"God" is absent from The Constitution produced by the Convention and signed on 9/17/1787. Indiana preacher Micah Beckwith says understanding The Constitution is "easy" but reads his deity into it. My friend Paul Ogden, on thr other hand, says limits on religion are there, but

limits "had to do with establishing a national religion." "Originalism" is the belief that how we interpret The Constitution is controlled by the intent of the Framers, the 55 delegates at the 1787 Convention.…

In a 3/9/23 email, Sen Mike Braun (R-IN) tries to tee off on President Biden for being “the very reason we have these disastrous deficits to begin with” & has no plan “to get America back on track.” No: trump’s tax cuts for the rich + increased defense spending = > $1 trillion deficit. 1/5

Trend: GOP Pres runs up deficit (Reagan/Bush I). Dem Pres tries to cut deficit (Clinton). GOP takes Oval Office & runs up deficit again (Bush II). Pres Obama got double whammy of deficit…

In 3/7/23 email, Sen Mike Braun (R-IN) says: “There’s a war on cops” & “soft-on-crime policies are at the root..” Last year Braun courageously tried to walk back approval of criminal penalties for mixed-race marriages. To blame “soft-on-crime policies” displays similar ignorance. 1/7



As the Brennan Center (9/27/21) notes, “‘brute force’ responses” to violent crime fail for three reasons. (1) There’s no evidence draconian sentences reduce crime; (2) Calling a crime “violent” is…

There is significant overlap of people who say: (1) We need to get past slavery as part of our history; and (2) We have to apply The Constitution as the men who wrote it meant (also called “original intent”). Slavery formally ended in 1865. The Constitution was signed in 1787. 1/7

Slaves learned few skills; often, by law, could not be taught reading/writing/simple math. Only 4 years of warfare & more American lives lost than any war in our history ended slavery. In 1865 Southern…

Steve Bannon, a few years ago & between bouts of enhancing gin blossoms on his nose, said ppl on the far right need to run for offices at every level. As part of this effort, some on the far right try to fly under the radar of voters. Some issues would seem unrelated to some local offices. For example... 1/5 

City-County Council in Indianapolis/Marion County discusses local development and taxes. Yet women’s reproductive rights, institutional…

Control of Indiana’s GOP by a few at the top chugs along as it has since 2005 when James Bopp, Jr. filed the Articles of Incorporation for the Indiana Republican State Committee, of which the Indiana Republican Party is a d/b/a. Worse: the party plays favorites. Example: Saturday, 1/5

March 4, Marion County’s GOP invited candidates in the 2023 municipal elections to a training session. I’m an anti-TIF, anti-corporate welfare, anti-gun GOP candidate in District 2. I wasn’t invited,…

My good friend Paul Ogden left his flip phone out & used it to post a reply, under Paul’s name, to my blog about “RINOs.” I’ll address the 6 sentences the miscreant wrote. First: gun free zones won’t work because criminals won’t leave their guns “at home.” “Home” is the problem. 1/5

Since mid-1990s, NRA $$$ & members of Congress have blocked CDC sponsorship of peer reviewed studies of guns as a health risk & whether guns work in preventing crime. Gun free zones worked in…

Friends say: avoid “national” issues as I run for City-County Council in the May primary. Their concerns are legit. I’m conversant on fiscal issues, such as TIFS (I’m against them) and money to pro sports (love sports, but hate subsidies to billionaires). I can’t avoid some issues. 1/5

Want to reduce deaths from guns? Reduce the guns in our city. Lauren Boebert, idiot member of Congress (R-Col) sd we have 4% of the World’s population &“only” 46% of the World’s guns. If we bury the…

Florida Gov Ron DeSantis: delusional, stupid or a liar. He has said that the American revolution caused ppl for the first time “to question slavery” & as a result this country gave all ppl equal rights. DeSantis is doing his best to court white supremacists as he eyes the Oval Office. 13

1) Slavery was allowed in all 13 colonies. (Marq Law Sch faculty blog, 12/20/12). 2) The 1787 Constitution was no more advance: "...the right of property in a slave is distinctly and expressly…

At 8 pm this 22nd day of January, I shall interview two women who were at the Indiana Supreme Court this past Thursday for oral argument in Med Lic Bd v Planned Parenthood, 22S-PL-338, in which the constitutionality of IN’s “near-total” abortion ban was argued. 1/3

Monique Rust is an artist and long-time activist in Indianapolis. Kim Saylor also has long been active for peoples’ rights in Indy. They will describe how ppl who wanted to watch who wore green to support women’s rights…

Marx (Groucho not Karl) sang, “Whatever it is I’m against it!” in “Horse Feathers.” Nihilism, the punch of that 1932 (classic) movie is an absurdity & the non-existent core of this iteration of the GOP. In January 2017, repeal of Obamacare was at the top of a GOP wish list. 1/4

The Russian stooge who took the Oval Office 1/20/17 “led” a party w/ a majority in both houses of Congress, but this iteration of the GOP had no plans for health care, immigration, or anything, except…

Only foreign-controlled corporations and billionaires will write a “new” constitution should the “Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States” (U.S. Const., Art V) “call a Convention.” trump most recently primed the American people for such a convention.

First: a Convention, once called, has no limits. Chief Justice Burger: “there is no effective way to limit or muzzle the actions of a Const’l Convention.” Judge Robt Bork: “a ... convention could not be limited…

A “public square” owned by an individual isn’t public. I’ve posted on Twitter for > 5 yrs & not always agreed w/rules set by those in charge. Since its purchase by Elon Musk, many have left Twitter. To stay on is difficult because of legitimacy it might lend to Mr Musk’s views. 1/4

He has “suggested a drawn-out war could not end with a Ukrainian victory” as Forbes reported, and Mr Musk wanted to poll whether regions of Ukraine taken by Russia should remain part of Ukraine. He…