The wise, insightful Will Rogers

Chuck Wright

As you enter into this column, keep in mind this is my adaptation of Will Rogers’ (1879-1935) expressed views. I’m not a well-founded witness because what I know comes from the newspaper, social media, friends, and rumors, but at the same time, this does not make me an innocent bystander.

With this acknowledgment, it’s again time for us to also turn to Founding Father Thomas Paine’s (1737-1809) wisdom. “A long habit of not thinking a thing is wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right.” Then to support Paine’s brilliant input in September 2022, I put forward this question: Has lying become an American virtue?

The Baseball Hall of Famer Willie Mays, by his actions on and off the field, not only showed us how to act but his words of wisdom can be used to strengthen those good old days of USA’s values. Teach “kids how to respect people – set an example so they can set an example.”

What has now become family values is not what Mays had in mind. He would not support teaching to be a bully by being “in your face” and being a nonlistening confrontationist.  

By our words, actions, or inactions we set the example and lay the groundwork for our moral compasses and ethical standards we will pass on to our family and community. It’s becoming an ingrained American custom not to be thinkers, but rather to just get in line with those who support misrepresentation, deception, or straight-out lying. That leads us to support alternative facts as facts.  

One of the best ideas of how to protect us from lying becoming a mainstream American family value? We must have a Great Awakening about how instructional lying is eroding our foundation of law and order and our older values towards of having a free Democratic/Republic form of government. After Will Rogers left our world, he is still here to mentor us with his wisdom. One example: How to deal with a violent, lying, highly manipulating, and formidable frightening person. In this case, he was talking about Al (Scarface) Capone. But what he had to say back in those days is still good advice for us today. 

Freedom of speech is a sacred right. It’s a right, but we have also put limits on using that right. Along with freedom of speech, our freedom of the press is also consecrated into our Constitution. By the media outlets using their legal right not to cover those who speak out is a crucial means of lowering the possibility that lying will become an American value.

Rogers, a promoter for the good of the general welfare, was critical of anyone who wished to elevate any individuals whose value was to destroy our Democratic way of life. Through this enlightened and insightful homespun philosopher and Oklahoma’s favorite son, Rogers tried to teach us by his stance not to use his syndicated newspaper and radio opinion columns to give more limelight to the 1920s grandiosity, violent, manipulative, lying, callous, bragger, preoccupation with power, arrogant, lack of empathy, frightful king of the Chicago gangsters: Capone.

After over two hours of interviewing Capone, this kingpin of organized crime wanted this highly and admired Rogers to praise how he, Capone, was constantly out helping the poor, the destitute, and the kids of the community. And what does he get in return? The government, and especially the criminal justice system, Capone said, wants to unfairly destroy his honorable, benevolent, and community spirit.

Rogers’ general response: “There is absolutely no way I can write anything about you that would even imply you are a hero. We have got too many crooks in high places.” Rogers’ directness had to surprise and anger Scarface. Often, when people asked Will about his interviews with Scarface, he would respond, “Everybody I talk to would rather hear about Capone than anybody I have met.” Then he would ask, “What’s the matter with an age when our biggest gangster is our greatest national interest?”

Along with those words, Rogers would add, “He (Capone) is bad, not mad.” It was the courage of the 12 jurors who unanimously convicted this organized criminal boss of five of 23 counts.

Darn right, as long as lying is OK, lying will become morally ingrained and will become a cherished American value.