Think About It with Michael Leppert

There 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 30 th 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...

An 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 ot...

February 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 Thur...

February 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 th...

January 29, 2025 The word Indiana is literally defined as "the land of the Indians." When Congress divided the Northwest Territory in 1800, it named the western section the Indiana Territory, and when it became a state in 1816, Indiana became its name. In 2025, new Governor Mike Braun, in his first budget proposal in office, proposes to end funding for the Native American Indian Affairs Commission...

Hear ye! Hear ye, America! It's Inauguration Week! But please don't confuse it with infrastructure week. The swearing in of a convicted felon actually did happen on Monday. The striking components of Donald Trump's second inauguration speech weren't filled with goodness, with inspiration, or with charm. Of course they weren't. What child of our nation was expecting a highlight real like that? The...

January 15, 2025 At a beach in south Florida ten days ago, I was halfway through my daily walk, listening to an excellent book, and occasionally scanning the Gulf of Mexico for any passing dolphins. Public parking at this particular beach is located at both ends, so that's where the beach camps, picnics, and sandcastle makers tend to gather. My down-and-back walks there are highlighted by the crow...

I vividly remember the first time I heard the expression, "this bill is a solution in search of a problem." I was a young legislative liaison for a state agency, and we were supporting legislation that the industry we regulated believed was unnecessary. Their spokesperson used the line in his committee testimony against the bill. "That was a good one," I thought with an envious smile regarding the...

Maggie Rose has landed her first Grammy nomination for her latest album, "No One Gets Out Alive." It's nominated for Best Americana Album, a fitting category, though on my first listen of it earlier in the year, I declared it to be the album of the year in every category. I walked away from cable news after the election two months ago. I just needed a break, I told myself. Now, I can't imagine eve...

I remember when, as a child, this time of year was filled with unmitigated joy. Like Ralphie in "A Christmas Story," dreams really could come true. But as a nine-year-old boy, I never thought to ask Santa for a Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model Air Rifle. By the time I was nine, I didn't believe in Santa, and my best friend already had a BB gun. We didn't need two. Almost fifty years l...

It's been fifteen years since the state of Indiana violated the sixth commandment, "you shall not kill," from Exodus 20:13. The translation of the original text to "you shall not murder" in the last century by many churches is not without controversy. Professor Wilma Ann Bailey of the Christian Theological Seminary devoted an entire book to the debate in 2005 . Either way, Indiana is scheduled to...

Fans of the movie, "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," will remember the scene. Ben Stein plays a famously boring high school teacher giving a lecture about economics to a room full of teenagers fighting to stay awake. In about a minute, he covers the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act and the Laffer Curve, fundamental economic topics, desperately trying to get the students to engage with him. "Anyone? Anyone…" is t...

The late John Prine, in his 1971 classic song, "Illegal Smile," wrote: "You may see me tonight, with an illegal smile. It don't cost very much, but it lasts a long while." The journey marijuana has traveled in American culture during my lifetime is a fascinating one. A quick review of the music written about it alone, lays out a chronology of an embattled, yet steady shift in perspective since Pri...

I went to see a movie on Friday night. It's one of my favorite things to do. I can walk to Living Room Theaters from my townhouse in ten minutes, and their popcorn is fantastic. There's nothing strange about going, except it had been months since I had been there. Now I have been twice in a week. "A Real Pain" is a new film written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg, who stars in it with Kieran Culki...

There is no substitute for just showing up. Sometimes I wish there was one, but there just isn't. The relentless polling that exhausted Americans during the last three months of the presidential campaigns never really swung all that much, no matter what the drama of the day was. By the time Labor Day arrived, the persuasion part of the national campaign was largely over. I was skeptical of every u...

Combine the adjectives of anger, fear and apathy to describe any audience, and it predictably equates to trouble. Those descriptors are the features of the American electorate today. Imagine any organization of people, of any kind, that makes its decisions while grounded in those emotions. What could that collective mindset possibly accomplish? While I'm sure there are some things, they would be f...

Several weeks ago, two board members from the Pre-Law Association at IU came to my office and asked if I could prepare a workshop for the group in late October. I generally say yes to these kinds of things, and I had done one last year for the group about building and maintaining personal networks. Yea, I know that sounds boring, but I deliver it with a great deal of charisma. This year though, th...

Every so often, the "beat" I cover treats me to a trip down memory lane to the time when I was a public servant. I was a much younger man when I left the government to become a consultant in 2002. And though the details surrounding my old stomping grounds are different, the regulatory compact remains unchanged. On October 10th, U.S. Senator Mike Braun sent a letter to the Indiana Utility Regulator...

Election Day is only three weeks away, and as Donald Trump's third full campaign comes to a close, American voters have a pretty good idea who he is. Imagine having a conversation with a voter anywhere and hearing them say, "I wonder what this Trump fellow is really like." One could just listen to the tunes that surround him. It's not a long playlist. Vice President Kamala Harris was oddly playing...

I watched the first Indiana gubernatorial debate with great interest on October 2 nd . The hour long event featuring Jennifer McCormick (D) and Mike Braun (R) was only a few minutes in when I could tell this was likely going to be a good night for Democrats. Only a few minutes later, I found myself disappointed because I knew this important moment was not going to be seen by as many Hoosier voters...

What is the market rate for a governor? Well, it depends on the market of course. In New York, the rate is $250,000 a year. In Maine, it's $70,000. That makes perfect sense, doesn't it? These two states might as well be on two different planets after all. It takes five whole hours to drive from Albany to Augusta, a lovely drive that weaves around Boston, where the Massachusetts governor makes $185...

Polling data takes up more space in my world than campaign ads do. It's truly remarkable. In any presidential election year, I am normally exhausted by every candidate's pitch on TV by now. Thirty seconds at a time, the sound bites should have already eroded a precious sliver of my soul, and possibly yours as well. Not this year. Not even on my chosen social platforms am I overwhelmed with the ads...

Bill Murray once said, "It's hard to win an argument with a smart person. It's damn near impossible to win one with a stupid person." For the objective viewer, whoever that is, I expect Tuesday night's debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump to feel like this. Afterward, those tuning in to root for their chosen candidate will likely declare victory. Harris supporters know her...

Who is credited with founding the holiday we celebrated Monday? According to History.com , some say it was a man named Peter McGuire, of the American Federation of Labor. Others say it was a man named Matthew Maguire, of the Central Labor Union who proposed it first. If spoken with an average gait, it's safe to speak either name and still safely sound correct. Unions have been on a winning streak...

It's the most wonderful time of the year! The fall semester starts this week, and I might be a little too excited. I need to remember to have a little sympathy for my new students, particularly those in my 8:00 am class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. For the rest of their lives, when they hear the term, "morning person," they will immediately think of me.  Even when my professional world revolved arou...