Commentary by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — Five Cueball thoughts for Sunday, Oct. 4, 2015…

1. Bev Stallbaumer…

Bev Stallbaumer

It’s always hard to say goodbye to a friend. And Beverly Stallbaumer, who died last Sunday, was my friend.

When I moved to Wellington in 1992, Bev lived at the Wellington Daily News. When I say lived, I mean lived. She was in the office almost 24/7. She had a corner office in the sprawling room that held four full-time reporters, two office helpers, the late publisher Jackson Mitchell and herself. I was thinking about this the other day, but the WDN had 15 full time staffers when I moved here and that didn’t include those working at cable which was right next door. Thinking back on those days make me smile. WDN was a true local paper.

Bev was my first best friend in Wellington during those early years, and I’m not sure I would not have gotten to know the town as well if it wasn’t for her. I was amazed at how many people she was related to. And her daughter, Misty, was at the age of playing high school sports when I was a sports editor.

During my early years here, I didn’t ingratiate myself with some of the Wellington residents. But Bev was my staunchest defender and would go to bat for me.

She was so funny, and had a no nonsense way about her that I loved. She also kept me in shape. Every morning when I came into the office, she wanted me to do a dirty dance, as if I was Patrick Swayze.

Bev would sit by Jackson and those two would talk and talk. Sometimes it was hard to get your work done, but I did have a in depth knowledge of the mid-1990s WHS cheerleading squad for which Jackson’s daughter was a member of.

Both of those people are gone. And somehow it seems a little of my youth has now passed. I’m sure those two are together now discussing the latest happenings in Wellington and discussing how the 1990s cheerleaders were the best ever.

RIP, Bev. Wellington will miss you.

If you want to help the family out with medical and funeral expenses, there is a Memorial fund here.

Our next President?

2. Who will be our next president?…

Political campaigns bore me. Debates bore me. But the game analysis surrounding politics has always intrigued me.

I find the question, “Who will be our next President?” as one of the most interesting questions to come down the pike for awhile. I had a friend tell me the other day that he thought Mitt Romney, President Barack Obama’s opponent in 2012, will get the Republican nomination and beat Hillary Clinton for the Presidency.

But Romney isn’t running for President, I say. Well, not yet, he responded.

Here’s the thing: the only way the Republicans can win the Presidency is to not be so hard right wing. Yet, the only way to secure the Republican nomination is to be as hard right wing as possible. My friend’s thought is the current Republican candidates will destroy one another with hard right wing rhetoric trying to secure the Iowa Caucus and New Hampshire primary.

But Romney won’t be engaging in this rhetoric and will swoop down like maybe after the New Hampshire primary when the circus clown Donald Trump or some other unelectable right wing doofus is leading in the race and save the Republican Party from itself.

It’s an intriguing theory. I personally think of the candidates running, Carly Fiorina is off to a nice start. Marco Rubio is definitely the most charismatic but his hard line on abortion will hurt him. Not sure if the Chris Christie campaign, which was my early choice for the nomination, is ever going to take off. Jeb Bush appears to be through. America doesn’t seem too interested in electing another Bush.

On the Democrat side, Clinton is the odds on favorite, but something tells me the Democrats aren’t too excited about the proposition, and would revolt in a second if another intriguing legitimate candidate rolls around.

If Vice President Joe Biden enters the race, I think he might become your next President.

Ronald Reagan’s – Our last great president?

3. Killing Reagan…

I’ve just finished reading Killing Reagan written by Bill O’Reilly. For me, O’Reilly’s “Killing” series, i.e. Killing Lincoln, Killing Kennedy, etc. are some of the most entertaining books on the market. O’Reilly is an insufferable gossip which makes these books a lot of fun.

For instance, I didn’t realize Nancy was as big of witch as she was and how dysfunctional the family was. If you didn’t know O’Reilly was a conservative talk show host for Fox News, you would swear this book was written by a liberal.

After reading the book, though, I found myself even more drawn to Reagan, despite knowing his faults. Here was a man, who was a certifiable genius in the realms of public marketing. He was able to turn the country’s mindset around during a time when we as a nation was besieged with stagflation and foreign policy blunders.

It was also amazing how he was able to guide himself and his administration out of a jam. For instance, one could argue that the Iran Contra Affair was ever bit as scandalous as Nixon’s Watergate Scandal. But Reagan knew how to play the game better than Nixon. He got on television and made a landmark speech saying “hey, I screwed up, and I hope you forgive me.”

His “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall,” speech at the foot of the now torn down Berlin Wall will forever define his Presidency.

Maybe, I was much more naive or idealistic in those days, but it’s the kind of leadership we now seem to be lacking on all levels of government. Reagan was able to reach across the aisle and turn his potential political enemies into friends. Everyone today is so divisive.

We need someone to inspire us and be above the fray. Most of all, we need someone we could trust. For me, Reagan had those kind of qualities.

4. Taking the high road…
I was going to let the dust settle on the whole Wellington vs. Circle scuffle of 2015 thingymajig before making one last comment. The last thing we need is anymore hype to this overblown insipid event.

But allow me to congratulate and thank the Wellington school district administration and the high school coaching staff for taking the high road and not engaging in the aftermath conversation provoked by the Wichita television media and Circle School administration.

USD official handled the situation with dignity and grace. They never cast blame on the other team, was tightlipped, and minimized the situation to the best of their abilities.

Wellington girls tennis coach Brian Aufdengarten may have had the quote of the year when a Channel 10 news reporter decided to show up to the Monday Crusader Club meeting at Big Cheese Pizza hoping to dig up more controversy for KAKE-TV’s shallow newscast.

Aufdengarten said: “I appreciate Channel 10 coming down here to cover our Wellington Junior Varsity Girls Tennis Tournament (that was held later in the day at Sellers Park).”

5. Shoutout of the week…

I’m going to have to give it to Samson Ledesma for his videos he is producing for the Bank of Commerce (see video here). These are exceptional productions and another case that Wellington High School graduates very fine and talented individuals.

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