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This Presidential election is coming down to another “Super Tuesday” that will likely be a “make or break” day for some of them. Trump and Clinton are winning, but this week will decide whether they are pushed ahead to an insurmountable lead or pulled back in the pack. Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, Illinois and Missouri are the battleground.

In Chicago a few rowdy guys who were too lazy or bored to go see their own candidates decided to gang up on a candidate they don’t like and cause a ruckus. MoveOn.org sponsored the disruption but they had a lot of help. And Trump deserves part of the blame for holding an event on a college campus where more so-called students major in “studies” of various cultures (Blacks, Women, Hispanics…) than engineering, business or agriculture. If he had held the big rally at Northwestern, for example, the students there are too busy studying to waste time organizing protests against a businessman running for President.

The Chicago young people who don’t like their current economic condition should be complaining to the Mayor or Governor or President Obama. Trump and the other candidates didn’t create their misery.

Ohio State University hosted a CNN Town Hall tonight with Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, but not at the same time. It was peaceful and apparently nobody from the other party caused any disruptions. I didn’t hear the whole 2-hour Q&A, but I did hear this question for Sec. Clinton. She was asked how she was going to help poor people, including poor whites. Part of her answer was, “We’re going to move away from coal. We’re going to move away from all fossil fuels.” Huh? Eliminating high paying coal mining jobs and shutting down the oil and gas industry will wipe out the cheapest sources of electricity and transportation fuels. Instead of helping poor people, she would create a few million more of ‘em.

Here’s good news for all of us who like to eat. Recently I attended a couple of events with about a thousand farmers. In discussions on politics I never heard a one of ‘em say they would leave the country if so-and-so is elected. That’s a relief because we need all our farmers. On the other hand, the prospect of losing a few hundred Hollywood folks for the same reason is no problem at all.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“The trouble with Chicago is there ain’t much ‘better element.’ There was no shooting in Chicago on Election Day, but it will drop back to normal right away.” DT #219, Apr. 6, 1927

“The locusts I saw swarming in the Argentine are houseflies compared to the destruction caused by a Presidential election.” WA #516, Nov. 13, 1932

“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

“It’s getting so if a man wants to stand well socially, he can’t afford to be seen with either the Democrats or the Republicans.” WA #26, June 10, 1923

 “You know the more you read and observe about this Politics thing, you got to admit that each party is worse than the other.” WA #3, December 31, 1922

The list of Presidential candidates is narrowing. After several states have held their primary election or caucus to select their favorite Democrat and Republican, we’re down to four prime candidates. You might expect they would be the most popular among the 25 or 30 who started.

But, oddly, they seem to be the most disliked, least trusted of the bunch. Nobody likes Trump, except the ones who voted for him. Senator Cruz has none of the other 99 Senators on his side. Nobody thinks Hillary Clinton is truthful, except her supporters. And for Sanders, is the United States ready for a Democratic-Socialist President?

Of course, all four of these candidates have strong, passionate, determined followers. Their challenge is to attract enough of the other voters to win. Yes, I know that Rubio and Kasich are still very much alive. Gov. Kasich is counting on his Ohio folks to give him a win. And Sen. Rubio won the odd couple of Minnesota and Puerto Rico, but may lose his own state of Florida.

Trump’s main point (when he’s not making fun of Rubio or Cruz): We’ll build a wall, and it will be paid for by Mexico. Sanders’ main point (when he’s not agreeing with Clinton): We’ll give you free medical care and free college, and it will be paid for by Republicans.

Hillary Clinton announced her campaign theme is: “Make America Hole Again.” Yes, I know she meant “Whole,” but it reminded me of a Will Rogers moment on the radio. He pretended that President Coolidge called in and Will asked him for his opinion on the state of the economy. (Read this as if you are listening rather than reading it.) Here’s Coolidge (actually Will): “I am proud to report that the country as a (w)hole is prosperous. I don’t mean by that, that the whole country is prosperous, but as a hole, it is prosperous. Now a hole is not supposed to be prosperous, and we are certainly in a hole, as a whole.”

I heard speculation that President Obama might name a person to replace Justice Scalia this week, I suppose, just to irritate Republican senators. We’ve heard many names of lawyers tossed out as prospects. Oddly, when we have only a half dozen capable of becoming President in 2016, there seems to be hundreds considered for the Supreme Court. And that person serves for life, not four years. Here’s Will on that issue: “The Senate just sits and waits till they find out what the President wants, so they know how to vote against him.” (DT #1225, June 29, 1930)

Historic quotes (on elections):

“One of the evils of democracy is you have to put up with the man you elect whether you want him or not. That’s why we call it democracy.” DT #1953, Nov. 7, 1932

“In this country people don’t vote for; they vote against.” Radio, June 9, 1935

“If you ever injected truth into politics you have no politics.” WA # 31, July 15, 1923

Another week, another election. Trump cruised through South Carolina and Clinton slipped by Sanders in Nevada. As I understand it, the Democrats and Republicans trade states, and repeat the process on Tuesday.

Jeb Bush dropped out, leaving only one of the original eight governors running for President, John Kasich. I doubt if anyone ever spent more per vote received than Jeb. Will Rogers might have had him in mind when he wrote, “Politics has got so expensive nowadays it takes lots of money to even get beat with.”

Pope Francis seemed to comment on our presidential race saying he favored someone who builds bridges instead of walls. Of course he was speaking in Mexico and he knew his audience. See, Mexico favors more bridges across the Rio Grande so their workers can go north and then send their paychecks south without either one getting wet.

The State Department released another batch of classified emails from Secretary Clinton’s personal server. Scott Pelly, on CBS, asked her if she always told the truth. She said, “I always tried to tell the truth.” As she said it, and tried to explain further, I could swear I heard a dog barking. Really loud.

The funeral for Justice Scalia was Saturday. President Obama decided not to attend because he wanted to spend all weekend going through binders of potential replacements. I can imagine Mitt Romney wanting to ask him, “Do you have any women in those binders?”

With a bunch of primaries in the next month, I’m sharing more wisdom from Will Rogers. These political quotes may remind you of current conditions even if they don’t help you reach a decision. (If you want to read a whole slew of ‘em at one sitting, go to WillRogersToday.com, click on Quotes, then click on Politics.)

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“Personally, I am in favor of money being spent on elections.  The more money the better.  If they can get contributions from rich men and distribute them around among the poor and needy I think it’s a good thing.  It puts money into circulation… Besides, the fellow may not get elected, and in that case the vote they sold did no harm and didn’t break the fellow that made the contributions.  So my slogan is: Bigger and higher?priced elections.”  Letters of a Self-Made Diplomat to his President, May 20, 1926

“I would love to see Mr. (Henry) Ford in there, really. I don’t know who started the idea that a President must be a Politician instead of a Business man. A Politician can’t run any other kind of business. So there is no reason why he can run the U.S. That’s the biggest single business in the World.” WA #5, January 14, 1923

“A Republican moves slowly. They are what we call conservatives. A conservative is a man who has plenty of money and doesn’t see any reason why he shouldn’t always have plenty of money. A Democrat is a fellow who never had any, but doesn’t see any reason why he shouldn’t have some.” WA 535, March 26, 1933

“Coolidge made less speeches and got more votes than any man that ever run. (William Jennings) Bryan was listened to and cheered by more people than any single human in politics, and he lost [3 times]. So there is a doubt just whether talking does you good or harm.” DT #673, Sept. 21, 1928

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died yesterday.  Discussion immediately turned to his replacement. Scalia believed in the Constitution the way it was written, refusing to consider rulings that would go against it. He figured the job of a Supreme Court Justice is to interpret the law, not rewrite it. If you want to change something in the Constitution, or add something new, then write an Amendment and get it passed.

Isn’t that what every Justice should believe?

Oil is around $30 a barrel, down from $100 a couple of years ago. Everybody who drives is saving money. However, the oil industry and states that depend on oil and gas production, including Oklahoma and North Dakota, are hurting. North Dakota has one-fourth the drilling rigs that it did two years ago. The governors of both states are struggling with a deficit of over a billion dollars.

When President Obama got the news that thousands of people have lost jobs, oil companies are going bankrupt, and several states are hurting, did he offer assistance? No, he wants to add a 33% tax on oil (actually $10 a barrel). Instead of offering the proceeds to the states that are hurting, he wants it to go to wind and solar companies. There’s nothing wrong with those two when the sun shines and the wind blows, but when it comes to fueling a Ford or Chevy, they can’t compete with oil, even when it’s $100 a barrel.

Is the Great Recession still with us? Is the economy starting to feel like 2008 all over again? The stock market is down, not as much as oil, but it has dropped more than 15 percent. The Chinese economy is stagnant. In Europe the Central Bank is charging banks (not paying interest) to hold money for them. Can you imagine asking someone for $10,000 and they tell you, “Great. In 12 months you’ve got to give me back $9800.” You know, if one of those big banks wants me to hang on to $10,000,000 for a year, I’m pretty sure I can give ‘em back $9,800,000.

The Presidential campaign has moved into South Carolina. Bernie Sanders, in order to get the African-American vote in the southern states, put out a TV ad showing him in 1963 at a civil rights protest, getting arrested by the Chicago police. Not to be outdone, Hillary Clinton is arranging to have a video shot when she gets arrested by the FBI.

Secretary Clinton is frustrated that so many young people, especially young women, support a Socialist instead of her. I agree with her. Have they been taught nothing about Communist Russia, Cuba and Venezuela?

Will Rogers traveled across Russia (USSR). From Moscow he wrote, “You have heard of equality of the sexes in Russia. That’s not so. The women are doing all the work.” (DT #2516, Aug. 28, 1934)  Years earlier he wrote, “Communism is like Prohibition. It’s a good idea but it won’t work.”  (WA #254, Nov. 6, 1927)  He also wrote, “The idea was that the fellow managing the bank was to get no more than the man that swept it out. Well, that talked well to a crowd, but (Russia’s) got no more of that than we do.” (Saturday Evening Post, Nov. 6, 1926)

If you’re thinking of vacationing in Iowa, this week might be a good time to go. The state will be practically empty. All the Presidential candidates, their volunteers, pollsters and news hounds will abandon Iowa and invade New Hampshire. Farmers who have stayed around to vote in a caucus will sell enough corn to go to California for a week or two.

You may not read this until after Iowa votes, so I’m not going out on a limb with wild predictions. Trump, Cruz and Rubio seem to be a lock to make it to the next round. A couple of governors, Christy and Kasich, have taken up residence in New Hampshire and will welcome their fellow Republican survivors.

Senator Sanders and Secretary Clinton will continue their tight race in New Hampshire. I will go out on a limb concerning Clinton. Her future depends on the vote of one person, and only one: the FBI Director. She still says the thousand emails from her server that were determined to be classified top secret were not marked top secret. This includes the 22 that were “over-the-top secret.” She was Secretary of State but had no clue the information might create risks to national security if Russia or China or Iran read them.

A former Attorney General of the United States was asked for his assessment of someone who could not tell the difference between routine emails and ones like the 22 that demand ultimate secrecy. He said, “Only a low grade moron would not know the difference.”

If the FBI knocks Hillary Clinton out of the race, don’t bet on Senator Sanders getting the nomination. The Democrats will open the door to other candidates including Vice-President Joe Biden, Gov. Jerry Brown of California, and maybe even Mrs. Obama.

Historic quote by Will Rogers:

          “I guess the truth can hurt you worse in an election than about anything that could happen to you.” WA #470, Dec. 27, 1931

This campaign for President is giving us quite an education. Not about the candidates, but rather the inner workings of government and politics. For example, if you’re born in another country to American parents you might not be allowed to run for President. And a surprising number of Democrats don’t know the difference between a Democrat and a Socialist.

The biggest surprise is that “Top Secret” is not really the top secret; there’s another whole level above “Top,” and it’s called Special Access Program (SAP).  These SAP messages are so secret that you pretty much have to be the President or Secretary of Defense or Secretary of State to ever lay eyes on one of ‘em.

But that changed in 2009 when Hillary Clinton became Secretary of State. For the next four years those SAP and (previously) Top Secret classified messages were available to hackers in Russia, China, and probably a few Junior High computer whiz students.

Of course, Secretary Clinton says none of her emails were marked as classified or top secret or SAP. I believe her. And that makes the problem even worse for her and the country.

So here’s one more thing we’ve learned during this campaign: there ought to be a standard test for candidates for President, or Cabinet positions. Ask ‘em 100 questions to see how much they know about economics, foreign policy, energy, food production, and most important, top secret classified information. Here are 3 suggested questions:

1. If you as President wanted to discuss a report by a named CIA agent in the Middle East with the Sec of State, would you suggest: a. face to face meeting; b. secure telephone call; c. email message on gmail; or d. posting on Facebook?

2. As President, how would you communicate with the Defense Secretary on including Saudi Arabia leaders in a plan to attack ISIS: (same four choices)?

3.  Someone gives a kitten to you at the White House, how would you ask for suggested names for the new White House cat: (same choices)?

Ok, other than that third question any answer other than a or b is disqualifying. Adios. Goodbye.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

          “The more people study about you, nowadays, the less they think of you.” WA #25, June 3, 1923

“There is two places where what a person says should not be held against ‘em in a court of law. One is at a dinner, and the other is on the witness stand of a Washington investigation.” DT #2405 April 18, 1934

In the last week, we heard President Obama give his State of the Union speech, followed by both parties holding presidential debates.

The State of the Union speech was less a state of the union as it is today, and more of what Obama would like it to be in 20 or 30 years.

The 10 Republicans in their debates (yes, there are still TEN candidates) talked about what they would do to change the state of the union without waiting 20 years. Defeating radical Islamic terrorists, including ISIS and al-Qaida, canceling Obama’s “non-constitutional” Executive actions, and “putting America back to work” seemed to be important to all of them. There were minor scuffles between Trump, Cruz, and Rubio, with a few jabs thrown by Christy. But they all agreed that any of the ten would be better than any Democrat.

Three Democrats debated, although Gov. O’Malley seldom got a word in edgewise. Senator Sanders wants universal health care, free college tuition, and higher wages. At the same time he wants to break up anything that is big and/or rich, especially banks, Wall Street firms, drug companies, oil companies, and gun manufacturers. Ironically the individuals and companies he expects to pay for all the free stuff are mainly the same ones he wants to break up. Secretary Clinton made it clear she is running as a continuation of the Obama administration, and therefore all the Democrats that voted for him should now vote for her.

Iran jumped into the news. They televised the capture of 10 U.S. Navy sailors and the apology of the boat captain. After 13 hours Iran released them. Next they released 5 hostages they had imprisoned for several years. You might wonder, what did Iran get in return? Well, we released 7 convicted Iranian terrorists, and then let Iran have $150 Billion that was being held to keep them from developing a nuclear bomb. We may have even given them an extra half a billion for each of the 5 Americans released. It’s great to have them home, but the price is pretty steep.

The National Football League playoff is down to 4 teams, Denver vs. New England and Arizona vs. Carolina. These are the 4 best teams in the NFL which means that the winner of Super Bowl 50 can truly claim to be the best NFL team.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“There is one thing you can bet on this year. No voter is going to do anything that a politician thinks he will do. The way most people feel, they would like to vote against all of ‘em, if it was possible.”  DT #1797, Apr.27, 1932

“Politics is the best show in America. I love animals, and I love politicians, and I like to watch both of ‘em at play, either back in their native state, or after they’ve been captured and sent to a zoo, or to Washington.” Notes (undated)

President Obama is back in the White House from two weeks in his home state of Hawaii. While there he had time to ponder the most important issues facing the country in his last year as president: stagnant wages, stagnant stock market, high unemployment rate for minorities, higher costs of health care, soaring national debt, Islamic terrorism in America, Russian aggression, Chinese cyber-attacks, Islamic terrorism in the Middle East, and the sad state of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Well, after all that pondering he announced that the biggest issue is… gun control. Yes, gun control. He is meeting with his Attorney General immediately to figure out how to reduce the number of guns owned by law abiding citizens. He won’t present it that way, but criminals and terrorists pay no more attention to laws than bootleggers did during Prohibition.

Meanwhile, the economy appears headed for another lackadaisical year. Unemployment is down to five percent (that’s great), but we have more people working part time and more people not working at all than ever (that’s not great). Since the ones working in the private sector have to support everybody else that’s a heavy burden.

The higher costs for Obamacare are crimping plans for business expansion. The lower prices for crude oil and natural gas are a huge benefit, unless you’re in the oil and gas business. Food prices are stable but income for the farmer is way down. The Federal Reserve is raising interest rates, but the interest old folks earn on savings accounts is unchanged. The EPA continues to expand control over farmland despite opposition in Congress.

In the 2016 Presidential race the Republicans still have about a dozen candidates and the Democrats have three. As expected Hillary Clinton is leading the Democrat race while most “experts” are shocked that Donald Trump is leading the Republican race. Both races could change in the next couple of months depending on early primary and caucus results for the Republicans and on possible FBI indictments for the Democrats. Even the current conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia could play a role.

It promises to be an exciting year in politics even if it’s a dreadful year for the Lakers.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:

“Well, New Year is here… I bet there is not a single person that knows any more about what (this year) has in store for us than a billy goat. Ten million people have gone without work for three years just listening to ‘big men’ solve their problems.” DT #2000, Jan. 1, 1933

        “We’ll show the world we are prosperous if we have to go broke to do it.” DT #413, Nov. 18, 1927

You have heard President Obama and other folks talking about the Climate Change agreement reached in Paris.

But did you know that farmland is part of the solution? One reason our soil can help solve the problem is because farming has helped cause the problem in the past.

Before I get too deep in the dirt, you may be wondering, what is the connection between carbon dioxide in the air and farmland? We know that climate scientists say that carbon dioxide in the air is increasing. And it is reaching worrisome levels which cause global temperatures to increase. And those higher average temperatures cause polar ice and glaciers to melt and the oceans to rise.

Well, the carbon in the air is the same carbon that is in our soil. Or used to be in our soil. The carbon in soil is organic matter, sometimes called humus. Before our ancestors figured out how to grow crops by tilling the ground, the native prairie and forest land contained a fair amount of organic carbon. In Iowa or Illinois, for example, the deep, black ground probably included at least 5 percent carbon among the soil particles. Now, because the land has been plowed for more than 150 years the soil has only about half as much carbon.

The good news is that if farmers stop plowing, and instead use practices that add organic matter to the soil, mainly no-till farming with cover crops and chemical herbicides to control weeds, then the world’s farmland becomes part of the solution. The added carbon comes from the roots of corn, wheat, soybeans and other crops, plus the roots of plants grown in the off-season, such as clover, ryegrass and sunflowers. By not plowing the ground, the carbon stays in the soil, adding carbon year after year. Soil with more organic matter is healthier and produces better crops.

What about ranch land and cattle? Well, cattle do not contribute nearly as much to global warming as the vegetarians would have you believe. Most cattle spend at least three-fourths of their life eating grass, usually from land that is too steep, too dry or too poor to grow other food crops. They are only fed grain for 3 or 4 months before you get served steak on a plate or hamburger on a bun. And many ranchers will sell you beef raised only on grass, no grain at all. Another practice that helps store more carbon in the soil is rotational grazing because it lets the grass grow more roots.

A few modern day no-till grain farmers are grazing cattle on their cover crops, which ends up adding more organic matter to the soil.

Plants take carbon out of the air to grow and they give up oxygen. This is mighty convenient for us because we take oxygen out of the air and give up carbon dioxide. I don’t know much about “plant population” but in the last 150 years our human population has gone from about 1 billion up to 7 billion. Nobody ever mentions that the extra 6 billion of us walking around every day, spewing out carbon dioxide, might be a cause of rising temperatures.

Well, this is my feeble attempt to explain in a few minutes what a university professor could lecture on for a whole day.

Another bit of good news, according to our President, is that this agreement to end climate change will cause ISIS to cease terrorism and pledge to live in peace with the civilized world. Isn’t that what we’ve been told?

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:
“I am on a ranch of 600,000 acres, belonging to W. T. Waggoner, with 25,000 cattle… He is one cowman that was smart enough to solve the low prices of cattle and make ranches pay. Every cow has got her own oil well.” DT #1847, July 6, 1932
“When you ever have any doubt as to what might happen in these United States, go to the country and talk with (cattlemen) and you will come back reassured.” DT # 2430, May 17, 1934

In a Thanksgiving Day message, President Obama reminded us that 400 years after the Mayflower landed, we still have Pilgrims wanting to come to America. He implied we should welcome the pilgrims from Syria the same way the natives (“Indians”) welcomed the ones from England.

Well, our president could use an American history lesson, from the viewpoint of the Indians. Here is part of a Will Rogers radio broadcast in 1935, “As a race there has never been any comparison between the Pilgrim and an Indian.  Now I hope my Cherokee blood is not making me prejudiced.  I want to be broad minded, but I am sure that it was only the extreme generosity of the Indians that allowed the Pilgrims to land.  Suppose we reversed the case.  Do you reckon the Pilgrims would have ever let the Indians land?  Yeah, what a chance!  What a chance!  The Pilgrims wouldn’t even allow the Indians to live after the Indians went to the trouble of letting ’em land… One thing about a Pilgrim, he would pray.  I bet you’ve never in your life seen a picture of one of the old Pilgrims praying when he didn’t have a gun right by the side of him. That was to see that he got what he was praying for.”

Protests are breaking out all over. And it’s not always clear what folks are protesting. College students in Missouri, at Yale, and other institutions of higher learning are marching for free tuition and a minimum wage of $15 an hour. Must be because the liberal arts majors figure the only jobs available to them will be minimum wage. They also want a guarantee that no one on campus will call them names or say anything that might upset the feelings of a ten year old.

In Paris, where the police are working day and night to round up radical Islamic killers, protesters arrived in force to divert their attention. They seem to be protesting the global climate change conference, but are they for it or against it? There’s plenty of Republicans who would like to protest it, and we know which side they are on. I heard that 160 countries have a plan to fight global warming and at least 150 expect us to pay the bill.

President Obama says the global warming conference is a powerful rebuke to the ISIS terrorists because the world stands as one to build a better future for our children. Since ISIS was not invited, I doubt they are giving it much thought, other than to figure that if the world spends a trillion dollars on climate change, that leaves a trillion fewer dollars to be spent trying to destroy ISIS.

We heard this week that our military destroyed about 500 tanker trucks hauling ISIS oil, after Russia and France showed us how to do it. We could have done it months ago, but President Obama was concerned that setting fire to the ISIS oil trucks, ships, and oil wells would make global warming worse. That’s not a joke, he really believed it. Here we thought the theme of this administration was “leading from behind.” But it’s really “trailing from behind.”