Nat’l headlines are rarely kind to Indiana politics. An 1897 bill to set the value of Pi was comic. [FN1] Indiana’s dominance by the KKK after WWI was horrendous. [FN2] Even when it comes to “vice,” as in Vice Presidents, we are no better than a #2. [FN3] Yesterday, 11/7/23: 1/10

Nat’l media (again) reported on Hamilton County’s “Moms for Liberty.” [FN4] In June the group quoted der Fuehrer on its “newly launched newsletter, ‘The Parent Brigade’” & drew harsh reactions. [FN5]…

A lie repeated 100 times is a lie. Tomorrow (11/07/23) Indy voters, who’ve not voted early, cast ballots for two offices, Mayor and City-County counselor. Jefferson Shreve, GOP candidate for mayor, says incumbent Mayor Joe Hogsett failed to respond to the 2020 BLM “riots.” 1/10

1 A “riot”: an “assemblage of three or more persons in a public place taking concerted action in a turbulent and disorderly manner for a common purpose...” [FN1] 2 The persons assembled “create a breach of the…

Two posts this weekend showed Indiana’s far right’s core values. Number 1 is “Don’t Know,” embodied by a man [FN1] who would have fit in w/the 19th Century Know Nothings: Micah Beckwith. [FN2] Example: as he hyped his lectures on The Constitution he warned: 1/8

“stay away from higher education and [its] secular progressive bias.” He gives neither examples of bias nor reasons people should stay away from higher education. That betrays his own bias. A meme he re-posted on 10/28 goes…

A mass shooting occurred this week. People can shake their heads, say “thoughts & prayers” or other bullshit, and go back to bragging about the imitation phalluses they brandish. After all, they remind us: “Guns made this country free!” That, too, is bullshit. 1/6

Factors in the victory over the British: colonies’ alliance w/France, debt the British had incurred in the years prior to and during the revolution, distance between England and the colonies, and the colonists’…

Micah Beckwith [FN1] posted a photo of Aldous Huxley w/3 paragraphs and a mention of “Tyler Durden.” Beckwith asserts “the left deliberately spreads false information based on feelings.” Beckwith’s posts have an emetic [FN2] effect, so grab a bucket. The post is classic “Becky.” 1/6

1: He asserts w/o specific citation to authorities. He can disavow parts when convenient or claim the whole thing as his.

2: He lies w/o concern for facts. He does this in a post about facts as “the…

Latest from Lewiston, Maine: 20 people died when one of those “lone gunmen” went nuts w/an assault style weapon. We all should be thankful for the NRA bribing public officials on a scale sufficient to ensure at least two other shooters did not cut loose in other places. 1/7

In post-Citizens United America, the NRA does not have to waste its valuable resources & stuff cash into public officials’ pockets. SCOTUS Associate Justice Clarence Thomas sets a great example of efficient…

Gosh golly! Micah Beckwith [FN1] on FB posted a photo of U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who presides over trump’s prosecution on charges related to his attempt to subvert the 2020 election [FN2] and said trump “‘does not have the right to say what he pleases.’” 1/11

CNN reports Her Honor’s limited gag order bars trump from making public statements “about witnesses who might testify against him, as well as prosecutors and court staff.” trump still can campaign. Beckwith says “we…

I erred in my 10/15 blog. I wrote Hamilton County preacher Micah Beckwith [FN1] posted “a photo & article, purportedly from a right wing website w/a headline: ‘Leftists Want the Same Massacre Here,’ i.e., Hamas & Israel.” A 10/12/23 op-ed used the photo &the headline 1/10

cited by Beckwith. It was written by Kurt Schlicther [FN2] a Townhall.com Senior columnist, as well as an L.A. trial lawyer, and retired army infantry colonel. [FN3] The op-ed is sick: “our foreign and…

On 8/8/23, Micah Beckwith [FN1] discussed civility in social media on John Schmitz’s FB podcast “Mouthwash.” John played my 2-minute clip “smalltalk,” about HEPL’s policy (now suspended) to review books in the young adult section, passed by a temporary 4-3 majority 1/11

of far-right wing people on HEPL’s board, one of whom was Beckwith. [FN2] On 10/14/23, Beckwith posted a photo & article, purportedly from a right wing website w/a headline: “Leftists Want the Same Massacre Here,”…

Tonight, October 3 at 7 pm, is the debut of Civil Discourse Now, available on FB & YouTube. Without civil discourse, we have no society. We are honored to have Pastor Chris Duckworth, of New Joy Lutheran Church, Westfield, as a premier guest. As Jane Reed, CDN’s producer 1/2

noted in her post about tonight’s show, Pastor Chris embodies inclusive mind thought and spirituality and will discuss the issues involving the LGBTQ. Also, activist Cassie Jackson shot a video that we’Il…

Absurd juxtaposition isn’t the name of a musical (pick your genre) group, but how 2 statements in Indiana’s political environment relate. First: via email, Gov Holcomb said Indiana’s support for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is being expanded “to give more Hoosier children 1/8

access 2 free, high-quality, age-appropriate books every month, regardless of income.” Only in IN in 2023, where censoring [FN1] books almost is a right-wing sport [FN2], is expanding kids’ access to books…

Western High School is a mile away from Russiaville, in Howard County. The class of 1973 had 168 members. A lot of us attended grades 1 to 12 w/in Western School Corporation About 25% attended Saturday’s reunion dinner in Kokomo. I’d seen few of my classmates since ‘73. 1/7

In 1961 we were little kids and started first grade at one of three elementary schools. In the years that followed, our experiences were little different from experiences of other kids our age in the USA, but two…

Micah Beckwith [FN1]says he is a “Christian Nationalist.” In June, 2020, Beckwith, on FB, praised Sean Feucht: “Him and I are very similar and saw the assault happening in this nation on our freedoms, and specifically our religious freedoms.” On 03/18/23 Beckwith promoted 1/7

Feucht’s 5/7/23 event at our Statehouse with “TPUSA Faith’s ‘Kingdom To The Capital.’ Sean Feucht will be leading worship! You won’t want to miss it.” Improper grammar (“Him and I”) + incorrect spelling…

The Constitution was signed by 36 delegates on September 17, 1787. [FN1] Congress designated September 17 “Constitution and Citizenship Day,” a federal holiday. [FN2] The date is specific because the event is well-documented. [FN3] We do not celebrate the 4th of July on 7/14. 1/9

On September 28 “The Constitution Day Dinner” will be held in Evansville & hosted by RAINS. [FN4] PROBLEMS:

1) They got the wrong date for the holiday;

2) They ignore the “Citizenship.” part…

A mob is an ugly thing! Inspector Kemp [FN1] exhorts villagers, in “Young Frankenstein,” to march on the castle. A “mob” is “a disorderly or riotous crowd of people [] bent on or engaged in lawless violence.” [FN2] We expect media to describe events accurately. We should be 1/8

careful, on social media, using “mobs,” “civil war,” or any term that now is a euphemism for violent behavior. Of recent mass shootings that make us the land of the free (fire zone), shooters’ radicalization by…

Ham Co preacher Micah Beckwith [FN1] posted a campaign ad under a header “I’m under attack by the Left.” It’s easy to play down Beckwith’s claims. He is a clown, not very smart & lies about our history. He says he talks to “God” about politics & says “They’re scared of me winning.” 1/8

Only 1 person should be more scared of Beckwith winning than friends of mine, conservatives who fear a Beckwith in office. Beckwith has weapons training for people in his church. As a board…

We had few books in the country. A 1948 encyclopedia had stale prose w/photos black & white. Alto & New London elementary schools had no libraries. A few times a year we got flyers to order books by mail. The 1965 Palm Sunday tornados wiped out schools in Alto & 1/7

Russiaville. Schools consolidated & 6th grade was in a new building w/its own library. Books about history & mythology were not simply “facts” but maps of so much that has gone before. I learned to…

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE: This blog/thread of tweets contains material that some (incl me) might find objectionable or repulsive. Going on? Please read to the end. “Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury has been banned or censored various places since its release in 1951. Set in a 1/7

future where ALL books are banned. Montag, the protagonist is a fireman whose job is to burn books, wonders why books are banned. His boss, Capt Beatty, says: “‘Colored people don’t like ‘Little Black Sambo.’ Burn…

HEPL [FN1] board held meetings 8/24 (2 & 3-5 pm) in Noblesville. Sign-in sheets, 1 for each meeting, were on a table outside a packed room. [FN2] A sheet of paper listing “guidelines” for attendees & for public comments was handed to all who entered the room. 1/9

1) Tough to follow: a) poor sound system & b) unclear who presided. [FN3]

2) Barnes & Thornburg (B&T) att’y asserted atty-client privilege when Bd member Michelle Payne asked about items on the bills…

My weekly contribution to “Mouthwash” [FN1] is smalltalk. Last evening [FN2] the topic was violence & police. Panelist Libertarian Lucy [FN3] w/background photo of a woman firing an assault weapon, called me “delusional” & “disingenuous” to say firearms are 1/10

kids’ leading cause of death, leftists lie about facts & her Google® search showed homicides way down the list of causes of kids’ deaths. She never explains the dead kids, observes I don’t have kids & said she…