In the midst of some of the most divisive, hateful racial rhetoric this nation has known in the past 50 years, a Republican governor from the middle of the country is speaking up.

“Diversity is a true strength,” Indiana governor Eric Holcomb said on my show just now. I had asked him what he wanted to say to northwest Indiana, which has the highest proportion of minorities in the state. I didn’t expect him to be so direct.

“I want to be a state that works for all.”

Why is this important?

Think about it. Like most Americans, you are watching the Twitter wars and soundbite battles between President Trump and the four minority Congresswomen. Trump said they should leave and go back to their countries of origin. The four women charge racism. These are extraordinary times.

“When I served in the Navy, you looked to your left, you looked to your right, chances are – they don’t look like you. You’re dependent on them… Every person is as important as the other person in carrying out the mission.”

Yesterday, Congress voted to censure President Trump for his comments. Democrats voted yes. All but four Republican congressmen voted no. We are as divided as we can be about racism. Few Republicans are speaking up. This is why it was, as I said during the interview, “refreshing” to hear Governor Holcomb speak as he did. Let’s hope others follow.

Go to nine minutes into the interview that’s posted above… When I get done working out, I’ll cut out his sound bite. Bye.

It's a Sunday afternoon in the middle of July and it's 90 degrees out. I've been to 10 events this week with one more coming in a couple of hours - the sixth birthday party for a little girl named Ava. Alexis had a lot of fun last night picking out dresses for her. 

Thursday kicked my ass. I did the show, had a couple meetings, spoke at the Munster Chamber about digital media, attended McDermott's Festival of the Lakes party, attended Mrvan's Tom Petty party, and then got up on Friday at 4:22 in the morning to do it again. On Friday, I did the show, went to a couple meetings and then played golf with Matt Reardon and Tom Dakich. 

The hamster wheel does not slow down. I crave silence with my radio stations, streaming TV channels and podcasts. Through it all we must still market ourselves.

It is a full life that I am eternally grateful for... especially in the context of what has happened to many traders who left the Chicago Board of Trade. Many couldn't make it in the outside world. 

What is the next chapter?

I don't know.  That's why I intend on taking a little break from writing to the three or four of you. I am pushing people like Rick Kubic and Kat Marlow to do TV shows. And I'm pushing people like Sam Michel and Scott Shellady (the Cow Guy) to do podcasts. And there are others in between.

But as I push others into digital, I remain basically a morning radio host. Sure, my show is streamed in video. But you know and I know that I mostly a morning radio host. 

I am not comfortable with this. Neither is Mad Mac. He is one of my many callers. He is often rude and illogical.  But as you can hear in the above HeyJED, he sometimes calls me out and gets it right.

I'm pushing everyone to test their limits of creativity and technology, to do streaming TV shows and podcasts and post on social media and  create their own web pages. 

But what am I doing to test the limits? Other than this blog, not a whole lot. And this blog is even losing its punch.

I designed the new WJOBNetwork.com website and put all the photos and links and buttons up there. And I'm not done. This takes several hours a week. 

And I do the show in the morning and I appear at all sorts of things because I'm the local radio guy. 

But I'm not reaching down to create from my core. I'm missing something. I don't know what it is. Perhaps I should be following my own advice and do a podcast. It would be easy as hell to do technologically. But what would I talk about? 

What do I even talk about on the morning (radio) show? 

It's hard to tell. As one observer put it recently, I do a lot of "ramblin' about amblin'." Maybe I should just do that on a podcast.

Or should I be creating video content? I like the camera. I like talking to it, to you. And I present decently, especially in the middle of the summer with a tan. 

But what would my TV stuff be about? Recent PNW MBA grad Ben Cowart who helps me out says we should do a reality show about the station. Call it "Fake Media."

I share this with the three or four of you because that's what we do together. I ramble and you listen... on Facebook Live, Roku, Amazon, Apple TV and the TuneIn app. Oh, and on AM 1230 and FM 104.7 FM and in this blog. I'm everywhere but nowhere. I feel the most at home  talking on the radio in the morning and blogging to you. On the rest of it, I'm confused. 

This is where I'm at in the middle of the summer, 2019. Make no mistake - I've got as good a team around me as I have ever had. There's tech people and funny people and business people and just a lot of people, both in and out of WJOB. I am proud of where we're at.

The business seems to be headed in the right direction. A lot of talented people are doing a lot of really creative things. Just check out WJOBNetwork.com. 

But I am not. I have stagnated creatively. I can feel it. There's a path out there and I need to find it. For this reason, I'm taking a break from the three or four of you. Hope you can handle it.

​It’s Sunday night, July 7th. You and I and most of the world except students and teachers go back to work tomorrow. Here in the Midwest it’s been good weather. Kaplan made a killing on fireworks.
 
Alexis and I did what we always do, which is putz around from one event to another. We just returned from 12-year-old Little League regionals. Munster beat State Park (Chesterton) 6-3. This sets up a showdown Monday night between Hessville and Munster.