by Mark Franke In 1993, William Bennett published an impressive anthology of essays, fables, poems and other writings titled “The Book of Virtues: A Treasury of Great Moral Stories.” This is an excellent reader for children of all ages, especially for bedtime stories. Adults may think this book below them but I would still encourage reading it and thinking deeply on the morals taught therein. Here’s the problem: One can only pursue virtue if one…

Celebrating ‘Mad’ Anthony Wayne FORT WAYNE IS the most politically incorrect of places. The gasoline pump and television were invented there. It is named after a killer of Native Americans. Yet, a handsome statue of Gen. “Mad” Anthony Wayne on horseback stands defiantly in the city’s downtown park — unmolested so far. And this Friday, July 15 each year, the city honors its namesake, however ignoble he is thought to be. The celebration will be modest, Polite company doesn’t defend General Wayne anymore. Several years ago a New…

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 questions to be asked. Don’t bother him with the details. Just, “Make it so.” More often than not, this being…

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, the Democrat, is out of central casting. An attorney, her resume includes service as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army…

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 being done in dark of night, so to speak, in the hope that the parents are asleep. No wonder parents…

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 out and pasted them into a scrapbook to impress other relatives with. The clippings became artifacts of family life, precious…

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 one of the first here to turn away from the so-called rust-belt industries toward the high-tech ones. Silicon Valley 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 a lineup for a young boy who was rapidly developing a love for history. Each series had its own theme…

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’ concept of government tried to put most decision making in the hands of the states and the people, limiting the…

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 right to own guns to those it judges mentally ill or immature or without the proper paper work. “If you…