Think About It with Michael Leppert

With a few vital exceptions across America, the 2023 election was scheduled to deal with local government. Tip O'Neill famously coined the phrase, "all politics is local." Oh, if the former Speaker of the House, who held the gavel for virtually all of the 1980's, could see the America we are living in today.

O'Neill's iconic statement still rings true more often than not. Maybe. Sometimes. However, there is no question that our neighboring states have turned Indiana into a political island. And when I think of another island to which Indiana might compare, I conclude we are less like Maui or Mackinac, and more like Gilligan's. Island politics are absolutely local.

Ohio really made a statement last week on two issues that are the polar opposite of where Indiana is, because, you know, Hoosiers' and Ohioans' sharply diverge on lots of basics. Actually, I contend that if people of each state traded their sports teams' gear with those of the other, no one outside of the region would even notice.

The voters to our east voted to enshrine the right to abortion care in the Ohio Constitution, and to statutorily legalize recreational use of marijuana. Both of the separate votes to approve each measure won by nearly fourteen points. Two landslides. No surprise.

Why not? The entire region sees these policies through a similar lens. That's why Illinois and Michigan already allow both things. Wisconsin's new supreme court is headed that way on abortion. These are the states I name when someone asks me to define the Midwest.

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This one surprised even me. It was a November 1st story by Whitney Downard in the Indiana Capital Chronicle that caught my eye a day after it ran. The story came following an announcement by Indiana State Treasurer Daniel Elliott that the state would purchase $35 million of additional Israeli Bonds, a 55% increase of the $65 million Indiana already held.

Not announcing the purchase would have been suspicious. A quiet announcement with no additional commentary would be equally so. Either of these options might lead Hoosiers to believe the purchase was being made purely for politics instead of wise financial strategy. It could have led members of the Indiana Public Retirement System, of which I am a member, to question the prudence of the purchase.

What surprised me was that Elliott put out a press release admitting, even celebrating, the move as if it doesn't fly in the face of the principles to which he passionately subscribed earlier this very year. Now, I know a year is a long time. So, let's review.

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Las Vegas specializes in making money off of people who just can't walk away. But on Saturday in Sin City, that's exactly what former Vice President Mike Pence did. An ironic place for the most pious politician I've covered to announce what will likely be the end of his political career.

It was a long shot bid from the start, so, its early end was no surprise. "It's become clear to me: This is not my time," was the apt comment he delivered at the Republican Jewish Coalition's annual conference. I cannot recall agreeing with him more strenuously, but for more reasons than I expect he intended.

Pence's time ended shortly after the 2016 election, as did the era of his entire brand of conservativism. The GOP shift toward the populist, inarticulate, grievance-based platform of today cannot credibly tout the Holy Bible as its guide. It never really could, but the party's hate-based rhetoric of today has made the hard-to-take-seriously piousness of the party's past an unfunny joke. Pence never wavered from his version of Christianity, though.

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"A Fever in the Heartland" vividly explains many things about our past. It makes our present feel like a predictable continuum of the same awfulness. The book's subtitle, "The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and The Woman Who Stopped Them," gives context to the story for those who haven't read it yet.

Acclaimed author, Timothy Egan, writes the true story of the rise and fall of both the hate group and its Indiana-based leader, D.C. Stephenson. Through Egan's meticulous research and expert storytelling, the reader will see 1920s Hoosier life and the "fever" that engulfed it with clarity.

Today's U.S. House is also sick. The unprecedented challenge of electing a new Speaker to preside over an unruly Republican caucus, is the result of that sickness, not the cause. The cause is that the bulk of the caucus is there for the wrong reasons. They aren't there to govern, to solve problems or to serve their districts.

Being there is all they really want. Being there gives each of them an individual platform. Being there creates personal opportunities for fortune and fame.

The historic and disgraceful performance by this bunch since earning the majority at the beginning of the year, isn't costing them a thing in their chosen currency. Quite the opposite. It's creating space for them to promote their grievance of the day, with their target audiences lapping it up, seemingly ignorant of the consequences of the ongoing disorder in our government.

The Klan's rise in Indiana following World War I wasn't merely a cultural spell the state fell under. By the end of 1924, an estimated 85% of government in the state was controlled by the "Kluxers," including incoming Governor Edward Jackson. It was a rapid ascension to power and politicians feared crossing them. So, few did in public.

This week in the Capitol, right-wing firebrand, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) was the latest Speaker nominee. He was Donald Trump's pick. 25 members of his party voted against him on the floor the final time. After that last public vote, the caucus took a private vote, where 112 voted no. That's fear. The same kind of fear politicians felt a century ago.

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It occurred on February 19, 1942, following the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan two months earlier. President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, "with the stated intention of preventing espionage on American shores." What the order actually did was one of the greatest atrocities committed by the United States in its history: the internment of more than 120,000 Japanese Americans. Canada followed our lead first, then Mexico and several South American countries did too.

According to The History Channel, in the U.S., "Anyone who was at least 1/16th Japanese was evacuated, including 17,000 children under age 10, as well as several thousand elderly and disabled residents."

I understand the ignorant temptation as it existed then, as many did in real time. That same ignorance is being openly refreshed and rebooted today following the terrorist attacks by Hamas on Israel, and the full-scale war that has followed in response.

Florida governor and 2024 presidential candidate, Ron DeSantis, did not equivocate in his racist perspective on Sunday, saying, the United States should not take in any Palestinian refugees if they flee the Gaza Strip because they "are all antisemitic," according to the Associated Press. He also appeared on "Face the Nation," expanding his hostile comments, by adding, "They teach kids to hate Jews, the textbooks do not have Israel even on the map. They prepare very young kids to commit terrorist attacks. So, I think it's a toxic culture." In this ignorant rant, he makes the error of using "they" as the unspecific villain, failing to differentiate people in any discernible way.

Those hateful comments seem different than those made in a letter Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN03) sent to the U.S. secretaries of state and homeland security on October 8th. In it, Banks requests that Israel's admission to the U.S. Visa Waiver Program be expedited for the purpose of "removing an extra hurdle for Israeli citizens looking to travel to America during this uncertain time." Admitting Israel to the program had been announced on September 27th, but would not take effect until November 30th.

Of course, I support the request Banks made in his letter. However, on the same day he sent the letter, he posted this question on X: "How many Hezbollah and Hamas sympathizers have illegally crossed our border in the last three years?"

The contrast is important because it represents the early stages of governmental leaders choosing cultures, or people, many of whom are victims themselves, of suddenly deserving different levels of humanity from America. Not only is that rhetoric dangerous, but it's also un-American.

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As news of the horrific attacks in Israel by Hamas began reaching us on Saturday morning, I wondered how long it would take for the political machines in America to begin making it all about us. The clarity to my wonder came quickly. It was almost immediate.

At 11:03 a.m. on Saturday is when I saw the beginning of how the debate will likely be shaped. This is when 2024 presidential candidate, Nikki Haley, posted this comment: "This is not just an attack on Israel—this was an attack on America." She went on to give her advice to embattled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with this: "Finish them."

But wait, former Vice President Mike Pence is still a 2024 presidential candidate too. How could a Hoosier forget? He was actually quicker out of the gate than Haley. At 9:56 a.m. on Saturday, he posted: "This is what happens when (President Joe Biden) projects weakness on the world stage…" Pence was quicker, but his campaign is less relevant than Haley's, but not by much.

Oh yes, the American president, whoever they are and whenever they are in office, is ultimately responsible for whatever happens in this seemingly never-ending conflict. Is there a president whose term featured meaningful peace in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in the last 50 years? Saturday's attacks come one day after the 50-year anniversary of the start of the Yom Kippur War in 1973.

The violence has ebbed and flowed there since that bloody conflict, but I don't recall there being a resolution, an agreed upon end to the conflict, or even an acknowledgment from either side of the other's right to exist. The winner in this multi-generational conflict has been the conflict itself. The events of the weekend are more catastrophic than any before it. The intelligence failures are immense. But the hostilities between the parties have never waned.

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I saw the new movie, "Dumb Money," on Friday night. The movie tells the stories of several people, whose only connection to one another was their varied roles in the meteoric ride GameStop took on the stock exchange in 2021. Combined, these stories convey how complicated the concepts of value and values can be.

The term "dumb money" is assigned to individual, noninstitutional investors. Insiders don't give these folks much respect, and that lack of respect is what led to some insiders' big losses on GameStop's stock.

What's dumber money? Spending one's personal wealth on a personal campaign for political office, particularly when there doesn't appear to be a good reason. Or worse yet, any reason at all. This is how I see the two well-financed "outsiders" running for the Republican nomination for Indiana governor in 2024, Eric Doden and Brad Chambers.

Don't get me wrong, these two men have just as good a shot as anyone at landing the nomination. Long odds of winning are not what makes either campaign dumb. What does is that both candidates appear to be void of a reason to run, other than their shared desire to be governor.

What most Hoosiers have seen from these two campaigns is their opening ads. And after being dowsed with repeated exposures to both of them, I began to see troubling similarities.

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It was initially a quiet move made by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer last week. As reported by Axios on September 17th, the senate leader had apparently directed the Senate Sergeant at Arms to no longer enforce the chamber's long standing dress code. The code was not changed, modified or modernized. It was, in effect, eliminated.

By September 21st, Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) was presiding over the body dressed in a short sleeve, collared blue shirt and shorts. In this regard, the shirt was a slight upgrade to the expected hoodie that is his usual attire. But still, many are outraged.

All but three members of the Senate Republican Caucus signed a letter of protest to Schumer even before Fetterman's norm shattering, jacket-and-tie-lessness had occurred. CBS News reports that the dress code is not among the 44 Senate Rules. It's actually an "informal rule," a custom or protocol. In other words, it's not important enough to rise that high.

Or is it? As a communication professor at an elite business school, I would argue it's so important, it's beyond being codified.

Here in my ivory tower of higher education in 2023, dress codes can be a complicated issue. To my students, primarily the young men in my classes, I am the fashion police. I teach many of them the correct way to tie a tie, the importance of a business suit fit, and how sneakers are not appropriate "business attire." I actually had a student come to my classroom earlier this semester for the sole purpose of getting my advice on which tie he should wear to an important meeting, and to help him tie it correctly, all in front of a room full of students!

This is who I have become as a mentor to these young people. And I do it while dressed more like John Fetterman, than Gordon Gecko. What? What kind of leader doesn't practice what he preaches?

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Oh, to have the fantastical enthusiasm of a group of people in eastern Oregon!

Yes, I meant "fantastical," not fantastic. A group of Oregonians have decided that the best remedy to solve their disagreements with their home state is to have their Oregon turf be ceded to Idaho.

That's right. Citizens for Greater Idaho is a group that is serious about this. They don't identify with the coastal "libs" who control state government in Oregon, and they want to leave. But these folks want to take their land with them.

I'd tell them that the grass isn't always greener, but in this case, it's the same grass. Besides, they don't want it to be greener. They want it to be redder. The secessionists in the east are unimpressed with elitist Williamette Valley wine from the western part of the state. They identify with the Idaho potato to their east. They are salt of the Earth, you know, salt that goes better with baked, mashed and fries.

This is no joke though. And learning about it this week got me thinking. I have complaints about my home state of Indiana too, as my regular readers are painfully aware. Maybe these folks from the northwest are onto something: If they can trade land, can we? And if so, what else can we trade with other states?

As one might imagine, I've got a list.

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It is unusual to have certainty of how the executive of a government, whether a mayor, governor, or president, will respond to an unexpected crisis. The responses to those crises often become what defines the leadership of that executive. They define a leader's character.

Whether it is an unexpected foreign war, a horrific terrorist attack, or a deadly pandemic, how the person in charge leads through it is more telling than any campaign could ever be. President Joe Biden didn't campaign on the war in Ukraine. President George W. Bush didn't campaign on the terrorist attacks of 9/11. And President Donald Trump didn't campaign on COVID-19. At least not the first time.

All of the responses to these crises were revealing to voters.

Last week, Senator Mike Braun announced that he has co-authored the "Freedom to Breathe Act." The federal legislation will ban the federal government's ability to implement mask mandates for domestic air travel, public transit systems and schools.

Casey Smith reported for the Indiana Capital Chronicle last week Braun's troubling commentary on the bill he authored with three other Senate Republican colleagues. He first said in his Wednesday statement, "We're not going to go back to the top-down government overreach we saw during COVID."

This gubernatorial candidate has some kind of issue with "top-down" leadership? Even when he adds "overreach" to his canned statement, he is signaling how he would have led in 2020, or more aptly, how he would have chosen not to lead. Senator, in a crisis, "top-down" leadership is the name of the game. It's the job for which you are running. And it is unlike filing dead-on-arrival legislation with three other members of congress looking only to "own the libs."

It's lonely at the top. Especially in a crisis. Braun's statement is slippery on one hand, and troubling on the other.

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