by Mark Franke (Francesville, Ind.) — It seems the epithet of choice among more than a few politicians is to charge an opponent with being “a threat to democracy.” Mostly this accusation is used against Donald Trump, his threat being primarily to the election prospects of his opponents. One can get into an endless debate on whether Republican policies or Democrat policies are the greater threat to our sacred democracy. A libertarian (and I have a libertarian chromosome…

Hey, It Sounded Good For the use of the membership only. I WAS SURPRISED and disappointed in Indiana’s ranking on the just-released Internal Revenue Service report on interstate migration.  I subscribe to the boosterish Indianapolis Business Journal, you see, and it seems hardly a summer goes by that it doesn’t report the governor is wheels up to Europe, China or somewhere exotic to bring back high-paying jobs. And were Eric Doden and his GOP eco-deco buddies ever turned down…

“Hotel Coming to Site of Old VCSC Building” — Terre Haute Tribune, July 26, 2024 by Ryan Cummins I write to you about another in a long list of eco-devo (economic development) scams, a particularly obscene one. That it is presented as a straight news story in a humdrum manner is even more disheartening. But then, I don’t expect much from local “news” reporters and they rarely disappoint. Here is the key passage: “Phase one of the project will cost more…

by Mark Franke My monthly Socratic discussion group met in mid-July with the intent of examining the proposition that China represents an existential threat to the United States. We call our monthly topics, distributed in advance with a suggested reading list, provocations due to their inherent controversy. We expect all the heat to be in the provocation itself with the light emanating from our serious and dispassionate application of the Socratic method. The attempted assassination…

by Richard McGowan, Ph.D. When my boys attended North Central High School in the 1990s, the principal of the school and subsequent Butler honorary-degree-holder  Dr. Eugene White called a special assembly. The assembly was special because Dr. White, a black man, required only black, male students to attend. He had seen the data about the behavior of black boys and he wanted it addressed at his school. What was plain to Dr. White was that black boys involved themselves in asocial behavior…

An Election Year Poser I’m going to need some help with this.  Where is the political authority, let alone moral authority, for a self-styled champion of Americans descendant from sub-Saharan African slaves, whose father is descendant from a Jamaican slave owner and mother a member of a high Hindu caste, both immigrants, to speak in Indianapolis, where slavery was never sanctioned, to a sorority that does not include whites? These are strange times indeed. — tcl

Beware of ‘Trustworthy Guys’ I DON’T OFTEN draw parallels between Venezuela and Indiana but when I do they keep me up at night.  Venezuelan President Nicolas Madura is attracting U.S. investors by fashioning himself as  “pro-business,” reports the Wall Street Journal. This is a Marxist who oversaw the economic collapse of his nation and the exodus of a quarter of its citizenry. “Your investment is welcome in Venezuela,” he now says in his best Chamber of Commerce voice,  “We can work together toward…

By Andrea Neal If only George Washington could see us now … what would he say?  “Didn’t I warn you that political parties are a bad idea?”  “Have you forgotten my advice about avoiding foreign entanglements?”  “Just look at your credit cards. $34 trillion in outstanding debt. Apparently you ignored that part of my Farewell Address that urged you to pay your bills quickly so as not to burden the next generation.”  Yet here we are –…

by Mark Franke “In a democratic republic, the organs of state are separate and may even at times work at cross-purposes, with one acting as a balance for the other. In an autocracy, these organs must be deprived of their autonomy …” These words are taken from the preface of “The Sons of Caesar: Imperial Rome’s First Dynasty” by Philip Matyyszak, one of the A-list historians in my uncontrollable reading pile. The book in a…

by Mark Franke Each month a handful or two of conservative friends gather to discuss a predetermined topic chosen the previous month. We have the conceit of calling our group Socratic but I suspect Socrates would not grade us favorably should he chance onto one of our meetings. We do try to use the Socratic method, though, mainly by timing each speaker to a limit of three minutes and preventing interruptions. We theoretically come prepared by…