Think About It with Michael Leppert

With football season upon us, I must confess one of my favorite things about it. I love yelling at the refs. It's a silly thing to do, since after decades of doing it, I can count the times a football referee has distinctly heard my complaints on one hand. It's hard to be heard from the upper deck at Lucas Oil Stadium, or my preferred spot, the recliner in my living room. Let me introduce you to t...

Over the weekend, a racially motivated mass shooting occurred, this time in Jacksonville, Florida. Three black people were murdered before the white gunman turned one of his guns on himself. The 21-year-old legally purchased both the handgun and AR-15 style rifle he used.   It's these regularly horrific events that bring out statements from local leaders, advocacy groups of all kinds, governors an...

It was one of countless interviews given by a gaggle of presidential candidates that could have gone largely unnoticed. How does describing a specific sect of GOP voters as "listless vessels" compare to one of the greatest hits of the 2016 campaign, "a basket of deplorables?" Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, speaking to the Florida Standard last week, specifically said this : "If all we are is listless...

What a difference a year makes in the American debate on abortion. In the summer of 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its Dobbs ruling, ending the nearly half a century old precedent established by Roe v. Wade that protected a woman's right to choose.   That ruling empowered states to establish their own laws on the matter. Many did. None were faster than Indiana. Dobbs was issued on June 24, 20...

There is something that has been bothering me more as I have gotten older. No, it's not typical old man stuff like electric scooters on the sidewalks, or those mobile bass machines disguised as cars that vibrate everything within fifty yards of them. And I no longer keep a lawn that gives me a chance to yell at the neighborhood kids to get the hell off of it. This one is important, and come to fin...

If the average American were to learn about diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) training through its discussion in the political arena alone, suspicion of it should be expected, and hostility toward it would be understandable. Duh. That applies to just about everything these days. On July 21 st , Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Jacksonville, Florida to object to that state's newly appro...

"Barbie" had one hell of a weekend! I've never seen so many groups of women out and about, proudly wearing similar pink dresses. What normally would have been wardrobe warfare, was the happiest weekend in America. It was as if Easter, Prom, and an abundance of weddings with way too many bridemaids were all occurring simultaneously. The event the movie's opening created was fun, just like the doll,...

On November 30, 1996, Ole Miss lost to Mississippi State, 17-0, in one of the oldest football rivalry games in America. It was a home game for Ole Miss, in Oxford, in a game known as the Egg Bowl. The chancellor of Ole Miss at the time, Robert Khayat, went to visit the team's coaching staff the Sunday morning after that loss to offer some encouragement.   Khayat writes in his book, "Education of a...

What do people want, really want, from social media platforms? I know what many people say they want, but as is often the case with the content on any given platform, people are often unreliable. Meta's launch of "Threads" late last week has served as the latest disruption to the world of social media that, if nothing else, is forcing a conversation that can seem complicated but often isn't.   I a...

The U.S. Supreme Court really outdid themselves at the end of their session this year. For the top cadre of the American judicial branch, one experiencing its lowest level of public confidence in the history of measuring it, one would think they would try harder. And now that the ink is dry on some of the court's lowlights from last week, the white folks celebrating them should be sober enough to...

The great Chicago philosopher of the 1980's, Ferris Bueller, said: "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."   While reading the new book, "From Property to Partner: Women's Progress and Political Resistance," I found myself thinking about Bueller's famous quote. No, the book is not about skipping school, but the value it provides to the larges...

If ever there was a day designated for giving and receiving good advice, it would seem Father's Day is the day. I'm not sentimental about much anymore, and even though I refer to myself as "dad" more often than I use my actual name, the holiday is among the things I also don't elevate over any other Sunday. Indianapolis's own Kurt Vonnegut, an advice-giver of historic importance famously gave advi...

I often wonder where idioms like "a bridge too far" originate. This phrase comes from the title of the 1974 book of the same name, by Cornelius Ryan. The book tells the story of Operation Market Garden, the Allies' plan of attack to conquer several bridges in the Netherlands in September of 1944. The goal was to establish a route over the Rhine River for an invasion into Germany.   The Allies neve...

I often forget that Pride celebrations began and continue to be protests. How could I forget? There are two main reasons. First, the rights being fought for aren't specifically mine, and second, the celebrations are so wonderful, so happy, so fun, it is a protest like no other.   But it is still a protest. I am filled with gratitude for it every year and am lucky to have found a great volunteer op...

Let's get straight to the point. Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita is a disgraceful public servant. The seven-member Indiana Medical Licensing Board is disgraceful too. There. Now that we have established those two sad truths, let me share with you the receipts. Rokita used the administrative board last week as a tool to retroactively cover for his thoughtless, inaccurate and slanderous rant gi...

Alexander Hamilton, America's first Secretary of the Treasury said, "A national debt, if it is not excessive, to us will be a national blessing." The whole "if it is not excessive" part has always been important, but never more important than it is today.   The musical, "Hamilton," doesn't really do much on this other than a brief line from the song, "My Shot." Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote and portray...

"Where do I begin?" This is the quote of the week, an award I often dole out for a wide variety of reasons. Those reasons can be the source of great pride or shame. Profound meaning or comedic genius are both favorite categories of the esteemed accolade.  It is rarely awarded to someone for achieving an "own" of someone on whatever social platform. This award rises above trash talk. There is no tr...

When the unions representing movie and television writers announced they would go on strike last week, my instinct was to join their side of the fight. Hey, I write, right?  I didn't even know what the dispute entailed, but I wanted to join my writing sisters and brothers to fight The Man. You know the one. He's the cigar-smoking mogul, squeezing valuable art out of starving artists, so he can aff...

We gather here today to commend you graduates, to praise you, to congratulate you. That's what commencement ceremonies are designed to accomplish. Right? It's not just an event where people wear funny caps and creepy gowns in front of family members who are pre-scolded for their inevitable outbursts of celebratory noise when their graduate's name is called.  I have bad news though; I need to give...

In his 2012 comedy special, "In This Economy?", Gary Gulman discusses the thrill of finding a twenty-dollar bill in an old coat when he was dead broke. He remembers the find being such a big deal, it caused him to change his weekend plans. He even added the guacamole to his bowl at Chipotle the next day. The funny part was wondering out loud what it would take for Bill Gates to have a similar thri...

There is a primary election for mayor of Indianapolis in two weeks. To all of the candidates on the Democrat side, know this: I won't vote for you now or ever again if you are willing to re-sign with the NRA for future conventions. Poll that question if you'd like. I'm confident Democrat voters are with me on this.  If the good-guy-with-a-gun group ever returns to their senses, we can talk. But un...

Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over former President Donald Trump's first criminal trial in New York, made a $15 campaign contribution to President Joe Biden's presidential campaign on July 26, 2020. The inconsequential donation has opened the judge up to attacks of bias by those in the legal community. At least one former Manhattan prosecutor commented how it was a "bad look" when  the news...

"We're not going to fix it," was how Rep. Tim Burchett answered when asked about a potential role for congress in addressing the relentless school shootings plaguing America. The Republican, three-term U.S. House member from Tennessee gave the comment only a few hours after last Monday's deadly shooting in Nashville.  Two attributes of the pro-gun crowd are troubling me. The first one is evidenced...

I have a sister named Peggy. But because "Peggy" is not a saint's name, my grandmother objected to my parents naming her that. So, the name they gave her was "Margaret," and only to satisfy grandma and an outdated, dumb, Catholic rule. Peggy legally changed her name when she was old enough to do it herself, and to eliminate that dumbness once and for all. Whew! The only place she was ever called M...

I've always been fascinated with St. Patrick's Day, and there is no question that my interest comes from the fascination others have for it.  Being of Irish descent used to make me feel like the holiday belonged to me more than others. In Ireland, it has been a religious holiday for more than a thousand years. In America, it's a party. Now, I may be Irish American, but I'm not religious. And if gi...