WEEKLY COLUMN ARCHIVES
When knowledge is the enemy, greatness is impossible
In the 1983 classic film, “Trading Places,” Louis Winthorpe III and Billy Ray Valentine are victims of a scientific experiment that is thrust upon them by the elite bosses of a Philadelphia commodities brokerage. Winthorpe is a young, snobby broker at the firm, with...
Braun fails Indiana’s hungry, and the buck stops somewhere else
Bureaucracy is a word that is often used as an excuse. It is the bogeyman that serves as the source of mysterious and insurmountable odds preventing government from delivering the obvious good and right things to its people. Why are the streets in Indianapolis so...
‘The Talk’ won’t get us through the evil of ICE’s mask-wearing
In the opening scene of the film, “The Hate U Give,” a father is having The Talk with his two young children. It is a common discussion Black families have in America to prepare for the inevitable contact with law enforcement they will face, and how to stay safe in...
Graduation comes so fast we don’t have time for pretending
In “Mother Night,” Kurt Vonnegut wrote: “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.” I might add: “And for how long.” I was invited to join a small group of students last week to celebrate the completion of their undergraduate...
Stories endangering women and civil rights are like ships passing in the night
Since the measure was first coined by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1933, the “First 100 Days” is the standard we exclusively give new presidents “as a symbolic window to set the tone” of their administration. “It represents a kind of political version of a first...
Tariff madness is hanging Indiana, no matter how Braun spins it
I have often wondered where the phrase “spinning a yarn” came from, and what differentiates the descriptive from the blunter, “making stuff up.” This week’s absurd spin, courtesy of Indiana Gov. Mike Braun, finally inspired me to do a little search for it....
Nobody is safe in America, not from America, not anymore
“Bridge of Spies” is a 2015 movie about an insurance attorney, James Donovan, who finds himself representing a Soviet spy, Rudolph Abel, in a highly publicized espionage trial in 1957. Yes, it’s directed by Steven Spielberg, and Tom Hanks stars in it, so, of course,...
Jim Banks’ mad handing is no coincidence; it’s a modern, political aspiration
The term “glad handing” appeared in the American vernacular at the beginning of the 20th century, through the phrase, “to give the glad hand,” or extend a welcome. But that type of welcome has generally come with a twist, an intention, or an agenda. Merriam-Webster...
Liberals’ ‘abundance agenda’ takes time to absorb, but it’s worth it
A friend sent me a link to an episode of “Pod Save America” on Sunday with the short message, “This is worth your time.” The podcast is a favorite among the left, hosted by a small group of former Obama advisers who describe the show as being for people “who are not...
John Green’s ‘Everything is Tuberculosis’ is a tragic story of injustice
Henry Reider is a young man from Sierra Leone who recently and miraculously survived tuberculosis. Using the words “recently” and “miraculously” to describe his recovery from a disease that has had a preventive vaccine since 1921 and a cure since 1943 is reason enough...
With America at war with itself, Democrats should revisit the art of it
Sun Tzu, the former Chinese general, military strategist and philosopher, is known for his treatise, “The Art of War.” It’s remarkable how valuable the writings, believed to have been written in the 5th century BC, continue to be today. Forget the arguments about...
Jason Isbell and Amanda Zurawski both declare ‘it’s time to be brave’
I teach storytelling, though the official titles of the classes are things like presentations, writing or speech for business. But on the first day of school in all of my classes, I put a slide on the screen with this quote from the late Steve Jobs: “The most powerful...