“The single most exciting thing you encounter in government is competence, because it is so rare.”  — Daniel Patrick Moynihan ERIC HOLCOMB’S JOB seems to be to make the imagined world of his ruling political class palatable to us common zeks. As such, he is making a mess of it — particularly in the intractable matter of race relations. A couple of weeks ago he named the state’s first-ever Chief Equity, Inclusion and Opportunity Officer, a guilt…

by Maryann O. Keating, Ph.D. The significant contributions of the American political scientist Robert Putnam, author of “Bowling Alone” and  ”Our Kids” are widely recognized. His new book, “The Upswing,” co-authored with Shaylyn Romney Garrett, similarly consists of careful analysis of societal trends but is somewhat troubling given the authors’ conclusions and prescriptions. Many share the authors’ concerns with the decline in American income equality and overall social well-being along with increased political polarization. The difficulty lies…

by Leo Morris In Huntington, the powers that be are getting a little high-handed, so some residents are getting a little testy. It’s politics at its best and worst. Late last month, the City Council passed an ordinance that, among other things, put some teeth in Gov. Holcomb’s mask mandate. Police can issue a written warning to first-time violators and follow it up with a $25 fine. Then, the fine will increase by $50 for…

WE ARE ACCUSED HERE of being against all laws, even those that would require us to wear swatches of cloth over our mouth and nose as a medical fashion. That is unfair. Below we list a few government actions that have our wholehearted support, some of them laws and others resolutions. The issues range from campaign ribbons to Half Windsors. And yes, a few positions sound harsh but, hey, to paraphrase the proclaimed president, governing can be messy. To wear “aviator” sun glasses you are required…

by Mark Franke A high school-aged friend of mine asked me a question which had never entered my mind. Should the voting age be lowered to 16? She was working on a paper for her rhetoric class and that was the assigned topic.   The situation required a dodge, certainly not the formal rhetorical term her teacher would use for my maneuver, but it bought me a few moments to gather what thoughts I could. And there weren’t many…

by Leo Morris I’ve mentioned this in passing in a couple of columns, but I think it bears some elaboration: Hypocrisy is a very boring subject. It’s the cheapest sort of complaint to make against somebody, reflexive and shallow. Very high schoolish. When we first understand the power of logic and the beauty of destroying somebody with a superior argument – along about the 10th grade – we also discover that people often say one thing…

by Margaret Menge  What does Indiana have to do with the allegations of widespread fraud in the presidential election in several Democrat-controlled cities? Quite a lot, if you think about it. It’s likely that the 1.7 million Hoosiers who voted for Donald Trump for President this year were disenfranchised, their votes canceled out by the more than 1 million fraudulent votes that appear to have been counted this year in swing states. We still don’t…

“Former Reality TV Show Host’s Son Tests Positive for COVID-19” — Yahoo reporting that Donald Trump, Jr., had tested positive for the virus THE THOUGHT OCCURS that the reason criticism of journalism has so little effect is that it is directed at individuals who aren’t actually journalists. The profession has changed into something else entirely, something beyond recognition or accountability and without value. Indeed, the big-time journalist today serves a purpose only in fiction. No, not as he might imagine…

by Mark Franke I listened in the other day while my wife read a Thanksgiving story to our grandchildren. It was the traditional story with Pilgrims and Squanto and a shared dinner. Then, the book was published in 1973 before political correctness was running amok. This book, “The Pilgrims’ First Thanksgiving” by Ann McGovern, paints an idyllic portrait of the first full year of the English settlement at Plymouth Rock. It is a look-back through rose-colored glasses, at…

by Leo Morris Her name was Judy – no point in making up a protect-her-privacy name for her at this point. She was a year behind me in high school – a junior when I was a senior – so our paths did not cross that often. But a few subjects were taught without regard to class distinction, so we had the same speech class. It’s not enough to say she was pretty. To a…