Hook, Line and Sinker
By Tony Hooker
There are many reasons why I’ve chosen to focus on sports and the lighter side of life in my column over the years.
The main reason is because that’s where my comfort zone lies. It has been so fun for me to recount the days of my youth and share the stories of my days coaching youth sports. I’ve shared a hundred tales, and probably have just as many that I haven’t or shouldn’t write about, like the great Homer Harley incident, or the time my fellow coaches on the mighty Chiefs nearly electrocuted me with a pitching machine.
Another reason is because in today’s digital world, news travels so fast that it would be pointless for me to try to cover events as they unfold. We’re a weekly publication after all, and by the time we go to press, any sort of information we convey would be old news. I’ll just continue to write human interest stories and we’ll give you the police report to cover events in that arena. Besides, I really enjoy getting to know the subjects of my features. Case in point, this week’s story about the Hemrichs. Super people living their best life. What’s not to love? I like to tell people that I’m nosy, and this just gives me an excuse to find out what’s going on with those around me.
So, why did I just use 225 words to explain how I pick and choose my topics? Because for this one week, I’m going to delve into politics, just a little.
Do you know who Amy Klobuchar, Deval Patrick, Tom Steyer, Michael Bennet, John Delaney, Tulsi Gabbard or Cory Booker are? How about Rocky De La Fuente? If you said, “candidates for President of the United States”, give yourself a gold star. I am ashamed to admit it, but I had no idea who these folks are or what the basis of their campaigns are. What do they stand for?
Closer to home, I have no idea who Mark C. Curran Jr., Tom Tarter, Casey Chlebek, Peggy Hubbard or Robert Marshall are. Where are they from? What are their thoughts on key issues?
Why do we care? Because they’re the republican candidates for US Senator who will are vying for an opportunity to displace long time incumbent Dick Durbin in November.
Here’s another quiz question for you. Who are Craig Morton, Kevin Gaither, Erika Weaver and John W. Hursey, JR? If you said, “democratic candidates for fifteenth congressional district representative”, give yourself a pat on the back. If you knew that Craig Morton is Pharmacist from Salem, IL, and not a former NFL quarterback, give yourself an honorary Political Science degree.
How about Kerry A. Wolff, Darren E. Duncan, Mary Miller and Chuck Ellington? Ok, that last one is familiar. I wrote about him in these pages a few weeks ago. These are the four republican candidates for the seat as fifteenth congressional district representative.
So, here’s the thing. In two weeks, we’re going to go to the polls and voting for these folks. Rocky De La Fuente in all likelihood will get swamped by President Trump, and the democratic candidates I named in all likelihood stand little chance against Bernie, Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg or Elizabeth Warren.
On that same ballot, we’ll be electing who we want to represent our chosen political party in November. The winner of the November contests will be our representatives in congress. They will then ostensibly create policies and laws that will govern the course of our country. I think we all owe it to ourselves to do a little research before we fill in the little ovals. I know I’m going to.