Posted 12:00 am Sunday, November 11, 2012
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It seems Will Rogers has a quote for every occasion
I was in Claremore, Okla., last week and visited the Will Rogers Museum. While there, I bought a book of his quotes and some are applicable to today’s situations. One said “America can carry herself and get along in pretty fair shape, but when she stops and picks up the whole world and puts it on her shoulders she just can’t get it done.”
Another said, “Somebody is always telling us in the papers how to prevent war. There is only one way in the world to prevent war, and that is, for every nation to tend to its own business.”
These are good words to live by but we don’t seem to have anyone in Washington with enough common sense to carry them out, so we try to put the weight of the world on our shoulders and we’re going broke doing it. We’re also fighting wars all over the Middle East. Maybe if we let people over there live like they want to, and have for thousands of years, we could bring the troops home, mind our own business, and save billions of tax payer dollars that are badly needed here in America.
Since Tuesday was Election Day, I picked another of Will’s quotes. “The platform will always be the same, promise everything, deliver nothing.” It seems that, no matter who gets elected, things just get worse — more laws, more debt, and more taxes. I wonder if we’ve gone past the point of no return?
Bill Urban
Mineola
Another said, “Somebody is always telling us in the papers how to prevent war. There is only one way in the world to prevent war, and that is, for every nation to tend to its own business.”
These are good words to live by but we don’t seem to have anyone in Washington with enough common sense to carry them out, so we try to put the weight of the world on our shoulders and we’re going broke doing it. We’re also fighting wars all over the Middle East. Maybe if we let people over there live like they want to, and have for thousands of years, we could bring the troops home, mind our own business, and save billions of tax payer dollars that are badly needed here in America.
Since Tuesday was Election Day, I picked another of Will’s quotes. “The platform will always be the same, promise everything, deliver nothing.” It seems that, no matter who gets elected, things just get worse — more laws, more debt, and more taxes. I wonder if we’ve gone past the point of no return?
Bill Urban
Mineola
RIGHT ON TARGET
Clifford May’s column on Monday, Nov. 5, “History shows America really is an exceptional nation,” ought to be required reading in every schoolroom in America.
He explains what “American Exceptionalism” really means:
“The ideas on which this nation is based were revolutionary in the 18th century — and still are today.”
What “ideas” are those? He lists them — that all men are created equal, that governments derive their powers only from the consent of the governed, that we are endowed by our Creator with rights and freedoms that no one can take away.
It’s about time that somebody stands up and says that to those who apologize for America. Our system is unique.
And that is certainly “exceptional.”
Jane Byrd
Mineola
He explains what “American Exceptionalism” really means:
“The ideas on which this nation is based were revolutionary in the 18th century — and still are today.”
What “ideas” are those? He lists them — that all men are created equal, that governments derive their powers only from the consent of the governed, that we are endowed by our Creator with rights and freedoms that no one can take away.
It’s about time that somebody stands up and says that to those who apologize for America. Our system is unique.
And that is certainly “exceptional.”
Jane Byrd
Mineola
HALLELUJAH
It’s over! At last! Praise God! The absolute barrage of political ads that have inundated us for what seems ages has evaporated leaving countless un-filled slots in a TV station’s inventory.
Not to worry, however; Christmas is coming and some of that slack will be taken up by retailers and product advertisers. The reason I know the Christmas shopping season has officially begun is the 2-minute commercials now filling the slots on TV. You know; those commercials, the last 30-seconds of which end with the phrase, “But wait! That’s not all!”
My favorite product advertiser at Christmas is Ronco, originator of the infomercial. It was Ronco that introduced items like “Hair-in-a-Can” for covering bald spots, the “Veg-O-Matic” vegetable chopper, “Inside the Shell Egg Scrambler” and my all-time favorite, “Mr. Microphone.” It’s not my intention to be facetious about two such important things as Christmas and politics, but felt it wouldn’t hurt to lighten up the mood a bit.
Hugh Neeld
Jacksonville
Not to worry, however; Christmas is coming and some of that slack will be taken up by retailers and product advertisers. The reason I know the Christmas shopping season has officially begun is the 2-minute commercials now filling the slots on TV. You know; those commercials, the last 30-seconds of which end with the phrase, “But wait! That’s not all!”
My favorite product advertiser at Christmas is Ronco, originator of the infomercial. It was Ronco that introduced items like “Hair-in-a-Can” for covering bald spots, the “Veg-O-Matic” vegetable chopper, “Inside the Shell Egg Scrambler” and my all-time favorite, “Mr. Microphone.” It’s not my intention to be facetious about two such important things as Christmas and politics, but felt it wouldn’t hurt to lighten up the mood a bit.
Hugh Neeld
Jacksonville
HEADLINES
Wednesday’s Tyler Paper led with the headlines, “Obama wins,” next to “Beer, wine sales pass.”
To paraphrase W.C. Fields, “Obama drove me to drink … I never did thank him for it.”
Charlie Goff
Quitman
To paraphrase W.C. Fields, “Obama drove me to drink … I never did thank him for it.”
Charlie Goff
Quitman
THREE WORDS
Our poor country.
Jim Turvan
Hideaway
Jim Turvan
Hideaway
