Over the past week, my Facebook wall has been filled with the opinions of the recent release of Lil Nas X’s new music video, Montero, as well as his “Satan shoes.” The Montero (Call Me By Your Name) music video is provocative and incorporates religion into its theme. It’s not the first of its kind,…
It’s early Sunday morning. Our clocks “spring forward” an hour even as the position of the Earth relative to the sun barely changed. Thanks for nothing, Daylight Savings Time. Like millions of Americans, I wake up groggy. That grogginess (and grumpiness) spills into Monday and the rest of the week as our internal clocks have…
Even if you don’t agree with former South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg’s politics or policies, his confirmation as President Biden’s Secretary of Transportation is a moment of pride for South Bend. Buttigieg made history as South Bend’s first openly gay mayor. Thanks to President Biden’s appointment of Buttigieg to serve as Secretary of Transportation and…
The newly-elected Democratic majority in the Senate is currently debating whether to keep or nix the filibuster. There are strong policy, political, and Constitutional arguments for eliminating the filibuster – and there is little reason to preserve it. The policy case for eliminating the filibuster Small states are already overrepresented in the United States Senate…
If Representative Jackie Walorski had an inkling of honor – or respect for the people of Indiana’s 2nd Congressional district – she would tender her resignation from Congress, effective immediately. The five-term Republican dishonored her office when she aided and abetted insurrectionists at the United States Capitol. Rather than stand up to the mob, Walorski…
As with any emergency, there will be a minority who refuse to heed warnings from experts. However, it’s one thing to put your own well-being at risk. It’s another thing to put others at risk. Case in point: the COVID-19 pandemic has attracted a mixed response from citizens, government officials, and the media. Early on,…
Tomorrow is primary day in Indiana. While thousands of voters will turn out to perform their basic duty as a citizen in a democratic society, even more will remain at home. Ironically, turnout is often at its lowest during local elections when each individual vote matters the most. Simply put, your vote is rarely more…
Editor’s Note: Ahead of a Tuesday hearing in the U.S. House Committee on Rules regarding Rep. Pramila Jayapal’s bill to establish a single-payer Medicare for All health care system in the United States, dying healthcare activist Ady Barkan released the following prepared remarks. Owing to the advanced progression of his ALS, Barkan will deliver this testimony using a…
In a series of tweets earlier this week, Donald Trump continued his relentless attacks on the First Amendment. The president of the United States – the so-called “leader of the free world” – suggested that the New York Times “will have to get down on their knees and beg for forgiveness.” To be sure, some…
The United States is a nation where presidential overreaches, outright abuses of power, and largely successful attempts to undermine our constitution’s system of checks and balances stretches back over generations – and, in fact, one can find examples dating to the earliest days of our democratic republic. Whether or not these scandals amounted to “high…
