Please, Not Again

I am hearing rumblings that Joe Donnelly wants to be your Senator again. I plead with the Indiana Democratic Party not to do this again.

Yeah, I know that Joe once won a statewide race against a truly off-kilter Republican who wrote his own ending weeks before the General Election, but Joe Donnelly won't beat Todd Young or Mike Braun or whoever he runs against next for whatever statewide office he wants. He doesn't have a shot. He connected himself with Donald Trump in 2018. That's not what a Democrat does.

In my view, the 2022 election cycle for U.S. Senate is an uphill battle. Running the same strategy Democrats have run in almost every U.S. Senate in my adult life is not going to work in 2022 or 2024. You won't beat Republican Todd Young by being slightly less Republican. You won't beat Republican Mike Braun by calling out his Trumpiness...when you touted your own Trumpiness in 2018.

To me, the wiser strategy is to give us a candidate who brings something more to the table. More Democrat. Yeah, let's run and support someone who espouses Democratic Party values which consistently poll in the positive. I'm not talking about those fake wedge issues that Republicans try to throw over our necks like albatrosses. I'm talking about those bread and butter issues that carried Democrats in Georgia across the finish line in that Senate race. 

If Georgia can have two Democrats in the Senate...if Arizona can have one Democrat and one who ran as a Democrat in the Senate, Indiana can. Don't tell me we have to keep running Evan Bayh clones or Joe Donnelly each time. There was a time when Diet Republican worked as a strategy here. My mom voted for Evan Bayh. She wouldn't vote for Democrats much, but she could vote for Bayh because he was just a little left of Richard Lugar. 

To win in 2022 or 2024, it's going to take every darn Democrat in the state to get out plus a lot of those Republicans who voted for Joe Biden because they were tired of Donald Trump and who believe things like the environment are important. That healthcare needs to be fixed. That guns should be legal but controlled more. That immigration is essential to our country's future. That democracy is worth saving. That Joe Biden won the 2020 election...and much more.

Laying down with the Republicans to try to pull over votes rather than making a case that our ideas are better is, in my view, a losing strategy. Even if the strategy of making your case loses, you win in the end because you were advancing our party's goals. Every small step makes that difference.

That's just my opinion. Joe Donnelly's better than Todd Young or Mike Braun, but I just fear getting in this never ending cycle of a strategy that doesn't work and won't work again.

Holcomb Logic on COVID Hard to Follow

Eric Holcomb
Photo courtesy State of Indiana

There was a time early on in the 2020 campaign where I actually considered voting for Eric Holcomb.

I know, it's hard to believe, but I was impressed with how Governor Holcomb handled the early days of the pandemic. His steady and principled leadership carried Hoosiers through the early part of this nightmare, and he stuck to his guns early when challenged by those to his far right on pandemic policy.

As the days and months went on, other factors proved that my early feelings of support for the Governor were misplaced. The Governor opened the state too quickly last summer, and we saw an even bigger surge start in the fall that reached its peak in December and January.

Governor Holcomb danced on a line last year. He had a strong Libertarian challenge to his right on COVID policy and a Democratic opponent who was an actual medical doctor. Still, he had plenty of loyal Republican support to coast to an easy victory in 2020. 

Now, he's seen the Indiana General Assembly take swipes at his powers as Governor because of the perceived job he's done managing COVID-19. The far right believes the Governor has been too stringent with his mask mandate and his public health measures against businesses, churches and public events. So, there's now a controversial effort to change the Governor's ability to put in public health measures with the emergency powers granted by the Indiana Constitution. It's an effort that's likely going to end up in court because even if Holcomb vetoes legislation limiting the powers of the Governor, the Indiana General Assembly only needs a majority to override the veto. 

So, that brings us to last week. Governor Holcomb, under attack from the far right, ended Indiana's mask mandate effective on April 6. This comes with less than 20 percent of Hoosiers completely vaccinated against the virus. While the number of vaccinated and completely vaccinated Hoosiers climbs daily, so are COVID-19 cases.

Just today, Indiana went back into the thousands in new cases. It's nosing upward again, and Holcomb is sticking to his decision to put the local governments in charge of masking regulations and public health policies to prevent the spread of the virus. The GOP-led General Assembly now is trying to amend bills to take that ability away from local officials like Marion County Health Commissioner Dr. Virginia Caine and Mayor Joe Hogsett.

So, let's get down to it. What Governor Holcomb is doing makes zero sense. President Joe Biden is begging state governors to not end mask mandates. Neighboring states like Kentucky are making the same plea. Holcomb isn't budging. 

Makes you wonder why. I mean, I suppose he's possibly going on principle as he sees it that the numbers and positivity rates are down, but he was slow to react to the rising cases in the fall. It appears he's content to do the same thing again. Apparently his ever-present "road map" to beating the virus doesn't learn from previous wrong turns. 

Holcomb doesn't have another election for Governor to run. He has a General Assembly that's out of control with a weak first-year Speaker that's hellbent on undercutting his authority. That's not going to change with any concessions he makes. He has every reason to come down on the side of science and health policy, but he's not doing it. He's content to watch a fourth surge race against the rate of vaccinations. Is he angling for his next move politically? As Governor, what he's doing makes no sense.

I'm fully vaccinated, and I'm glad because I have no idea why Governor Holcomb is doing what he's doing. I fear it's going to lead to more Hoosiers becoming victims of this nasty virus.

State Rep. Tries to Criminalize Mask Wearing

The Indiana General Assembly strikes again!

Rep. Murray Smyth (R-Stone Head) has introduced an amendment to a bill that will make it a criminal act to enforce mask mandates including local business mandates. Smyth added the Amendment to SB4121.

"I don't believe people should be forced to wear masks. It's a violation of their Fourth Amendment rights," said Smyth. "Those face diapers are a form of government oppression."

In past years, Smyth has tried to make the bald eagle Indiana's state bird and ban the word "French Fries" from menus across the state.

It's also amazing that Smyth continues to file these amendments on April Fool's Day. Strange.

RIP The United States Constitution (1789-2021)

The United States Constitution died today in Washington, D.C. Donald Trump and his loyalists killed it.

The founding document took a fatal blow today when 43 of Donald Trump's nearest and dearest friends voted to acquit him of inciting the January 6 riots at the Capitol. That's 43 Senators who raised their hands and took an oath to defend the United States Constitution who chose to look the other way while Donald Trump was allowed to trample it.

Well, I guess Donald Trump did something that even the strongest militaries have yet to do. He beat the Constitution. For all the high and mighty talk about how the GOP values the "rule of law" the only ones standing up for our founding ideas were moderate conservatives, independents and Democrats. There were 57 patriots who did their duty. The other 43 did Trump's bidding.

I mean, inciting an insurrection is about as bad as it gets. Next time, if Trump or someone of his ilk is in office, why leave your fate in the hands of an angry mob? Next time, he'd might as well put tanks on Pennsylvania Avenue Roll them right up there. After all, would the vote really change? Could we get 67 Senators to agree that's inappropriate?

While I'm being a bit hyperbolic here, I just have to wonder. Maybe it's not too late to save this thing. Maybe the Constitution is on life support and we can bring it back.

For now, I'm disgusted, and I'm honestly ready to pack it in on politics. If the most sacred of our founding documents is allowed to be open to the whim of one man, what good is any of this?

Braun Disgraces Great Indiana Senate Legacy by Supporting Election Protest

Senator Stereotypical Modern Republican

We all knew that Mike Braun was an empty shirt. He was "stereotypical modern Republican" in central casting.

Today, it was confirmed that he is "stereotypical modern Republican" as he has chosen to join the certain-to-be fruitless and patriotically-bankrupt challenge of the clear victory of Joe Biden over Donald Trump. 

To quote Barack Obama, "Let me be clear," Joe Biden won the election on November 3. Months of challenges haven't changed the election results, and whatever Lin Wood and the rest of the so-called "Dream Team" of Trump lackeys can dream up for January 6 won't change them either.

On January 20, 2021, Joe Biden will raise his right hand and be sworn in as the 46th President of the United States. "Stereotypical modern Republicans" have had the chance to do what traditional Republicans and Democrats and anyone else who cares about this country have done for years: rally, at least ceremonially, behind the new President because that's what we bank on here. The United States doesn't do drama when it comes to the peaceful transition to power. We have had bumpy roads, but, for the most part, it's gone down this way for the entire history of our country. I hope it will go this way for the future, but I'm worried.

What's disturbing is that Indiana has had some impressive Senators when you look at modern history. Vance Hartke and Dan Coats were both respected voices. Joe Donnelly did great work in his six years. Birch Bayh authored multiple amendments to the United States Constitution and redefined gender equality with Title IX. Richard Lugar put country and state over himself and his Republican Party many times. Mike Braun has sadly not lived up to any of these legacies. Not even close. 

Mike Braun must be sent home by voters in 2024. Braun has chosen himself and his perceived future political future over this country's long tradition of a peaceful transition of power. He's given air to the ridiculous fire of conspiracy theories and discord dividing our country. Worst of all, he's doing it in MY NAME because he represents ME in the Senate.

Remember this day when you're not sure about who the Democrats put up in 2024 even if you have to hold your nose to vote for Braun's opponent. I love my country more than I love my party. I am a Hoosier, but I am an American first. 

Mike Braun must be defeated in 2024. The empty blue shirt must be retired to his Southern Indiana home where he can do no more damage to our democracy.