March 17, 2015: Representative Aaron Schock, Republican of Illinois, announces his resignation from Congress, effective on March 31. His fall from grace was as much of a "shock" as the pronunciation of his name.
Aaron Jon Schock is born on May 28, 1981 in Morris, in the part of Minnesota that's close to rural North Dakota, far from the liberal Twin Cities. He grew up in Peoria, in the part of Illinois that's well Downstate of Illinois from liberal Chicago. In 2008, he became the 1st person born in the 1980s to be elected to Congress, from a District based on Peoria.
He had a decent record on the environment, but was archconservative on pretty much every other issue, including a very nasty record on gay rights. Many conservatives were hoping he would lead a youth movement to turn around the Republican Party's aging voter base, and that he might become the 1st Jewish President.
Those things aren't going to happen, and here's why: He was been exposed as a crook and a hypocrite. In 2015, early in his 4th term, he resigned from Congress after it was revealed, as a Congressional ethics investigation put it, "He used taxpayer money to fund lavish trips and events." Not yet 34 years old, he was ruined.
In 2019, he cut a deal: He agreed to pay $100,000 in restitution, including $42,000 to the IRS, and all charges were dropped. In 2020, after having previously denied he was one of the many anti-gay conservative politicians who actually was gay, he came out of the closet.
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March 17, 2015 was a Tuesday. It was St. Patrick's Day. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. There were 5 games played in the NBA:
* The New York Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs, 104-100 in overtime at Madison Square Garden.
* The New Orleans Pelicans beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 85-84 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans.
* The Houston Rockets Rockets beat the Orlando Magic, 107-94 at the Toyota Center in Houston.
* The Detroit Pistons beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 105-95 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.
* And the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Charlotte Hornets, 99-92 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.
* And there were 9 games in the NHL:
* The New York Islanders lost to the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-1 at the United Center in Chicago.
* The New Jersey Devils beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 2-0 at the Prudential Center.
* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Boston Bruins, 2-1 in a shootout at the TD Garden in Boston.
* The Ottawa Senators beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 2-1 at the PNC Arena (now the Lenovo Center) in Raleigh, North Carolina. Mark Stone scored the winning goal with 14 seconds left in overtime.
* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Florida Panthers, 3-2 at the BB&T Center (now the Amerant Bank Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida.-1 at the PNC Arena (now the Lenovo Center) in Raleigh, North Carolina. Mark Stone scored the winning goal with 14 seconds left in overtime.
* The Minnesota Wild beat the Nashville Predators, 3-2 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. Matthew Dumba scored the winning goal, 22 seconds into overtime.
* The Winnipeg Jets beat the San Jose Sharks, 5-2 at the MTS Centre (now the Canada Life Centre) in Winnipeg.
* The St. Louis Blues beat the Calgary Flames, 4-0 at the Saddledome in Calgary.
* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-1 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
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