130 Comments

The best thing about Biden's farewell speech is the fact that it is his farewell speech.

Expand full comment

He should have made it fifty years ago.

Expand full comment

01/17/25: His only regret is that he didn't steal enough money. And poor Jill Biden, "betrayed" by her "friend" Nancy Pelosi. Will tragedies never cease? And now, to fix everything that they have shattered. Ruthlessly fix, otherwise, it stays broken.

Expand full comment

Don Reed, don't you mean "betrayed" by her "friend" Nancy Pelosi?

Expand full comment

Good grief! So I did. Thank you. Will fix. !!!

Expand full comment

They're going to have to use a shepherd's crook to get FJB off the stage! Exactly how many farewell speeches does he need to FINALLY get the heck out of there? I sure hope someone is busy packing up and fumigating the White House!

Expand full comment

Not sure what my sons (42,44) know about Ike. I’ll send this to them. Bite-sized, succinct & relevant.

Expand full comment

Don is spot on. I was born later - remember hearing about Kennedy's assassination, but never listened to Eisenhowers entire 16 minute speech. The full speech includes his buildup of why Eisenhower coined the phase military-industrial complex - makes MUCH more sense - never been a large standing army of 3 million, and the need for the perpetual defense contractors - b4 WW2 the US never! had them - tractor and auto factories were re-configured to build munitions, tanks & trucks...., but the advancement of technology and the fact Federal Spending on Military was more than ANY single corporation in the US at that time.

Here is the Youtube link to Eisenhower's address (h/t Tucker)

https://youtu.be/mHDgsh6WPyc?si=J0uv6Z-YQi0y2t1v

Our Congress, starting with LBJ a few years later (guns & butter) did not heed Eisenhower's other warning (about 12min in)

'...you and I, and our government must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering for our own ease and convenience the precious resources of tomorrow's, we cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow. '

G-d Bless President Donald John Trump in his 2nd term and those that diligently carry out his inspired and persistent vision to Make America Great Again, and bring to light those that hate it and remove them from power and influence.

Expand full comment

I still have my "I Like Ike" button.

Expand full comment

That’s wonderful! I have vague childhood memories of my parents campaigning for Ike, making those “I Like Ike” buttons out of rounds of white cardboard using Magic Markers, which had been recently invented, and attaching ribbons to them. I also remember being taken to his campaign office in my small town, which was in a small trailer in a vacant lot.

And I remember traveling as a family before the interstate system was complete. It took 3 days to get from northwest Florida to western North Carolina. Geez, I’m old!

Expand full comment

No, not old, just a veritable goldmine of great information and experiences. Those were the best years in the history of America. Great times for a boomer to live.

Expand full comment

My Brownie troop marched in the parade waving our American flags when Ike came to visit the Air Force base located in my hometown. I don't have an I Like Ike button, but I do have the newspaper picture of us marching in that parade

Expand full comment

Just well seasoned!

Expand full comment

Or, as Rush used to call us, “Seasoned Citizens”.

Expand full comment

I guess we are in the same general age bracket and have similar memories of car travel in the 50's. I did get to see and hear Ike give a speech in Gettysburg on July 4, 1963. We happened to be there for the centennial of the Battle of Gettysburg so it was a double treat for a young American.

Expand full comment

According to my 90 y/o aunt, my dyed in the wool southern Democrat family set off in Papa’s Dodge sedan to go to the poll to vote in the Presidential election between Eisenhower and Adlai Stevenson. My grandparents and 2 maiden aunts never missed a vote. He must have noticed how quiet his passengers were on the way home bc he suddenly turned to Gram asking, “Now Mama you all did vote for Adali didn’t you?” She immediately replied, “No Papa, we all voted for Ike.”

Ike had brought her boys, Ben with Patton and Buddy with the 101st Airborne, home and that was enough for the women in the family to defy our (beloved) Patriarch. It was a long time before he forgave them.

Expand full comment

Oh I remember driving to “Kansas City” before I-435 was built. (435 basically circles around KCKS/KCMO but in the vernacular of small town Kansas going to any city not mine was “Kansas City”). It was a completely different experience than it is now. But what’s interesting is that it has made traveling the “lesser” roads so much more pleasant than they used to be as I still prefer to take the less traveled roads. Still, a brief excursion onto 435 in between smaller highways makes the trip much faster than it used to be.

Expand full comment

great stories. as for me, my mother was a card carrying democrat socialist shill and hated ike.

Expand full comment

So do I. Wouldn’t sell it for any amount.

Expand full comment

i'm jealous of you both. i was born in 1948 and followed ike since i was old enough to read. now we have aoc to look forward to.

Expand full comment

'49er, Ike was great, much better than his predecessor. Americans were better citizens then, partly because of better leadership.

Expand full comment

Actually I think Truman did pretty well, considering that he inherited an unfinished war and a hostile post-war Stalin who tried to force him to surrender Berlin.

Expand full comment

FDR was a closet socialist who admired "Uncle Joe" (kind of like Obama and Biden with the Ayatollahs of Iran). Had he lived, I believe he would have given Stalin whatever he wanted. Truman was a much better President and did what had to be done to end the war in the Pacific and blunt the ambitions of Stalin in Europe.

Expand full comment

You're right about FDR, but FDR had already given "Uncle Joe" much more than he deserved. After all, that uncle was the one who had help start WWII by making common cause with Hitler. Thanks to those giveaways, two post-war generations in central Europe had to put up with Soviet oppression.

Expand full comment

at least truman had the stones to end ww2.

Expand full comment

Probably one of the hardest decisions any president ever had to make. And it was the right one too.

Expand full comment

absolutely was regardless of all those attempts at revisionist history.

Expand full comment

I have read many books on Ike over the years and have an autographed copy of Crusade in Europe. Even got to shake his and Mamie's hand when they were in Abilene Kansas to dedicate his museum and childhood home there. The guy was way ahead of his time if compared to most "leaders" today. He, like George Marshall, put the country first before their own accomplishments and goals. If not for Marshall, Ike likely would never have been pushed ahead of other general officers to become SCAEFE. The egos he had to deal with while doing so pales to anything like it since. JFK, who fought in the Pacific in WWII greatly admired Ike for his calm and experienced advice. Great man.

Expand full comment

AOC...America On Crack...

Expand full comment

If ever there was a human being that needed to be spanked and disciplined as a child, AOC is the one. Spoiled, ungrateful, arrogant, condescending, and clueless. She makes me sick. Her constituency? Morons and ignorant voters.

Expand full comment

another offensive cretin.

Expand full comment

I just finished reading "Into the Cauldron" by Lee Jackson. Ike appears a lot in his latest book which follows a family, the Littlefields in which all 4 of their grown children serve in some capacity during WWII. It's a good series and I recommend it

Expand full comment

i assume this is fiction?

Expand full comment

fiction?

Expand full comment

What a truly inspiring and instructive article!

And you are so right~ we have not heeded his words. On the contrary, we have rushed headlong into doing exactly the opposite, and here is where we find ourselves.

Vigilance is the watchword of the victorious if the victory is to be preserved for the future.

And even though FJB is an utter buffoon, his final words of warning about the tech oligarchy should also be heeded, just not in the way he imagines.

While many wealthy, powerful tech titans have joined forces with the Trump administration to aid in implementing his agenda, there is still an army of others out there, just as powerful and wealthy, who are not aligned with his vision of the future, but an altogether quite different and dangerous one.

We may have won the battle to gain the Presidency, but now the real war begins in utterly vanquishing the enemy.

Strap in and get ready to fight the fiercest battle our country has ever faced, and this one is for all the marbles.

Expand full comment

Surber is my favorite read.

Expand full comment

It is great that some of Tech Titans have joined Trump but I am wary of them just the same. Does Elon have my or his best interests at heart?

Expand full comment

Truly I think he has the country’s interest at heart. He needs customers. He needs a good economy to empower customers. I live 30 miles from the Tesla plant. I pray that I am right.

Expand full comment

I am causiously optimistic.

Expand full comment

It’s all we can be.

Expand full comment

Elon will fuel his rocket to Mars with your blood if necessary.

Expand full comment

If you were a tech giant and saw the possibility that your regime might come under scrutiny, what would you do? Join the administration so as to avoid the chopping block .

Expand full comment

Hope he has his sights set on Google - they gotta go down, or be broken apart - something!

I think they’ll fall into David Sacks’ realm as “Tech Czar” and he’s by no means a fan of theirs.

Expand full comment

In the battles ahead it is good to know that the Dems have an extremely poor bench. The Trumpster has developed a strong bench of MAGA supporters and they are way more likeable than what the Dems have left. If Mr Young beats CNN the MSM will also be somewhat neutered for a while. My biggest fear is the alphabet agencies will help the Dems create some sort of disaster in order to pin it on the Trumpster aka the Republican Party. They cannot govern and have no policies palatable to the Nation. All they've got left in their playbook is create a disaster and campaign on it. Gonna be a tough fight for everybody.....

Expand full comment

FJB didn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know.

There isn’t anything wrong with being rich. It only depends on how you use it.

Expand full comment

Impossible not to be concerned about them. They are a new and unconstitutional arm of the Federal Government. We need to pray for discernment so that we can tell who is leading us in the right direction. Pray and stay connected with our brothers and sisters.

Expand full comment

I was born in 1957. I barely remember him. I was in 1st grade and my mother was a substitute teacher for me and all teachers were called to the office. She came back crying. Kennedy had been killed. She and we are Republicans. But she respected the man. We have just lived four years upside down. Our politicians lie to us rather than speaking the truth. We have the military/industrial complex, big tech, big pharma. The leaders of these megaliths slip in and out of government. We have a 4th arm of unelected officials that are going to try to rule not just our country, but the world. Trump as I see it is our last/best chance of going back to a time of meritocracy. Where we look to people for who they are not what they will give us. Personal responsibility and our relationship with God must rule our decisions…

Expand full comment

Big pharma, big tech, and the military industrial complex are not our enemies, but the people running them represent real threats to our country because they let greed and power come before what is best for the country. Capitalism is always blamed by the likes of Bernie Sanders, et al, but that's wrong. The people who make the decisions for large complex professions and businesses have lost sight of what is important or they justify their actions as good for America without looking critically at themselves. And our congress has long since abandoned its role of providing oversight to make sure people are following the law. The Readers Digest version is, we are a country overcome by moral and ethical decay and most people are just now waking up to how bad this has gotten. Much will change in the next four years in our political system. I pray it is for the betterment of this country.

Expand full comment

I pray for the same Reddog. I believe that the Lord has placed his hand on Donald Trump.

Expand full comment

Eisenhower warned us in the 1950's what we are fighting now: The industrial complex(es) run by selfish evil people who have no sense or obligation of service to our Republic.

As for the interstate highway system, its concept, design features, and military/civilian strategy of purpose was akin to the moon landing. Eisenhower started the Highways system and Kennedy promised to land on the moon. We got a much better return on our taxpayer investment with the interstate system than with moon rocks.

Best lesson from today's post: "They were successes before they entered politics and were old as heck as president." Anyone who makes a career out of politics is a grifter.

Expand full comment

Excellent comment. It is the people in power and the people in charge of industries that have failed us. Our strength has always been our ability to help ourselves regardless of the threat or crisis. But when you look at the ownership of big companies and industries today you see most that are owned or partially owned by companies from foreign nations. Look at Stellantis as an example. Chrysler Corporation kept partnering with foreign companies who did not have America's best interests at heart and now look at them. They are in the toilet due to foreign partnerships and ownerships and the US governments war of control.

Expand full comment

My plan was take the day off and not post up a comment. I am young enough to remember Eisenhower however know more of his military career than politics. Except for the interstate highway system and network which should be an achievement in anyone's book.

The poll got me motivated. Bob Uecker's passing made me sad. He was an original character and star in his own way. His baseball career was 'lite' but he made the most of it with his self-deprecating sense of humor. He had a way of being comical, funny and humorous in one swing and hit a home run. A grand slam.

I think in 2025 I will get a Brewers cap in his honor and for the memories.

He was uenique and will be missed.

Expand full comment

Question to Uecker: "What's it feel like to be the worst player in the major league?" Answer: "A hell of a lot better than the best player in the minors......"

Expand full comment

100%. That's what I'm talking about.

Expand full comment

I watched an hilarious episode last night when Uecker was on Johnny Carson when they were discussing several photos of Uecker and his comments regarding - absolutely wonderful from a time when comedy was actually funny

Expand full comment

I believe it was Uecker who was asked about catching knuckleballer Phil Niekro. He said, "The way to catch a knuckleball is to wait until it stops rolling and then pick it up." His line in the movie Major League, "Just a little outside" is a classic and one that I use all the time after hitting a wild shot playing pickleball. He was one hilarious human being and will be missed.

Expand full comment

He was rich. I can't recall an f-bomb or any such unnecessary profanity.

Expand full comment

Uecker did what relatively few ever achieve, a slot in the Big Show. No one can take that away from him. As a guy who loved playing baseball, I envy him for that.

Expand full comment

I agree. No matter how you cut it Bob Uecker was a success in life. AND a good and gracious person.

Expand full comment

Dwight Eisenhower is the first president I can remember. Ike was the president I remember before I started grade school and for a while after I started school. I remember him as president. I remember him golfing. I studied him and WWII in school. I remember Dwight Eisenhower well. FJB, you ain’t Eisenhower.

Expand full comment

Not even close. Biden was the most damaging president we have endured besides Obama.

Expand full comment

Same here

Expand full comment

This post is a must to grok fjb and his hack olgarchists writers. Poca Man continues to nail it !!

Expand full comment

"juuuust a bit outside."

Expand full comment

I wonder if Jill is as sick of Joe as many of us are?

Expand full comment

Not when she counts the money.

Expand full comment

i doubt it. she used joe for her own aggrandizement so i'm sure tuned him out decades ago. doc is focused on doc, not joe ....or the country.

Expand full comment

He was her vessle. She'll probably put a pillow over his face soon.

Expand full comment

as his influence (that enhances her own life) wanes he becomes less useful than dead so you may be right. all she has to do is claim plugs became abusive, attempted to rape her and she walks anyway.

Expand full comment

No one would believe he had that much energy. She'll just say he passed away in his sleep. There will be no iquiry because no one will care.

Expand full comment

i cede to your obvious common sense as apposed to my attempt at some humor wrapped around hyperbole.

Expand full comment

Right. Only glad that he’s gone.

Expand full comment

And the press will report that he died due to Trumps continual threats, congress will name a ship after him and declare a National Joe Biden Day, and Dems will fund raise off him forever because they never learn a thing.

Expand full comment

One way or another Joe will assume room temperature sometime in the near future. Jill and the rest of the criminal gang is counting on it.

Expand full comment

Clearly not. She's had many an opportunity to stuff a pillow down his throat, thousands upon thousands of them.

Expand full comment

Had to wait until the checks stopped coming in.

Expand full comment

Not as sick as I am of her. Traitorous biache

Expand full comment

The interstate highway system was one of the best things ever done in America.

But it's also emblematic of the problem of what happens when poor leaders take charge of something, and bit by bit, run it into the ground. Really good things are not easy to destroy, and can endure for a long time under poor management. The damage isn't immediately visible, but erosion is occurring.

Our interstate system is still marvelous in some places (mainly in less populated areas out West), but in most other places, it is overwhelmed by a current US population of 350 million. When Eisenhower was in office, the US population was around 150 million. Most interstates today are the extremely heavily traveled key roads in most urban areas. For example, congestion around Chicago is horrible, with traffic on the main interstates often gridlocked and crawling at a stop-and-go snail's pace. My typical commute route normally took an hour to go 8 miles.

And between urban centers, many interstates are still just two lanes wide. For example, going from Chicago to Indianapolis on I-65, is like driving for 5 hours in a little box surrounded by trucks ahead of you, next to you, and behind you. You have to stay in sync with the speed of the moving box, and it is unnerving to be traveling at high speeds with extremely large vehicles way too close to you. There's almost no margin for error.

Besides being overwhelmed with far more traffic than they ever were intended to carry, there are some stretches of interstate that are too curvy and were not built for cars that go the speed that we go today. Curves that were fine at 60 mph are treacherous when the heavy traffic is going 80 or 85. For example, I-77/I-64 in southern West Virginia. Dangerous when wet or snowy.

Also, we currently have 50 million+ illegal immigrants in the country. Most of them are driving but do not have licenses, let alone driving skills. Witness poor Springfield, Ohio. Haitians there may have been eating the dogs and cats, but far worse is that the number of automobile accidents have skyrocketed in Springfield, and killed people. Consider all the illegal drivers out there on our interstates.

The problem was not the interstate highway system itself, it was poor leadership in our country that let in millions of people that swelled our population to a level way beyond what we can accommodate.

Expand full comment

Funny you should mention I64/77. This was of course the old West Virginia Turnpike. We were told in grade school (WV History class) that this stretch between Beckley and Charleston was mile-for-mile the most expensive stretch of highway in the nation.

One summer I worked for a coal company near Beckley, and they sent me with the company truck to Charleston to pick up an electric motor. I hadn't been driving that long, and had never been on the Turnpike. I don't know if anyone remembers, but to save money on this Very Expensive construction project, in places there were three lanes - with the center lane THE PASSING LANE IN BOTH DIRECTIONS.

I'd never seen such a thing, so when I pulled out to pass the semi in front of me, I was instantly looking another semi Right In The Face. Fortunately, when I jammed the brakes, God's grace and a newly rain-wetted road caused the rear wheels to swing out to my left and when I let off, my truck shot back in behind the truck I had been passing. Only milliseconds kept me from becoming another statistic of the Most Dangerous Stretch of Road in the United States.

That stretch is now "Interstate," but is so narrow and winding that they had to reduce the speed limits near Paint Creek. There is no way that stretch meets Interstate standards, but I guess everybody is just glad to have it open.

Expand full comment

Wow--that could indeed have been the end for you. It is a dangerous segment. And most thru-drivers are not aware of it, and breeze into it at typical 80 mph speeds.

I've had several unnerving experiences on it. Especially in snowy/icy conditions, coming north from Virginia, going down several steep hills that HAD A SHARP CURVE AT THE BOTTOM, with trucks barreling way too fast behind and in front of me.

Expand full comment

That could be I-80 in PA just as well. They keep improving it and it never gets much better. Job security.

Expand full comment

FJB encouraged illegal immigration [invasion].

Expand full comment

Ueker was simply a man comfortable with what GOD gave him

Expand full comment

Hard for me not to remember Ike. I was born on the same day as his second Inauguration. Have read several biographies about him and his accomplishments. Impressive on many levels. Don’t go away mad, FJB. Just GO AWAY.

Expand full comment

Rick Atkinson's three book 'Liberation' series which begins with 'An Army at Dawn' gave me better insight on Eisenhower's WWII leadership and accomplishments. Also, Winston Churchill's. One of the best historical series I've read.

Expand full comment

The Biden Administration: Never had so little been accomplished at so great a cost, other than the Kamala Kampaign.

Expand full comment

That Infrastructure Bill during his first year was the greatest single boondoggle in American history. What a breathtaking waste of money and corruption.

Expand full comment

And they openly admitted that a significant portion of it was for "social infrastructure", not physical structures--i.e., went to numerous Left-wing groups with DEI-related objectives. Totally corrupt. "Social infrastructure"--never heard a more poisonous phrase.

They have been using huge amounts of taxpayer money to fund the Left's takeover of America. Besides the above, every penny used to "forgive" student loans, was in essence, the taxpayer paying for attendance at the Marxist indoctrination centers formerly known as "colleges".

Expand full comment

Uecker was hilarious. He was a mediocre catcher, good enough to make the major leagues but only as a back up catcher. His comedy career was outstanding. His self depreciating stories about his major league "triumps" were side splitting he;d have Carson doubled right over. The Tonight show, the Miller Light commercials, the movie "Major League" ("Just a little outside") I still use that expression today when one of my golf shots goes somewhere other than where I was hoping. He was truly funny. He didn't have to bash politicians or go to the toilet for his humor. I am sure he has God in stiches already. RIP

Expand full comment