"The short memory of voters is what keeps our politicians in office."
"We've got the best politicians that money can buy."
"A fool and his money are soon elected."
Will Rogers spoke these words during the Great Depression, but they're just as true today. With 24-hour news channels, our memories are shorter than ever. And in the mass-media age, the politician who can afford the most airtime frequently wins.
"Things in our country run in spite of government, not by aid of it."
"Alexander Hamilton started the U.S. Treasury with nothing. That was the closest our country has ever been to being even."
As the king of the velvet-tipped barb, Rogers never intended to be mean, but to bring us to our senses. One of his favorite subjects was to remind the political class that it worked for us, not the other way around.
"When Congress makes a joke it's a law, and when they make a law, it's a joke."
"The more you observe politics, the more you've got to admit that each party is worse than the other."
Rogers was born and raised on a farm in Oklahoma. His wit reflected the heart of America -- the horse sense, square dealing and honesty that were the bedrock of our success.
"When a fellow ain't got much of a mind, it don't take him long to make it up."
Franklin Roosevelt, a frequent target of Rogers' barbs, understood how valuable Rogers' sensibility was during the years of the Depression:
"I doubt there is among us a more useful citizen than the one who holds the secret of banishing gloom ... of supplanting desolation and despair with hope and courage. Above all things ... Will Rogers brought his countrymen back to a sense of proportion."
"If stupidity got us into this mess, then why can't it get us out?"
