“A couple of years back,
an out of state corporation bought out the Twin Falls Times, then went around
and bought a few small town papers in the Magic Valley area. The corporation
(it appears) then closed the doors of the small town papers so that people would
have to buy the Times News.
The
locals in Gooding County fought back, and today, Gooding County is blessed with
Hub
City News.
In
order to do a bit of community service and to aid and abet that cause, when Jan
asked me to pitch in and write a weekly column, I immediately agreed. If my
effort contributed to getting Gooding County’s newspaper up and running, I am
happy to have been of service.
Some
folks noted that this column has been missing for a while, and that because I
but up a political cartoon and ran for Congress as a democrat, for the sake of
widening our audience.
My
prediction was that I would win about 20% of the vote without any campaign
money at all. It would have been unethical to ask for campaign money, because
the Ada County democrats are obsessed with left wing politics, and I’m pretty
much a traditionalist who thinks that the lion’s share of modern day democrats
are socialists who claim to be democrats.
Well,
I only missed my guess by about 4%, which is altogether a pretty good guess. On
a recent radio show with Mark Richardson at River Bend Communications in Idaho
Falls, I pointed out that 3 out of 4 people in the 2nd District vote
republican in the primary. And, of the one in four that vote democrat, most of
those are left wing voters. There was no need to ask people for money to
support a political cartoon that would easily fly on its own wings.
Well,
it was an entertaining political pun, and I hoped it would help Chick Heileson
win. But, about 70% of republican voters are loyal to Congressman Simpson, and
are determined to keep him in Congress.
As
I have often said, I have nothing personal against Simpson. He seems like a
mighty fine guy, and I’ll vote for him next fall, whether I agree with his
politics or not.
In
last year’s series from Hub City News titled The Day the Toilet Paper Died I pointed out that if I actually did
run for Congress, the Ada County democrats would put up a left wing candidate
and pulverize me. Well, the truth is, as many can attest, I never wanted to win
the D party nomination in the first place, I simply wanted to embarrass left
wing, or at least, help them embarrass themselves, which they have again done,
in grand style.
While
the Ada County democrats were busy nominating a gay rights activist with a
Berkeley education, the Statesman was calling me a ‘fringe candidate’! It doesn’t get any more comical than that!
If
you missed it, The Day the Toilet Paper
Died is available in our online magazine at www.futurityartswest.com.
The
long and short of all of this palaver is that my column will likely be much
more occasional than weekly, because this national economic crisis forces me to
change gears.
It
is good to make people smile and laugh by cracking jokes about prune pickers
and politicians, but the way America’s government is heading, laughter will no
longer be appropriate. It isn’t funny.
With
a big job to do, and very little spare time on my hands, if I happen to write a
brief and humorous commentary that fits with Hub City News, I will submit it,
and hope it makes press.
The
main objective was to get a local paper up and operational, which, thanks to
many local sponsors, and Jan’s work ethic, has been done.
The
picture of me that you see in the paper is 14 years old. I am sixty, and want
my literary works to have lasting impact before I head off over the horizon. My
focus will now be to that end.
Here
is a round of applause for local sponsors of Hub City News and Futurity
Arts West. Please keep on supporting your county’s newspaper, and may
the Good Lord bless and keep you all.
Jack Wayne Chappell
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