Obama, Franken and Burris ready to make history

COLUMBUS: The Obamas moved to Washington. Just when our new President (in two weeks) is trying to concentrate on fixing the economy and the important issues of the world, why, his old friend Blagojevich names a new Illinois Senator. That governor is shrewd; picked an old politician who lost so many elections in the last few years, no way he could pay a bribe. These Federal prosecutors, if they can’t convict him for bribery may have to do like they did with Al Capone: send him up on tax evasion.

The Senate is ready to reconvene, but they don’t know yet who will show up. Roland Burris claims the Illinois seat because he would be the only African-American in there. Al Franken says he is rightfully the Minnesota Senator because he would be the only Comedian. (He’ll find out otherwise soon enough.)

Caroline Kennedy wants the New York seat. Did you hear her? “I really want to, you know, represent New York. But if that doesn’t, you know, work out, I’ll move to Massachusetts and, you know, wait.”

Israel waited until after Christmas to go into Gaza and root out the Hamas Muslims. Ironical timing, don’t you think? Europe immediately told Israel they should stop fighting and negotiate. Of course, Hamas terrorists have been firing rockets into the south end of Israel for two years, so Israel asked Europe, What would you do if they were firing those rockets at the South of France? Well, Europe hadn’t thought of that possibility, so they are working on a compromise if Hamas promises to aim no farther than ten kilometers inland.

Historic quotes from Will Rogers:

“This Depression must have finally hit the Senate. They are investigating it. If they want to know what is holding back relief measures, all they got to do is look in the mirror.” DT #2039, Feb. 15, 1933

“Senator Carter Glass, when he told the Senate that the whole Reconstruction Finance thing was bad, told them what every Senator knew in his heart, but didn’t have the nerve to say. Every man, every industry in the United States was hit by Depression. Before you start dealing out public funds to help, you should have first found out, have we enough money to give aid to every one, every industry. If not, I am not going to give part of them a sandwich and leave the rest go hungry. But no, they didn’t do that. They just started right in by helping the bankers, so every man, woman and child in the U. S. thinks, and rightfully so, that they have got as much right to get some sort of government aid as the bankers. Due to the lack of foresight of our lawmakers it will never be finished till the last one hundred and twenty million reach in and get theirs, because they feel they got it coming.” DT #2044, Feb. 21, 1933

“Well, for breakfast this morning we got three new Cabinet officers… This fellow [new Treasury Secretary] William Woodin that has inherited the deficit, I don’t know him, but I, along with everybody, rush to offer him condolence. Accepting receivership of the U. S. is also no small chore.” DT #2045, Feb. 22, 1933

(in the days before Roosevelt’s inauguration)