Has common horse sense left the barn? Or only Washington, DC?
First, it’s Congress. We know those folks are skilled persuasive speakers. And they do a fair amount of listening to their voters, and especially to donors and lobbyists. But when it comes to entertaining…, they should hire a stand-in.
The Academy Awards were last Sunday and that must have inspired them to try out for a part in a movie. Have you seen the leaked video with 25 men and women in Congress? They must have brought in a famous Director to supervise.
She lined ‘em up and gave them the lines to memorize. She coached them, telling them which words to emphasize, proper gestures, and to speak emphatically, with harsh emotion. Frown, don’t dare smile. Here is the script: “Since day one of Donald Trump’s presidency, prices are up, not down. Inflation is getting worse, not better. Prices of groceries, gas, housing, rent, eggs – they’re all getting more expensive. Meanwhile, Donald Trump has done nothing to lower costs for you.”
Most did it marvelously in one take. They have been talking with that attitude for a few years so it comes natural to them. To see who succeeded, we’ll have to wait till the next Academy Awards, or the next election.
A few other Congressional Democrats tried singing. Oh my. They wouldn’t last ten seconds on “America’s Got Talent.” Or the “Gong Show.” Then a few of the women did videos pretending to fight like Mohamed Ali. Do you remember, “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee?”
Now, it may have been a reasonable goal for the Biden Administration to selectively hire to reflect the overall population. But when it comes to singing and dancing, we don’t want the “average” American. For singing, we prefer Larry Gatlin or Patti Page. For dancing, how about Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers (no relation to Will). And there’s only one Mohamed Ali.
That’s just my opinion. If you like your singing and dancing a little off kilter, that’s alright with me.
Speaking of off kilter, next we come to President Trump. Despite his popular speech to Congress, a lot of folks think his tariffs and Russia policy are plum nutty.
Trump claims the announced tariffs against Mexico and Canada are only to force them to keep fentanyl from crossing our borders. But many Americans are more concerned about the higher price of lumber and tomatoes that cross our borders. And a lot of Canadians are mad they can’t buy Kentucky bourbon.
But then President Trump kinda turns around and says, “Tariffs will bring in Billions of dollars.” He also says tariffs will cause foreign manufacturers to move here and our own companies will bring all of their manufacturing and suppliers back to the states. Several companies have already announced the desired moves. Maybe eventually the net effect will be more taxes and a balanced budget. But it is frustrating to a lot of the country that’s concerned about the short term.
Is it smart to fire whole groups of federal employees and programs rather than pick off the ones that are wasting our tax dollars and running up the debt? Especially when you have to rehire the ones doing critical work.
Of course they will say, “Well, you tried picking one at a time for decades, and it never worked. This way, we got their attention.”
On another issue, do you think Will Rogers would have supported men in women’s sports? Will was a strong supporter of female athletes. For example, Babe Didrikson Zaharias in the 1932 Olympics (track and field) and golf; Gertrude Ederle, English Channel swimmer; and Annie Oakley, sharpshooter. Since 1972 females in high school and college have had their own sports. And now, Democrats in Congress want to allow biological males to compete, and usually win, against the girls and young women.
Historic quotes by Will Rogers:
“You can’t legislate intelligence and common sense into people.” DT #2377, March 16, 1934
“Magnus Johnston says he is ‘going to use common sense in the Senate.’ That’s what they all say when they start in. But if nobody don’t understand you, why, you naturally have to switch.” WA # 59, Jan. 27, 1924
“Gertrude Ederle (swam the English Channel)… England is trying to get in on the credit of it. They claim they furnished the land for her to land on, otherwise she would never have made it.” DT #10, Aug. 8, 1926