John Krull commentary: Indiana lawmakers keep their eyes on the prize
The 2023 legislative session of the Indiana General Assembly has ended. It was a long march, one filled with hardship for the lawmakers. There were times during the four months of their labors that the legislators came perilously close to running out of innocent Hoosiers they cou “...”
John Krull commentary: Indiana’s lawmakers play kiss the ring with the NRA
Just when it seems as though the lawmakers in the Indiana General Assembly have demonstrated they are as far removed from reality as is humanly possible, they find another level. A new dimension of delusion and detachment from real people’s lives. On the same day that another m “...”
John Krull commentary: The Tennessee Three’s lesson about government
Just as night follows day, political power unjustly acquired inevitably will become political power unjustly exerted. The eyes of the nation and the world these days are on Tennessee’s House of Representatives. That chamber voted to expel two members, Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashv “...”
John Krull commentary: The wrong we do will live on
Some unfortunate moments and dumb acts are merely reasons to feel regret. Some, though, become enduring sources of shame. The measure approved by the Indiana General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Eric Holcomb banning gender-affirming care for minors falls into the latter c “...”
Lee Hamilton commentary: Why trustworthiness matters in our democracy
Early this year, the Gallup organization came out with a survey of Americans on how they view the ethics of various professions. Nurses ranked at the top. Doctors, pharmacists, and high school teachers did well, too. Real estate agents and bankers were considered about average. “...”
John Krull commentary: What’s around the corner isn’t good
Jeff Smulyan delivered the line almost as a throwaway, but it had a sting. Speaking at an Economic Club Luncheon in Indianapolis, Smulyan, the founder and CEO of Emmis Corp., referred to the Indiana General Assembly’s obsession with punishing a small minority of Hoosiers. Smuly “...”
John Krull commentary: Todd Rokita, and the hole that goes all the way to China
Shovel salespeople must love Todd Rokita. Whenever Indiana’s attorney general digs himself into a hole, his response is to just keep scooping. It’s hard to know whether short-sightedness or some compulsion toward self-destructiveness drives this tendency of Rokita’s, but it “...”
Lee Hamilton commentary: Being a good citizen is a lot harder than it used to be
Wednesday, March 08, 2023 A couple of decades ago, I wrote a book in which I talked about what it takes to be a good citizen in a representative democracy like ours. I thought the principles I laid out were timeless, but I recently reread them and boy, they seem a lot less clear- “...”
John Krull commentary: The incredible shrinking Indiana GOP
As they reached the halfway point of the 2023 legislative session, the members of the Indiana General Assembly made their priorities clear. They focused inordinate amounts of time and energy on making the already difficult lives of transgender students even harder, keeping studen “...”
John Krull commentary: A new slogan for Indiana politicians
The members of the Indiana General Assembly possess a real passion for solving problems that don’t exist or that they created themselves. Real problems, on the other hand, they pretend not to see. The push to pass a measure modeled after Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law is “...”