Chicken

Once, in my misguided youth, I played a game called “Chicken,” on my Schwinn bicycle. The rules are simple. You ride your bike towards another misguided youth riding his bike directly towards you. Whoever veers off to avoid a collision, is, by definition….chicken.

Yesterday we saw chicken being played by grown men and women in Springfield.

It started at a joint committee of both houses of the legislature tasked with ruling on a controversial rule instituted by the Governor last Friday. The rule imposed a Class A misdemeanor on businesses that defied the stay at home order. J.B. Pritzker lost at chicken. He veered. 

Expect Democratic lawmakers to take a stab at a new law to threaten us next. They won’t  be stupid enough to threaten us with jail time this time for disagreeing with the Governor.

Representative Darren Bailey didn’t blink. Despite being warned by members of both political parties, he appeared at the start of the session without a mask. And the House voted 81-27 to remove him.

While I admire the strength of Representative Bailey’s convictions on the matter, I don’t think he helps his cause standing outside of the Springfield Convention Center while the gears of the government are grinding inside. He’s my voice and instead of speaking on my behalf and that of the 109^th House district, he was not in his seat. It takes courage to go it alone…but you can’t win the game if you aren’t in it.

I’d hate to see Bailey coming at me on a Schwinn.