Reflections by Will Rogers

In light of our upcoming elections I thought I'd share this tidbit from Will Rogers. Don't read anything into it just enjoy it for what it is. I'm kind of a fan of his type of wit and philosophizing even though he had political and social tendency's often the polar opposite of mine. Keep in mind this was written in 1925 and is an excerpt from an article "Slogans, Slogans Everywhere".

"Everything nowadays is a saying, or a slogan. You can't go to bed, you can't get up, you can't brush your teeth, without doing it to some advertising slogan. Even the government is in on it. The Navy has a slogan: "Join the Navy and see the World!" You join, and all you see for the first 4 years is a bucket of soap suds and a mop, and some brass polish.

Congress even has slogans:
"Why sleep at home, when you can sleep in Congress?"
"Be a Politician - no training necessary"
"It's easier to fool 'em in Washington than at home - so why not be a Senator."

Even if you want to get married, a sign will stare you in the face: "Two can live as cheap as one." That, next to "Law Enforcement", is the biggest bunk slogan ever invented. Then the preacher says: "Let no man put asunder," and two-thirds of the married world is asunder in less than three months.

Last election, out came the slogan makers again. Some fool that didn't know American politics had J.W.Davis run on "Honesty". Well, that had no more place in politics than I have on the Harvard faculty. It was one of the poorest selections of a slogan that was ever invented. Coolidge ran on "Economy", and "Common Sense", which is always good for the boobs. It's like getting up at a dinner and saying: "I am proud to be here". It's an old gag, but it always goes over. Now you know "Common Sense" is not an issue in politics. It's an affliction. And as for "Honesty", neither is that an issue, it's a miracle. And the returns showed that there was 8 million more people in the United States who had the "Common Sense" not to believe that there was "Honesty" in politics. And as soon as the "Economy" boys got in, they raised Congress' and the Senate's salary and redecorated the White House. So away goes another slogan!

You see, a fool slogan can get you into anything. But you never heard of a slogan getting you out of anything. It takes either bullets, hard work or money to get you out of anything. Nobody has ever invented a slogan to use instead of paying your taxes.

But they will fall for 'em. You shake a slogan at an American, and it's just like showing a hungry dog a bone. We even die by slogans. I saw an undertaker's sign the other day, which read: "There is a satisfaction in dying, if you know the Woodlawn Brothers are to bury you." "

A Will Rogers Treasury, compiled by Bryan and Francis Sterling, Published by Bonanza Books - 1986.