A jaundiced look at the world we live in.
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August 21, 2026On September 19th, I will participate in a program sponsored by the Fort Wayne chapter of Citizens United for Separation of Church and State. The headliner will be Randall Balmer, America’s most eminent religious historian, so I am honored to be included. The upcoming program is especially timely in Red Indiana, where citizens Continue reading "An Upcoming Presentation"
August 20, 2026I have frequently accused the current administration of blatant corruption–and with good reason. But for sheer chutzpah (look it up), Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito really can’t be outdone. Just in the past few days, we’ve had reports of the millions of dollars he has garnered from the oil and gas interests that Continue reading "Corruption Is Spelled Alito"
August 19, 2026Here’s what really, really worries me. Not the big, well-reported activities of our lawless, corrupt administration, but the things that administration is doing that don’t get much–if any–attention. Those are things that erode the ability of the federal government to govern properly, and enhance the ability of fraudsters and grifters to exercise power and rip Continue reading "It’s…
August 18, 2026The day before yesterday, I posted one of my periodic columns about America’s costly and insane approach to health care. I often think of a former student–a hospital administrator– who corrected me when I referred to America’s healthcare “system.” “We don’t have a system,” he explained. “We have an industry.” In the wake Continue reading "About Those Healthcare Costs"
August 17, 2026The aspect of our current political reality that has distressed me the most has been my realization that the South really has risen again–that Trump and MAGA are a new form of the Confederacy. I used to think that racist attitudes were held by ten or fifteen percent of the population, at most, Continue reading "What’s In A Name?"
August 16, 2026Americans have been refusing to adopt a national healthcare system for more years than I can count, dismissing such approaches as a vilified “socialized medicine” and insisting that we take our broken bones and heart attacks into the “free market.” That “free market” has been very costly. America spends more than any other Continue reading "Socialized Medicine"
August 15, 2026Red Indiana has two Republican Senators. One is Jim Banks, an ultra-MAGA Christian nationalist slavishly devoted to Trump– an ideologue beyond the reach of law or logic. The other is Todd Young, who–if he possessed a spine– might have been a thoughtful and able lawmaker. But Young has instead been a loyal Trumpian, Continue reading "Indiana’s Pathetic Todd Young"
August 14, 2026I’m at that time of life when a woman is referred to as being of a “certain age,” and I’m finding that–along with the creaky bones and graying hair–there are some rather satisfying compensations. Those include children and grandchildren of course, but those of us who spent years in the classroom also find Continue reading "Support Gramlich For The Indiana House!"
August 13, 2026Ah, labels! In 1980, when I ran for Congress as a Republican, I was labeled conservative. Indeed, a few people told me that they liked me personally, but that they hadn’t voted for me because I was “too conservative.” My political philosophy hasn’t changed at all (although my position on some issues has Continue reading "Democrats, Socialists, Communists…"
August 12, 2026In the age of Trump and MAGA, one of the big questions I have trouble getting my head around–perhaps the biggest question–is “what motivates people to vote for a demonstrably ignorant, incompetent and mentally-ill man? What compels a person to put on a red hat and identify with a MAGA movement that is Continue reading "A MAGA Typology"
August 11, 2026Last month, I posted about the likely–and probably intended--consequences of Indiana’s imposition of work requirements on Medicaid recipients. The new rule requires Indiana folks who are enrolled in the Healthy Indiana Plan (Indiana’s Medicaid program) to prove to state government that they are working at least 80 hours a month in order to Continue reading "As Predicted…"