Civil Discourse Now

Where the far left and far right overlap for fun and enlightenment

All Blog Posts (1,860)

Sec'y of State: Indiana's chief elections officer

Indiana Secretary of State (“SoS”), established by Indiana’s Constitution, Art. 6, § 1, will be on the ballot in November. An office few notice, the % of votes a party’s candidate receives for SoS determines if the party must hold a primary. I.C. 3-10-1-2. That’s free publicity. 1/5

% of votes also can make a party one of the 2 “major” political parties in Indiana. SoS is State’s chief elections officer. I.C. 3-6-3.7-1. The SoS can be pivotal. Pennsylvania’s GOP nominee for Gov, Doug…

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Added by Mark Small on May 19, 2022 at 4:20pm — 1 Comment

Response to IBJ op-ed by my opponent, Rep Ed Delaney

In an op-ed for the Indianapolis Business Journal (IBJ), Rep Ed Delaney, my Democratic Party opponent in the November general election made several points, the basic notion being Indiana needs to use its budget surplus  for items that will attract businesses. Rep Delaney didnt mean we need to give more tax breaks 1/4

to businesses. He used a recent speech by the CEO of Eli Lilly, and that company’s decision to expand, but to do so outside of the Hoosier State, to make the point that…

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Added by Mark Small on May 18, 2022 at 6:46am — 1 Comment

Guns did not make this country "great"

Former high sch classmate posted on FB: “That’s how this great nation came to be. With the use of GUNS.” No. USA is not/inherently could not be great as long as slavery was legal (1789-1865), voting & equal rights were denied or we killed to expand fr sea to shining sea. 1/4

Guns were used to stop slave revolts. Unless one says guns were pivotal in winning The Civil War (& most right wing ppl embrace the Confederacy), guns have not played a role in securing freedom. otoh…

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Added by Mark Small on May 17, 2022 at 6:48am — 1 Comment

Idiocy & racism in Buffalo & on airwaves in Indy

Idiocy & racism struck in Buffalo last weekend but racism & idiocy know no geographic bounds. White gunman traveled couple of hours to kill people in the only grocery in an African-American neighborhood. He proclaimed replacement theory. Racism: cops talked him out of suicide. 1/4

Racism: how many seconds would an African-American male of the same age have lived as he stepped out of that store having just killed 10 people? Hold that thought. Idiocy here in Indy was on the…

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Added by Mark Small on May 16, 2022 at 7:56pm — No Comments

Our gov't is not a theocracy

In the early 1990s an NFL player negotiated a contract to require that he be 1 of the 3 highest pd linebackers in NFL. What would have happened if 3 other linebackers had the same provision? Our country faces threats on several fronts w/religion a common factor in each. 1/4

A theocracy is “Government of a state by those who are believed to be or represent that they are acting under the immediate direction of God or some other divinity.” Black’s Law Dictionary, 10th ed., 2014, p. 1706.…

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Added by Mark Small on May 15, 2022 at 7:59am — No Comments

Abortion opponents kill doctors; ppl in favor of women's rights march & picket

In academic debate, argument based on false premises loses. USA can’t legitimately claim to be the land of the free when 1787 to 1865 it not only allowed but protected slavery. Slaves made up nearly ½ the population of States that seceded in 1861& many were forbidden by law from 1/6

learning how to read & write. At Civil War’s end those 4 million ppl were not absorbed into the economy & recognized as having rights equal to the 5 million other ppl in the South. The South…

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Added by Mark Small on May 14, 2022 at 8:38pm — No Comments

Taking on the few who hold the fort on the hill: the GOP

The not-for-profit (NFP) corp that is IN’s GOP is like a fort on a hill that can shoot any who seek to pass it. In 2005, IN’s GOP was incorporated by Citizens United atty James Bopp, Jr. & are written to ensure that those who grabbed it nearly 20 yrs ago don’t lose it via elections. 1/6

Also, neither the IN GOP rules nor articles of incorporation tie the IN GOP to an ideology. Thus a RINO is mythical. Among ways to remove the fort are frontal attack (i.e., running against GOP…

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Added by Mark Small on May 7, 2022 at 7:30am — No Comments

This GOP nominee won't pander to MAGA: I'm pro-choice

As GOP nominee for Indiana House Distr 86 it would be easy to pander to the far-right-wing of this iteration of the GOP & cheer a leaked SCOTUS opinion that indicates Roe v Wade, written by Justice Blackmun, a Nixon appointee, soon will be overturned. I won’t pander. 1/4

I’m pro-choice. If elected to Indiana’s Gen’l Assembly I shall vote against any measures that seek to infringe women’s reproductive choices. Roe hinges on a right to privacy. Alexander Hamilton, one of The…

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Added by Mark Small on May 5, 2022 at 5:17am — No Comments

I won the primary. Now: let's change Indiana's corporate laws

Results of yesterday’s primary, IN House Distr 86: I’m GOP nominee for Nov 8’s gen’l election. Last Saturday, Washington Twp GOP held a Lincoln Day brunch, attended by a cpl of hundred. A person said to me he was “involved” because of where the country is headed. 1/6

Me: That’s why I’m running. Him: I voted Pres trump in ‘16 & ‘20. Me: trump’s a sociopathic thief. [pause] Him: Well, I agree w/his policies. Me: “He doesn’t have any policies.” We can’t let a minority of the far…

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Added by Mark Small on May 4, 2022 at 6:32am — No Comments

If pro sports franchise receives public subsidies, taxpayers shouldn't have to pay to watch its televised games

High % of ppl from all sides agree: pro sports receive too much $ in subsidies. Indy has Colts, Pacers, Indy 11 & The Indy 500. We shouldn’t subsidize billionaires’ hobbies, but that train has sailed (or the ship departed the station). However, taxpayers of any jurisdiction that...1/4

pays public $$$ to subsidize a sport shouldn’t have to pay a 2nd time to watch that specific sport on TV. Example: Colts either be on a regular network or The Colts pay for people to have free…

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Added by Mark Small on April 29, 2022 at 6:00am — No Comments

First time caller, apparently last in (history) class

Caller asked about my views as a candidate as she’d not seen mat’ls from my campaign. I sd I’m GOP, pro-choice, anti-gun, pro environment & don’t believe $ should be dynamic of campaigns. She then said she works in education & is sick of CRT (Critical Race Theory). I asked 1/5

her what pub school mat’ls she’s seen that teach CRT since CRT’s a grad school theory. She said CRT was “implicit,” that children are divided in classrooms, white kids taught to feel guilt over their…

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Added by Mark Small on April 27, 2022 at 7:05pm — No Comments

Legalize all drugs - period.

When we have to guess whether what we do is illegal (e.g., can I light up a cigarette within so many feet of a school?), ours is not a free society. How adults choose to relax, whether with a shot of single malt or a joint, should not be subject to criminal penalties. The default...1/3

position should be that unless something is intrinsically wrong, e.g., outright murder of a human being, that thing should be legal. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson smoked pot: drugs were legal.…

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Added by Mark Small on April 26, 2022 at 8:11pm — 1 Comment

Big military hardware has become obsolete

Aircraft carriers are big & cost lots of money. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine should teach several lessons (e.g., the whole good vs evil thing). We should realize that large pieces of military gear are vulnerable & obsolete. Small missiles take out tanks. Several yrs ago China developed...1/3

a thousand-missile anti-capital ship system. U.S. Navy carriers will be among the first targets in any major (i.e., w/Russia or China) conflict we might have. We’ve done a lot to starve…

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Added by Mark Small on April 26, 2022 at 2:51pm — No Comments

MAGA people might be confused

As Putin’s forces invaded Ukraine, if trump followers were confused, trump soon called the invasion ‘genius” & “savvy.” (2/23/22). MAGA ppl parroted trump. Then news of Russian war crimes emerged & trump denied he made his prior stmts. (03/30/22) GOP trumpers R in a ...1/4

cult of personality corner. Tucker Carlson talks tanned testicles to divert attention fr his Moscow cheerleading. Even trump sometimes is booed by MAGA, but he’s their 1st out-front leader since D.C.…

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Added by Mark Small on April 24, 2022 at 3:53pm — No Comments

This iteration of GOP has no legit claim to that name

Republican Party of Hamilton County holds “Lincoln Day” dinner tonight w/Sen Mike Braun as keynote speaker. Roots of GOP connect w/resistance 2 slavery & struggles 4 econ justice. This iteration of GOP has no legitimate claim 2 B Republican. Sen Braun, cpl of wks ago... 1/5

sd States have rt to determine whether ppl whose skin varies in concentration of melanin should be allowed to marry. Lovings v Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967) held that white or Black (or red or yellow or mixtures…

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Added by Mark Small on April 19, 2022 at 8:22pm — No Comments

I'm a Republican (capital "R") in good standing. Seriously.

Someone asked how I could be a republican (they used the lower-case “r”), yet re-post a meme to the effect that Pres Biden is a decent man. To be clear: the GOP was not founded as, & is not yet, a cult of personality. It started as party of progressive ideas: abolition & economic reforms. 1/4

After the 1964 election, some in the GOP saw opportunity to persuade racists in what, since the Civil War, had been the Democratic Party’s “solid South.” Yet even as late as the 2008…

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Added by Mark Small on April 17, 2022 at 1:06pm — No Comments

Guns: if fed can't sponsor peer-review studies the State should

Two main factors in burglars’ choice of homes to target. 1) Not getting caught. 2) Stuff worth stealing. On first one, burglars generally don’t break into homes when people are home & that’s the only way your ownership of a handgun would work to protect your home. And on...1/4

the 2nd one, handguns R amongst the items most easily fenced. After all, if a burglar grabs a bag of jewels, s/he can’t walk into some place and buys things. The burglar has to find a place to pay for the…

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Added by Mark Small on April 16, 2022 at 8:42am — No Comments

Mr Musk: Why Twitter? A fine social media platform hardly used is available...

Elon Musk wants 2 buy Twitter: “I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy. I now realize [Twitter] will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form.” Yesterday, in a TED 2022 conference he said: “Having a public platform...1/5

that is maximally trusted & broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization.” Because I agree w/this last bit I say Mr Musk should leave Twitter alone. His goal isn’t…

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Added by Mark Small on April 15, 2022 at 4:27pm — No Comments

We should look at advanced nations for examples...

Land of the Free: 5% of World’s population but 25% of prison inmates. Free market works: #37 in health care & #1 in price & NEARLY ALL the 36 ahead of us have some form of “socialized medicine.” Land of opportunity: gap between richest & poorest growing > other nations...1/3

And no advanced county mires its non-rich youth in debt for seeking higher education. We have the largest military yet are most insecure. Advanced countries have solar & wind but we still burn…

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Added by Mark Small on April 14, 2022 at 8:22pm — No Comments

Why people should vote in the primary election May 3

Ppl don’t get excited about primary elections. Indiana’s is May 3. Early voting has begun in Indy at City-County Bldg. Other sites will open April 23. You might believe you’re registered to vote, but this iteration of the GOP doesn’t like “adverse” voters. We need to test the system...1/4

(1) Voter rolls get purged. Your registration might have crossed the wrong GOP algorithm. It’s better to be turned away at the primary than to be turned away in November. (2) You can check…

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Added by Mark Small on April 14, 2022 at 6:52am — 1 Comment

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