Shows
Think About It with Michael LeppertIt's time for a new beat, but one last thing before I goI started writing my column in the spring of 2014, and oh how things have changed since then! Barack Obama was president, and Mike Pence was the governor of Indiana. There were already Republican supermajorities in both chambers of the Indiana General Assembly, and those legislative maps have since been updated and fortified to protect that offensive imbalance for the foreseeable future here. Of course, that assumes Hoosier voters will keep voting red, no matter what that ultimately means. The Republican brand of 2014 would be unrecognizable to a new Republican in 2025. Ronald Reagan is no longer...
2025-08-2004 minThink About It with Michael LeppertThe 'Ministry of Truth' shoots its highest ranking messengerTo me, "1984" was originally a rock album, the last studio collection of songs by the original members of Van Halen. It was July 7, 1984, when the 16-year-old version of me earned his way to a spot right in front of Eddie Van Halen's place on the stage at Roberts Stadium in Evansville for the biggest tour of the year. Back then, we fought for those spots on the arena floor. The album was named after George Orwell's classic book, even though there is no artistic connection between the book's "Ministry of Truth" and songs like "Hot for Teacher."...
2025-08-0605 minThink About It with Michael LeppertReading might make you cry; Not reading definitely willOn Monday night, I sat in my recliner writing my third novel. I'm about halfway done with it, and my editor is expecting that first half by the end of the week so she can do a midpoint "assessment" of the story. She worked on my last book, and I know how she operates. The first question she will contemplate is whether or not the story is grabbing the audience quickly. That's on my mind this week, though I'm 40,000 words into this soon-to-be classic already. As I was pecking away on my laptop, my wife...
2025-07-3005 minThink About It with Michael LeppertDignity and reality force Stutzman to cross the MAGA line on immigrationLast week, GOP U.S. Rep. Maria Salazar of Florida, filed "The Dignity Act of 2025," a bipartisan immigration reform package that would provide legal status for certain undocumented immigrants. She filed similar legislation in 2023, but the political climate has changed wildly since way back then. Unsurprisingly, the economic demand for migrant labor has not. Donald Trump is now in the White House and the mass deportation initiative he promised is being implemented at breakneck speed. The masked raids by a growing masked army known as Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, are happening in unpredictable places all...
2025-07-2305 minThink About It with Michael LeppertWhy the new lie about the old lie is rattling the loyal believers of liesLast week, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced there will be no release of the "Jeffrey Epstein files." It's hard to predict when people will have finally had enough. The tolerance level of undesirable traits and behaviors from other humans will vary from person to person of course. And in today's world of unexplainable group think, a rational understanding of group tolerance is often fleeting. This is not a column that will provide some new theories about what's in the elusive Epstein files. No, I will never have confidence that the entire truth of...
2025-07-1605 minThink About It with Michael LeppertTeaching fewer things leads to a population that thinks lessOh, to have existed in a period of time named the "Renaissance," a French word that means "rebirth." As explained by Brittanica, "it was primarily a time of the revival of Classical learning and wisdom after a long period of cultural decline and stagnation." The recently enacted biennial budget crafted by the Indiana General Assembly is hostile toward learning in favor of stagnation. The Commission for Higher Education announced last week that six of the state's public universities are suspending or consolidating more than 400 academic degree programs to comply with the new budget. "The cuts...
2025-07-0905 minThink About It with Michael LeppertPeople will feel the one big, beautiful bill, and it will be uglyEvery semester, the students in my business writing class are divided up into teams and are assigned a real-life challenge from a company looking to elevate its performance in any number of ways. It's an opportunity to research the complexities of a market, to create an entrepreneurial solution and to effectively communicate all of it to the company looking to grow. And it's an opportunity for me. I get to teach them the value of feedback. The worst ideas I've seen in my career come from organizations that spend too much time only talking to each other...
2025-07-0205 minThink About It with Michael LeppertMaybe sexual harassment by elected officials shouldn't end happily for themI spent last weekend in New York, as I try to do once a year, for the primary purpose of seeing the latest hot show or two on Broadway. I'd love to say I am expert at picking the best shows, but the truth is, if a show has gotten my attention in the heartland, it's a safe bet. "Maybe Happy Ending" first caught my eye with its list of Tony nominations, so I bought the tickets. After my purchase, the show won six, including Best Musical. While I was in the city, the political ads were...
2025-06-2504 minThink About It with Michael LeppertThree days of shock and awe illustrate an American culture in turmoilA quarter century ago, as a young bureaucrat, I had a disagreement with my bosses. Energy commodities markets were going through an historic price spike, and my agency set the final rates customers would pay. I wanted rates to mirror the market to send "price signals" to consumers and provoke a reduction in consumption. The bosses wanted to spread costs over a long period to mitigate "rate shock." They feared the infinitely possible responses that could come from an angry public. The bosses won, as bosses usually do, and we kept rates flat, and the public remained...
2025-06-1805 minThink About It with Michael LeppertPurdue's breakup with its student paper feels like a gun shotI am working on publishing a new book this year. So, I'm spending time with other writers, readers, editors and consultants to make sure the finished product is as good as it can be. While online the other day, an editor wrote: "The purpose of fiction is to ask the audience questions to consider; the purpose of non-fiction, is to give them answers." I assumed that was a famous quote, because it's so wonderful, but I can't find its originator for attribution. "Who said that?" is a question in need of an answer. I don't ever seem...
2025-06-1105 minThink About It with Michael LeppertLt. Gov. Beckwith's nasty warnings about Pride Month are exactly why Pride is neededI love June in Indianapolis. School's out for me. The gardens, flowers and lawns around town are blooming and greening with optimism. And the city is quiet as it recovers from its traditionally hectic month of May. As my favorite performer, David Ryan Harris, sang in concert many years ago, this time of year transforms "slow like the breezes of springtime melt into summer's grace." As a dad, I am treated well in June. As a golfer, Indiana's greens rarely run smoother. As a proud downtown dweller, my neighbors never love each other better. And that last o...
2025-06-0405 minThink About It with Michael LeppertWhen knowledge is the enemy, greatness is impossibleIn 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 all the right credentials and upbringing. He is comprehensively replaced by Valentine, a streetwise but uneducated nobody. The amateur sociological experiment aimed to prove that environment is more predictive than genetics in determining personal success or failure. After the switch, Winthorpe spots Valentine wearing the clothes he once owned, specifically his Harvard tie. Only...
2025-05-2805 minThink About It with Michael LeppertBraun fails Indiana's hungry, and the buck stops somewhere elseBureaucracy 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 horrible? Why is school funding seemingly always distributed unfairly? Eventually, the answers to those questions lead to the faceless phantom, known as bureaucracy. However, sometimes that phantom is identified, making accountability possible for whatever ails us. That's when we point at an actual person, the sinister "bureaucrat." On May 7th...
2025-05-2105 minThink About It with Michael Leppert'The Talk' won't get us through the evil of ICE's mask-wearingIn 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 those situations. It is a sad necessity, but a necessity all the same. The movie was based on the 2017 award-winning novel by Angie Thomas. It was inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, though plenty of important things have happened in real life since then. ...
2025-05-1405 minThink About It with Michael LeppertGraduation comes so fast we don't have time for pretendingIn "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 degrees. We first met four years ago, and I remember the moment vividly. It was my first day as a full-time instructor at an elite business school and they were freshmen in their first week of classes. Heading into the fourth lecture of that first d...
2025-05-0704 minThink About It with Michael LeppertStories endangering women and civil rights are like ships passing in the nightSince 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 impression," according to History.com. In 2025 though, the new president isn't really new, the first impression isn't actually the first one, and the symbolic window is less about the tone and more about the zone. That zone is being flooded right now, a strategic mantra of President Donald Trump's on-again, off-again, ex-con adviser, Steve...
2025-04-3005 minThink About It with Michael LeppertTariff madness is hanging Indiana, no matter how Braun spins itI 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. Merriam-Webster theorizes that "it may be connected to the sailor's task of rope making," because of the path of the term's traceable usage through the maritime world. The tedious process of twisting fibers into yarns, yarns into strands, and then strands into rope by hand must have been torturous in the early 1800s, when...
2025-04-2305 minThink About It with Michael LeppertNobody 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, there are Academy Awards involved. And yes, there were dramatic embellishments in the storytelling sprinkled throughout the film with one important exception: The government never betrayed its duty to the U.S. Constitution. Imagine 1950's America. We were at war with the Soviet Union. No one could be more unanimously seen as evil than...
2025-04-1605 minThink About It with Michael LeppertJim Banks' mad handing is no coincidence; it's a modern, political aspirationThe 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 defines the term as "a warm welcome or greeting often prompted by ulterior reasons." It makes sense that the practice is most often attributed to politicians who are working a room. Even with ulterior motives, the practice would feature a pleasantness and happy charisma to audiences, much like an effective Instagram account...
2025-04-0905 minThink About It with Michael LeppertLiberals' 'abundance agenda' takes time to absorb, but it's worth itA 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 ready to give up or go insane." I have occasionally listened to it, but frankly, I didn't want to give it an entire, torturous hour of my precious weekend. A few hours later, I find myself in the middle of a project: learning about the "...
2025-04-0205 minThink About It with Michael LeppertJohn Green's 'Everything is Tuberculosis' is a tragic story of injusticeHenry 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 to become obsessed with the question: why? "Everything is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection" is not a book I would choose to read under normal circumstances. Outside of the medical community or those afflicted with it, who would? I am hopeful that, for starters, it will be read by the same...
2025-03-2604 minThink About It with Michael LeppertWith America at war with itself, Democrats should revisit the art of itSun 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 whether he is the one who wrote it and when. It doesn't matter. The lessons are simple, and they still work. I cannot recall a legislative decision as ridiculous as the one made Friday by New York Sen. Chuck Schumer and the Senate Democratic Caucus he leads. After weeks of articulating the awful things...
2025-03-1904 minThink About It with Michael LeppertEnding the public service ethic is an abhorrent part of the new GOPI left public service in 2002. The experiences of the thirteen years I spent as an employee of the State of Indiana help define me. On paper, my career path wouldn't make immediate sense to most people today. But it makes perfect sense to me. Why? Primarily because I enjoyed serving the public, and importantly, I was good at it. People thanked me for my service when I left. In less than two months since the inauguration of President Donald Trump, approximately 75,000 federal employees accepted a buyout package offered by the new administration and voluntarily left public service...
2025-03-0505 minThink About It with Michael LeppertRead all about it: Imagine Indiana becoming less cool than it already isThere are so many stars and influencers surrounding us these days, it's difficult for the uncool to keep up. I don't know exactly when I crossed over into that territory, but I'm guessing it was shortly after my first son was born. He celebrated his 30th birthday this month. Back when I was cool, reading was not among the reasons. Now, it might be the coolest thing I do. In my youth, Dolly Parton wasn't cool. She was originally a country and bluegrass musician, which in the world of my youth, was cool's opposite. But...
2025-02-2604 minThink About It with Michael LeppertIt's been less of a transition and more of a turf warAn abundance of adjectives can be used to describe the first 30 days of the second Trump administration. "Chaotic" would be my first choice. But Thesaurus.com provides a list of synonyms to consider in my search for the perfect word. The six strongest matches to my top choice also work. "Tumultuous" or "turbulent?" Yes. "Disorganized" or "helter-skelter?" Ditto. "Lawless" and "anarchic" are the others on that short list, and yes, they both sadly apply as well. This first month has not been about egg prices or healthcare. Nor has it been about education or justice. And though...
2025-02-1905 minThink About It with Michael LeppertBeckwith and Trump are crossing new lines in their quest for clicks and cultural validityFebruary 12, 2025 I have been thinking about Winston Churchill since Donald Trump announced his planned seizure of the board of trustees of the Kennedy Center last Friday. In 1938, Churchill said, "The Prime Minister (Neville Chamberlain) …has reminded us of the old saying that it is by art man gets nearest to the angels and farthest from the animals." On the floor of the Indiana Senate last Thursday, Minority Leader Shelli Yoder, D-Bloomington, made a point of order just before the vote on Senate Bill 289. The bill would create a series of prohibitions and requirements re...
2025-02-1205 minThink About It with Michael LeppertHaggling over the price is not going to make us any healthierFebruary 5, 2024 It's an old joke, and though I made a reasonable effort to track down the original source, I failed. However, I did find that early versions of it, dating back to at least 1930, centered on indecent proposals for sex. Not surprisingly, and nearly a century later, the anecdote often is aptly applied to policy dealmaking negotiations in legislative bodies across America. Skipping the indecency of the set-up, this is a family friendly column after all, a version of the punchline goes like this: "We've already established what we are. Now, we're just haggling over...
2025-02-0505 minThink About It with Michael LeppertTrumpism must continue to push the next angriest idea, no matter how irrationalThe "Jesus, He Gets Us" folks made a splash during the Super Bowl on Sunday with their commercial about how "Jesus didn't teach hate, he washed feet." I don't get what their intended return is for that kind of investment, but as far as commercials go, I liked that one as much as any of them this year. The "love your neighbor" messages never get old. To me, anyway. In the last week, the frontrunner for the GOP nomination for president has said many troubling things. But what makes them most problematic is that there is no...
2024-02-1304 minThink About It with Michael LeppertThe valuable truth is that Fox News is no longer the pressThe competition for trust and credibility in the press are far from new. This struggle dates back to at least the late 1800's when the "yellow journalism" battle between moguls Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst dominated the New York media market. Both were fighting for circulation and ultimately, you know, profit. There was a time, during my lifetime, that the evidence of conspiratorial lying by a media outlet would destroy that outlet. Readers and viewers, advertisers and investors, would flee the outlet once its credibility was obliterated. Once the media outlet no longer possesses the trust o...
2023-03-1405 minThink About It with Michael LeppertEast Palestine's battle is a lesson for all AmericansAt Indiana University, I teach government to students in one school, and speech to students in another. The subjects are quite different, as are the students. But the story of East Palestine, Ohio, gives me a real life lesson to teach both classes and will for years to come. On Feb. 3, a train operated by Norfolk Southern derailed near the village in northeastern Ohio. Five cars containing vinyl chloride were among 20 derailed cars that contained hazardous substances. East Palestine is a "village," which features a council-manager type government in Ohio. It is near the Pennsylvania...
2023-03-0805 minThink About It with Michael LeppertFrom one parent to the legislature: "Show me where it hurts."If you are a parent, I'm sure you have had the experience of seeing your child laying on the ground crying hysterically over what appears to be nothing. "Show me where it hurts," is often the command that most effectively breaks through the noise. Amazingly, more often than not, nothing hurts at all. In this week's metaphor, that child is the Indiana General Assembly. I will try to explain it through three legislative initiatives, none of which will ease this metaphoric child's fragile soul. The alleged problem they are trying to solve this session is a...
2023-03-0205 minThink About It with Michael LeppertDuring Oscar Season, Pence and Fox News Act Afraid of the Same Truth"You can't handle the truth!" That's the famous line spoken from the witness stand by Jack Nicholson in his portrayal of Colonel Nathan Jessup in the 1992 hit movie, "A Few Good Men." That was thirty years ago, in a make-believe story of a governmental cover up, and long before the line became so true for a big chunk of Americans. In fact, Fox News, the most watched cable "news" network in the country, believes that telling the truth to its viewers is just too big a risk to their bottom line to consider actually doing it. That b...
2023-02-2105 minThink About It with Michael LeppertIndiana Lawmakers Doing Their Best Butch and SundanceFor those among you who haven't seen the 1969 classic film, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," let me spoil the ending for you. Paul Newman and Robert Redford, in the title roles, had been chased into a shack by authorities in Bolivia after a lengthy manhunt. They were surrounded, exhausted and had nowhere else to run. Little did they know, the Bolivian Army had also gathered outside the shack where they were holed up. The outlaws decided to come out shooting. They were sitting ducks. The end. They had no idea how many guns awaited th...
2023-02-1405 minThink About It with Michael LeppertAs state numbers shrink in Congress, its leadership shrinks even moreThe Hoosier state was buzzing on a Saturday afternoon in February over a basketball game. The storied rivalry of Indiana and Purdue was the sports event of the weekend—in America. The top ranked Boilers were actually one-point underdogs in Bloomington on Saturday to an IU team that played a great first half and then held on for dear life in the second for a 79-74 win. The game mattered. Like it always used to matter. And not just to the students and alums of the two schools, or even to those of us clinging to memories of...
2023-02-0705 minThink About It with Michael LeppertINPRS has a target on its back for the sole purpose of scoring political pointsI remember a meeting with my first financial adviser several years ago who told me that the money I had in the Indiana Public Retirement System, or INPRS, needed to be moved out of there. His perspective then was that INPRS did not give me enough control over my own money and that the government's politics would interfere with my interests eventually, one way or another. In fact, they likely already were. INPRS now has approximately 500,000 members, whose money the system manages. I continue to be one of them. But the politics of today has put a...
2023-02-0105 minThink About It with Michael LeppertOn its 50th Anniversary, Hoosiers say Roe was never enoughThere's something happening in America following the upheaval of Roe that is surprising to some, and to others is completely predictable. Count me among the latter. Last summer, the U.S. Supreme Court chose poorly in its decision, Dobbs v. Mississippi, effectively overturning nearly half a century of precedent protecting a woman's right to choose an abortion. In events across the country on Sunday, Americans celebrated the 50th anniversary of that precedent, the decision in Roe v. Wade. Did this court and those supporting their historic infringement actually believe Americans would simply accept it and go q...
2023-01-2405 minThink About It with Michael LeppertOn Martin Luther King Day, let's reflect on how we have changedLegislation creating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a national holiday was passed forty years ago and signed into law by President Ronald Reagan. It was 1983. The late Michael Jackson's "Thriller" dominated the music, video and dance world. The Washington Redskins, which thankfully doesn't exist anymore, won the Super Bowl. I got my driver's license that year, and a boom box to go with it for nights when I had my parents' car. What a year! Forty years later, I hate driving. Another thing that has changed significantly in the last forty years, i...
2023-01-1705 minThink About It with Michael LeppertWhen the New Speaker Stands for Nothing, Danger Lurks in a Chaotic HouseEarly in the Broadway smash, "Hamilton," the title character meets his nemesis, Aaron Burr. The polished and savvy politician advises young Alexander to "talk less, smile more, don't let them know what you're against or what you're for." Republicans in the U.S. House seem to be trying to follow the Burr plan, with the obvious exception of the "talk less" part. Last week, the American public witnessed a governmental process it hasn't seen in 100 years: multiple elections for the Speaker of the House. During that century, the selection had routinely become an inside job. The majority pa...
2023-01-1005 minThink About It with Michael Leppert2023: Eight predictions that could, should or will happen in a wild yearEvery new year brings with it new hope, new goals and new fears. Resolutions and predictions fly like birds and then fall like snow, and by the time February arrives, the new year isn't new anymore. As a result, all of that nonsense from the month prior is treated like a trip to Vegas: what happens there, stays there. 2023 will be different though, won't it? Can't you feel it? OK, maybe not. But let's try for a moment so that a year from now we can look back on this week and see how good ou...
2023-01-0305 minThink About It with Michael LeppertQuestioning Traditions Can Help Us Enjoy Something NewTo me, holidays are merely exercises in tradition, or traditions. Sometime in my 40s, I began to question all of them, reliving the "why" phase of my childhood for some unknown, yet admittedly irritating reason. Why do we eat turkey on Christmas? Why is everything closed? And it isn't just the holidays. When did we start naming unpleasant weather events, and why is it just the unpleasant ones? Shouldn't an unusually beautiful day be named Mona Lisa or Brad Pitt? If we must name bad weather, can we at least name it after we have...
2022-12-2805 minThink About It with Michael Leppert'Don't Say Gay' Legislation is a Lesson That Shouldn't Be TaughtIf I could go back a few decades and change what was a part of the public education offered to me, I exclusively regret what my schools did not teach me. I can't recall a single thing they taught that I wish I hadn't learned. Try it yourself. Really try to think about an actual lesson you learned that you wish had not been taught. Dodge ball? I can't complain about that, I was a champ at it. Choir? Loved it. That second entire year of Physics? Admittedly, I wish I could trade that for a year o...
2022-12-2105 minThink About It with Michael LeppertIn "Happy-Go-Lucky," David Sedaris Made Me Miss My DadA few weeks back, I saw Jon Wertheim interview David Sedaris on 60 Minutes. I have plenty of friends who are big fans of the humorist, but honestly, before I saw the interview, I never gave him much thought. But after the interview aired on October 30, Sedaris just struck me as someone I would really like to talk with. That is an unusual reaction to an interview for me. I consume an abundance of media, and a good long interview with just about anyone is usually enough of them for me. Not this time. Luckily, he's written enough t...
2022-12-1404 minThink About It with Michael LeppertRokita Meanly Uses His Public Office as a Private Personal PlaythingThe battle initiated by Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita against Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an Indiana reproductive healthcare provider, disgracefully marches onward. Our embattled AG is wrong about this endeavor, in every possible way, but it is important not to lose track of who he is hurting, and why. A 10-year-old girl was raped, became pregnant as a result of the rape, and understandably sought an abortion in Ohio earlier this year. Due to the restrictive abortion law already in place there, the girl sought and received medical care in Indiana from Dr. Bernard. She is, or...
2022-12-0705 minThink About It with Michael LeppertIndiana's Horrific Public Health Stand is a Choice It's Willing to MakeIn the opening scene to the classic film, "Animal House," two young freshmen walk by the statue of Emil Faber, the founder of the fictitious Faber College. The quote on the statue's plaque was simple: "Knowledge is good." Generally, we can all agree with that profound statement, can't we? If so, it is "good" to know that Indiana ranks 48th in the nation on public health funding. Gov. Eric Holcomb's Public Health Commission released its extensive final report in August of this year, confirming plenty of details that were generally already known. But as is oft...
2022-12-0105 minThink About It with Michael LeppertMy Plate This Thanksgiving Will Be Half FullWe all know people who always see a glass as half empty. It is tough to be around them and their unrelenting pessimism. Then there is the other bunch, those bright, sunshiny, "half-full" types, who always see the best in everything. They can be equally exhausting with their irritating enthusiasm. I spend time in both places, depending on the day. But if I had to choose one team to join forever, well, that's easy. One of my favorite things about my favorite American holiday is simply its reason–a national day of thanks. Thanks for what a...
2022-11-2305 minThink About It with Michael LeppertJim Banks - And His Character - Will Be Judged By The Company He KeepsFor more than a year, I have been patiently waiting for the arrival of the inevitable dilemma that Third District U.S. Rep. Jim Banks was facing. These are important days for the future of individual political careers in Washington, though it is much harder to see how the outcomes of any of these battles in the palace will be all that intriguing for Americans. Republicans will narrowly take control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the coming days, which means it is time to elect a new speaker. For Indiana, it is important to...
2022-11-1604 minThink About It with Michael LeppertIndiana Voters Shamefully and Prominently Elect MoralesAs I write, votes are still being counted in many places across America. That vital process, which has defined who we are since the dawn of the republic, had a big night Tuesday. So did voters. In most places, that is. Just not in Indiana. It would be easy to interpret that opening as just the ranting of a left-of-center voter who wanted different partisan outcomes. Yes, there were plenty of candidates I was rooting for, and some I voted for, who lost on Tuesday. I'm used to that here, living in the deep-blue population center of...
2022-11-1005 minThink About It with Michael LeppertDocumentary "Behind the Bullet" Tells Uncommon Stories about Killing"It's a hell of a thing, killing a man," is my favorite quote from my all-time favorite western. "Unforgiven" is the Oscar-winning 1992 Clint Eastwood movie about William Munny, a has-been killer who learns of a $1000 bounty in Big Whiskey, Wyoming, that brings him out of retirement. Killing is a hard thing to do, and a hard thing to live with afterward. Our modern and public discussions about gun violence often skip this part of the trauma. Americans intuitively view resolutions of conflict, including violent conflict, through a search for winners and losers. The truth is vi...
2022-11-0204 minThink About It with Michael LeppertA Long Weekend in Washington is Good for the SoulOver the years, I have had the good luck of being able to visit our nation's capital in Washington, D.C., many times. I once regularly had pressing work-related reasons to go. Those reasons might be so-called big-deal visits to "The Hill" or crucial meetings with some powerful federal agency. Maybe it was some random conference where I would sit in the back and drink coffee and eat pastries all day, or heaven forbid, I would be one of the important speakers. D.C. does conferences like Las Vegas does craps — which leads me to th...
2022-10-2704 minThink About It with Michael LeppertHow Do Voters Figure Out What Candidates Really Mean?I wonder every election if voters fully understand what candidates are really saying to them during campaigns. Some years, I'm sure voters get it. Lately, it seems to be getting tougher. A couple of issues this year are making things particularly difficult: inflation and abortion. When talking about the economy, time is money, so, let me get right to the point: The American Recovery Plan is not the reason there is global inflation. I know of zero credible economists who will say it is. Some will say it exacerbated inflation. I wonder if tho...
2022-10-1905 minThink About It with Michael LeppertEntertaining the Absurd is Key to Destroying Judicial CredibilityThe Judicial Branch of government is certainly on a roll. It started with "The Leak" in May of what turned out to be the official landmark ruling in July of Dobbs v. Mississippi. You know the one. It is the one that turned back the clock on women's healthcare rights by nearly half a century. The justices voting in favor of Dobbs, had all tap-danced through their Senate confirmations to the court with statements of their commitment to "settled law" in this arena. Those lies were still hanging in the air as they defiantly reversed themselves — as ex...
2022-10-1405 minThink About It with Michael LeppertThe GOP Brand is Burning DownIndiana GOP chairman Kyle Hupfer has a real problem on his hands. Wait a minute, that's not accurate. Hupfer's hands are full of them. Really? How much trouble could the Republican chairman have in a state like Indiana? His party controls all of state government. Being in charge doesn't sound like any trouble at all. Except it doesn't appear the state's top two elected Republicans are in charge of the party anymore. The obvious problems started a few weeks back when the GOP candidate for Secretary of State, Diego Morales, showed that he cou...
2022-10-0505 minThink About It with Michael Leppert'Profiles in Ignorance' Are So Common They Are Hardly NoticeableWhen I first heard about Andy Borowitz's new book, "Profiles in Ignorance," I knew it was moving to the top of my must-read stack. Then I found out he was reading the Audible version himself, and so I am now that guy walking down the street who spontaneously bursts into laughter at seemingly nothing. As anyone who is a Borowitz fan, yes, the book is hilarious. Unless you consider yourself a "Reagan Republican," or if you are merely willing to admit that you know Dan Quayle, that is. The book is a discussion of the t...
2022-09-2805 minThink About It with Michael LeppertFocus on Service in Secretary of State RaceIn the Secretary of State race, the commitment to service matters. I find myself teaching this simple lesson with more enthusiasm lately: elected positions in American government exist as opportunities to serve. "Yea, yea, old man, we know that" is often the expression I see on the faces of my students when I start. Occasionally, one of them might actually say it out loud. Students are usually reluctant to school the teacher that way. Good thing. Mainly because this is not that simple anymore. When I was a young state employee and was learning my...
2022-09-2104 minThink About It with Michael LeppertRoyal Coverage Should Help Us Learn How Royalty Even ExistsFor many Americans, including me, the attraction to the exhausting news surrounding Great Britain's royal family is dumbfounding. The mere existence of a "royal" family is so antithetical to my view of our culture, I usually open my participation in any conversation about the Windsor's with an eye roll, not a bow. Elizabeth II's passing last week led to Charles III's ascension to the throne, a change that has not occurred since February 6, 1952. The throne is inherited. So is Indiana's budget surplus. That's just a silly comparison, right? Not to me it isn't. I...
2022-09-1405 minThink About It with Michael LeppertTodd Rokita Could Use a Friend to Stand By HimStephen King's 1982 novella, "The Body," was adapted into the award-winning, 1986 film, "Stand by Me." There are significant differences between the two versions of the story, but both are primarily about friendship. It is a tale about Gordie LaChance, his friend, Chris Chambers, and two other 12-year-old friends, who go on a journey to find the dead body of a missing boy near Castle Rock, Oregon. It was Labor Day Weekend in 1959. Think of the countless times in your life when a friend helped you choose to do the right thing when your instinct was to do something...
2022-09-0805 minThink About It with Michael LeppertFrom Atlanta to Mar-a-Lago, This Lawlessness Can't ContinueLawlessness is being romanticized in real-life America these days. The subtleties of this progression are causing a bewilderment in people who once took pride in their simple understanding of right and wrong. A cleansing reset of that understanding is in desperate need. Maybe it will help if we try an exercise in objective contextualizing. In the not-too-distant past, a subpoena had unwavering meaning and authority. If one was issued by any American entity with authority to issue one, the citizen who received it, appeared in front of that entity. "Subpoena" is an old word with old meaning...
2022-09-0105 minThink About It with Michael LeppertThe Love of Teaching and the First Day of SchoolIt's too hard for too many to love the first day of school. I am old enough to have forgotten whether I loved the first day of school when I was a young student or not. I might have been too cool for that then, but clearly, I have changed. There is no question that I love it now. I was with some friends on Sunday night this week and one of them asked, "do you have to teach tomorrow?" I corrected her quickly and said, "I get to teach tomorrow." Over the ye...
2022-08-2404 minThink About It with Michael LeppertFacts, Prefacts, and TruthIt's time to have a heart-to-heart talk about truth, lies, facts, and fiction. A whole new season of make-it-up-as-Trump-goes began last week. So, I felt obligated to share some research about how bad many of our countrymen, and yes, they are mostly men, have gotten in recognizing nonsense when it lands on them. First, a short list of facts: On Monday, August 8, the FBI executed a search warrant at the home of former President Donald Trump. The warrant was issued by a federal magistrate in Florida, who had the legal authority to do so, after a...
2022-08-1705 minThink About It with Michael LeppertLilly and Cummins a Day Late; Hoosiers a Dollar ShortOn Friday night, while the Indiana General Assembly was turning back the clock on human rights, I was at the Egyptian Room of the Old National Center to see a comedy show. With all of the tragically unfunny things going on for the last few weeks under the dome a few blocks away, the timing of the Marc Maron tickets I bought months earlier were a welcome reprieve. Right around the time the show was ending, the legislature was passing Indiana's new abortion ban. Shortly after I got home, Gov. Eric Holcomb was signing it into law...
2022-08-1004 minThink About It with Michael LeppertThe Chaos in the Senate is Only the Beginning"I am here today to represent Jesus," was the most baffling utterance I heard last Thursday night. It was Senator Mike Gaskill's opening comment made on the floor of the Indiana Senate during the debate on an amendment to a proposed new abortion law. Gaskill is a Republican, representing Senate District 26, which covers portions of Delaware, Madison and Henry counties in central Indiana. To hear him tell it, Jesus is a constituent. Yes, that Jesus. And apparently, according to Gaskill, his lord, savior, and constituent does not believe there should be an exception to the proposed new a...
2022-08-0305 minThink About It with Michael LeppertThe Legislature's Big Mistake Is Coming In The Air TonightI couldn't get the song out of my head on Monday at the Statehouse. I stood in line for an hour to get into the building to attend a rally in support of women's reproductive rights. My old lobbyist badge that used to allow me to skip those lines expired long ago, so there I waited with all the other angry people. I watched throngs of them, of every kind, stand in line to get into the building. Many of them never got in. But I did, even though I was almost a half an hour late f...
2022-07-2705 minThink About It with Michael Leppert6.1 Billion Dollar Surplus Shows an Absence of IdeasIt's not a surprise to those of us who have been watching it grow, stagnate, and then grow some more. But when the State of Indiana closed out its books for the fiscal year last week, the news about it still should have made more of an impression on Hoosiers than it did. Indiana ended the year with $6.1 billion in reserves. That news should jolt taxpayers. But it doesn't. I don't know why it doesn't. But I will keep trying to make sense of it until the day Hoosiers clearly understand the terrible news. ...
2022-07-2005 minThink About It with Michael LeppertIndiana Keeps Investing In Its Bad ReputationI was speeding through Georgia this past Sunday and I couldn't help looking for political billboards. Then I saw it. A "Now Hiring" billboard for state troopers, with instructions to apply at gatrooper.com. As an occasional government watchdog, I was fascinated by this whole new strategy for filling one of any state government's toughest jobs. Of course, after concluding that Georgia is experiencing a state trooper shortage, I drove faster. Why not, right? Connect with Michael Leppert Visit michaelleppert.com to read the full post and links to any resources or articles me...
2022-07-1305 minThink About It with Michael LeppertThe Difference Between 'Greenlights' and 'Red Lines' is SimpleLast Thursday, as reported by Casey Smith of the Indiana Capital Chronicle, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb said he'll sign any abortion-restricting measures that make it to his desk during the upcoming special legislative session. "I don't have any red lines right now," the governor said. That is a remarkable place for him to be in this first post-Roe summer. It's remarkable in that he has abdicated his leadership on the issue before the real part of the initial debate has even started. On the largest public policy decision during his two terms, he is actively taking a pa...
2022-07-0605 minThink About It with Michael LeppertCorruption Doesn't Change 'Under the Banner of Heaven'I was lucky to be able to see Rusty Bowers, the speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives, testify recently before the January 6 Committee. It was a fascinating story Bowers told about the pressure he got from then-President Donald Trump to participate in a coup to flip the electoral votes of Arizona from President-elect Joe Biden to Trump. He successfully resisted that pressure, using his commitment to his oath of office and his faith as the sources of his needed strength. "It is a tenet of my faith that the Constitution is divinely inspired …" Bowers testified. And wh...
2022-06-2904 minThink About It with Michael LeppertGuns Make People Say the Darndest ThingsThursday, June 23, 2022, is one of those days on Capitol Hill that will appear on history tests years from now. It was gun day on the hill, and two of the three branches of government seemed to be passing each other on Constitution Avenue going in different directions. In the morning, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in the case challenging a 109-year-old New York state law that required a person to show "proper cause" to receive a permit to carry a gun outside of the home. The six conservative members of the court voted to...
2022-06-2405 minThink About It with Michael LeppertI Trust You, But You're Not the One Behind the WheelThe third of seven expected hearings of the January 6 Committee was held on Thursday. Just like the two before it, there were plenty of "wow" moments. It is also clear there are plenty more wows to come. Here in Indiana, we know former Vice President, former Indiana governor, former congressman, and former radio personality, Mike Pence better than most. I have written more about him than anybody ever should have, though I continue to be deeply thankful someone wrote more, specifically Tom LoBianco, in his book about Pence, "Piety and Power." It appears he has a few m...
2022-06-1705 minThink About It with Michael LeppertJanuary 6 Committee's Audiences are History and ZombiesAmericans addicted to belief in "the big lie," and the unconditional defense of those responsible for all of its components, are in a zombie fog. The January 6 Committee began telling the story of its work Thursday night. By the time it took its first break, an hour into the opening hearing, I was nauseous. This was not a protest or a riot. There is no serious "counter-narrative" available for the offering. It is clear from the volume of new information presented in the first two hours of the committee hearings, a story in which Americans have already...
2022-06-1005 minThink About It with Michael LeppertOne Certainty: Doing Nothing Is Not WorkingIn the last two weeks, I have heard two things regarding the state of our union that disturb me more than anything. The first was a statement made on the morning news early last week, after the massacre in Buffalo, but before the one in Uvalde. A reporter, not a commentator, but a reporter, matter-of-factly reported on the gun policy debate that, "the Senate is an outlier on this issue." Think about how ridiculous that statement is, and then factor in the casual nature in which it was said on national television. This week, after...
2022-06-0305 minThink About It with Michael LeppertWe Have All Been Praying for the Wrong PeopleOne anti-problem-solving sentiment used by Republican Senators Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio this week is an old one. It goes like this: "There is no law that we could pass that would have prevented that shooting." Now, no intelligent person thinks there is some magical, singular solution that inconveniences no one. But that sentiment is the saddest possible excuse for inaction. I pray for all the people who use it. Connect with Michael Leppert michaelleppert.com Twitter @michaelleppert Facebook at Michael Leppert
2022-05-2705 minThink About It with Michael LeppertOn Gas Taxes, Politicians Should 'Get Caught' Trying to HelpIt appears Indiana's leaders don't want to get caught trying on this one. It is another intolerable fiscal choice, given the one elephant in Indiana's fiscal room: an oversized and outrageous budget surplus. That surplus, which has hovered around $2 billion for more than a decade, has continued to grow recently, and has the potential to reach $6 billion before the fiscal year ends next summer. It has become the most important part of the budget to Indiana Republicans. Whether a gas tax holiday is a political gimmick or not, in Indiana we can afford that gimmick several times over.
2022-05-2004 minThink About It with Michael LeppertThe Economics of Roe Aren't Being Discussed EnoughI regularly tell my students these days, just like I used to regularly tell my clients, if you have an idea for a policy change in America, be prepared to successfully make your case purely on economic terms. In other words, trying to convince policymakers the change that is being proposed is simply the right thing to do usually won't get the effort very far. Proponents for change need to show them the money. Connect with Michael Leppert michaelleppert.com Twitter @michaelleppert Facebook at Michael Leppert
2022-05-1305 minThink About It with Michael LeppertWhy Is That Woman Crying?The news was breaking about the leaked, draft opinion that was circulating at the U.S. Supreme Court. Early reports on the screen claimed this leaked draft would "overturn" the 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade. We didn't know much about this draft opinion until later, but based on the initial news, it wasn't immediately all that surprising to me. It was what I expected out of this court. However, after the details became more clear, the draft opinion is not merely a modification of the landmark case, or even a new definition of when "life" officially becomes "life." No, t...
2022-05-0605 minThink About It with Michael LeppertJanuary 6 Committee Feels the Storytelling PressureI have felt for the longest time that America has begun to feel like a never-ending reenactment of Monty Python's classic sketch, "The Argument Clinic." The premise of the 1970 sketch is that there might actually be people who are simply looking for an argument and are willing to pay a pro to deliver one. Michael Palin and John Cleese expertly show how frustrating a so-called argument can be when contradiction is its only feature. First of all, the sketch is hilarious, but importantly today, it foreshadowed social media and contemporary politics fifty years ahead of its time. Connect with...
2022-04-2904 minThink About It with Michael LeppertInvesting in People Should Be the Easiest Choice of AllImagine being the person in charge of recruiting a business to locate in the state. The shortlist of what Indiana wants from them includes modern, high-paying jobs for people who need them, the local investment a new headquarters or manufacturing facility requires, and of course, the tax revenue the business will create. So, what do virtually all new business recruits want from Indiana in return? Connect with Michael Leppert michaelleppert.com Twitter @michaelleppert Facebook at Michael Leppert
2022-04-2204 minThink About It with Michael LeppertThe GOP Spin is to Completely Spin OffOn Thursday, the Republican National Committee voted unanimously to withdraw from the Commission on Presidential Debates. As reported by Reuters, RNC's chairperson, Ronna McDaniel said in a statement, "We are going to find newer, better debate platforms to ensure that future nominees are not forced to go through the biased CPD in order to make their case to the American people." Connect with Michael Leppert michaelleppert.com Twitter @michaelleppert Facebook at Michael Leppert
2022-04-1505 minThink About It with Michael LeppertSo Cold the River is a Real Hoosier HorrorSo Cold the River is a real Hoosier horror. The book was another Koryta classic I discovered. It was only a New York Times Best Seller more than a decade ago, who knew? But the story is not just loosely connected to some random historic hotel that serves as some random thriller's setting. In many ways the book is about the French Lick Valley and its history, told through the vehicle of a creepy and believable ghost story. If you have spent much time there, as I have, you will likely agree that the two historic hotels and all...
2022-04-0804 minThink About It with Michael LeppertAll Jokes Are Offensive to Someone, Especially in the Spit ZoneAll jokes are offensive to someone, especially in the spit zone. The one thing that inevitably comes with great comedy is hurt feelings. It is sad but true. And it's only getting sadder. Of course, this leads to Chris Rock. Connect with Michael Leppert michaelleppert.com Twitter @michaelleppert Facebook at Michael Leppert
2022-04-0105 minThink About It with Michael Leppert'The Troubles' of Belfast Teach Valuable Lessons TodayThe story that is told in the Oscar-nominated movie, "Belfast," is filled with wonder. It was for me anyway. Primarily because writer/director Kenneth Branagh masterfully connected me with nine-year-old "Buddy," a little boy who reminds me of me. Connect with Michael Leppert michaelleppert.com Twitter @michaelleppert Facebook at Michael Leppert
2022-03-2504 minThink About It with Michael LeppertThe World is Now More United Than AmericaThere are two primary things that Russian President Vladimir Putin underestimated when he gave the order to invade Ukraine three weeks ago. The first one was the surprising strength and commitment to fight of the Ukraine army and its people. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has led a resistance that is truly inspirational. This second thing almost certainly surprised Putin too. Connect with Michael Leppert michaelleppert.com Twitter @michaelleppert Facebook at Michael Leppert
2022-03-1804 minThink About It with Michael LeppertThe Good Guy with a Gun is GoneWith the passage of House Bill 1296 by the Indiana General Assembly this week, which creates a "permitless" or "constitutional" carry framework for handguns in the state, Hoosiers have basically declared all guys "good." It's sort of a "don't ask, don't tell" policy for anyone in the state who would otherwise be allowed to carry a gun if licensing still existed. What I mean by that is that this bill slightly refines what state law will be in determining who can legally carry a gun, but eliminates the state's determination that any of those details are actually true. Why shouldn't...
2022-03-1104 minThink About It with Michael LeppertAvoiding War With Russian May Be an Impossible TaskIt has taken a week or two, but Americans have finally found a grievance we can all share together. Only the smallest, most disturbed group among us is having trouble rooting for the people of Ukraine in what appears to be a hopeless defense of their home. Ask anyone around why Russia invaded their peaceful and sovereign neighbor–it is unlikely you will get a justifiable answer. Not around here. Not around any democratic nation on the planet. Connect with Michael Leppert michaelleppert.com Twitter @michaelleppert Facebook at Michael Lepp...
2022-03-0405 minThink About It with Michael LeppertA Day of Tweets from Rep. Jim BanksThe last tweet I read before I turned it off to write this was simply a message released from former President Donald Trump. It read: "If I were in office, this deadly Ukraine situation would never have happened!" As ridiculous as that statement is, it is not an unusual slice of the Twitter feed provided by Rep. Jim Banks, who technically represents Indiana's 3rd District in the U.S. House. Connect with Michael Leppert michaelleppert.com Twitter @michaelleppert Facebook at Michael Leppert
2022-02-2505 minThink About It with Michael LeppertOn Trump, None of It Was Ever a Witch HuntGetting straight to the point, Donald Trump will never be president again. None of his family will ever become president. And finally, no one from his cabinet or inner circle will ever become president either. There. Now that we have that out of the way, I will provide the latest reasons why. Connect with Michael Leppert michaelleppert.com Twitter @michaelleppert Facebook at Michael Leppert
2022-02-1804 minThink About It with Michael LeppertThere is No Magic Wand to Cure Predictable InflationI vividly remember the early summer of 2020, when the enormity of the pandemic really started to sink in. The plentiful restaurants in my neighborhood were trying to hold on by transforming into carryout-only kitchens. Staffing at all of these places plummeted, like many other businesses did at the time. I remember coming to the realization that when this mess was over, we were likely going to have far fewer restaurants, far higher prices at those restaurants, or possibly both. Connect with Michael Leppert michaelleppert.com Twitter @michaelleppert Facebook at Michael Leppert
2022-02-1205 minThink About It with Michael LeppertCancelling a Brand is Different Than Banning a BookI have never listened to Joe Rogan's podcast and probably never will. I didn't understand why it was popular in the first place, because I had seen his comedy, and didn't think it was funny. There are plenty of people who are upset or uncomfortable with the book, "Maus," in a school district in Tennessee. So, what is the difference between these stories and an objection to a book being carried by my public library, or being taught in my local public school? Connect with Michael Leppert michaelleppert.com Twitter @michaelleppert Fac...
2022-02-0404 minThink About It with Michael LeppertThe Supreme Court Will Finally Get What It's Been MissingI'm counting on the U.S. Senate Republicans to do something important. Just be yourselves. President Joe Biden is preparing to make his first nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. Justice Steven Breyer announced his plan to retire from the court on Wednesday which created the vacancy on the nine-person panel. Connect with Michael Leppert michaelleppert.com Twitter @michaelleppert Facebook at Michael Leppert
2022-01-2804 minThink About It with Michael LeppertIndiana Still Shouldn't Be Holding a Pile of Our MoneyI've written it before, so to my loyal following, I apologize for how familiar this mantra of mine may sound. However, given the recent passage in the Indiana House of what certainly would be a popular $1 billion tax cut, I felt the time was appropriate to dust this discussion off and move it back to the top of Hoosiers' collective inbox. Connect with Michael Leppert michaelleppert.com Twitter @michaelleppert Facebook at Michael Leppert
2022-01-2104 minThink About It with Michael LeppertTodd Young Opens His Campaign in a Trumpy WayThe 2016 presidential campaign called, and it wants its bad ideas back. Regretfully, Indiana's 2022 U.S. Senate race appears to be headed toward focusing on the worst ideas of one of the worst campaign seasons ever. That is if the incumbent Marine has his way. Connect with Michael Leppert michaelleppert.com Twitter @michaelleppert Facebook at Michael Leppert
2022-01-1405 minThink About It with Michael LeppertImagine if the Insurrection Had SucceededImagine for a moment that January 6, 2021 had ended differently. The possibilities are infinite. On Thursday, America looked back in remembrance of one of its darkest days. The business of that day was to certify the presidential election in favor of the clear victor. After the horrifying events of that afternoon, the U.S. Congress reconvened later that evening and completed its business. What if they hadn't? Connect with Michael Leppert michaelleppert.com Twitter @michaelleppert Facebook at Michael Leppert
2022-01-0705 minThink About It with Michael LeppertDON'T LOOK UP Shows Trusting Science is the Safest BetIt was December 31, 1999, and the 32-year-old version of me found himself working the night shift. How did I let this happen to me on New Year's Eve? I had largely been a 9 to 5 guy since going to work for the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission almost five years earlier. But my young family made "partying" like it was 1999 the way Prince recommended a fleeting dream. Connect with Michael Leppert michaelleppert.com Twitter @michaelleppert Facebook at Michael Leppert
2021-12-3105 minThink About It with Michael Leppert2021 Made Clear We Are Not Done Changing"I may be old, and I may be young, but I am not done changing," sings John Mayer in 2017's, "Changing." Let's pretend for a few minutes that this song is being sung by America. Connect with Michael Leppert michaelleppert.com Twitter @michaelleppert Facebook at Michael Leppert
2021-12-2405 minThink About It with Michael LeppertThe Passing of bell hooks is a New Opportunity to LearnI had heard of bell hooks. I recognized her face in the photos I have seen the last few days but would not have been able to explain how or why. And that was all. The feminist author, poet and professor died of end-stage renal failure on December 15 in her home in Kentucky. She was only 69. Connect with Michael Leppert michaelleppert.com Twitter @michaelleppert Facebook at Michael Leppert
2021-12-2004 minThink About It with Michael LeppertWe Should Make Laughing a Higher PriorityFormer Senator Bob Dole's passing has been a real learning experience. Sure, I knew the basic facts about one of the political icons of his time, but I had no idea that he had a famous sense of humor. Hearing so many funny one-liners from the Kansas Republican and former presidential nominee has changed my view of him, but it has also given me one more thing to miss about the way our politics used to be. Connect with Michael Leppert michaelleppert.com Twitter @michaelleppert Facebook at Michael Leppert
2021-12-1404 minThink About It with Michael LeppertIn Season 2, When All Else Fails, Forgiveness Can HelpWhat a year 2021 has turned out to be! I vividly remember feeling that last year was the worst year we have collectively experienced, but in many ways, this year just feels like Season 2 of the same horrifying series. Objectively, most things are better than they were twelve months ago. But some of the weeds that had so blatantly reared their heads last year have now clearly taken root, and it is time to rethink a sane approach to their eradication. Clipping off the top of a dandelion doesn't accomplish much. Removing it requires us to dig a...
2021-12-0705 minThink About It with Michael LeppertThe Differences Between Articles, Editorials, and ColumnsIn recent weeks, I have had a marked increase in opportunities for discussions with readers of my weekly column. As one might imagine in American culture, these "opportunities" are usually initiated through some form of objection to the opinion about which I wrote. Lucky me! Columnists could easily transition to the complaint department. If any of the newspapers carrying this drivel needs any help with that, I'm there for you. I think it's time we all take a couple of minutes to renew our agreement on what the differences are between articles, editorials, and columns. ...
2021-11-3004 minThink About It with Michael LeppertWhy Aren't There More Quality Thanksgiving Movies?On Thanksgiving evening, following a memorable battle with her brother, Pauly, Adrian finally went out on her first date with Rocky Balboa. She wasn't exactly happy about it either, telling Rocky, "but it was Thanksgiving." He simply replied, "yea, to you. To me it's Thursday." And with that, I have exhausted my list of favorite cinematic scenes depicting a version of my favorite Thursday of any given year. Connect with Michael Leppert michaelleppert.com Twitter @michaelleppert Facebook at Michael Leppert
2021-11-2304 minThink About It with Michael LeppertRittenhouse And Rodgers: A Banner Week In WisconsinI never expected to write a column about the things Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has in common with an eighteen-year-old killer. No matter what the jury decides next week in the trial of young Kyle Rittenhouse, he unquestionably and unnecessarily killed two people. Admittedly though, as far as strange occurrences of late go, seeing the commonalities here actually don't rank all that high. Connect with Michael Leppert michaelleppert.com Twitter @michaelleppert Facebook at Michael Leppert
2021-11-1904 minThink About It with Michael LeppertIntroducing "Think about It" with Michael LeppertWelcome to Think about It with Michael Leppert. The purpose of this podcast is to convince you to think about it. If I fail at that, I am sure I will be able to at least help you understand how I think about it. All in just FIVE MINUTES. That's right, every episode is just FIVE MINUTES. So…what exactly is "it?" "It" will be something that is happening today in our cultural, community, or political space. And "It" will also be how we communicate with, relate to, or exist around ea...
2021-11-1901 min