by Mark Franke It is heartwarming to hear the number of people, children included, who will go up to an elderly person wearing a military cap of some kind and say, “Thank you for your service.” I hear it myself when I am wearing something displaying the Sons of the American Legion logo. When that happens, I explain to them that it was my father who served in World War II and the Korean War.…

Democracy Unclothed THE 911 CALL from the home of Paul and Nancy Pelosi got me thinking — no, not in the way you might imagine. It has to do with journalistic method. My first breaking news story was a citywide, Keystone Cops-style chase involving a dozen suspects and victims in an early morning robbery and kidnapping at an all-night business. I was proud of how I was able to put together the myriad details and still…

by Leo Morris Should we give up on “downtown” as a concept whose time has come and gone, admit that trying to keep it on life support is a futile effort? I don’t know the answer to that question. Perhaps there isn’t one, at least one that is knowable before a lot of other people ponder it. I ask it not as a penny-pinching conservative or a cynical pragmatist but as a country boy who…

WHY IS A NICE FELLOW like Mike Pence so worked up over a former Soviet Republic 5,000 air miles away? Let’s start with the etymology. In the 1940s, the editor of the Tulsa Tribune, Jenkin Lloyd Jones, popularized for Americans “Afghanistanism,” a colloquialism originating in the British Parliament meaning concentrating on problems in distant parts while ignoring controversial issues at home. “The tragic fact is that many an editorial writer can’t hit a short-range target,” Jones wrote. “He’s…

by Mark Franke If a group of people get together for the purpose of providing a needed social service for their fellow citizens, is this a good thing? Even if they are religious folk undertaking this work as an outward expression of their inward faith? Of course this is a good thing, isn’t it? The community benefits by being able to count on this important work and much of the time and treasure is offered…

by Leo Morris Most of you have undoubtedly experienced déjà vu, that eerie sense that something you have never encountered before is nonetheless somehow familiar. Most of you have undoubtedly experienced déjà vu, that eerie sense that something you have never encountered before is nonetheless somehow familiar. My apologies. I know that was just a cheap joke, but I couldn’t resist. Humor provides a needed escape valve when we are overwhelmed with the dreary “Groundhog Day” feeling…

by Mark Franke “O, wad some Power the giftie gie usTo see oursels as others see us!” This quotation from a poem by Robert Burns is clear even if written in a Scottish-English vernacular. He speaks to a universal human inadequacy — seeing ourselves from the other person’s point of view. This can be quite humbling should we actually succeed, especially if we come to realize the impression we are making. The same applies to…

If ‘Democracy’ Fails, Then What? THE WEEK BEGAN with my county chairman sounding the alarm that “democracy” will be at risk in 2024. “He keeps using that word but I do not think it means what he thinks it means,” to quote a meme of the great Inigo Montoya. Let me pair that with another popular meme, “The Constitution was written to protect us from our government; it doesn’t, so now what?” The first reminds us that we can’t count…

by Leo Morris In preparation for the upcoming general election, how about an awful political joke? What’s the definition of a presidential pork sandwich? Answer: a slab of Benjamin Harrison between two slices of Grover Cleveland. OK, you were warned it was awful. But, consider a little background, which has the added benefit of explaining Indiana’s contribution to the election integrity most voters take for granted today. Grover Cleveland won the presidential election of 1884…

At Last, a Law for our Times A FRIEND THIS WEEK introduced me to Brandolini’s Law, known on the Internet as “the bullshit asymmetry principle.” First, though, some background. Many years ago the foundation had the good fortune to commission a brilliant woman, a nationally known economist. We asked her to analyze the budget submitted that year by the Indiana governor at the time, the fiscally nimble Evan Bayh. The analysis cost $10,000, as I recall. We were…