Rules are for suckers

The sun set on Jim Jordan's representation in Congress for our area in 2022. That's when gerrymandering efforts by state Republican leaders changed Jordan's duck-shaped U.S. District 4 and removed Sandusky, Huron, Seneca and Erie counties from his mix. Twitter feed/Rep. Michael Waltz He no longer represented any readers in the newspaper's circulation area and we've written little about him in the months since then. But our last story was eye-opening, surprising even for grizzled old reporter/editor types like me, who always knew — or suspected deeply — that U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan was a blowhard and a creepy dude. Westerhold For a decade Jordan represented locals so we reached out to Republican leaders in all three counties and asked them what Jordan had accomplished for their constituents as their representative in Washington. What projects had he secured funding for? What bridges did he build? What programs did he champion? Who did he help? What is his legacy? They praised Jordan in the responses we received, thanked him for his service, shared their admiration for him and all said they were proud he was their representative. We wrote about that in our story, 'Jordan out next year,' (Oct. 2, 2022). But none of the local leaders we contacted could think of a single thing Jordan helped build here, or a project he spearheaded, or a cause he fought for with fervor. Not one single project; not one single funding effort; not one single word of praise for anything of any consequence. JR Majewski with Jim Jordan and Marjorie Taylor Greene Provided photo We asked that repeatedly: Can you think of a project, or any local program of any kind, that helped local residents or improved the quality of life around here in any way? Crickets. Make no mistake, the praise poured in, but it was all laced with the poisoned righteousness manufactured by Jordan and folks like him, including fake journalist Sean Hannity and by fake news outlets like Fox News, telling lies about everything from voting machines, poll workers, election results and recounts to fake whistleblowers. Fox News paid Dominion Voting Systems $788 million to settle the company's defamation lawsuit over the lies Hannity and others on the network promoted about the 2020 presidential election. On Wednesday, Hannity told his audience Jordan should be selected the new House Speaker. Jordan never responded to a single written inquiry about the many issues he did champion, including his favorite president of all time, insurrectionist Donald J. Trump, on trial now in New York state for defrauding New York residents of at least $250 million through falsified valuations of his assets. Jordan doesn't ever really answer any question of consequence, directly, or in a straightforward way. Every question, for him, is an opportunity to divide and conquer, to demonize and deify, to self-promote. In the years he represented this area, Jordan did participate in two local debates — the newspaper's In Schools Debate for Decision 2018 and Decision 2016 — at Monroeville High School. In 2020, he arrived at the Register building on Oct. 5 for a scheduled debate that year with his Democratic opponent, Shannon Freshour, but she could not attend because she had been exposed to someone with COVID. Guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control at that time called for anyone exposed to the virus to self quarantine, and Freshour opted to protect newspaper employees from potential exposure to the virus. Ironically, Jordan's decision to attend the newspaper's 2020 debate was after the U.S. Presidential debate in Cleveland, on the same day Trump announced to the world that he had contracted the COVID virus. Jordan, who flew into Cleveland with Trump aboard Air Force One just days before to attend the Sept. 29, 2020, presidential debate, ignored the CDC guidelines, fueling the anti-mask, anti-vaccination and anti-science movements he uses to get exposure. Rules? They're for suckers. I've kept these photos — the one of Trump and Jordan and the one of Jordan with Marjorie Taylor Green and J.R. Majewski, on my computer's desktop. They're there as a dire warning that this is what will become of our beloved democracy if we fail to call out the abhorrent behavior of people who should never be elected to serve in public office. God help the nation if Jordan becomes House Speaker. Westerhold is managing editor of the Register and an executive editor for Ogden Newspapers in Northwest Ohio.