If you are poor or on the lower side of middle-class, you probably know what “DCS” stands for: Department of Child Services. As Kin Hubbard once observed, it’s not against the law to be poor, but it might as well be.

Judge Coney Barrett attended trump’s Sept 26 announcement of her nomination for SCOTUS at an outdoor ceremony attended by > 150 people, “many of whom did not wear masks or practice social distancing,” - NBC.

Afterward, dozens gathered inside the White House's…

In an appeal to the racist part of his base - i.e., his base - trump last month spoke to a nearly all white crowd in Minnesota about how they have “good genes.” A consistent trump theme over the years? “I have great genes and all that stuff, which I'm a believer in" Mississippi, 2016.

Today is a Federal holiday: Columbus Day. On October 12, 1492, Columbus landed on a beach in the Bahamas, greeted by Arawak indigenous people. He wrote in his log: “With fifty men we could subjugate them…

Debate has been my life, since before the first high school tournament. It led to enlightenment. Our teams did pretty well. I learned how to work with others, because usually there are two people - not a ventriloquist and a dummy - on a debate team.

College debate was a blast. DePauw’s coach, Dr Weiss, was a great person and a mentor. He stressed values, but did not protest the trophies that fill shelves or plaques that hang on the walls of the trophy room in Greencastle.

I…

I apologize. I have been remiss in my obligations to everyone, but most of all to People for whom I care and our Country. A raving lunatic occupies the Oval Office via machinations by the dictatorial head (Putin) of a hostile foreign power (Russia anyone?)

trump has emailed funders to me & I have replied as acerbically as possible. I pondered seeking a protective order against the orange (some would say tangerine) fool. I’ve emailed the stupid bastard back - and yet no…

This iteration of the Republican Party has sought to shut out, from participation in elections, people who are likely to vote against candidates of that party. The GOP has cited non-existent problems with “voter fraud” to take these actions.

Any political party in a free country should encourage every eligible voter to exercise the right to vote. The way in which to win a competition is not by taking cheap shots at the other side to cripple the competitor, through fear of its ability…

I have yet to receive a reply to an e-mail I sent, on Wednesday, September 30, to the Marion County Republican Party (“Mar Co GOP”). For that matter I have received no communications from Mar Co GOP except a couple of texts in reply to a phone VM I left.

My victorious campaign for precinct committee person on June 2 was hard-fought and, when the dust settled, I was the winner. Well, I was the only candidate for the position, but we need to wrest control of the GOP from…

Years ago many people refused to believe that little tiny organisms cause a lot of disease and death. Germs, bacteria, microbes, viruses - something that cannot be seen cannot exist. Science advanced - yes, evolved - as people learned.

Today we face a global pandemic - that most of the rest of the globe has addressed much more effectively than has the United States. Many people have died who would otherwise be alive because of the ineptitude of the current occupant of the Oval…

Members of a focus group of “undecided voters” organized by Frank Luntz, described by Politico as a “veteran Republican pollster,” were asked to describe, in one word, last evening’s Presidential “debate.”

Their descriptives of Democratic Party nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden were damning: “compassion” and “coherent.” A few people bent the rules and went beyond one word: “better than expected” and “nice guy lacking vision.”

As for the Oval Office’s current occupant,…

Tonight former Vice President Joe Biden and the current occupant of the Oval Office (trump) will have the first of their Presidential debates. I’ve never cared for the format of these events because they really are not debates.

I was a debater in high school and in college. Dr. Weiss was our coach at DePauw. He instilled in us respect for reasoned discourse - what he called “rhetoric.” Later, after law school, I coached the IUPUI debate team for several years.

In college debate…

On September 22 at 7 p.m. the candidates for Indiana’s 5th Congressional District (INCD5) from the Democratic Party, Christina Hale, and the Republican Party, Victoria Spartz, will participate in a virtual town hall meeting.

Spartz uses buzz words & phrases to stoke her campaign: “socialism” (bad); “trump” (good in her view, unless one of the 200,000 dead (unnecessarily) from Covid is a loved one); “gun rights” (good - unless you or a loved one have been harmed by gun…

Two towers - one red and one blue - rise to the sky and rule the land. Built by the same hands and of the same immutable substance, the towers are impregnable. No more than two towers may stand. No other structure is allowed to utilize those same hands or that same substance.

The rulers occupy the top floors of both towers and assure all the people that, if a group of them joins together, they can build their own tower, from the ground up, and thus have one of the two towers. This, of…

“Anarchy!” trump, and other of Putin’s minions, claim Dems - or those who oppose racism or oppression or oligarchy, etc. - are anarchists, but of the two “major” political parties, the Republican is closer, in both past and present, to fostering “anarchism.”

First, we should define “anarchy”: “(1) Absence of government; lawlessness. (2) The political belief that there should be no government and that instead ordinary people should work together to improve society...” Black’s Law Dic.,…

People have wondered what will happen if, after November 3 & a record loss at the polls, trump refuses to leave office. Usually trump is depicted as seated in the Oval Office refusing to depart. In scenarios I’ve read, all the players are domestic.

Most commentators are confident members of the U.S. military - the most powerful in history - even though under the command of the head of the executive branch - i.e., the President - would obey the oaths taken when they joined the…

Friends of mine and folks who know me through social media, please read through to the end of this blog - or thread on social media - before you shut it off. In 2010 the far right grabbed one half of our political structure by “primarying” Republicans deemed not sufficiently far right.

They - or their leaders - knew that by taking over one of the two “major” political parties, they effectively grabbed the mechanisms written into statutes. “Third party” and independent candidates have…

I received another “funder” e-mail from trump’s campaign. Since it is stated in the 3rd person, trump did not write it (or anything else in his life; the books over his by-line, like the answers on his SAT, were ghost-written.

To whomever the trump campaign assigned to draft this E-mail:

I only want to address a couple of items. You say, of VP Biden and Sen Harris “Both of them are corrupt career politicians who LOVE anarchy and HATE America. ...” The current occupant of the…

It’s one thing to receive solicitations from the current occupant of the Oval Office, but today I received a similar e-missive from Numero 2 - the former Governor of the Hoosier State. Mike Pence lacks an understanding of “vice” to be VP.

In #2's view, the Democratic Party’s (apparent) nominee had the gall to name, as his running mate, a person who is not an old, white male. Of course the man who exited Indiana before the voters could turn him out can’t say THAT.…

Money can’t buy everything? It can buy a GOP nomination for Congress, specifically Indiana’s 5th Congressional District (INCD5). Victoria Spartz probably brings a sparkle to the eye of the man who runs the USA.

Spartz never has won a general election - ever. The office of State senator was bestowed upon her by GOP caucus. Her website displays, overall and on specific issues, a depth of knowledge on a par with another GOP House Rep who comes to mind - Louie Gohmert.

Spartz’s…

Victoria Spartz was the highest bidder for GOP votes in the June 2 GOP primary for Indiana’s 5th Congressional District (INCD5). Her position guns is amongst her worst: “We must preserve our 2nd Amendment freedoms against the tyranny of the government...”

A greater tyranny is that of domestic violence carried out each day by people who, if they lacked the more-easily lethal means of a gun at hand, would not kill. I have yet to see anyone brandish a firearm to deter the Federal or a…

Dear Mr Neil Young: As Republican Party precinct committee person (“PC”) for Washington Township, 21-02, Marion County, Indiana (on the north side of Indianapolis), I must express my displeasure.

Your reaction to the trump campaign’s use of several of your songs is unfair and, because of your recent acquisition of U.S. citizenship, an expression that belies ignorance of the American way of life.

First, if not you, to whom would trump’s campaign turn to plagiarize? Given the…

Indiana’s 5th Congressional District (INCD5) is viewed as “flippable” by both major political parties. Victoria Spartz spent a ton of money to buy the June 2 GOP primary. Ms Spartz’s stand on one set of issues is particularly troubling.

From Ms. Spartz’s website, under “National Defense and Military”: “A strong national defense is one of the main functions of the federal government. We must keep our military strong and provide better services to our veterans.”

A good first step…