want nothing, and have the assurance of getting it…We won’t pay a cent for votes.  We want voters but they must be amateurs.”

Last week I offered free advice to Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, and naturally they ignored it. Trump won’t even take advice from his trusted advisors, let alone a competitor.

Instead for zeroing in on the sluggish economy Trump took off on the founders of ISIS, the New York Times, and Monica’s blue dress.

Clinton came closer to the goal of staying quiet, except for a speech on her Economics Plan. She spent five minutes on how she would spend even more than President Obama (of course, by getting the extra money from those who have got it) and the rest of the speech trashing Trump’s economic plan.

Both candidates say they are against the free trade agreements of the last 25 years. Our trade deficit has gotten worse in almost every business category, except for agriculture. Our farmers sell more food, cotton and other products abroad than we import, so they like our trade plans. The wider Panama Canal will help gain even more markets in Asia for our corn, soybeans and wheat by reducing shipping costs.

American consumers have also benefited from free trade, except the ones who lost their jobs in manufacturing. I think what Americans really want is fair trade. A level playing field.

This week we learned that even a Socialist in America can be prosperous. Our best known Socialist, Bernie Sanders, decided two houses were not enough for him and his wife so he bought another one, a vacation cottage on the shores of Lake Champlain. The price was $600,000 but we don’t know if he paid for it yet. In case he needed to borrow the dough, he could get a loan from a billionaire Socialist: Vladimir Putin, the Castro brothers, or the Hugo Chavez heirs.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers: (1928 campaign for President)

“You may say the Issue is “Prosperity,” 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.”

“I am heartily in accord with the Anti-Bunk Party, but by its very name it means that we will have no political support.  Now I admit I can make a living outside politics. When you admit that you can live without depending on politics, you lose right there the support of all politicians, for if there is one thing that a politician hates worse than a recount, it’s somebody that is not in their business.”

Before I officially launch my own campaign, as the nominee of the Anti-Bunk Party, I feel it is only fair to offer assistance to my main opponents for President, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. After all, “after every political convention, the number of people who are dissatisfied with the nomination far exceeds those who feel that an ideal choice has been made.”

My advice to Trump is to stop watching television. Don’t read anything critics say about you or your family. Stay off Twitter; let a trusted adviser send out a bland tweet now and then. Nothing meaningful can be said in 140 characters anyway.  Ask Paul Manafort to get you some horse blinders, you know, those things they put on a race horse so he can’t see what’s off to the side or behind him, only what’s straight ahead. For you, that means seeing only Clinton and President Obama, no one else. If they say you are unfit or unqualified, ignore ‘em instead of proving them right. Talk about their weak economy, their mistakes, their poor judgement. Ignore Elizabeth Warren, obscure detractors, and crying babies.

Hillary Clinton, you should go away for 3 months. Say nothing. No press conferences.  Only speak at fund raisers; nobody is better at speaking for dollars, except maybe Bill. You’re far ahead, and will only lose ground by talking in public. In public, just nod, wave and smile. You have a delightful smile. But don’t laugh. Never laugh.  You will be forced to appear in three debates, but no matter what is asked, or what Trump says, just smile. Kinda like Mohammad Ali’s rope-a-dope style. If you happen to get an easy question that can be answered without lying, give a short answer and shut up. Never say “short-circuit” again. To an electrician it means electricity going in the wrong direction, often resulting in a blown fuse. Coming from you, it sounds like another word for lying.

As for me, WillRogersforPresident.com will be up and running in a few days. I am tempted to say my campaign will begin officially on August 15 because that would be unique in American history. No candidate has every announced for President on the day he died.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“In the old days, the Republican Party and the Democratic Party each had a definite reason for its existence. Between the two of them were lively little bones of contention known as ‘issues.’ Slavery was an issue; so was the Tariff; and so was American Neutrality in the World War.

Are there any issues today? Well-there is one: Prosperity. And the parentage of that uncertain issue is claimed by both parties with equal vociferousness. Nor is there any current Solomon wise enough to decide which claim is more legitimate. Both candidates will solemnly urge the voters to go to the polls and decide by their ballots whether or not we Americans are in favor of Prosperity. The American people, of course, will vote ‘Yes,’ especially the farmers and the workers in the coal industry, owners and laborers alike, who are interested to know when Prosperity is due to start.

          The Anti-Bunk Party is a home for dissatisfied voters, of which there is always a healthy majority.” 1928

The Republican and Democrat Conventions are over. Both Cleveland and Philadelphia escaped with little chaos, mainly because the police outnumbered protesters ten to one. Sanders delegates raised more of a ruckus than Black Lives Matter.

Here’s what I got out of the conventions. The Republicans told us all the reasons not to vote for Clinton, then the Democrats told us all the reasons not to vote for Trump.

The Democrat convention was historic. This is the first time the wife of a former governor and a former president ever won a major party’s nomination for President.  Hillary Clinton wants to be known as the “Change Maker.” Yes. She will take your dollars, and all you get in return is change. She insists we are “Stronger Together.” That’s true as long as she can hold on to the wealthiest 1 percent, who now pay 35 percent of all federal taxes. She wants them to be an even stronger participant in her togetherness program by contributing 50 or 60 percent of the total. You might think her followers in the other 99 percent group would be full of praise and admiration for the top 1 percent. Well, you would be wrong. Not a single word of thanks, or encouragement for them to make more money next year.

Nobody can figure what Donald Trump wants to be known as. In his speeches and interviews he goes off on too many tangents. We may think he wants to eliminate illegal immigration, reduce tax rates, and bring back manufacturing jobs from foreign countries. But instead of explaining details, he launches into strange comments about Russia, NATO, and Muslims in America.

Both Presidential candidates picked good running mates. Most people would agree that Mike Pence and Tim Kaine, both with experience in Congress and as a Governor, are qualified. That’s important because there’s always a chance the President cannot complete the term. If elected, Clinton could wind up in federal prison. Trump could end up in a psychiatric ward.

I read a report a few days ago that the economy was looking up. But today we learned the growth rate for the April to June quarter was an anemic 1.2 percent. No wonder 40 percent of Americans think we are still in a recession and 70 percent say the country is on the wrong track.

I’m leading up to a huge announcement, probably the biggest political news story since, well, since Thursday, when Clinton became the first woman to accept the nomination. President Obama is steering our economy down the wrong track (with Hillary assisting), and Trump is on a track that no one knows exactly where it’s headed.

So in this muddled political season, where most people dislike both candidates, and don’t trust ‘em either, I feel compelled to emerge from the mist, mount the podium, and as I did proudly in 1928, accept the nomination of the Anti-Bunk Party as their candidate for President. I am wasting no time or money coming up with a new campaign platform. If it works as well in 2016 as it did 88 years ago, it will be deemed successful, and even historic.

Below is a peek into what will follow in the next 3 months. Soon we will have a new website, and we’ll announce names of 10 to 15 outstanding folks who want consideration for Vice-President. And not a politician in the bunch.

Historic quotes from Will Rogers: (in Life magazine, 1928)

This (opportunity) leaves me dazed, and if I can stay dazed I ought to make a splendid Candidate.

Every Candidate always says, ‘Why there is dozens of men (and women) that is more competent to fill this office than I am.’ Well I don’t feel that way about it at all.  For after all, it’s only the office of Candidate that I am accepting. You know it don’t take near as good a man to be a Candidate as it does to hold the office. That’s why we wisely defeat more than we elect.

I think I can accept defeat in as poor English as anyone.

There will be no effort for Sex Appeal.  Of course, if it unconsciously manifests itself, why, we can’t help it.

The country is gearing up for two straight weeks of political conventions. The Republicans have invaded Cleveland, and Philadelphia is bracing for Democrats next week.

Meanwhile, more tragedies here and around the world. Following the killing of 5 Dallas police, protesters injured about 25 police in Minnesota and today 3 (or 4) police in Baton Rouge were killed. In Nice, France, an Islamic terrorist slaughtered close to a hundred with a truck, and a military coup (unsuccessful) in Turkey killed over 200.

I heard a TV reporter ask this question: Considering the events of the last week, which Presidential candidate would you want in charge? Well, if you like the way President Obama is handling the situations, you would prefer Clinton. On the other hand Trump will probably claim he wouldn’t have to deal with these kinds of tragedies because his policies will wipe out ISIS and other Islamic terrorists, and his unwavering support for police and law and order will put an end to the kind of anti-police protests and killings that have festered in the last few years.

A Baton Rouge police chief said “Not gun control, but changing what’s in men’s hearts,” is what is needed to stop the attacks on police.

You might think in light of recent events the protesters would have compassion and back off a bit in protesting during the Republican convention. No, the Black Lives Matter and a few others marched and blocked streets today. Unfortunately, many of these same rabble rousers will show up in Philadelphia to protest the Democrats. I heard there are 5000 police in Cleveland. Probably 4000 are there to protect protesters from other protesters. If these police maintain the peace, maybe they will all go to Philadelphia with the protesters.

Donald Trump picked Governor Mike Pence of Indiana as his Vice-President. Trump still has a bunch of prominent Republicans who are refusing to support him, including the Bush’s and Ohio Governor Kasich.

Hillary Clinton is still pondering her V-P selection. She appears to have total support of prominent Democrats and is going after Bernie Sanders’ socialist followers by promising them more free stuff.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers (on political conventions):

          “I am being paid to write something funny about this Republican Convention. That’s funny. All a fellow has to do to write something funny on a Republican Convention is just write what happened.” June, 1920

(1932 Republican Convention, June14): “The Republican convention ‘laid an egg’ here today. The house wasn’t near sold out. The loud-speaker system didn’t work and half of ‘em couldn’t hear the keynote speech. They got mad and got to leaving, but not as quick as those that was sitting near the front and could hear it.”

(The next day, June 15): The nominator “said that while our Savior had rescued the world in Biblical times from the Democrats, that Herbert Hoover was the modern Savior. In fact, he kinder gave the engineer the edge over the carpenter.”

(1932 Democrat Convention, June 26): “If this convention stopped right now two days before it starts, it’s been a better convention than the Republican one… The plan is to ‘stop’ Roosevelt, then everybody ‘stop’ each other. At a time when the Democrats should be ‘starting’, they are ‘stopping’.”

(The next day, June 27): “Why, there wasn’t an argument in a carload. Cheered everything; hissed nothing; why, it made me almost ashamed I was a Democrat. Here we have written about it, advertised it as a combat, a gigantic struggle of candidates, and conflicting platforms, and then everybody goes out kissing each other.”

(The next day, June 28): “Ah! They was Democrats today, and we was all proud of ‘em. They fought, they fit, they split, and adjourned in a dandy wave of Dissension.”

In election news, we finally got to the last and most critical primary for Hillary Clinton. The FBI Primary, which had been delayed for weeks, was held early Saturday morning, of a 3-day holiday weekend. Attorney General Loretta Lynch will be the vote counter, and a few days ago Bill Clinton tried to stuff the ballot box.

Secretary Clinton said she was glad to meet with the FBI voluntarily to conclude the security review. Yes, it was voluntary all right; either volunteer, or forget about ever becoming President. And it is not a security review. It is a criminal investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Like anyone accused of criminal activity, she was interrogated. Now, she may be completely innocent; we have to wait for the verdict from FBI Director Comey.

Bill Clinton’s rendezvous with the Attorney General was at the Phoenix airport. He had his plane wait on the tarmac until her government plane landed, then, after she kicked everyone off her plane, he hopped on. Now, any time Bill Clinton arranges to spend 30 minutes with a female in private, we suspect hanky-panky. But this time it was legal hanky-panky. The meeting was described as a “chance encounter.”  From now on, chance encounter will be defined as when individuals in two private planes meet secretly at a busy airport, such as for a major drug purchase, or a meeting of two lawyers who are ethically prohibited from communicating with each other.

If you see Secretary Clinton campaigning in North Carolina this week, and President Obama happens to appear with her, remember it’s just a chance encounter.

Meanwhile Donald Trump has had a few encounters, not by chance, with potential V-P running mates. Newt Gingrich, Chris Christy and Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana are included. I heard a commentator today suggest that Ohio Governor John Kasich would be the perfect running mate. Only problem is Kasich doesn’t like Trump. But on the other hand that makes him ideal to attract the millions of voters who also don’t like Trump.

The economy and job growth are hot issues. The top income earners are doing quite well, while the rest of us are kinda wondering when the Great Recession will end. Democrats want to make incomes more equal by raising tax rates. But the top ten percent already pay over seventy percent of income taxes. When you ask how much they should pay, no one will state a number. See, if they said those top earners should pay eighty percent or eighty-five percent of the total, then the other ninety percent of us feel guilty because we’re not pulling our weight. Republicans are against raising the minimum wage to $15. They claim most people now earning $8 or $9 per hour would not get $15, they would get zero because their job would be eliminated.

Great Britain voted to leave the European Union even though Prime Minister David Cameron and all the other top leaders in London (plus President Obama) wanted Britain to stay. Because of the defeat, Cameron and a few others felt compelled to resign. Will Rogers likes that about the Brits and added, “Imagine what would have happened if such a procedure had been in effect over here.” (1930)

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

 “From the record of all our previous investigations it just looks like nobody can emerge with their nose entirely clean. I don’t care who you are, you just can’t reach middle life without having done and said a whole lot of foolish things.” DT #2620, Dec. 28, 1934

“Well, this is the Fourth of July and my kids [are] popping these giant crackers. This is Calvin Coolidge’s and Georgie Cohan’s birthday. Georgie writes his country’s songs and Calvin writes its speeches.” DT #296, July 4, 1927

Who are you going to believe? President Obama announced that ISIS is shrinking and its power and influence is diminishing. Two days later his Director of the CIA essentially said ISIS is expanding its influence, including training terrorists to sneak into the US with Syrian refugees or to cross the border from Mexico. Do fifty career diplomats in the State Department know more about the success of our policy in Syria and Iraq than the President? Even the Secretary of State is not sure. Are walls effective?  Maybe it depends on how high.  If 7 feet is not high enough, how about 11-feet 8-inches?  This is not about the “Trump Wall” with Mexico, which Secretary Clinton and President Obama dismiss as useless. No, this “wall” is the fence around the White House, which Obama decided would be more effective if it was a few feet higher. What is the root cause of the massacre in Orlando? Donald Trump quickly blamed the Orlando slaughter on radical Islamism.  President Obama and Secretary Clinton got in a huddle and discussed options. “We previously blamed a video. We don’t believe in radical Islamic terrorism. Let’s blame it on guns and hatred of gays.” What if the killer had targeted Disney World instead of a gay nightclub? Every night Disney has fireworks. He could have shot a hundred before the crowd even realized it was not just the sound of fireworks. What if the killer had made a bomb and set it off, either at the nightclub or a crowded entrance to Disney? I bet ISIS is telling all the potential “home-grown” Islamic terrorist killers, “Don’t use a bomb. Don’t use poison. Use a gun that looks like an assault rifle. They’ll blame the gun, not us.” Historic quote by Will Rogers: (Automatic weapons, ie. machine guns, were essentially banned nine years after Will wrote this.) “You know what has been the cause of the big increase in murders? It’s been the manufacture of the automatic pistol… The automatic pistol is as much more dangerous and destructive than the old Six-Shooter, as poison gas is over perfume.” WA #145. Sept. 20, 1925 Note: Cleveland Cavaliers gave the city their first championship in 52 years, Cavaliers over Golden State Warriors, 93-89. First NBA team to come back from a 3-1 deficit.

To borrow a phrase from FDR, “Today will live in infamy.” A young man full of hatred committed an act of terror with an assault rifle in an Orlando nightclub. That is the news we received from President Obama and his former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The worst mass shooting in American history [by one person] left at least 50 dead. Another 53 were injured. And this tragedy could have been prevented with strict gun laws. The root cause is the NRA and Republicans who refuse to allow limits to the Second Amendment.

On the other hand, Donald Trump blamed the mass murder on a radical Islamic terrorist. Was he referring to the same massacre as Obama and Clinton?

I have read comments by several acquaintances on social media today. About half seem to follow the President’s lead, and the others agree with Trump. And if you disagree with any of ‘em, you risk getting your face slapped (figuratively).

Omar Mateen was a 29-year old, divorced Muslim son of parents originally from Afghanistan. He worked as a professional security guard who had a license to carry guns almost anywhere. The FBI had investigated Mateen in 2013 for radical comments. Apparently he was deleted from any terrorist list (that might have prevented him from buying a gun or even working as an armed security guard) simply because there are so many young Muslims with similar views that the FBI cannot afford to keep track of all of them.

In other news… Hillary Clinton made history last week as the first female nominee for President. A few pundits also pointed out she is the first nominee to be under FBI investigation. Of course, she is not the only Presidential nominee who should have been investigated.

Bernie Sanders has refused to concede and promises to stay in the race until the convention next month. Clinton is focused entirely on Donald Trump. She has been endorsed by prominent Democrats, including President Obama, who are also blasting Trump. Meanwhile, several prominent Republicans continue to take potshots at Trump. In this peculiar election I think “my” well-known quote applies equally to both parties: “I’m not a member of any organized political party… I’m a Democrat.”

By Election Day in November, the economy will be the main factor.  Polls show that two-thirds of us think we are on the wrong track, and that Trump’s policies are more likely to lead to more and better jobs. Clinton wants to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour, build more solar collectors to replace coal, and expand Obamacare. Take your pick.

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

“There is a woman running [in Illinois] for Congress that Alice Longworth told me one time had the keenest political mind of any one in Washington and was the most able woman that could possibly enter politics.  It’s Mrs. Ruth Hanna McCormick. She is not like other women that go into politics who get up and tell you about the ‘woman’s angle.’  She tells you about the people’s angle.” DT #528, Apr 5, 1928