This Is What We Get To Listen To?

I was awoken Thursday morning, November 10th much like every morning. My clock radio went off at 6:30, alerting me to the upcoming day. And much like every morning, I either listen to the local radio station, or turn on the TV to catch up. This day, I choose to listen to the local radio station personalities, and what I hear has not sat well with me for days.

The radio was tuned to Hot 96 WSTO out of Evansville. The morning personalities of Booker and Sarah were on like normal. Booker usually has some wisecrack to say and some topic he chooses to discuss, while Sarah tries her best to act cute. For me on that day, it was anything but.

It was only three days after the horrific and terrifying tornado has swept through the area, killing 25 people. Many of people has visited the hardest hit areas, some news, a lot of police, and even politicians. Governor Mitch Daniels, Sen. Evan Bayh, Democratic hopeful for 2006 congressional seat Brad Ellsworth, but to that date, no John Hostettler, the area's Republican Represenative in the U.S. Congress.

He had made a statement that although he was to be in the area the coming weekend, we would not be able to tour the damage.

That statement apparently offended radio personality Booker, because he went on a dia-tribe for about 10 minutes about how bad a guy Hostettler was/is, how much he should be there, how he is turning his back on his constituents, and more. Sarah added her pithy comments where she could.

But guess what, a local reporter with Fox 7 found out something many did not know. Hostettler was helping the tornado victims by actually working and picking up debris, he just choose to turn away from the spotlight. And how did the reporter, Chris Williams find out? Hostettler ended up at his house Saturday morning cleaning up debris with a local church when Williams' father found about Hostettler's presence. Williams found out that he had been as the mobile home park that had been destroyed on Friday and was working in Newburgh on Saturday. The only people that knew were the local church and the Courier and Press which agree to keep the event private.

Hostettler's publicist said that, "Congressman Hostettler and his wife were volunteering privately and for purposes of publicity."(Courier and Press) Hostettler said himself in a interview with local TV station WFIE that' "The governor . . . asked for a state of emergency; and that was done. And while some turned it into a photo op[Sen. Evan Bayh], we tried to do what we could as fast as we could to turn around that situation."(Courier and Press)." Because of Hostettler's presence at Congress instead of interfering with recovery efforts, the federal money available to those suffering lost was approved in three days. But then again, a picture is worth a thousand words, but does it really help anyone?

To this date, I have heard no such apology from the morning personalities from 96 WSTO, but to be fair, I haven't had that much desire to hear their babble anyways. People will always have their opinions, and there is nothing wrong with being a free thinker. But when you have a position that you can affect a great number of an audience, and persuade their feelings, it is better to think before you speak. Booker's comments that morning were rude and unjustified. He could have mentioned that he thought it wrong that Hostettler had not made plans to visit, but save judgment until after the weekend was over. Unlike Booker, some people choose not to have the spotlight on them all the time.

It is unfortunate that our politicians are not allowed the opportunity to do good deeds without a media presence hovering over. To me, it cheapens the experience a little. How can we be certain they are doing it because it is the right thing to do, or because they just earned 5 percentage points in the polls. Much debate has raged on about Bush and 9/11, but at that event, and with him such a high-profile person, it is hard to sneak out of the camera's eye. Bayh choose not to duck the camera, but then again, Bayh has a presidential run to prepare for, and devastation always brings the best poll numbers.

By Craig

Tags: Evansville Tornado , Evan Bayh , John Hostettler , FOX 7NEWS , WFIE 14 , Evansville Courier and Press