by Mark Franke Now that the election is a month in the past, it is time to take stock of what we learned from it. Not much. Or perhaps, too much.  If the political pundits are to be believed, the Republicans won a clear mandate. True, Donald Trump won the presidency and the Republicans turned four Senate seats, but their slim majority in the House of Representatives is now a razor thin one. That doesn’t add up…

On the Democrats’ Weirdity AMERICAN VOTERS have figured out that today’s Democrat Party is odd, its liberal wing palpably so, even visibly. David Harsanyi of the Washington Examiner argues that is the lesson of Biden’s election loss: “Yearning for a government that upholds law and order is a normal inclination for any citizen. Attacking people who demand the law be followed, whether on the border or in our cities, is abnormal. And very weird.” So, can you spot liberal Democrats…

Will We Take Back our Colleges? The Stanford Review:  “What is the most important problem in the world right now?” Stanford President Jonathan Levin: “There’s no answer to that question. There are too many important problems to give you a single answer.” The Stanford Review: “That is an application question that we have to answer to apply here.” LOOKING OVER the governor-elect’s transition councils, you will have to search for anything definitive about the cultural disaster that is higher…

by Mark Franke What questions would you ask a newly elected Congressman if you and a few close friends have a long evening of his undivided attention? My monthly Socratic discussion group faced just this challenge recently as Third District Congressman Marlin Stutzman, an occasional participant in our group, met with us to discuss our post-election outlook on Congress, President Donald Trump and the nation. We modified our semi-strict rules of engagement by allowing him…

by Tanner Bouchie On Dec. 1, 2024, President Joe Biden granted his son, Hunter Biden (“Hunter”), a full and unconditional pardon “for those offenses against the United States which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from Jan. 1, 2014 through Dec. 1, 2024, including but not limited to all offenses charged or prosecuted (including any that have resulted in convictions) by Special Counsel David C. Weiss in…

The Fatuity that College Football Has Become “The three major administrative problems on a campus are sex for the students, football for the alumni and parking for the faculty.” — the late Chancellor Clark Kerr of the University of California CONFINED TO MY RECLINER with a sore foot, I spent a recent Saturday — the entire afternoon and evening — watching college football. I had some thoughts, chained to the mast as I was, some troubling…

by Eric Schansberg, Ph.D. One year ago, I wrote an essay called “I, Pothole” — about the surprising challenges in fixing potholes. It was written in the style of a classic article by Leonard Read called “I, Pencil”. Read describes the complexity of making something as simple as a mass-produced pencil. The reader contemplates the wonder of markets coordinating that activity, despite information being so scattered within the market and the motives of market participants…

The Cult of Eco-Devo FOR SEVERAL YEARS NOW I have searched for the perfect apothegm or story to describe Indiana’s economic-development policies — you know, the ones that build stadiums and mixed-use apartment complexes, renovate entertainment and shopping districts and such, all promising growth by shifting other peoples money around with tax-secured bonds, tax increment financing, grants and rebates. The musical “Music Man” can be dismissed right away because Harold Hill had a better grasp on…

Operating-Table Diversity MARQUETTE BASKETBALL COACH Al McGuire said it: “Winning is only important in war and surgery.” That would seem a good place to start in dismantling affirmative action both in the military and in medical schools. After a half century, if you think that affirmative action is still a good idea and you act on it then there’s not much hope for you. Every day will hold unpleasant surprises. Friends will turn away. Your best efforts will…

by MARK FRANKE Now that election day is a week into the past, almost an epoch in the American attention span, some retrospection is in order. I stayed true to my election day ritual. At 5:35 a.m. I followed a neighbor out of our addition to the precinct polling place to stand in line waiting for the doors to open. After hearing friends complain about two and three hour waits to vote early because apparently…