The Commitment of Rep. Walorski and Her Staff

For a delegation that easily logs more than a million highway miles every year, Wednesday’s news of the death of U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski and staffers Zachery Potts and Emma Thomson was a staggering, drop-to-your-knees moment of shock and then overwhelming grief. Lee Hamilton once told me it could take him five-hours to cross the…

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Former VP Pence Should Wait Until 2028

Mike Pence and I used to compare career notes at Acapulco Joe’s back in the days when he was beginning his radio show and I, Howey Politics Indiana. In 2010, I wrote that the congressman should run for president, saying it might be his best and only opportunity. Then there was Aug. 8, 2019 column,…

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A Pertinent Glossary for 2022 Politics

Democracy. Republic. Sedition. Treason. Obstruction. Inflation. Stagflation. Recession. These are the terms that are driving our politics of today. After Indiana Republicans struck the word “democracy” from their convention platform last month, replacing it with “republic,” I thought it would be altogether appropriate to review the definitions of these words in the context of today’s…

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The Dobbs Decision and Mike Pence

June 24, 2022, should have been the political holy grail for Mike Pence. It was the day he had long strived for, the day Roe v. Wade was consigned to the “ash heap of history.” “Today, life won. By overturning Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court of the United States has given the American people…

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Indiana’s Mitch Envy

Shortly after the university announced last Friday he was stepping away from the job he truly loved for the past decade, Purdue President Mitch Daniels’s various text, email and phone inboxes began filling up. Hoosiers were urging Daniels to run for governor, for president, for mayor of Carmel or Indianapolis. When “Based in Lafayette” journalist…

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Every Teacher You Know . . . .

“Every teacher you know has thought about it. Every teacher you know has a plan for an active shooter. Every teacher you know has weighed their point of fight or flight. Every teacher you know has walked their room looking for blind spots. Every teacher you know has passed their classroom to see what it…

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Our American Atrocity Dilemma

Merriam-Webster defines “atrocity” as a “a shockingly bad or atrocious act, object, or situation.” In a different era, the word “atrocity” was used mostly in wartime situations, be it Babyn Yar in Kyiv, the Katyn Forest massacre in Poland, the Andersonville Prison during the American Civil War, or My Lai in Vietnam. But since 1999…

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