NFL
(CoBy: Zachary Draves
The Republican Party is currently in the throes of chaos. Last week in an unprecedented move, Californian Congressman Kevin McCarthy was ousted as the Speaker of the House, the first time such a move has happened since 1910.
This leaves Congress in a state of total stagnation and 45 days to not only find a new speaker, but work to ensure that the federal government doesn’t shut down, which would result in an absolute calamity for federal workers including airport staff, the military, border patrol, and others.
Among the names being floated out as potential replacements is Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan, who recently annouced his bid and is probably best known for being one of former President Donald Trump’s staunchest allies.
(Courtesy: Gage Skidmore)
In fact, Trump has endorsed Jordan for the speakership. He is favored among the far right-wing for his hardline stances on crime, immigration, abortion, the COVID vaccine, and his criticisms of the FBI. But as he pursues the third highest office in the land, his past has once again resurfaced.
This is where sports and politics collide at a deadly intersection.
Jordan is a former wrestler who was a three time All-American and two time NCAA champion at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1982-1986. He is even recognized in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
From 1987 – 1995, he was an assistant coach at Ohio State University. It was during that period that team doctor Richard Strauss had engaged in repeated acts of sexual abuse towards many wrestlers and other student athletes. A 2019 independent investigation released an official report confirming that from 1977-1998, Strauss had sexually abused 177 students, 48 of whom were on the wrestling team.
(Courtesy:Ohio State University via AP File)
In 2005, Strauss killed himself.
Many of the wrestlers have come forward to say that Jordan knew about the abuse and when these young men complained to him about it, he didn’t do anything. Jordan has always denied these accusations.
While testifying before the Ohio House Civil Justice Committee in 2020 in support of a bill that would allow former OSU wrestlers to sue the University for damages, former team Captain Adam DiSabato told lawmakers that Jordan was a “liar”. He also said that as far back as 2018 he was contacted by him who told him to go against the words of his brother Michael, who said that Jordan knew about the abuse.
(Courtesy: CNN)
DiSabato was among a group of former wrestlers that filed a lawsuit against the University. Even an unnamed former NCAA referee attached his name to the lawsuit claiming that Strauss stared at him while he was in the shower and was masturbating. When he told Jordan, he said that he brushed it off.
Former wrestler Tito Vazquez said that he told Jordan about an incident where he went in to see Strauss about a bloody nose and ended up having his genitals examined. Jordan’s alleged response to him was ‘I have nothing to do with this”.
In June, the Supreme Court rejected OSUs’ bid to dismiss the lawsuit.
If Jordan was aware of the abuse and ignored it, that is beyond reproach. If he missed the signs, that is a failure of leadership and trust. Either way he has proven himself to be somebody that is not to be trusted to hold any real position of authority, let alone be the Speaker of the House.
It would be a twisted ironic case of history repeating itself.
Former Republican Illinois Congressman Dennis Hastert, who was the Speaker from 1999 to 2007, was arrested in 2016 and subsequently sentenced to 15 months in prison for paying hush money to a man he had sexually abused as a teenager while as a teacher and wrestling coach.
Congress needs to set standards which is certainly a lot to ask for considering the circumstances. But the American people and especially these men who were betrayed and traumatized deserve to have a governing body that looks out for their best interests.
Jim Jordan doesn’t fit the bill and that is an understatement.
