In his 2nd inaugural address, Pres Abraham Lincoln saw reconstruction of our country after The Civil War and said: “With malice toward none, with charity for all.” [FN1] Lincoln sought to “unify a broken nation.” [FN2] The Civil War was not sparked overnight. 1/8

Preservation of the institution of slavery ripped this country apart, and not because abolition was an overarching goal of the North, but because southern States seceded from the Union over the issue of slavery. [FN3] Abraham…

This is a test.
Is the following phrase consistent with the Republican Party?
“With malice toward none, with charity for all.”
If your answer is “no” (too wimpish?) please realize Pres Lincoln said this in
his 2nd Inaugural Address.
Today’s GOP, jacked by trump, is NOT the party of Lincoln.

The 2024 elections should frighten Hoosiers. [FN1] Indiana’s GOP is a not-for-profit corporation that acts like a closely-held, for-profit corporation. Insiders run Indiana’s GOP. The candidacy of one person running for Lt Governor, reflects an attempt to build distance from voters. 1/8

Micah Beckwith [FN2] wants to be GOP’s nominee for IN Lt Gov. He’s never won an election, general or primary, but on 9/8/22 w/o fanfare & w/a few minutes’ public notice he was appointed to HEPL’s…

Pres Biden was wrong. On 2/29 in Brownsville, Texas, he was right: trump [FN1] ordered GOP members of Congress to “tank” a bipartisan immigration bill. [FN2] trump needs that issue. Pres Biden wants ppl to understand "clearly" that the border deal, a bipartisan agreement, 1/9

was tossed by partisan politics. Pres Biden could have used a stronger anatomical metaphor to describe GOP members of Congress ("show a little spine"). [FN3] Pres Biden was wrong when he said: "Let’s remember ..…

In the last 2 blogs I wrote how (1) the murder of Putin enemy Aleksei Navalnov & (2) statements by trump, foretell what can be as trump tries to retake the Oval Office that Putin stole for trump in 2016, or if the effort succeeds. Some comments I received ignore Hoosier hospitality. 1/7

After WWI, D.C. Stephenson arrived in Indiana to recruit for, and build up, the KKK. Power was from numbers of Hoosiers who joined up to be “Kluxers.” [FN1] He also took healthy cuts from $10…

The most votes usually wins an election. [FN1] “Most” is easier if voters for the other side lose the right to vote. “Jim Crow” laws [FN2] were copied & the USA regarded as “the innovative world leader in the creation of racist law.” [FN3] USA laws showed Nazis how to strip 1/8

non-Aryans and “opponents of the regime and all those who silently themselves from it by their lack of enthusiasm for its policies.” [FN4]

We should be scared by trump’s statements that echo the…

Alexei Navalny, opponent of Russia’s President,Vladimir Putin, was arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced on charges of “extremism” by Putin’s regime. Navalny was in custody of Putin’s dictatorship. On 2/16 Navalny “felt unwell after a walk” & lost consciousness. [FN1] 1/11

In a video hearing the previous day, Navalny smiled behind the bars of a cell and made jokes. [FN2] There are several points in Mr Navalny’s case relevant to us in the USA.

1: trump takes marching orders…

MOSCOW. Tuesday, Febr 13, 2024. Pres V. Putin granted me an interview. After the transcript was edited to remove graphic descriptions, obscene language & bare-faced lies, nothing was left. What follows is an accurate work of fiction, just like OAN or The New York Post. 1/8

VP: Take off the hood now.

CDN: Where am I?

VP: Good morning.

CDN: Where the ...

VP: Why are you looking around?

CDN: Making sure there aren’t any windows.

VP: That is hackneyed joke.…

I’m relieved that, in the very early 1980s, we did not have kids. I would have been worried sick about their future. Stephen Miller, who was trump’s person on immigration, spelled it out in comments last fall that I only read the past few days. 1/6

“[I]n terms of personnel, you go to the red state governors and you say, give us your National Guard. We will deputize them as immigration enforcement officers. ... And if you’re going an unfriendly state like Maryland, well, there would…

Indiana’s National Guard is sent to help other States in emergencies. (e.g., hurricanes) Statutes provide the Governor “shall order on state duty all or part of the national guard ” in times of war, invasion, insurrection or at any time the governor considers necessary. [FN1] 1/10

An email fr his campaign address [FN2] dated 02/10/24 says Gov Eric Holcomb is deploying our Nat’l Guard to assist w/the ongoing situation at the border” due to “Federal negligence enforcing immigration law”…

A person need not be a “real” druggie to purchase a share of stock in Eli Lilly. Its articles of incorporation state its purpose: “to engage in any lawful act or activity for which a corporation may be organized under the Indiana Business Corporation Law. [FN1] 1/7

Indiana’s Republican Party is an assumed name of the Indiana Republican State Committee that was incorporated in 2005 by Terre Haute/Citizens United attorney James Bopp, Jr. [FN2] One person online called me “an anti-2a…

Implicit in a Feb 6 post, “LADIES PLEASE conceal and carry” [FN1] is handguns “work” as a means of self-defense. Before you [FN2] buy a weapon lethal to you or a loved one, you should research guns and alternatives for self-defense. “Let the people know the facts...”1/10

Peer reviewed studies of gun violence as health risk were prevented, as a practical matter, from 1996 to 2022. The NRA paid for members of Congress to block funding of such studies [FN3] by NIH [FN4] and CDC. [FN5]…

A few days ago a person was attacked in the parking area of the Coil Building, 6301 N College, north of the canal. The Store Director of Fresh Thyme, the building’s 1st floor tenant, replied to a local resident’s concerns about safety. The reply was damn decent. Major points: 1/5

1) Fresh Thyme is working w/local police to reduce potential criminal activity 2) A video of the incident was given to the police who also had video from a traffic camera 3) The assailant is not a regular at…

#sayitoutloud Tonight’s premiere! Cassie Jackson discusses white privilege!(Tues, 2/6/24, 8:30 pm EDT) Cassie will be my guest at 8 pm on a special civildiscoursenow. @ 9 pm on “Mouthwash,” John Schmitz’s guest is Jon Schrock, head of The John Birch Society. [FN1] 1/11

There is history. The John BS started in 1958. [FN2] Most Americans saw the world on TV in black-and-white, w/only 350,000 color TVs in the U.S. Few shows broadcast in color. [FN3] Near Kokomo, we got 3 stations and, if…

Yet-to-be-convicted donald trump has interfered w/a bipartisan bill (i.e., written by ppl from both major political parties) to address immigration. For a moment, set aside the litany of harms trump has inflicted on the country. [FN1] We should look at his brilliance as a strategist. 1/7

The USFL was started as a pro football league w/games in the spring. One owner said they “had a great league and a great idea. But then everyone let Donald Trump take over. It was our death.” [FN2]…

History: we learn from experience. In 1588, the Spanish Armada was defeated. [FN1] Weather and the relative inexperience of Spain’s commander were factors. [FN2] Spain’s warships were large, slow-moving and meant to rely “on boarding and close-quarters fighting.” [FN3] 1/6

The smaller, faster ships armed “with long-range naval guns” of the English won. [FN4]

Today, the U.S. Navy has 11 nuclear-powered fleet aircraft carriers; the latest cost almost $13 billion. [FN5] The crew…

I am pro-war. By that I mean that this country should use military only by declaration of war, as set forth in The Constitution. [FN1] Three U.S. military personnel and 34 wounded in a drone attack in Jordan. [FN2] Iran’s denial of involvement means little in a US election year. 1/6

After all, what do these Arab countries have against the US? Iran’s people are of varied ethnicity, but the dominant group is Persian and its most common language is Farsi, not Arabic. [FN3] The people of…

My favorite TV shows/podcasts involve history & often an interviewee is seated in front of book shelves. Most shelves are neat, but some bear signs of a random chaos of a personal library often used. Factors help to identify books. [FN1] Questions in history? 1/7

How did Germans allow the NSDAP [FN2] to seize power? Most Americans don’t give it much thought. In the “land of the free,” elections transfer power peacefully. Our rights were protected, especially through Brown I and…

The rights to cast a vote and to have one’s vote counted are both constitutionally protected. [FN1]. A person’s interest in participating in the political process through voting and having her or his vote counted is a right both ‘individual and personal in nature. [FN2] 1/7

This iteration of the GOP has been described as a cult. [FN3] Indiana’s GOP is an assumed business name of Indiana’s Republican State Committee, and set up as a not-for-profit (“NFP”) corporation. The Indiana GOP’s…

This iteration of the Republican Party decries foreign individuals to the point of xenophobia. The Framers of The Constitution were concerned that foreign powers could attempt to influence our elections [FN1] or simply advance corruption. [FN2] Foreign assistance to a political 1/8

campaign is illegal. [FN3] This proscription applies to Federal, State and local campaigns. [FN4] It applies against a “foreign principal. [FN5] The assistance may be from a citizen or one who owes…