Indiana has a Republican state representative named Jim Lucas. Lucas has a history of quite overt racism (among other things, he’s posted a noose to a story about a black man accused of rape), and a few days ago posted to Facebook a truly disgusting picture of black babies, in diapers and with exaggerated features, dancing and singing “we gon’ to get free money.” It was a meme straight out of the 1950s South–and so patently offensive that a few Republican officeholders (for the first time) offered tepid condemnations.
If Lucas was an aberration, that would be one thing. But he seems to be genuinely representative of his party and district. Our daughter says that when she needs to break out of her own Facebook “bubble,” she checks out Lucas’ Facebook page and is always appalled at what he and his constituents evidently feel is appropriate to post there.
Lucas is right at home in today’s GOP. As we see the 2020 Presidential race shaping up, it is impossible to ignore the evidence: the party of Lincoln has become the party of white supremacy.
Trump quite clearly intends to run on his “Obamagate” conspiracy theory, hoping that it will both distract from his disastrous bungling of the pandemic and once again solidify his racist base.
Let’s look at the signs.
When the FBI confiscated Richard Burr’s phone, pundits left and right saw it as the beginning of a justifiable effort to punish what was widely seen as Burr’s insider trading. They ignored the fact that there was no similar raid on Senators Loeffler or Feinstein, despite the fact that both had also made suspicious trades. Burr, however, had done something far worse; he had presided over the Senate Intelligence Committee’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election–and had been instrumental in the issuance of preliminary reports confirming that interference.
Thanks to Barr’s Justice Department raid, Burr has now stepped aside, and his replacement will be selected by Mitch McConnell. It is widely anticipated that the final volume of the Intelligence Committee report will be “amended.”
Meanwhile, lapdog Lindsey Graham is conducting a separate Senate “investigation” of Trump’s “Obamagate” fabrications.
It’s true that Trump is unable to articulate exactly what he is accusing the Obama folks of doing, other than investigating Intelligence reports that found Russia had interfered with the election. It’s also true that there is absolutely no evidence that the investigation was in any way improper. Of course, the fact that Hillary Clinton had been cleared of any intentional wrongdoing–or any breach of security–didn’t stop “but her emails.”
And Obama’s black. Allegations confirmed!
Trump began his campaign with birtherism. He called Mexicans “murderers and rapists” at his announcement. He’s been endorsed by David Duke and Neo-Nazis. Ergo, you can expect “Obamagate” to be embraced by what is left of the Republican Party–the party of Jim Lucas.
Think I’m exaggerating? Think “nice” Republicans are distancing themselves from the racist messaging?
As the Indiana primary approaches, we’ve been “treated” to political spots from local candidates for the GOP nomination in the 5th district. (Some 14 candidates are vying for the GOP’s nomination in that district–it’s an open seat.) The candidate spots I’ve seen range from stupid to offensive. None are as overtly racist as Lucas; instead, they all include an explicit pledge of devotion to Trump–the current “dog whistle” for Trumpian bigotries. The absolute worst is one by a sanctimonious woman named Victoria Spartz, whose ad says she was born in the Soviet Union so she understands how awful socialism is (!), and touts her endorsements by both Right to Life and the NRA. Irony is dead.
The Republican Party I served for 35 years is also dead. The many good people I worked with have conceded defeat and abandoned the field, leaving the Cult of Trump to the Jim Lucases, William Barrs, Mitch McConnells and their clones.
In November, we’ll see whether Trump’s “Johnny One Note” campaign strategy–White Nationalism focused on his still-seething racist resentment of Obama–still works.
If no REAL opposition to Trump is created, white nationalism will be stronger by November. It is now working “like a charm.” The Trump presidency represents the culmination of a “Third Force” that is not, presently, being challenged other than by worthless platitudes from the Democratic Party.
See: “Germans and Jews: The Right, the Left, and the Search for a “Third Force” in Pre-Nazi Germany” by George L. Mosse (Grosset & Dunlap, New York, 1970).
Spartz apparently cannot differentiate socialism from communism.
And isn’t it interesting that Brizzi is running for Marion County Prosecutor again after having his attorney license lifted by the Indiana Supreme Court for 30 days. His television ad says nothing about his qualifications for prosecutor, only that he is hitching his wagon to Trump and supporting his war against China and building a wall. Is he actually running for Secretary of State? Is the wall along our border with Mexico or along the Pacific coast to protect us against China?
Hatred and animosity between various ethnic and national groups refuse to die, despite the best efforts of some, and the approval of others. The cycle of hate progresses ever more quickly, fed by ignorance, bigotry, and propaganda.
The Best efforts, are fewer and far between as this particular cycle of history moves forward. It emulates cycles of the past, so it shows how ignorance does not leave the human condition as the calendar moves forward exposing the lack of enlightenment, or the refusal to be enlightened!
Most of us appreciate the rich variety of food, music, and color as well as the many kinds of plants, birds, and animals. But somehow our appreciation of variety does not always carry over to people who do not think and act in the same way that we do. What benefit is there in reaching out to people whose culture differs from our own? How Could we break down walls to communication and replace them with bridges?
Christ said in his sermon on the mount, “Love Your Enemies!”
Matthew 5:44
44 However, I say to you: Continue to love your enemies and to pray for those who persecute you,
Matthew 5:21-24
21 “You heard that it was said to those of ancient times: ‘You must not murder, but whoever commits a murder will be accountable to the court of justice.’ 22 However, I say to you that everyone who continues wrathful with his brother will be accountable to the court of justice; and whoever addresses his brother with an unspeakable word of contempt will be accountable to the Supreme Court; whereas whoever says, ‘You despicable fool!’ will be liable to the fiery Ge·henʹna.23 “If, then, you are bringing your gift to the altar and there you remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar, and go away. First make your peace with your brother, and then come back and offer your gift.
In my younger days, it was much more difficult for me to let some of the things mentioned in Sheila’s article slide. I have had to endure some of those slings and arrows so to speak, especially when I was in my earlier grades of school. When I became older, I was vengeful, in certain cases, extremely so! But I’ve learned that that only promotes and propagates the cycle of hatred. It’s a shame that mortality cuts short the acquiring of wisdom and knowledge. Youth is wasted on the young, because the young have no wisdom, and youth definitely does not seem interested in listening to those who have acquired some of it from experience and knowledge. Because not only is youth wasted on the young, usually, also is your breath!
Romans 12:17, 18
17 Return evil for evil to no one. Take into consideration what is fine from the viewpoint of all men. 18 If possible, as far as it depends on you, be peaceable with all men.
So, for myself, I try! And even though I’m well aware of what is expected of me, sometimes I backslide! Not that I hate someone for their ethnicity, but my ire is raised by a sharp tongue directed towards my family and/or myself. To try and take Romans the 12th chapter and 17th and 18th verse to heart, can be a monumental task and a difficult test to faith. Because I know what the results can be if I give in to those little trolls whispering in my ear. Even to this day I stay completely prepared, and have to resist using those violent instinct and physical capabilities (weaponry). To go from violent instinct to having an intellectual and faithful and required detente and a tête-à-tête defuse a situation is the appropriate action.
Of course when it comes to my granddaughters or my wife, that course of action might be a little more difficult if it is overtly threatening.
So, for myself, I remain prayerful for strength, and forgiveness for actions un-becoming if they rear their ugly heads. I know there is a better way, and it’s taken me a good 40 years to try and change what bigots and ignorant conduct taught me in a couple of short years. It’s a shame and I wish it wasn’t so, and I will say, those bigots will have their comeuppance, not from a human source, but one much more powerful!
Philip,
As I recall, there was a pretty deep ideological war in Russia during their revolution, and the socialists got the messy end of that stick! I did have to laugh when I read what she had to say in the article, it just goes to show that you don’t have to have intellect to communicate with the ignorant!
Marv,
Once again, I have to find myself in complete agreement! When do you think the United States is going to have its Reichstag fire? What do you think as far as what form it will take? It really is ridiculous when some can hear the train horn blaring and see the bright light house headlight on the engine, and they happen to be stuck in traffic on the tracks for some inexplicable reason, and they also figure the train will stop! And we know that train will not stop, because history tells us that the train never stops! And you can yell to that person in the car the tracks, but they refuse to hear you because the music being played is too Good. And maybe you should look away, but the outcome is too intriguing in a morbid way!
The only rational position of Lucas is he’s pro-cannibas. Otherwise he’s typical Indiana Republican. I wish someone would investigate connections between Eli Lilly and other pharmaceuticals and medical contractors and Republican politicians from Indiana….Pence, Mitch Daniels, Eric Holcomb….
john,
“When do you think the United States is going to have its Reichstag fire? What do you think as far as what form it will take?”
That’s the $64,000 question. When? Much sooner than later. What form? Something to blame the Jews, the African-Americans, or both. What more would you expect from a white supremacist President? He needs to be consistent.
I’m betting that the Indiana Republican election strategy works perfectly in Indiana. Sad.
john,
We have to perfect our only weapon left: P2T. It’s a SECRET WEAPON!
My question is, “Will the media fall into the same trap they went into willingly in 2016?” Don’t look for balance if the balance is a false equivalency. I fear that it might not be just Indiana that falls for the claptrap, it might be the Electoral College once again.
Peggy,
“My question is, “Will the media fall into the same trap they went into willingly in 2016?”
Answer: “Don’t hold your breath”
Jon,
With all due respect for your extensive Biblical knowledge, your good and decent heart and a soul that sings peace, love and righteousness…..regarding Republicans, your preaching into a fetid headwind of institutionalized bigotry with its roots in capitalism’s most ideal environment, slavery. If our slaves had been oriental or native Americans, the bigotry would be focused on them…not that Trump’s bigotry knows any limits.
Yes, Sheila, the Republican party is dead. Yes, it is the cult of Trump just as the National Socialist party was the cult of Hitler. The parallels are stunning, obvious and saddening. Trump still hears the voices of his muses Bannon and Mercer telling him to destroy democracy for the sake of his fantasy of absolute power. The real question might be: What will he do with absolute power? What will he do if Barr succeeds in destroying the rule of law and the Constitution? What will this country look like when Barr finishes turning the SCOTUS into 9 kangaroos? The Republican party had a stake driven through its black heart when corporate/banking America, the Koch foundations, the Mercers, the Olins, et. al., sponsored the Citizens United push against the Constitution. I remember Justice Brier warning us that this decision would have grave consequences for the future health of our democracy. And her we are.
I agree with Marv that the DNC is not pushing back hard enough against the criminals and gangsters running the executive branch. As long as spineless fools like Tom Perez are left to form the message, nothing will change.
In the novel I’m now finishing, I created a white supremacist group in Indiana with cells in the 12 most populous cities. Todd gave me some insight into the institutionalized racism and bigotry in that fair state, and my vivid imagination (and experience) took it from there. Don’t worry, Todd, I’ll give you credit in the ‘acknowledgments’ section. Thing is, it’s really chilling to read that my fiction is much closer to reality than I thought. Don’t worry. The good guys win. Heck, I even created an incorruptible mayor in Muncie. My protagonist is a powerful, driven woman with very special skills and strengths who takes on the REALLY bad guys and wins. I hope everyone on this blog will buy and read it when it finally sees the light of day.
I hope we still have enough freedom left for books to get printed.
The Key Issues – You’ve brought up for me are:
1.) How will this – affect turnout – and for who – in the key states particularly? Will it anger more People of Color than – disaffected white people – whose racism will be brought out into voting?
2.) How much do racist appeals – draw people in (or turn them off) – among “independents” – “undecideds” etc.
3.) Will this fit – in with the idea (crazy) – that Trump is better on managing the economy issues – and build a manageable coalition for Trump?
To Vernon Turner: Let us know when your book gets published and becomes available to purchase & read.
Having engaged with Lucas on FB several years ago, I can testify to his arrogance and misogyny as well as his utter disdain for women and dismissal of teachers, especially female teachers as insubordinate if they don’t submit to his supposedly superior views.
Unfortunately, he is the clear choice of his constituents who keep re-electing him despite, or maybe because of, his white supremacist ideology. It is, after all, rural Indiana, a KKK run state less than a century ago. If anyone believes those racist views have disappeared, all they have to do is listen to the vast majority of the willfully ignorant who are Trumpets. Lucas is a natural fit as he is the classic example. The slap on the wrist he got from his party leader is a joke. He should have been forced to resign.
When I first started writing, Muncie and Indiana were the topics. I got bored very quickly because it’s just not that interesting. For all practical purposes, Indiana has drifted into the Deep South mentality. Hoosier Hospitality was just a propaganda gimmick.
Its true colors are represented by Jim Lucas and followers and have been for a very long time.
Once again, racism has been institutionalized since before our inception as a country. For a while, as Sheila points out, it was confined to what Ian Haney Lopez called “dog whistles.” The racists hung around with each other and met in barns to terrorize people of color.
I know Marv doesn’t like the SPLC, but they reported that during Obama’s eight years as POTUS, hate crimes grew 1,800%. Trump’s blatant racism tossed the dog whistles into the streets allowing racism to become mainstream. Suddenly, the Libertarian movement of the Koch network crumbled at the feet of institutionalized racism. The racists just wanted their reps to inflict pain on the objects of their fears.
Meanwhile, the so-called opposition party sold out to Wall Street and became the party of identity politics — “vote for us because we are not those guys.”
It’s all about money and power to the Oligarchs — who is willing to do their bidding. Do you think the Oligarchs/Donor Class disapprove of Jim Lucas and Donald Trump?
Hell no, as long as they get their way.
Observe how the HEROES Act evolves in Congress. It’s all political theater and propaganda. So far, the winners of the pandemic bailouts have been the Oligarchs while the workers have been told, return to work or starve, and if you get sick on the job, you won’t be able to sue your employer.
We have 25% unemployment, yet everyone is pointing at the stock market as a barometer that our economy is doing fine. #CalmDown
Having only a little exposure to Hoosiers I wonder, was there some history there that moved the state to become a southern state? I assume that it was never a slave state. Is there a standout reason as to why Indiana moved southern instead of progressing?
Pete, in our Indiana community, during the industrial revolution, the Oligarchs had to bus workers up from Tennessee and Kentucky to work in the factories. Many chose to stay in Indiana while others returned to their home state.
I would assume that other parts of the state had the same experience.
Also, our state is mostly rural and those folks have a long history of believing their taxes are being used to keep the “lazy black people” fed and happy in urban areas. Even our version of religion supports that mentality.
And even though Indiana wasn’t a slave state, Hoosiers weren’t very accepting of the black migration from the South when freed. We had very strict sundown laws all across the state. KKK became very prevalent in our state and many of those wearing masks were business leaders (oligarchs).
Jim Lucas fits the model of a mask-wearing KKK member perfectly.
The operational motivation of the GOP, The Trumpet and his Trumpeter’s is FEAR. This FEAR can have many manifestations: bible thumping evangelicals, the NRA types, racism, anti-gay, anti-women’s rights, fear of science, etc.
Talk to to any Trumpter these days and FEAR of this or FEAR of that, is always present. The hatred brought on by this FEAR is also present – It never relaxes.
WOW, just read this:
Lancet is no Liberal think tank funded by George Soros a favorite boogeyman these days of the Reactionary Right.
Esteemed medical journal The Lancet on Friday took an unusual step towards calling on American voters to remove President Donald Trump from office in November, condemning the Trump administration’s “incoherent” response to the coronavirus pandemic and expressing shock at the CDC’s inability to cope with the public health crisis.
The journal’s frustration with Trump centered on the president’s downplaying of the pandemic and his refusal to coordinate a robust national effort of social distancing, lockdown orders, and a testing regime to stem the Covid-19 outbreak.
“The administration is obsessed with magic bullets—vaccines, new medicines, or a hope that the virus will simply disappear,” wrote the editors. “But only a steadfast reliance on basic public health principles, like test, trace, and isolate, will see the emergency brought to an end, and this requires an effective national public health agency.”
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/05/15/calling-americans-vote-trump-out-lancet-eviscerates-us-president-over-incoherent?cd-origin=rss&utm_term=AO&utm_campaign=Daily%20Newsletter&utm_content=email&utm_source=Daily%20Newsletter&utm_medium=Email
Alert! Kristallnacht in Indiana could be tonight. Beware!
Todd,
“I know Marv doesn’t like the SPLC, but they reported that during Obama’s eight years as POTUS, hate crimes grew 1,800%.”
Trump should like those figures. What exactly did the SPLC do to reduce those numbers back then? I’d like to hear their reply other than their “BULLSHIT. They’ve made a fortune doing nothing of vital importance.
I am a candidate for the GOP nomination for INCD5. I am pro-choice, pro-environment, pro-civil rights, anti-war and anti-trump. I am running against the bigotry and ignorance that has come to typify the current GOP. If no one includes me when they discuss the primary, the candidates of bigotry and ignorance have a real edge. Here is why I can win the primary: 1) Mathematics – the other candidates split up the racist/hate-mongering vote, and I win with 18 to 20%; 2) Enough people are fed up that their votes can register – we need to retrieve 1/2 the political structure from these people; 3) Indiana is an open primary State; one need only request a Republican ballot and, if challenged, say either they voted for 1/2 the GOP’s candidates in the last electon or promise to do so in November. That is an illegal demand, btw – can’t ask someone how they voted in Indiana & there is no way to find out and you can’t give soneone something of value for a vote. Please vote for me. The only race in the 5th on the “D” side that’s contested is for the 5th. If I take this GOP primary, it’s a start back to sanity.
Thanks for the history of Indiana racism, Todd. I needed to add that bit to my novel.
I’m always struck by the strange contrast of Indiana Quaker communities who settled here having left abhorrent slave-holding states and KKK presence throughout the state. The best and worst of human behavior.
Get out the new broom and sweep Congress clean. They are beyond help. I cannot believe the women who support 45 as if he were a god…which he thinks he is only with a capital G.
Thank you Mark Small for standing for continued democracy. As a registered Republican, not only am I able to mark my ballot for the “Other Presidential Candidate” (even thought he has withdrawn from the race) for President, and now I know which District 5 Congressionalike Candidate to mark. That is why I became a registered Republican…..so my Vote might mean something (at least to me).
I still do not understand how so many people still are entranced by the Current leaders of the Party calling itself Republican.
ML,
Excellent catch as always!
Marv,
Don’t know what happened, hopefully I’m not making a double comment, yikes! We will have to talk about that secret weapon later. I defer to your wisdom, as you have knowledge and experience I do not. One would be a fool not to consume some of that aggregate wisdom!
Vernon,
Absolutely! Like was touched on in earlier comments, American Manifest Destiny, American Romanticism, and American exceptionalism, all extolled the virtues of slavery! From spreading an agrarian society from hemisphere to hemisphere with the American brand on it, to an extremely cheap form of labor, which kind of petered out during the Industrial Revolution in the United States. Just because slavery was abolished doesn’t mean there are not slaves! My ancestors on my mother’s side were African, and Native American, with some Italian. My father’s ancestry were German and Eastern European.
The use of an unlivable minimum wage to be forced upon heads of families trying to make a living, is nothing short of slavery. When the government Over-taxes its citizens but gives corporate entities a pass with loopholes and other means to not have to pay those taxes, that’s slavery!
Capitalism will always have its slaves, and capitalism is an archaic system that needs to be put down like a rabid animal! Citizens should not be commodities!?!?
Having just begun to read read Follett’s Winter of the World, published in 2012, it is chilling to feel the similarities between his first chapter – Hitler’s seizure of power – and today’s American political reality. Thank God Trump can’t read or this might be the schematic he uses to solidify power after he kills as many people as possible by gaslighting those struggling against the coronavirus.
Performing more competently would be quite easy. The fact that he doesn’t means he has an alternate re-election plan that fills him with confidence. Voter suppression? Election nullification? Election postponement? A military coup? Manipulation of the Electoral College? Declare a national emergency in which only he can save us from the Chinese? Start a war with Iran in which his leadership is indispensable to victory? Consult with Putin on how to convert the presidency into a lifetime job?
I’m certain that his list is much longer than mine and has been refined by Pompeo and Mnuchin and Mitchell. I’m equally certain that Democrats don’t take these high probability scenarios seriously and have done nothing to prepare to deal with any of them.
Although not a frequent commenter here, some might recall that I’m a former Hoosier who currently lives in Arizona. With that, this morning I and two of my neighborhood buddies went on our usual bicycle ride on a wonderful paved multi-use trail named “The Loop.” Halfway through our ride, we stopped for a second at a busy section to have a drink. Not long after we stopped two young African-American males, wearing U of Arizona gear stopped near us. Just as they did a 30-something White male rode by and starting screaming at these two young men, who happened to be members of the U of A cross country team, something about “What did that Black Bastard Obama do?” It was startling. These two young men were just standing there off the path, stretching and minding their own business.
I know that racism and discrimination have always existed and persisted in this Country. Until Trump, I thought we had at least got to the point where some “White people” were at least a bit ashamed to express their racist garbage in public. Not anymore.
Sorry to be such a pessimist. But IMO this will not end well even if we are lucky enough to have an election in November and vote out the Trumpicans and take back the Senate and Presidency.
Pete @ 10:17am:
In addition to Todd’s answer to your question about Indiana being a “southern” state, it has always been. Roughly the southern 2/3rds of the Territory of Indiana were originally largely settled by people migrating from the southern states: North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia. Even Abe Lincoln’s family first moved to southern Indiana from Kentucky before eventually moving on to Illinois. So most of those people have always had “southern” views and sympathies. That’s where their “roots” were and their relatives came from.
Indiana was one of the “Northern (Union)States” invaded in 1863 by the Confederate Army under the leadership of Gen. John Hunt Morgan [Morgan’s Raid] during the civil war. There were many “Confederate” sympathizers (called “Copperheads”) in Southern Indiana, and Morgan believed the local “Copperheads” would rise up and join them (which he was mistaken about). Morgan’s troops captured and looted several small towns in southern Indiana including the original State Capital of Corydon. Indiana did finally mobilize under Gov. Oliver P. Morton, and with some help from militia from Ohio, finally chased Morgan and his troops over into Southern Ohio. A little Indiana history.
Thanks everyone for the Hoosier history.
I was raised in a small central NY village of immigrant whites but chose to go to Virginia Tech for undergraduate school in 1960. The racism that I encountered there absolutely floored me. I guess I was small town enculturated then and suffered from lack of worldliness.
Of course things have changed since then as Virginia became more worldly mostly due to a Yankee invasion of northern counties.
If my small village in NY is any indication, small towns everywhere are largely locked into their culture which is several decades slow in keeping up. If it was good enough once it must be still.
I’m a believer that the culture that we are exposed to over our life experience is most of who we each are. We pretend to think but mostly act like we have observed others like us do.
There’s no real cure for that try though we might to change it. We are all stuck with not only what we were born with but also into.
Once again, because of that, the only path back to progress is testing if liberals are still a majority by getting everyone out to vote armed with blue no matter who.
If we don’t have a majority, or those who stole the 2016 election win again, I fear all is lost.
David F – The experience you described, witnessing a white male screaming at the 2 black Univ of Arizona students is so, so disturbing. I fear for our country and for my children and grandchildren’s future.
Barbara – Thanks for your words of encouragement.
“When do you think the United States is going to have its Reichstag fire? What do you think as far as what form it will take?”
I must admit that this has crossed my mind several times over the year or so with me trying to shake the thought but it always comes back. It helped a very much in the minority collection of rabble with a very loud and exquisitely targeted and talented mouthpiece to wreck Germany and its image as a civilized nation for decades.
The rub is that Germany was very far from being anything close to being a world leader at that time while we are the preeminent one sliding into decline thanks to what another minority of people have elevated into power. We, like all those good Germans who were horrified by the 1932 election victory of the NDSAP and Hitler’s ascension to power, act like we are powerless to stop this as they told themselves they were. We don’t have to look to far to find out what happened due to their thinking.
However, in our case 90 years later this has to stop, both to preserve this Republic as it has existed for 244 years and to enable us to launch and maintain a cohesive and well coordinated response to this pandemic and all the other threats to our democracy that Trump and his horrid band of sycophants represent. As the late motivational speaker Zig Zigler used to say “If it’s to be it’s up to me!” We cannot do otherwise and time is getting shorter every day with the proverbial window of opportunity for us to rid ourselves of this horrid blight on our Nation maybe even shorter. We cannot allow ourselves to just go quietly into the night since more than just us and our livelihoods are at stake.
PS – Rep. Jim Lucas needs to be ridden out of town on a rail, maybe tarred and feathered as well, along with anyone else that infests our General Assembly with such putrid behavior. Those that elected him to the GA also ought to be taught better uses for their sheets such as using them as bedding not as clothing. Dear God Almighty!!!
Tom,
It’s FUTURCIDE!
I am still confused about Indiana. Extend the Mason-Dixon line and you bisect Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. The Industrialists feared that the new immigrants from southern and eastern Europe might have pro-union ideas while workers from Tennessee and Kentucky would be more docile. It isn’t just Indiana. My sister-in-law spent her entire education career working in Belleville, MI, AKA Belleville-tucky.
Before moving to Indy, I lived in Oak Park, Illinois, a sundowner town described by Hemmingway as having “broad lawns and narrow minds”. It is now a hotbed of liberalism. Chicago may have pulled Illinois in a different direction, but I don’t know why Ohio and Indiana are so different politically.
Mark Small – I wish you luck and hope that the ship hasn’t sailed without you – Have all the “sane” Republicans left? If there are enough, your math works if the other Republicans split the vote. I’ve seen that happen on numerous occasions. As for cross-over voters, I think the Democratic side is too hotly contested to pull many people over.
Monotonous – While Lancet isn’t a “Soros” publication, they always were more activist than other medical journals (e.g. JAMA from the American Medical Association), pushing the edges of science as well. I do think that this is a departure, even for them, and a welcomed one.
Sheila – I only moved here in 2007, so I think that the Republican Party had already been shifting. Heck, I was met with “Hello, I am pro-life, pro-guns, anti-government – I am your Democratic candidate for Senate” – a far cry from the Democratic Party I grew up with. Maybe both parties can rediscover their respective Roosevelts.
It appears the Trump anti-Obama campaign anticipates and is preparing for Biden to select a black female V.P. candidate. Stirring the pot of racism plays to the significant parts of Trump’s base who are white supremacists.
The Indiana House Speaker finally decided to ‘discipline’ Jim Lucas with his removal from a couple of committees, but only a number of days after Lucas’ rascist post received national and even international attention. Better late than never, but it’s embarrassing that the whole world had to learn of and object to Lucas’ racism before Indiana’s GOP leadership decided to do anything about it. Only then did Lucas take down the offensive Facebook post.
Lucas has said he received a lot of support from constituents in his legislative district. His Facebook page did show a surprising number of people echoing his racism. But there were more comments from people expressing their disgust. (It’s not clear how many in either group were from his district.) Unfortunately, Lucas seemed proud of his post and kept it live until the Speaker finally spoke to him. I hope there’s another awning store in Seymour. Something tells me Lucas won’t stifle his PUBLIC pride in racism until his wallet suffers.