Yogi-isms worth hearing these days

There are a lot of historical figures that have left their mark on the world. For me, Gandhi, M.L. King, Jesus, Abe Lincoln, and Peter Lawrence “Yogi” Berra are such people.

Berra, a Hall of Fame baseball player, went to 13 World Series as a player and nine more as a coach or manager. Some have argued that when he was playing for the New York Yankees, you most wanted Yogi to come to bat in the late innings. His three Most Valuable Player awards are tied for the most MVP awards ever by a pro baseball player.

I particularly like that he was so hard to strike out. In 1950, the year of his first MVP, he struck out only 12 times in 597 at bats. That’s amazing.

But Berra may be most famous for his sayings, called Yogi-isms, some of which are expressed below.

Amid these troubled times, with the U.S split between the “I love Trump” and “I despise Trump” groups, we need Yogi. Leaders should pay heed to Yogi-isms to help explain the most recent U.S. created crisis — the “government shutdown.”

Politicians should understand, “If you don’t know where you are going, you might not get there.”

And, “You can observe a lot by just watching.”

As for the government shutdown, “It’s déjà vu all over again.”

Trump’s plan to build the wall has been hampered by his promises. Specifically, saying Mexico would pay for the wall, which defied all logic but made his followers feel better, has come back to haunt him.

Instead of admitting Mexico is not going to pay, his new spin is that Mexico will pay for it indirectly through the United States, Mexico, Canada Agreement.

And then he had his press secretary, Sarah Sanders, repeat this new promise. When it was explained to her that trade benefits do not go to the U.S. Treasury, she simply repeated the new spin.

Sanders should have quoted Yogi: “If you ask me anything I don’t know, I’m not going to answer.” I could have respected that.

As for Trump, the Yogi-ism he needed was, “I really didn’t say everything I said. Then again, I might’ve said (it), but you never know.”

At the time of this writing, the U.S. had broken the record for the longest number of days in a partial closing of the government — 35 days before an agreement was reached on Friday. That would be no surprise for Yogi, who once said, “I knew the record would stand until it’s broken.”

Don McDonald writes for Community News Exchange. Contact him at:

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