The most entertaining aspect of a top-of-the ballot campaign in Indiana is the arrival of East Coast political consultants trying to make sense of the Hoosier character. You can watch it now in real time on the Beau Bayh commercials.  They inflate teen-age traffic tickets to reckless endangerment and shove addled, has-been legislators forward as valid representation of the electoral mood.  The consultants no doubt sell this as political hard ball, something they think Midwesterners are too unsophisticated…

by Dan Eichenberger M.D. At the birth of the American republic, the Founders staked everything on a revolutionary conviction: human rights do not originate with kings, courts or governments. They are “endowed by their Creator” with life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Government exists to secure rights, not to redefine or dispense them. As John Adams observed, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.” The Founders designed a government of strictly enumerated powers…

As we near a midterm elections in which the pollsters tell us there is a good chance that Democrats will regain control of both houses of Congress, we might spend a moment to reflect on what more serious, sane representation might look like. This is being written, please know, as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, grew this year by 7 percent, defense by 5 percent, interest on the debt by 11 percent — all exceeding $1.1 trillion.…

Indiana Democrats have a winning strategy for the midterms. It doesn’t employ policy reform or a demonstration of shared Hoosier values. Any affinity with working families was abandoned some time ago. No, their secret weapon is, quite logically, distraction, with Donald Trump being the primary distractee. Beau Bayh, a candidate for Secretary of State with no conviction and an only casual connection to Indiana, is the perfect vehicle. His hugely expensive advertisements tactically placed during Indiana…

Are we ready to get rid of NFL owners yet? Watching a third-generation nepo-baby wander the Colts sideline second-guessing plays has done it for some. Yes, women heading traditional male institutions is supposed to be of historical importance. That is woke nonsense in respect to football, a sport only incrementally softened from its origins of ancient Greeks hacking each other bloody in clashing phalanxes.  The reason a woman can presume to “lead” an NFL team is that the sport — or at…

by Mark Franke Lately, Cornell University has been getting a lot of press of the kind it really doesn’t want. What may have been missed in all these headlines is a news article several weeks ago about Cornell’s releasing a faculty report about the very real challenges facing that university and higher education as a whole.  The report, entitled “The Future of the American University,” is a result of self-reflection about what Cornell has become…

by Tyler Watts, Ph.D. Several years ago I was teaching at a small Christian college in a conservative corner of a red southern state. All faculty were required to attend a Title IX training session regarding sex-based discrimination and related policies. I left this odd and frustrating session with a deeper appreciation for the great irony of the sexual revolution: Total sexual freedom, it turns out, has ushered in a tremendously detailed and growing set…

by Richard McGowan, Ph.D I traveled back to my childhood hometown, Shoreham, New York, for the Fourth of July celebrations this year. From the town’s western border, the Long Island Sound, I could — and did — use my cell phone to capture the fireworks in Connecticut. Shoreham to Connecticut is a swift 35-minute boat ride for a sturdy Boston whaler. The trip meant seeing my old haunts and being with lifelong friends, producing in me…

Potemkin village, noun: an impressive facade designed to hide an undesirable fact or condition. The promise of downtown redevelopment has a lot to do with advancing political narratives, plus selling overpriced consultation, depressed real estate and tons and tons of rebar and concrete. It has little to do with our prosperity. The cycle goes like this: 1) Officials realize that although they cannot create prosperity they can campaign on the citizenry’s hopes for it; 2) consultants are hired to present a full-color vision…

We welcome this week’s debate over which of the candidates for Secretary of State is the truest Hoosier. It allows us to address our concern that Indiana politicians have for some time been expatriating after building careers on the backs of Indiana voters and collecting a sufficient number of government checks. The debate is rich in irony in that Beau Bayh, from a family known for treating Indiana as a mailing address, has claimed the high ground thanks to a supine media. In any…