A Winters Express opinion column
Gramps Says
They say the quickest way to get into trouble is to talk about politics and religion; however Will Rogers made a pretty good living talking about politics. Out of curiosity I looked up some of his most famous quips to see if they would still apply today. Here are a few, “If you ever injected truth into politics you have no politics.” And, “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.”
I will leave politics to Mr. Rogers but I have no reservation talking about news, both printed and broadcast. As a lifelong Republican, I called the Republican headquarters in California awhile back and told them that I was discouraged about what was happening and that I was contemplating leaving the party. The gentleman’s response was, “If I believed all the news I would leave the party too.”
This left me wondering which news I should ignore. It has been reported by numerous news agencies that certain swing state votes were counted at least three times with the same outcome and 63 court cases challenging the election results were thrown out. These reports are easily verified. I clearly heard on the TV news the taped phone call of the president asking the Secretary of State of Georgia, “Can’t you find me another 11,780 votes?”
The live broadcast images of rioters at the nation’s capital breaking windows, battering the police, shouting “Hang Pence” and driving members of the Senate out of Chambers during their duty to certify the state votes are deeply burned into our memories. Likewise for the speeches that inflamed the rioters. That is what we saw and it is news. So I ask the question, which of these news reports do I ignore?
Back to news columnist Will Rogers, who had a knack for getting it right. Here is what he said, “….and when the votes are counted, let everyone, including the candidates, get into a good humor as quick as they got into a bad one. Both gangs have been bad sports, so see if at least one can’t redeem themselves by offering no alibis, but cooperate with the winner, for no matter which one it is the poor fellow is going to need it. So cheer up. Let’s all be friends again. 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.”
Sophie Says
I like this Will Rogers guy. Can’t we bring him back and have him run for President? He had common sense and he met all of the Constitutional qualifications which are, be at least 35 years of age, be a natural born citizen and be a resident for 14 years or more. In fact, he was over qualified, he knew how to read and write.
