# 376, August 18, 2005
MINSTER, Ohi I’m out here on a farm in western Ohio with over a hundred farmers learning how to use the latest technology and machinery. These folks know you don’t have to plow up the ground to make a profit, but you do need rain. Corn and soybeans are maturing nicely on this farm, owned and run expertly by Bill Lehmkuhl, but many other farms have had only 2 or 3 inches of rain all summer, and their prospects don’t look promising for harvest. You can be the best farmer in the world, but without rain or irrigation you’re sunk.
In Columbus, Governor Taft was arrested yesterday. For playing golf. Now you could probably name a few golfers who deserve to be jailed. But seldom does a Governor, or even a Senator, get hauled off a green in handcuffs.
Of course it ain’t illegal to play golf in Ohio, the proud home of Jack Nicklaus. But if you’re a governor and you play golf, and don’t pay for playing, then Ohio says it’s not exactly ethical. They frown on lobbyists picking up the tab for a forgetful governor.
It seems that about once a week the Governor slipped out of the Capitol to work on his golf game. If they indicted everyone who played golf when they claimed to be working, there wouldn’t be anyone left to run the country.
No one knows for sure whether he was practicing or playing, but the Governor apologized and told the judge he would put down his putter till his term ends and concentrating on governing. You just watch. For the next year and a half this old state will take off on an economic boom.
Saturday I’m back on The American Queen. We’re supposed to cruise up the Mississippi from New Orleans to Vicksburg, but the river is so low they may have to make some changes to keep from scraping bottom. Barges are already hauling less so they ride higher in the water. These steamboat operators may be forced to put us all on a diet. See, on the average cruise everybody is so well fed, the boat runs about a foot deeper at the end than at the start. Salads and fruit for everyone.
(Here’s the web site: http://deltaqueen.com/cruises/themes_legends.htm)
Historic quotes by Will Rogers:
“Today (in New York State and New Mexico) they are voting on whether to keep a Governor two years or four. I think a good, honest Governor should get four years, and the others life.” DT #405, Nov. 8, 1927
“About all there is to prominent men nowadays is their golf. It has always been a mystery to me how our old time men ever got as good as they were without golf. Just imagine if Lincoln had had golf to add to his other accomplishments. There is a boy you would have been proud of.” WA # 15, March 25, 1923
“(Golf) is the only game in the world where practicing it and playing it is the same thing.” WA #163, Jan. 24, 1926