Of many adjectives that can be used to describe Indiana’s AG, Todd Rokita, none is good. His FB post of 7/1 blends ignorance of American history and racism in classic Rokita fashion and was in advance of the July 4th holiday. In relevant part that post stated: 1/13

“You are probably familiar with Patrick Henry’s famous words: ‘Give me liberty or give me death!’ ... [A] passionate Virginia leader, his oratory helped spark the fight for American independence [and he] authorized George…

The driver was a clean-cut white guy in his late 20s. He asked how far I was going. When I said Charlottesville, he nodded and said he was getting off of I-70 on the west side of Indy, not quite to I-465, which does a lap around Indy. The driver of my next ride, a woman XV/XXII

in her 40s, said, smugly, she could get me to Indy’s south side. She added that she wasn’t in uniform, but her job was in security. Then she reached under her seat & pulled out a .357 magnum revolver. I…

There are points to interject here.

1) Nearly all my life I’d lived in Indiana. I now live in Peoria, & the First Amendment protects speech in all 50 States. 1/10

2) Only once, until now, has Indiana been more than a footnote in history. In the early 1920s, the KKK was as strong in Indiana as in any other state. [FN1] Klan dominance ended after its leader was convicted of homicide. [FN2] 2/10

3) The (estimated) half-million Hoosier kluxers didn’t dissolve, but they…

With a Presidential primary late in the cycle, [FN1] gerrymandering by over two decades of GOP control draining doubt from most races, and politicians on the national stage w/charisma such as that of Mike Pence, political culture of Indiana (“IN”) garners little national notice. 1/9

That should change. On 11/3, IN elects a new Secretary of State (“SofS”). [FN2] Both “major” parties’ chose their nominees at conventions that were as rancorous as the weeks that led up to them. The SofS…