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Quail hunting more important than politics
 Comical.
That would be an accurate description for the media frenzy that ensued after a political Web site reported late last week that Dr. John Cooksey was contemplating opposing U.S. Sen. David Vitter in the 2010 election cycle.
There was nothing humorous about Cooksey reentering the public arena. After all, Cooksey, a Republican from the old school, served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, from 1997-2003, representing the 5th District of Louisiana. He has maintained a finger on the pulse of politics since giving up his seat in the House for an unsuccessful campaign against Sen. Mary Landrieu some seven years ago. To this day, Republican candidates seek Cooksey's support and his advice when election season rolls around. If they want it, they must visit Cooksey at his ophthalmology office in Monroe.
Still, what was rather funny about the Cooksey for Senate "story" was how quickly some media outlets swallowed hook, line and sinker the bayoubuzz.com report that Cooksey was making plans to take on Vitter next year in the Republican Party primary election. It wouldn't have been funny were it not for the fact that the bayoubuzz.com report was completely erroneous. False. Not one scintilla of the truth. None. Nada.
That didn't stop a Capitol Hill newspaper, The Hill, from reporting the Cooksey rumor, too. It didn't stop other media outlets from reporting it as well, including one of the finest newspapers in Louisiana, The Advocate of Baton Rouge.
By the end of this past weekend, the Cooksey rumor was out of hand, or pulsating as if Cooksey had already formed a campaign committee to prepare for a showdown with Vitter.
In the meantime, Cooksey was engaged in some activities far more important than fiddling around with politics. He was quail hunting, beginning Thursday, at his farm in Caldwell Parish. Boysie Bollinger, a Republican heavyweight who owns Bollinger Shipyards, was there. So were four of Cooksey's doctor buddies who served, like Cooksey, as flight surgeons in the Air Force in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. A couple of individuals who know a thing or two about hunting birds with a good bird dog were on the hunt as well.
As I said, activities far more important than politics.
Following a day of hunting at the Cooksey enclave near Columbia where the good doctor recently enlarged and remodeled his log cabin, the aforementioned "outdoorsmen" headed to Mississippi where they took in another quail hunt near Liberty. They "roughed" it at a hunting lodge south of Natchez, about half way to Woodville.
As I say again, activities far more important than politics.
By Monday morning, Cooksey had had enough. He turned to a loyal friend to put to rest any and all discussion about Cooksey walking away from a successful medical practice to reenter the thankless world of politics in America in the 21st century.
The friend drafted a statement. Cooksey approved it, and as they say, the rest is history. There will be no Cooksey for Senate campaign in 2010.
In a way, that's a shame.
It's a shame because all elected officials should face opposition—even within their own party—when they seek re-election. Issues should be discussed for the people to consume.
Unfortunately, political debates often evolve into demagoguery. That's especially true in Republican Party politics where candidates often turn to fear mongering to rally support for their causes, or campaigns.
Yet, a Cooksey versus Vitter debate would have been a doozie. Two extremely intelligent men could have stood toe to toe, discussing the direction the GOP should take to combat the Obama administration, which clearly intends to create a welfare state in America.
That's all for naught, though.
We're left with reflecting upon a media frenzy, which reminded us of how poorly the media in general is doing its job today.
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