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Thursday, July 29, 2021

The end of the old Republican internationalist order

Wednesday, November 27, 2019 9:43 AM

INDIANAPOLIS – The spook’s eyes at the Londonskaya Hotel bar burned holes in me. Every time I glanced in his direction, they were trained on me. I had entered Odessa, Ukraine as part of the last hurrah of Sen. Richard Lugar’s old Republican internationalist order in this pre-partitioned nation.

It was 2007. Vladimir Putin held only shadow power in the old Soviet remnants. His fractured standing belied a reeling nation, the former Soviet Union, in steep demographic decline. High rates of alcoholism, suicide and plunging birth rates defined this former empire. Donald Trump was a gadfly, wannabe presidential aspirant who owned a couple of Gary riverboat casinos and a New York real estate empire.

It would have been impossible to foresee how this churn of events would play out a dozen years later in Moscow, Kiev, Washington and even Indianapolis. The old Republican internationalist order that once thrived in Indiana has ended, begging the question in the emergent era of the Trump cult of personality, so what if it has?

The Indiana aspect of this story can be told through the hyper-supplicant Pences, with the vice president accepting full ownership of that cult; and Indiana’s two Republican senators, Mike Braun, who owes his station to Trump, and Todd Young, a former Lugar staffer who, had he taken a different career path, might have found himself briefing the Senate in a manner similar to Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman. Last week Vindman, former Ukrainian ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, and State Department Ukrainian expert Dr. Fiona Hill testified before Congress of a disinformation campaign echoing Putin’s Kremlin that it was the Ukrainians, not the Russians, who meddled in the 2016 US elections. The Republican senators received a briefing on the Ukrainian fiction as multiple sources discredited the story. In the wake of the sensational impeachment testimony which appears not to have swayed public opinion, the question for Hoosier voters remains, does it matter? Do people care? I don’t think they do. Hoosier voters appear to be giving President Trump the benefit of the doubt, preferring to decide his future at the ballot box next year. Two recent polls in Indiana, the Old National/Ball State and Bowen Center poll, put Trump’s approval at 52%, while a Morning Consult poll had Trump’s Indiana approval at 50%.

Brian Howey: 'Personal responsibility' in a rebounding pandemic

INDIANAPOLIS – I didn’t see this coming. I figured that most Hoosiers would jump at the chance to get the COVID vaccine; that the anti-vaxers made up only about 5 or 10% of the population, as any school administrator could confirm regarding those who don’t want to comply with RMM vaccine requirements that have been in place for decades. Ditto for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who said today, “Honestly, it never occurred to me we would have difficulty getting people to take the vaccine.” But now at a time when the pandemic was supposed to be disappearing in the rearview mirror, Tuesday’s Indiana State Department of Health report showed 1,085 new cases, the first time it’s been over 1,000 since May 8. On Wednesday that grew to 1,248 cases with 12 deaths. The seven-day positivity rate, which runs a week behind, continues a month-long climb to 6.3%, the highest since Feb. 9, with some 15 counties over 10%. According to CDC stats as of Tuesday, only 58% of Hoosiers age 18 and up had received one dose of the vaccine which rank us 12th in the nation; only 54.9% had received both doses. In a state of 6.7 million people, less than three million have been vaccinated. In the U.S., the numbers were these: 69% for one dose, 60% for both. A frustrated U.S. Rep. Larry Bucshon, MD, tweeted Wednesday: “New CDC recommendations on masking are not based on science but instead based on politics including kowtowing to teachers unions. The problem is tens of millions of Americans are unvaccinated. Vaccinated people are very rarely spreading the virus. When does it end? Never?” While Gov. Eric Holcomb had received near universal credit for dealing with this unprecedented modern pandemic, he’s maintained a much lower profile this summer.
Brian Howey: Our 'leaders' are flunking the Jan. 6 insurrection civics test

INDIANAPOLIS – The catastrophic events prior to the Sept. 11 foreign terror attacks at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the demise of Flight 93 in Pennsylvania occurred in a time of consequential political instability. The 2000 president election between Texas Gov. George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore was a virtual tie, and wasn't decided until the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Florida recount on behalf of the governor. Gore was understandably dejected, but conceded on Dec. 13, saying, "I accept the finality of the outcome, which will be ratified next Monday in the Electoral College. And tonight, for the sake of our unity as a people and the strength of our democracy, I offer my concession.” Ten months later came the terror attacks that killed more than 3,000 Americans. In 2002, President Bush created an independent commission to study what happened and make recommendations to shore up the nation's defenses. He ultimately chose former Republican New Jersey Gov. Tom Keane to chair the commission, Indiana Democratic U.S. Rep. Lee Hamilton as vice chair, and former Hoosier congressman Tim Roemer to join the commission that included former senators, governors, a former Navy secretary and a former White House counsel.
Brian Howey: Field of dreams fantasies brewing on Chicago's South Side

INDIANAPOLIS – Pandemic. Wildfires. Floods. Pestilence. Violence. Gridlock. Coup d'etats, Political intrigue. We need a break. It's time for this former sports writer to bring you some baseball. Some five miles beyond Hammond on the Dan Ryan Expressway is the home of the Chicago White Sox, the closest Major League Baseball team to Indiana. Some 101 years after the World Series Black Sox scandal ended the careers of eight star players, the ChiSox find themselves eight games up in first place in the American League's Central Division. Back in 1919, the young White Sox were poised to become a dynasty (they had won the World Series in 1917). But legendary sportswriters Ring Lardner and Hugh Fullerton figured out the fix was in in their series against the Cincinnati Red, and the new Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis (who grew up in Indiana) forever banned Shoeless Joe Jackson, Ed Cicotte, Swede Risberg, Lefty Williams and others. The scandal inspired two movies - "Eight Men Out" in 1987 (starring John Cusack, Charlie Sheen, Chicago author Studs Terkel and a bit part by then-Goshen Mayor Max Chiddister) and was filmed at Bush Stadium in Indianapolis. Two years later came "Field of Dreams" starring Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones, Ray Liotta and Burt Lancaster. Had the Black Sox scandal not happened, the New York Yankee "Murderers Row" dynasty of the 1920s might not have been as prolific. Instead, it cast the franchise into 90 years of funk until they finally ended the drought with the 2005 World Series title.
Brian Howey: When we refuse to accept the results of a free and fair election . . .

INDIANAPOLIS – One of the most vivid moments of my fatherhood was sitting in the woods one hot early July day on the Gettysburg battleground between Devil’s Den and Little Round Top, watching my two sons climb up what became the most important strategic heights of the American Civil War and a turning point for civilization. Had the Union lost at Gettysburg, the political will of the North to continue would have evaporated. There would have likely been a United States of America, the Confederate States of America, the Republic of Texas and, perhaps, a half dozen other nations. There would have been nations with slavery, regional wars, and the accompanying Pandora's Box of atrocity and horror. While raising my sons, there were the normal parental concerns sending them off to war on a foreign battlefield, but up until now, the notion that they face a second American civil war seemed far-fetched. In the America we grew up in, the regional battles young Hoosiers waged against Alabama and Texas took place on football fields, basketball courts and baseball diamonds. Ominously, that is changing. When a significant portion of one of our two main political parties refuses to accept the results of a presidential election, that calls into doubt the fragile American experiment.
Brian Howey: Trump's second inaugural

INDIANAPOLIS – Save the date! Donald Trump’s Second Inaugural is set for Aug. 15, “in front of the U.S. Capitol Steps.” There is a delicious irony in that, with Trump’s second inaugural scheduled some eight months and nine days after what his new spokeswoman, Liz Harrington described not as an ‘insurrection,” but as a “peaceful protest.” “You had January 6,” Harrington said. “They opened the door to the Capitol … it’s not an easy building to get into ... They opened the door and people walked through. Some people just walked in. And now they are being kept for misdemeanors in some political jail. What is happening here? What about the people who burned down St. John’s Church?” Fox News host Tucker Carlson noted that some of the people who simply walked through the door have been branded “unindicted co-conspirators.” Carlson: “What does that mean? In potentially every single case they were FBI operatives” who were “organizing the attacks on Jan. 6, according to government documents.” Huh?
Brian Howey: We may know results of Biden warning to Putin when Moscow lights flicker

INDIANAPOLIS - After the City of Gary was hit with a cyber ransomware attack, it had to rebuild its servers. LaPorte County ended up paying cyber criminals $132,000 after it was hit with ransomware. Lake County government, Eastern Hancock schools and a hospital in Greenfield have been victims, as has the City of Carmel, and Lawrence County. Lawrence County officials, including the sheriff and county commissioners put out this statement: "On February 7, 2020, we discovered that certain systems and services within Lawrence County Government were rendered inoperable due to a ransomware event. As soon as we became aware of this, we immediately took steps to secure our network and commenced an investigation to determine what happened. We are working with the appropriate state authorities to try to resolve this incident. In addition, leading third party experts have been engaged to assist with our response to this incident." Earlier this month, CNN's Jake Tapper asked U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm if cyber criminals had the capability to shut down the U.S. power grid. “Yeah, they do,” Granholm responded. “There are very malign actors who are trying, even as we speak. There are thousands of attacks on all aspects of the energy sector and the private sector generally. It’s happening all the time. This is why the private sector and the public sector have to work together."
Brian Howey: Young's Endless Frontier passes Senate

INDIANAPOLIS – U.S. Sen. Todd Young was feeling it at the Kosciusko County Republican Lincoln Dinner, so much so that he coaxed the crowd into doing a stadium-style wave. “I’m in front of, what I perceive to be, the most motivated, the most energized, the most fired-up group of Republicans I’ve visited with since this COVID pandemic descended upon our country. Folks, we are fired up!” the Warsaw Times-Union quoted the senator. He had reason to be jubilant. Five days later, the U.S. Senate passed the Endless Frontier Act that he sponsored with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, 68-32. The New York Times calls it “the most expansive industrial policy legislation in U.S. history, blowing past partisan divisions over government support for private industry to embrace a nearly quarter-trillion-dollar investment in building up America’s manufacturing and technological edge.” It is Young’s most important piece of legislation since joining Congress in 2011 and the Senate in 2017.
Brian Howey: The politicized vaccine

INDIANAPOLIS – For the first time in history, the president of the United States promised Americans “free beer.” This isn’t one of those “Free beer … tomorrow” signs that adorn a few Hoosier restaurants and taverns. It was President Biden seeking to lure hesitant Americans to get the COVID-19 vaccine after Anheuser Busch offered free brew to gin up vaccine rates. "Get a shot and have a beer," Biden said on Wednesday as he sought to convince enough Americans to achieve what epidemiologists have termed "herd immunity" in an effort to put this pandemic behind us. "Free beer for everyone 21 years or over to celebrate the independence from the virus," Biden said, seeking that elusive 70% penetration needed for herd immunity. In Ohio, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine opted for a “Vax a Million” lottery, spurring vaccination rates up 77%, or more than 68,000 per week. Many of us thought that the Nobel Prize-level scientific achievement of producing a vaccine in less than a year that is up to 95% efficacy would be the way to get this pandemic out of our lives, our schools, our businesses, out of our stadiums. But at this writing, Indiana has just 45.5% of its residents who have received at least one vaccine dose.
Brian Howey: The GOP capitulation over creating the Jan. 6 commission

COLUMBIA, Md. –- There’s a reason U.S. Sen. Todd Young has been fanning out across Indiana, meeting with policemen and sheriff deputies in recent weeks. He’s up for reelection next year, but he will likely be confronted with some controversies over the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. According to multiple media reports, about 140 U.S. Capitol and Washington Metropolitan PD officers were injured by the mob inspired by President Trump. They suffered injuries ranging from a lost eye, cracked ribs, severed fingers, smashed spinal disks, heart attacks after being repeatedly tased by their own weapons, to dozens of concussions. Some 38 Capitol Police employees have tested positive for COVID-19 since the attack, almost all of them had responded to the riot. “I have officers who were not issued helmets prior to the attack who have sustained head injuries,” said the Capitol Police officer’s union chairman, Gus Papathanasiou to the Police1 website. “One officer has two cracked ribs and two smashed spinal discs and another was stabbed with a metal fence stake, to name some of the injuries. The officers are angry, and I don’t blame them. The entire executive team failed us, and they must be held accountable.” In the days and weeks that followed, here’s what House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said, urging a congressional censure of Trump: “The president bears responsibility for Wednesday’s attack on Congress by mob rioters."
Brian Howey: Hoovering out the Grand Old Party

INDIANAPOLIS – What we’re watching these peculiar days on the Washington to Mar-a-Lago axis isn’t so much Rep. Adam Kinzinger’s “rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic,” but more of a Hoovering out of the Grand Old Party. But first, a bit of family history. My Grandma Cunningham used to delight the family by saying she only voted in one election in her life: 1928. She voted for Herbert Hoover. “And then look what happened,” she would say. President Trump continues to have a D.C. Stephenson-like hold on the GOP, despite becoming the first president ever to lose the House and Senate majorities (the latter coming on Jan. 5 with the spectacular loss of two Georgia seats), going 1-for-2 in presidential races while never carrying the popular vote. You would think that trifecta would have prompted Jim Banks, Jackie Walorski and Todd Young to reproduce their 10-foot poles when it comes to enlisting the future of the GOP with Trump, particularly after the Trump-inspired Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol that killed five people and injured 130 cops that won’t play well in suburbia. Banks, Walorski and their Hoosier delegation colleagues are about to dispatch U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney from her party post because she keeps conjuring the bad B-roll from the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Brian Howey: The key to vaccination and return to normal may be Trump

INDIANAPOLIS - Your odds of being killed in a car crash are one in 102; being struck by lightning, one in 15,300; dying in a plane crash, one in 205,000; being eaten by a shark, one in 4 million; or dying in a tornado, one in 5.6 million. Your odds of developing a blood clot by taking the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine: Extremely unlikely. According to Reuters out of more than 8 million J&J vaccines given, only 17 developed a clot. I go over these morbidity figures as the Center of Disease Control reported earlier this week that just 25.4% of Hoosiers have been vaccinated, ranking 45th in the United States, while the Indiana State Department of Health puts it at 26.4%. Neighboring Michigan has turned into a COVID hotspot, with emergency rooms swamped with younger patients. It's encroaching into Northern Indiana, with hospitals in Elkhart and Goshen at capacity, while statewide hospitalizations were up 50% since March. Late last year, Indiana health officials were giddy over what has become a modern scientific breakthrough on the scale of the World War II Manhattan Project, Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine, or putting an American astronaut on the moon eight years after President Kennedy issued the challenge. That breakthrough was the COVID-19 vaccination, coming within a year. Nobel Prizes will be awarded for this achievement. The more of us who get it means the days of social distancing, mask wearing, fanless stadiums, and closed schools and businesses would soon be over.
Brian Howey: Vaccine time bomb

INDIANAPOLIS – The headline under LaPorte Mayor Tom Dermody’s sunny, smiling face in the Herald-Dispatch was this: “LaPorte officials urge everyone to get COVID-19 vaccine: ‘We’re not trying to be political.’” It’s headlines like this that really make me wonder whether the human race, which has been around in our evolutionary state for only about 10,000 years, is going to last more than the next century or two. Here we stand amidst a modern scientific medical miracle: The development, testing and implementation of a COVID-19 vaccine within a year. And what we face as a society is what is being called the “hard part,” which is getting the vaccine into the arms of about 50% of the population who have yet to receive a dose. A Monmouth Poll last week revealed “partisanship” remains the main distinguishing factor among those who want to avoid the vaccine altogether, with 43% of Republicans versus just 5% of Democrats saying this (along with 22% of independents). This “vaccine hesitancy” demographic is poised to prevent the U.S. from attaining “herd immunity.” As COVID-19 mutates and morphs, the nasty scenario is what is happening in Michigan, which has a higher inoculation rate than Indiana, but finds its emergency rooms swamped with COVID patients, becomes the norm.
Brian Howey: Indiana’s ‘Super Majority Era’ altering power balance

INDIANAPOLIS – We are now in the “Super Majority Era” of Indiana governance. While there have been 20 Democratic House and Senate super majorities, and 49 for Republicans over the past two centuries, never have these decks been stacked like they are today with both chambers so Republican that they can do business without a single Democrat present. According to former speakers Brian Bosma and John Gregg, current Speaker Todd Huston and Senate President Pro Tempore Rod Bray are working with caucuses that are too big, with the bipartisan filters removed. As the General Assembly heads toward an April 21 sine die, Huston and Bray are attempting to shepherd their super majority caucuses (39 in the Senate, 71 in the House) on an array of issues that could alter the state’s future pandemic responses, how it deals with municipalities and manages its natural resources ranging from wetlands, to CAFOs, to 5G cell tower siting, local ordinances, as well as abortion.
Brian Howey: Gods and life at the Center of the Basketball Universe

INDIANAPOLIS – If there was a silver lining after a horrible year of pandemic, it was that the Hoosier Hoops Holyland and its ancient cathedral (Hinkle Fieldhouse, among other venues) would become the Center of the Basketball Universe during March Madness. The pandemic has been a cruel arbiter. When it surfaced in March 2020, games were literally ended at halftime, Butler’s Bulldogs had been ranked No.5 in the nation just a month before, and Indiana Coach Archie Miller was looking at his first tournament in three years at the helm. There would be no crowned champion. By the time the Pandemic March Madness unfolded last month, ominous trends began to emerge. Purdue was the lone state team to make the field. Archie Miller had been fired. Brad Stevens wasn’t interested in a move to Bloomington, even though his eighth year at the helm of the Boston Celtics was underwhelming, fueling speculation of dismissal. The pandemic field was not only missing IU, but Duke and Kentucky as well. Kansas and North Carolina missed the Sweet 16. For the next two weeks, it appeared the basketball gods were punking us. Purdue continued its March Madness futility, losing to tough North Texas State, ruining about 90% of brackets in the state. Half the IU team had entered the transfer portal. The powerful Big Ten’s nine entries quickly faded despite early round games at familiar Assembly Hall and Mackey Arena. And when the Final Four was forged, who showed up? Houston Coach Kelvin Sampson, who had been the poster boy of IU’s post-1987 futility. But then the clouds parted, a shaft of sunlight appeared, and angels began singing. Gene Keady showed up for a reunion at Bob Knight’s new Bloomington digs. Mike Woodson was lured away from the New York Knicks to take the helm at IU, pleasing The General.
Brian Howey: Battle over Governor's emergency authority at hand

INDIANAPOLIS – During the television age of Indiana politics, the General Assembly had been a pipeline of future governors. Govs. Harold Handley, Matt Welsh, Edgar Whitcomb, Doc Bowen, Robert Orr and Frank O’Bannon had all spent time in the dual “Cave of Winds” on the Statehouse third floor during a 40-year span. But five out of the last six governors had arrived at power via other routes, whether it was Secretary of State Evan Bayh, Lt. Gov. Joe Kernan (a former mayor of South Bend), White House Budget Director Mitch Daniels, Congressman Mike Pence or Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb. As I look out over the current General Assembly roster, only a handful appear to have the resume and a feel for the people’s pulse needed for the job, as well as a penchant for leadership. This is relevant now because the gubernatorial power is being challenged a year into the current COVID-19 pandemic. At least two bills - House Bill 1123 and Senate Bill 407 - are in play during the final three weeks of the current session that would clip the governor’s authority. HB 1123 (now Senate Bill 5) would allow for the General Assembly’s Legislative Council to convene a special session to deal with an emergency. It would provide for businesses and individuals to appeal any “enforcement action” taken by local health departments during emergencies.
Brian Howey: Chairman Schmuhl seeks to end Hupfer's GOP winning streak

INDIANAPOLIS – Three days after he was elected chair of the Indiana Democratic Party last weekend, Mike Schmuhl explained, “I feel like a basketball coach who hasn’t been to the tournament in a while. I’ve got to get the team back in the tourney, man, and then we’ll go from there.” Not since 2012, when Joe Donnelly won a U.S. Senate seat and Glenda Ritz upset Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett, has a Hoosier Democrat won a statewide race. In about 21 months, he will meet up with the legacy of Republican Chairman Kyle Hupfer, who is riding the kind of winning streak that legendary UCLA coach John Wooden would appreciate. Hupfer was unanimously elected to a second term on Wednesday and is considered a potential 2024 gubernatorial contender himself. Hoosier Republicans now control 88% of all county elected offices, all of the Statehouse constitutional offices, nine out of 11 congressional offices, 71 mayoral offices after a record 19-office increase in 2019, while it has maintained super majorities in the General Assembly.
Brian Howey: Trump urges vaccine as best way to put pandemic behind us

INDIANAPOLIS - Former president Donald Trump was asked by Fox News Maria Bartiromo whether he believes his supporters should get the COVID-19 vaccine. “I would recommend the vaccine," said Trump, who received the inoculation in January before leaving office. "And I would recommend it to a lot of people who don’t want to get it, and a lot of those people voted for me, frankly.” Last week, a Monmouth University poll found that 56% of Republicans either wanted to wait and see further before getting a vaccine or said they will likely never get one, compared to just 23% of Democrats. A NPR/PBS/Marist found 47% of Trump voters and 41% of Republicans said they will not get the vaccine. Trump joins President Biden and former presidents Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush and Barack Obama in getting vaccinated. Those three former presidents along with former vice president Mike Pence, Gov. Eric Holcomb, Senate President Rod Bray, Senate Minority Leader Greg Taylor and State Rep. Robin Shackleford, who heads the Indiana Black Legislative Caucus, have joined the ranks of leaders who are publicly demonstrating that the three available vaccines are safe and effective. There is a sense of urgency on this vaccination front. The more people who get it, the closer that Indiana and U.S. gets to "herd immunity" and the chance to put this terrible pandemic behind us once and for all.
Brian Howey: Why Donnelly is taking a pass on challenging Sen. Young in 2022

INDIANAPOLIS — U.S. Sen. Todd Young is a political death star when he’s matched up against an opponent of congressional pedigree. In 2010, he won a four-way Republican primary by defeating former congressman Mike Sodrel. His victory nearly wiped out his campaign war chest, but he raised $357,000 in the third quarter and overcame a $700,000 cash disadvantage to defeat Democrat U.S. Rep. Baron Hill, 52-42% in the autumn. In the 2016 U.S. Senate primary, he defeated Republican U.S. Rep. Marlin Stutzman 67-33%. He figured he would face Hill again, but that July the Democrat stepped aside, former governor and senator Evan Bayh took his place with $10 million he had hoarded since he left the Senate six years earlier, and lost to Young by a 10-point margin. The worst kept secret was that Young would seek a second Senate term, announcing on Twitter and YouTube last week, “When you entrusted me the honor of serving you five years ago, I swore an oath to defend the constitution. I also pledged to you that I would work on behalf of all Hoosiers to deliver conservative results. I believe I’ve lived up to that and kept my word but more work remains, so today I’m announcing my reelection campaign.” With Young officially in the race, the next question would be, who will challenge this Republican? The obvious answer was former senator Joe Donnelly. His former campaign manager, Mike Schmuhl, is running for Indiana Democratic Party chair against Trish Whitcomb with Donnelly’s imprimatur.
Brian Howey: A year of COVID-19 (and light at the end of the tunnel)

INDIANAPOLIS - It was a year ago Saturday that the first Hoosier was stricken with what has become our 21st Century nightmare, COVID-19. Ten days later Roberta “Birdie” Shelton became the first known death, dying alone in a pandemic that came quickly and with great mystery. Now, some 12,633 Hoosier deaths later (and more than 517,000 nationally), we are seeing what has been widely described as a "light at the end of the tunnel." Earlier this week, the millionth Hoosier took what is nothing short of a modern miracle, a vaccination developed and tested in less than a year that is guaranteed to keep you out of the hospital and an early grave. Gov. Eric Holcomb was asked by a Brown County Democrat reporter how we will know when the pandemic is over. "It's an almost impossible question to answer because we don't know," he responded. "What we do know is we have more control now than ever, and it's paying off. In previous surges, we didn't have a vaccination to bring down those hospitalization rates and deaths. Now we do."
Brian Howey: Statehouse racial row was two centuries in the making

INDIANAPOLIS — For the past four decades, I've covered the Indiana General Assembly as a reporter and monitored it as a columnist and publisher. What occurred on the House floor and out in the Statehouse hallways last week has been described as a "racial" clash. And I will tell you upfront that while there has been racial tension throughout Indiana's two centuries of statehood, this is the first time in my memory that it bubbled up so publicly at the Statehouse. It appears to have begun during a debate about a St. Joseph County school transportation bill with State Rep. Greg Porter, D-Indianapolis, objecting and then walking off the House floor. State Rep. Vernon Smith of Gary had declared the United States to be a "racist nation." That was met with booing and catcalls, with Republican State Rep. Jim Lucas stalking off the House floor. Multiple reports described a hallway shouting match between State Reps. Sean Eberhart, R-Shelbyville, and Vanessa Summers, D-Indianapolis. "Everybody over there is racist and discriminatory," Summers told the IndyStar of House Republicans. "Those that aren't and are not standing up for what's right, they’ve got white privilege and they’re racist too." Rep. Lucas's involvement came after he had posted several racially-motivated memes on his Facebook page as recently as last summer. This came under the first-year leadership of House Speaker Todd Huston, R-Fishers, who quickly described himself as "embarrassed" by the incident, adding, "I’m committed today to increase focus on maintaining decorum, civility and professionalism in this institution.”

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Dr. Carroll on 'different pandemics'

“To suggest that Covid-19 is an escalating emergency in the United States is not quite right. The truth is that the vaccinated and unvaccinated are experiencing two very different pandemics right now. If we don’t confront that, the nation can’t address either appropriately.” - Dr. Aaron E. Carroll, chief health officer for Indiana University, in his New York Times column "Covid is now a crisis for the unvaccinated" on Wednesday.

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