Category: Indiana Writers Group

by Leo Morris Make it so. Thus commands Jean-Luc Picard, captain of the starship Enterprise, whenever an emergency arises for which there are only weak options in response. He selects the one that, in his view, offers the best hope of success and orders his crew to get it done. No debate is invited, no…

One Man, One, Vote, Once AS MY GENERATION slides into its new role of sitting on park benches feeding pigeons, I worry not so much about which direction the country is headed as whether anyone still knows what makes its wheels turn. Indiana’s race for Secretary of State has caught my attention in that regard. The one candidate,…

by Mark Franke It seems all the news about our schools is bad, really bad. One can understand why parents are alarmed over their children being indoctrinated with critical race theory and trans-whatever by unaccountable educators. It’s not a simple matter of objecting to these curricular abominations; it is also a realization that this is…

by Leo Morris Know what I will miss most about newspapers when they’re finally gone forever? The way people ordered extra copies when a cousin got married or a child made a noteworthy high school sports play, how they framed the clippings and put them on the wall for friends to see or cut them…

SOME YEARS AGO I witnessed the rarest of phenomenon — a politician admitting he was wrong. The former mayor of my Indiana town, a Democrat who had been faced with an economic crisis in the closing of an auto manufacturing plant, told me privately he would do things differently now. Republicans should listen to him. The mayor was…

by Mark Franke Those of my age remember how we waited impatiently each week for “The Wonderful World of Disney.” Each episode included a short film series featuring one of America’s historical heroes. Children were allowed to have American heroes back then. Daniel Boone, the Swamp Fox Francis Marion, Texas John Slaughter, Davy Crockett — what…

by Leo Morris In the aftermath of two momentous Supreme Court decisions last week on guns and abortion, emotions are running high and, indeed, starting to turn ugly. Perhaps it is a futile suggestion, but could we possibly step back, take a breath and consider the court’s actions a small victory for federalism? The Founders’…

Sen. Young to the Ramparts ALLOW ME a short note on Sen. Todd Young’s vote against the Second Amendment. OK, the senator’s staff would be quick to correct me on that point. He didn’t actually vote against the Second Amendment. He voted in favor of “bipartisan safe communities.” Specifically, he voted to allow government to deny the…

A Political Forecast you Can Bet on WHAT DOES IT MEAN that Gov. Eric Holcomb was booed at last Friday’s lead-in to his own convention? Well, it means that the next couple of election cycles will be crazy wild. Moreover, the political and journalism classes have positioned themselves so far out of touch that they will be of…

by Mark Franke The bane of retirement is trying to live on a fixed income. At least that is what everyone who is retired believes. I used to chalk this up to geezer whining. I am one, so I know their whining when I hear it. No more. We fixed-income types have a real complaint…