We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men -- deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed ( Read more... )

We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men -- deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.


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Four years ago I wrote my regular newspaper humor column about Independence Day history, which few people read because it was about history. Ironically, about two months later my regular newspaper column became history, but that's another story.
As I said in the opening to our book "Hoosier Hysterical", history would be a lot more fun if it was ( Read more... )

I scheduled a book signing for November 16th under the theory that by then Election Day madness would be all over but the shouting. What didn’t occur to me was that promoting the appearance might be drown out by that very same election hoopla. In all the fuss, and with so many of the smart people who read books avoiding social media (told you they ( Read more... )

This is my 2009 9/11 column. Sadly, nothing much had changed since then.


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On this Independence Day (well, it was--I had trouble getting LJ to post yesterday), please remember that while we all have differences, we’ve always had differences. We’re still all human beings, and far more alike than we are different. I think most of us-at least, most of us outside the Beltway-still want to keep this country free and great, ( Read more... )

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I spend a lot of time studying the news, politics, current affairs, history … stuff I sometimes don’t care for (politics) but recognize the importance of. I don’t talk about it nearly as much as I used to, having recognized that most people don’t want to talk to you-they want to talk at you.

With tragedies like the Paris attacks I don’t generally ( Read more... )

            I originally wrote this in early June, long before Donald Trump raised his hair into the presidential fray, and then promptly forgot about it. If only I could forget about Trump’s hair.            You’d think America would support a Presidential candidate who chose to be honest and bold, as opposed to most candidates in living memory. ( Read more... )

We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men -- deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.


( Read more... )