Days after heroically defending press freedom, our local chain newspaper returns to swimming in fluff.

Last week our own (or more accurately, the city of Jeffersonville's) News and Tribune hopped on the Boston Globe "free press" bandwagon with all available leaden feet, then returned to rescued kitten stories, (short)cut 'n' pastes from local restaurant social media feeds, and a third -- fifth, 32nd, 315th -- weekly Tom May column.

Ironically, "dereliction of duty" is the Trump-obsessed News and Tribune's default as it pertains to the excesses of Team Gahan.

 ... We can be sure that somewhere this morning deep within the labyrinthine bowels of the down-low bunker, over decaf coffee and Eggo waffles, Team Gahan is laughing aloud at the News and Tribune's editorial.

Not because the editorial isn't correct. It is. But Jeffrey and the gang know it has nothing to do with them, because the newspaper will not practice locally what it preaches nationally.

Just imagine if the local chain newspaper's management team actually applied these bold sentiments not only in denunciation of the faraway president, but as a daily mission statement to monitor the persistent chicanery of local officials.

To repeat, Bill "Make Advertising Great Again" Hanson and the editorial team are perfectly correct to defend a free press from attacks by the moron-in-chief, although when it comes to deploying this situation for the community's benefit, they all should stand to be reminded of Abraham Lincoln's vexed comment about his primary general's unwillingness to fight the enemy:

"If General McClellan does not want to use the army, I would like to borrow it for a time."

It's interesting to note that not every newspaper in America joined the parade. In this op-ed piece, John Diaz of the San Francisco Chronicle explains why his editorial board did not, and perhaps the conclusion states it best:

Our editorial page will continue to speak out against this president’s war on the free press. Our silence on Thursday is testament to our commitment to do it in our own way, on our own timetable.

Wait ... this feels almost like a pulse, from a newspaper accustomed to walking the walk and not merely talking the talk. It must be nice to have a newspaper like that, but in New Albany, we don't know the feeling. For the likes of Jeff Gahan, the News and Tribune isn't the free press.

It's more like a free pass.

Why the San Francisco Chronicle isn’t joining the editorial crowd on Trump, by John Diaz (San Francisco Chronicle)

When the Boston Globe called on the nation’s newspaper editorial boards to come together against President Trump’s “dirty war on the free press,” regular readers of The San Francisco Chronicle no doubt assumed we would be among the first in line.

After all, in our unsigned editorials and in my Sunday column, this newspaper’s criticism of Trump’s efforts to delegitimize, threaten and neuter independent journalism has been clear, emphatic and repeated since the early days of his presidential campaign.

But our editorial board will not be joining the estimated 300 newspapers which have signed on to the Globe’s pitch for a coordinated editorial campaign in Thursday’s editions.

Ironically, "dereliction of duty" is the Trump-obsessed News and Tribune's default as it pertains to the excesses of Team Gahan.

Can someone fetch the irony sickness bag?

We can be sure that somewhere this morning deep within the labyrinthine bowels of the down-low bunker, over decaf coffee and Eggo waffles, Team Gahan is laughing aloud at the News and Tribune's editorial.

Not because the editorial isn't correct. It is. But Jeffrey and the gang know it has nothing to do with them, because the newspaper will not practice locally what it preaches nationally.

Just imagine if the local chain newspaper's management team actually applied these bold sentiments not only in denunciation of the faraway president, but as a daily mission statement to monitor the persistent chicanery of local officials.

As I've noted time and time again, this same chain newspaper accepts all sorts of advertising dollars from City Hall. Then, when the proper questions of officials aren't asked, and the propaganda they ooze is yet again accepted at face value, the newspaper's leaders bristle at the obvious conclusion.

These are flowery words, guys, and to be sure, they're both merited and appreciated overall, but it's time for Bill and Susan to discard their delusional tendencies, adjust the newspaper's vision locally, and grasp that it's not only the president of the city council who needs to be examined more closely.

It's also the chief consolidator of shadowy local power, Mayor Jeff Gahan, serial dispenser of advertising largesse. To him, these taxpayer dollars constitute protection money to keep journalists at bay, nothing more. Begin demanding the truth from Gahan, and watch as he stammers.

That's because he cannot tell the truth.

Until the newspaper finally BEGINS scrutinizing Nawbany's Dear Leader -- not serving as fawning stenographers, but actually digging -- then these noble words simply are not being backed by real-life deeds. When it comes to Gahan's machinations, "dereliction of duty" is the newspaper's default setting. Scratching one another's backs cannot be characterized as "scrutiny" or "accountability," can it?

When will this deferential neglectfulness change?

OUR OPINION: We are defined by purpose, not the president 

 ... The fallout from Trump’s media blitzkrieg is being felt in newsrooms across America — including this one. The negative comments have reached our ears. Some dismiss us out of hand, as if we were more annoyance than a partner in the community.

We remain committed, though, to delivering the news of the day — without sanitation — and information that but for our efforts would elude public scrutiny.

Our leaders — be they presidents of the nation or of the city council — do not get to choose to whom they are accountable. They are accountable to the citizenry.

We intend to hold them to it. To do anything less is dereliction of our duty.

Suddeath: "You can love the South without loving its biggest mistake."

Daniel Suddeath and I jousted often during his tenure as News and Tribune reporter, and while our exchanges occasionally got testy, I viewed it as healthy in the main.

We barked and snarled, and kept talking. Both of us are prone to streaks of self-righteousness, which isn't always helpful when writing an essay such as the one linked here.

Speaking merely as an observer, one who toils at writing and feels like he never gets it quite right -- and who doesn't always feel obliged to practice what he preaches -- the objective is to maintain poise while in the throes of passion, making the necessary points with cool precision with just enough emotion to engage readers and keep their attention.

I believe the writer's ability to communicate in this fashion is a sign of maturity, skill and command, even when he or she occasionally decides to chuck it and go straight for the polemical jugular.

What I'm meandering around to saying is that Daniel does a damned fine job here, quite apart from the fact that I agree with his point of view.

Suddeath: Fake history, by Daniel Suddeath (Glasgow Daily Times)

There is a difference between remembering history and holding on to beliefs that were never right.

While I generally don't support removing articles of history, be they reminders of good or bad, it's hard to distinguish between those who want to keep Confederate statues in place for historical reasons versus those who would like to see our country revert to a time when it was OK to be racist, and frankly brutal and primitive to our fellow man or woman.

This paragraph is the anchor.

What's the point? What was so great about the Confederacy that it should be cherished? You can love the South without loving its biggest mistake.

Continued best wishes to Daniel in Glasgow.

Jeffersonville newspaper plucks the low hanging fruit: "Driving demands our full attention."

I remember back in 2016 when the Jeffersonville newspaper's editorial board applied the same level of safe-driving scrutiny to Chloe Allen's death.

Wait -- no I don't.

After all, the editorial board was silent when Mrs. Allen was killed by a driver while in the act of trying to cross Spring Street. City Hall joined in the complicity of silence, and I don't intend to let either of them forget it.

This said, the board's most recent utterance is solid, although "put your goddamned cell phone down and pay attention" might have been made more explicit.

Here's the big takeaway: Having properly used the word "driver" in the editorial rather than car, truck or vehicle, are we to surmise a long overdue change in editorial policy?

In short, no more, "Car hits pedestrian," right?

Yes, it may be Autocentrica USA, but we're never going to get traffic safety right until drivers are held responsible for control of their cars (not the other way around). How we conceptualize a problem plays a large role in resolving it.

Just saying.

Our Opinion: Driving demands our full attention

Crashes can happen in an instant. Stories of drivers becoming distracted — reasons vary from spilled drinks to dropped items, from crying kids to ringing cell phones — are plentiful.

Sometimes drivers make poor judgment calls, passing in heavy traffic, hopping lanes when in a hurry, consuming a beer or two before getting behind the wheel ...

 ... The tragedy serves as a reminder of the dangers of driving. Jumping in the car or pickup truck is a part of our daily lives. It’s so routine that it’s easy to forget the basic tenants of safety.

Editor Duncan pithily calls out New Albany in the newspaper's "Crossroads of Crisis" series finale.

NA Confidential persists in reprinting these instructions for the safe disposal of syringes and sharps, as found on the city of Louisville's web site. In New Albany, Team Gahan has chosen to mimic Ronald Reagan's response to the AIDS crisis by saying nothing at all. More about that in a moment, but first, the final round of newspaper opioid epidemic coverage ...

• CROSSROADS OF CRISIS: Anti-drug initiatives loosening heroin's stronghold
• Our Place sees success in drug prevention programs
• Stories of success: Recovering addicts reveal how they survived drug abuse

 ... and a series summary by the editor, who against all odds manages to make a devastating observation about the very city her newspaper so often neglects.

DUNCAN: Epidemic a crisis of the conscience, by Susan Duncan (Make Clark County Great Again)

 ... We hope you found something of merit in our special report “Crossroads of Crisis: Heroin Epidemic Demands Solutions,” which wraps up today. We did.

Addicts. Experts. Survivors. We learned from them all as we dug a shovel into Southern Indiana to help uproot the hold the opioid epidemic has on our communities.

It is, you know, an epidemic. If we were honest with ourselves, it would be listed among the most deadly. Naloxone, the anti-overdose drug, continues — daily — to bring users back to life. It’s the main reason the high numbers of opioid deaths aren’t even more outrageous.

People are dying, though, including young people whose lives held such promise.

Yes, Duncan locates the center of the target when it comes to "leadership" in New Albany, and since NAC has been making this point for weeks ...

Bob Caesar's intrinsically sad battle against drug addiction treatment clinics -- and this supposed Democrat's heroic ongoing advocacy of the beautiful people.

Council wrap: Then Bob Caesar said, "Can't we just load the opioid addicts on the cattle cars along with public housing residents?"

Does New Albany's ruling caste grasp that the opioid epidemic doesn't stop at the Clark County line?

Opiate addiction treatment clinic can duly kicked.

... we applaud her.

... we need a medically supervised place for people to detox. It’s better than a trash-filled alley or the cold concrete of a jail cell. It’s more humane. It offers better outcomes. We talk about it, but that’s about it.

Our passivity is palpable.

For instance, the next-best way, besides a needle exchange, to get spent, dirty needles off our streets is to place needle drop boxes in easily accessible spots in our communities.

Too many places, including New Albany, have rejected that idea, mostly for reasons rooted in fear and lack of knowledge.

Yep -- and the main offenders, marooned like clams at the crossroads of denial, are purported Democrats (Gahan, Caesar, Phipps).

At least they have an excuse. They've been too busy dismantling public housing to notice the opioid epidemic.

Maybe the newspaper can take note of this, too, now that the series is finished?

Opioid crisis denier Jeff Gahan won't be reading, but the newspaper's "Crossroads of Crisis" series continues.

Opioid crisis denier Bob Caesar won't be reading, but the newspaper's "Crossroads of Crisis" series continues.

The newspaper's opioid crisis series continues.

Opioid epidemic comes front and center in the Clark County newspaper.

A Muse-accented three-pack: On civil war, Europeans resisting Trump and Americans resisting Trump.

At The Nation, a discussion about the prospects for Civil War.

Are We on the Verge of Another Civil War? by Richard Kreitner

A decade ago, when David Armitage began working on his new book, Civil Wars: A History in Ideas, published this week by Knopf, he had no idea how relevant the subject would become. These days, it’s hard to avoid concluding that American society is tearing itself apart. Several observations and arguments in the book can be harrowing to read—that the nations mostly likely to devolve into civil wars are those that have suffered such conflicts before; that civil wars are most likely when the government is divided against itself; that politics is civil war by other means. Civil Wars ranges over more than two millennia of history, law, and philosophy, but it feels as urgent as the latest shock, as fresh as tomorrow’s news.

Maybe we'll get lucky and be quarantined by an international coalition.

Europe Must Defend Itself Against a Dangerous President, A DER SPIEGEL Editorial By Klaus Brinkbäumer

There are times in life that really do count. Times when a person's character is revealed, when the important is separated from the unimportant. Soon decisions are taken that will determine the further path a person takes. With some, this can be tragic, and the moment comes too soon in their youth at a time when they aren't mature enough yet to foresee all the potential consequences. They make the decisions cheerfully and they lead to either luck or bad luck. But countries and governments are seldom as innocent when it comes to their decisions.

Finally, delving more specifically into the nuts and bolts of resistance.

Your Guide to the Sprawling New Anti-Trump Resistance Movement, by Joshus Holland (The Nation)

An explosion of new activism offers a ray of hope in these dark political times.

The election of Donald Trump was a catastrophe for progressive America, but the damage may be mitigated over the long term by a remarkable surge of energy on the left in response to his election. As many as 5.2 million people participated in hastily-organized Women’s Marches across the country, senators’ phones have reportedly been jammed with calls protesting Trump’s Cabinet nominees and other early moves, and according to a poll conducted by The Washington Post, more than one in three Democrats say they plan to become “more involved in the political process in the next year” as a result of the election. That’s true of 40 percent of Democratic women, and almost half of self-identified liberal Democrats.

The widely held view that Trump is an illegitimate president who’s poised to enact an agenda combining the worst of House Speaker Paul Ryan’s “granny-starving” fiscal conservatism with White House consigliere Steve Bannon’s ethno-nationalism has fueled the formation of dozens of new grassroots resistance groups. Some were launched by seasoned political operatives, others by people who hadn’t engaged in activism in the past. Some were germinated during chats on long bus rides to the Women’s March. Not all of them will succeed—some false starts are a given—but like any collection of innovative start-ups, it only takes a few successes to change the landscape.

Here’s an overview of some of the new efforts launched since November 9. It’s by no means comprehensive, but we started with a list of 75 new groups and whittled them down to some of the most interesting or promising. They’re not presented in any kind of ranked order. Our hope is that knowing how others are standing up to Trump will inspire more readers to get involved.

Delete your account, Bill: Publisher (not newsman) Hanson takes time out from cooking school, wears Community Foundation conflict-of-interest on sleeve, denounces horrible "meddling" politicians but gives Jeff Gahan an eternal free ride.

Let's consult Occam's Razor:

Maybe the best explanation for why the Floyd County auditor and treasurer are withholding hospital sale funds from the Community Foundation is the simplest, in that placing these hospital sale funds with the Community Foundation is a bad political decision, one that was made entirely without substantive public input -- and, in fact, the auditor and treasurer are standing on principle for the future good of the public as a whole. 

And there's this:

It's endlessly frustrating to watch as Hanson floats serenely above the ongoing carnage of his newspaper's daily operation (but by his own reckoning he's in publishing, not news), in that all these wonderful principles of transparency and accountability currently pricking his skin because the Community Foundation is involved seem never to apply to New Albany City Hall's weekly evasions and subterfuge.

You know, like sewer rate increases sneaking through a December back door, and the newspaper's inexcusable three-day time lag in reporting it. Bill, need I remind you that you blithely sanctioned what amounted to a full year's blackout of New Albany news coverage by refusing to retain adequate staffing?

And so yet again, while we're on the topic of conflicts of interest, allow me to ask this question of Hanson:

How much advertising revenue flows from the City of New Albany to the News and Tribune on a yearly basis?

HANSON: Auditor, treasurer overstepping their authority, by Bill Hanson (Alabama Absenteeism Inc.)

For total transparency, in addition to my role as publisher of the News and Tribune, I sit on the board of directors for the Community Foundation and I reside in Clark County, not Floyd.

On certain omissions in yesterday's News and Tribune about deez nuts opposing complete streets.

Of course, to share the News and Tribune editorial's URL on Facebook is to generate a huge image of Donald Trump, thereby defeating the editorial's anti-Trump message via glorious imagery.

OUR OPINION: Trump's harsh words sacrifice our principles

That's why I'm going with this instead.

Furthermore, given who occupies seats on the newspaper's editorial board, one can't help but ponder the comedic potential of emulating SCOTUS and publishing "dissenting" points of view from voices within the board.

— The News and Tribune editorial board is comprised of Publisher Bill Hanson, Editor Susan Duncan, Digital Editor Claire White, Assistant Editor Chris Morris and Assistant Editor Jason Thomas. Responses can be sent to susan.duncan@newsandtribune.com

For the sake of argument, consider the possibilities if the editorial board were to write in favor of two-way streets in New Albany, a position contrasting with that of board member Chris Morris, who previously transformed 80,000 of speeding heavy metal into a pathetic victim.

This notion is proffered in jest, although perhaps there's a grain of topicality in the suggestion that Morris, having used column space to dissent from two-way streets, still bears a responsibility as senior editor to make both sides of the story available.

Unfortunately, yesterday's streets piece by Elizabeth Beilman has gaping holes. It isn't mentioned that a perpetually whining Mark Seabrook, a longtime favorite of Morris's, is more than just a business owner. He's a county commissioner, too. Also, the Cummings veneer company was (still is?) part of the 2015 lawsuit against the city. (update -- I'm informed this was noted; sorry, missed it)

Aren't these facts pertinent?

Furthermore, didn't the upholstery shop have a rather large "(Irv) Stumler for Council" sign in front of it last year, even though the store's location lies outside the 2nd council district?

Finally, among the businesses listed in the article as signing a petition collected by an unidentified citizen (Stumler?), Gospel Bird's owner has expressed confusion on social media, and stated he'd never been asked for his opinion.

So, lots of holes. Isn't Morris the New Albany editor, and isn't it the editor's responsibility to catch problems like these?

And, if not him, then who?

By the way, the Trump editorial is nice. You need to do something about the photo, though.

"So, no — when Clinton is elected, we will not enter a post-gender society. Instead, we will face another convulsion of bigotry from the defeated foes."

Nine white males on the New Albany Common Council ... and this excellent commentary by the editor of LEO. I usually read Erika Rucker's column, but little else. Maybe it's time to dig a little deeper.

EDITOR’S NOTE: No post-gender society, by Keith Stone (LEO)

Watching the Olympics, you cannot help but be mesmerized by the world-class female athletes who are killing it in their events and showing the world how to take absolutely no shit. Like 19-year-old Lilly King, who matched her outrage over Russian doping with an outrageously-fast, winning swim. Or Simone Biles, who may be the best female gymnast ever and whose performances in Rio drew cheers from teammates and competitors alike. And then there is Simone Manuel, the first African-American woman to win an individual gold medal in swimming.

Maybe their domination presages what could be America’s Year of The Woman. After all, in less than 100 days we choose between Cheeto-wrought, worldwide mayhem and electing the first female president ...

 ... Will we become gender-blind? ... Not.

On the 285-day anniversary of the News and Tribune's last New Albany beat reporter, an editorial about guns.

By our Jeffersonville-based chain paper's normal standards, this editorial is timely to the point of bizarre. The only changed variable compared with past inconsistencies is the arrival of Susan Duncan as editor, so my guess is we have her to thank.

Thank you.

Now, about the 10-month-long chasm of a hiatus in truly meaningful coverage of New Albany news? C'mon, dudes. Your Hanson is showing.

OUR OPINION: Our national dilemma: guns

The Constitution on which the Second Amendment is written can no longer sop up the blood staining our streets; it is saturated.

It is far too easy for those intent on evil to obtain guns in America. Our denial of that truth will only result in more deaths. It is time we, as a nation, have an open discussion about stricter and more comprehensive background checks. While most states require a basic background check, nothing keeps us from purchasing a gun from a neighbor or someone off the street, where no background check is needed.

For the record ...

The News and Tribune editorial board is comprised of Publisher Bill Hanson, Editor Susan Duncan, Digital Editor Claire Munn, Assistant Editor Chris Morris and Assistant Editor Jason Thomas. Responses can be sent to susan.duncan@newsandtribune.com

Newspaper editorial board votes 4 - 1 in favor of New Albany's downtown "revival," local businesses and two-way streets.

Granted, all the dots don't connect in terms of editorial logic.

OUR OPINION: City's 'Main Street' revival fuels region (editorial board at the News and Tribune)

 ... Long the local standard-bearer for reimagining “Main Street,” downtown New Albany is experiencing a new business microburst. From unique restaurant concepts to trendy décor shops to niche boutiques, the fork-in-the-cheese city is showing its teeth.

Let's consider a few examples.

As a frequent reader notes, "Not so sure the apartments (Breakwater) are a capstone. They may be a millstone."

The culinary team preparing Gospel Bird for opening is surprised to learn about menu options even they didn't know existed: "I had no idea that Gospel Bird is now a Nashville hot chicken place and that we are offering 'games' in the bar area."

(Seeing as NA Confidential has not mentioned games and Nashville hot chicken in a Gospel Bird context, it appears these notions came from elsewhere on the Internet. The newspaper still is down a reporter, after all, and most boots are on the ground in Clark County)

Then there's this: "Can someone forward me info about the accredited Main Street program? Thinking we might be missing out on something."

Straight face: It's Develop New Albany, and it probably is not recommended that Nawbany partisans make too many comparisons between DNA and Jeffersonville Main Street; the latter has a far longer record of adhering to the National Main Street program, although DNA lately has been showing signs of a renewed pulse.

Still, while difficult, let's not be entirely churlish.

The newspaper properly recognizes the entrepreneurs, humorously excludes the politicians forever eager to claim credit, and makes one hugely excellent point:

"Imagine the possibilities if New Albany shifts its downtown street grid to two-way, which would benefit business and pedestrian traffic. We’re counting on hearing positive news to that end this year."

Of course, it's funny how everyone counts on forever elusive "positive news" about the street grid, even as the folks in City Hall charged with making it happen adhere to the down low, drag their feet to the detriment of these same entrepreneurs, and pause only to award lucrative engineering consultancy contracts from sheer nepotism, once removed (something also eluding the newspaper's grasp) ... but I digress.

Of course, there's a humorous side, too: Chris Morris is one component of an editorial board now finally hinting at a solid position in favor of two way streets, on grounds of business and walker safety, as Morris chafes and suppresses a scream: But what's to become of our poor oppressed pass-through truckers? Ah, the humanity ... the lost horsepower ... what, don't these people walking around have cars?

Now, about that reporter ...

Animal Shelter finances: So, what else is Jeff Gahan unwilling to tell us?

Last week, NAC mapped it.

Secrets that they keep: Team Gahan to be sued for non-transparency in county records request.

The county pays its share of animal shelter upkeep to the city, which deposits the money and pays the bills. But the agreement as written is vague as to percentages of the tithe versus actual expenses, and there isn't a dedicated bank account. County money disappears into the city's general fund.

All (Scott) Clark seems to be asking is to see the record of expenditures.

On the third floor, as ever, the wagons are circled. I was among those in favor of the parks department split, on the grounds of county non-support. However, doubts have long since crept into the narrative, and not only because of Team Gahan's TIF-fueled parks spending spree (entirely unmentioned during the 2011 mayoral campaign).

The county has a convincing case in the animal shelter funding imbroglio -- and Gahan's refusal to release information merely enhances it.

Meanwhile, the newspaper's reasoning is impeccable.

OUR OPINION: Turn over shelter finances (News and Tribune editorial)

... We're not disputing that the controller's office is a busy place. But "we're busy" isn't an acceptable response for delaying or denying a public records request as basic as this one.

We contend that without a clear financial picture of the NA-FC animal shelter, determining how it will be funded moving forward will remain cloudy.

On mayoral forums and debates, no-show incumbents and "a spectrum of opinion."

"But the bigger the office, the more need for a public exchange of ideas. The candidate who can’t agree with that much devalues our democracy."

Jeff Gahan missed the Southern Indiana Realtors Association candidate luncheon last Thursday. I asked one of the organizers about it, and he said, "He was really hard to reach, and when we finally did, he said he'd try to make it."

File under "THEMES, recurring."

Seeing as Kevin Zurschmiede is a realtor, perhaps Gahan thought he'd be at a disadvantage. I feel much the same way about the League of Women Voters' bizarre decision to award its debate venue to Gahan's own Silver Street Park building, but it won't stop me from attending the event.

Sept. 24 "fix" at the Taj Mahal: I'd prefer a genuine debate to a staged re-enthronement, but let's do it.

I've spoken with several persons who feel that Gahan won't come to any of the upcoming forums. I persist in thinking he will. Here are the occasions as revealed to me thus far.

Building & Development Association of Southern Indiana
Thursday, September 10, 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
300 Spring St, Jeffersonville, IN 47130

New Albany Housing Authority Candidate and Voting Information Session
Tuesday, September 22, 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
300 Erni Avenue Gymnasium, New Albany, IN 47150

League of Women Voters Candidate Forum 
Thursday, September 24, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Silver Street Park, 2043 Silver Street, New Albany, IN 47150

Leadership Southern Indiana New Albany Mayoral Debate
Tue, September 29, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
New Albany High School, 1020 Vincennes Street, New Albany, IN 47150

This editorial was written in New Jersey in 2014, not New Albany, but significant portions are quite relevant to us.

N.J. incumbents must stop dodging debates: Editorial (NJ.com)

... the big-ticket incumbents who won’t debate their opponents -- particularly those leading in the polls who are just trying to run out the clock until Nov. 4 -- are doing their constituents a disservice.

Politics is a debate of ideas, and elections are a referendum on who best expresses those ideas, but it’s hard to compare two candidates if one guy refuses to stand still for more than a few hours.

It’s disappointing that U.S. Sen. Cory Booker is one of them. His decision to engage in only one debate against Jeffrey Bell gives credence to the assumption that they serve but one purpose: to reinforce your prior decision to vote for the blue team or red team, which is precisely the problem with our pro-wrestling-level of political discourse nowadays.

Perhaps the best way to drag incumbents out of their comfort zone is a third-party candidate who could tell the others why they’re out of touch, which isn’t beyond reason in a country that lives in a perpetual state of war, can’t feed its hungry, can’t educate its kids, and can’t bring itself to punish the Wall Streeters who bankroll the major party candidates.

You know, a spectrum of opinion. Democracy.

But Booker needs to have more than one debate with his Republican challenger. Bell is often dismissed by Democrats as dotty and irrelevant, but he has the courage to be on a ballot and he deserves to be heard. Who said so? Bill Bradley said so. He and Bell had 21 debates when they ran for Senate in 1978, and though Bell lost the vote, he scored significant points: When Bradley authored the legislation that overhauled the federal tax code – the two-bracket system -- he incorporated some of Bell’s ideas.

Those days are gone. Frontrunners have been programmed to avoid the gotcha moment, as one slip in the morning gets you pilloried during the B-block that evening on Hannity or Maddow ...

An arts commission in NA is a good idea, but we'll need to keep it out of Kim Jong-jeff's hands.

If we're to look in the dictionary under "safe bets," here's what is says:

"Chris Morris didn't write this editorial."

Whomever did (my guess is Thomas), a few reminders are in order.

New Albany formed a Human Rights Commission, allowed all politicians involved to collate bragging rights, and has kept the HRC on the blocks in the garage ever since. It was all for show.

The same goes for the Ethics Commission, which in effect was stillborn. If we actually had an Ethics Commission, it would have administered a half nelson legsweep to Dan Coffey after both mayor and council failed to address the Wizard of Westside's homophobic slurs.

There's no reason to believe an Arts Commission would be any different.

If there is any one consistent theme through the four years of Jeff Gahan's sole term in office, it's that his City Hall must be the driving force, the leading element, and the guiding light. Everything emanates from the Dear Leader in City Hall, which is why the street piano was such a debacle.

Having an arts commission is a fine idea, but it had best wait until New Albany has a different mayor. The whole notion of public art is from the grassroots up. Gahan is about the top, down ... and the down, low.

OUR OPINION: New Albany should form an arts commission

 ... The board of works had some legitimate questions surrounding the placement of the piano, mainly concerning liability. Once that was cleared up, along with a few other concerns, the board gave its blessing, but the process from genesis to realization took far too long.

Meanwhile, in Jeffersonville, public art is popping up seemingly everywhere — from downtown mural photographs to decorative bike racks to the “Jeff” running man installation along 10th Street ...

 ... So, one Southern Indiana city is awash in eye-catching public art pieces while another, just miles away, is viewed by some as art-unfriendly ...

... But why is that? There’s one distinct artistic difference in the two communities — Jeffersonville has a vibrant public arts commission.

Newspaper's editorial board goes where Dickey, Gahan won't: "New Albany is stuck with Dan Coffey whether residents like him or not."

The Green Mouse reports that several of our city council's members, all theoretically Democratic, discussed the possibility of a motion of censure for Dan Coffey, but none would introduce it for fear of going on the record.

Seeing that it's difficult to imagine even this moderate level of spine, it's probably just a rumor.

But count it among those rumors that match the group's disposition so perfectly that it might as well be true -- not to mention the attendant fear, given City Hall's record of reprisals against dissidents.

The way Jeff Gahan is protecting Coffey is touching, isn't it? Sorry to make waves, but I'll have to keep asking why. Click through the read the entire editorial; better late than never.

OUR OPINION: Voters left with no option over Coffey’s words

Last week’s candidate filing deadline passed with no opponent for New Albany District 1 Councilman Dan Coffey. He didn’t have a foe in the May primary, either.

It’s Coffey who has been pelted with criticism recently for his comments at a June council meeting, when he said his push for the return of public prayer at meetings was fueled by the recent drive for legal rights for “gays, lesbians and transvestites.”

For starters, we believe Coffey meant transgender individuals with that last word, but there’s plenty more with his statement and actions to take issue with.

They’re full of bluster and callousness, but still we support Coffey’s right to speak his mind.

However, his grandstanding on what’s a really a nonissue — the previous format for public prayer at New Albany meetings had never been a problem — and his insensitive words come with consequences, or should.

But what really can be done? His peers on the council could censure him at tonight’s meeting.
Coffey has already declined to apologize for his remarks, and anyone figuring a public scolding is going to change his behavior is a fool.

The people who ultimately control Coffey’s fate are voters.

Refer to the start of this editorial and you’ll see the problem at present. Coffey has waltzed through the 2015 election season, and that’s a shame.

The clothespin on Ron Grooms' nose is not removing RFRA's stench.

Governor Mike Pence "looked awful doing (RFRA)," but as the editorial board of Lafayette's newspaper reminds us, "But for all the justifiable grief piled on Pence in those two weeks, legislators deserve at least as much."

Yesterday our own Ron Grooms, who remained conspicuously silent as the GOP's RFRA-laden ka-ka first started hitting the fan -- and who has been doubling down on the disingenuousness ever since -- remained in a state of abject denial.

According to Grooms, who elevates abject cluelessness to a sort of epochal art form, "Hoosier Hospitality" remains alive and well in spite of his party's determination to smother it by means of New Age Nuremberg Laws.

Hoosier hospitality was on display for the whole country to see this weekend as Indianapolis hosted another successful Final Four. After the fierce debate over the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, it was good to see our state’s true character get some national media exposure.

Those on both sides of the RFRA debate were wrongly led to believe that it was going to change the state’s discrimination laws. While the criticism of the law was unwarranted, the economic harm that would’ve come to Indiana without a clarification of the RFRA was real. Hoosier employers were on the verge of losing clients and customers; our cities were poised to lose convention business; and the state’s AAA credit rating was in jeopardy, which would have cost taxpayers millions of dollars.

Now that the General Assembly has acted to clarify the law, I hope people will begin to see that the RFRA is a victory for Hoosiers of all faiths. It doesn’t harm anyone. With passage of the RFRA, Indiana now joins some 30 other states in providing the highest level of legal protection for religious liberty.

The RFRA in its final form is a law that reflects Hoosier values. It recognizes our Constitutional right to free exercise of religion and follows the history of other states’ RFRA’s by specifying that the law doesn’t change discrimination laws one way or another.

Don't you see? That fecal matter Republicans smeared in our faces was perfume-scented lace, and the fact that we couldn't tell the difference was those bad outsiders misleading us -- I mean, it was their fault, and the experience was a positive, and now we all feel SOOO much better trooping off to the showers, don't we?

online.com/story/opinion/editorials/2015/04/03/editorial-rfras-supermajority-debacle/25242381/">After RFRA’s supermajority debacle (Lafayette Journal & Courier)

It’s hard to imagine Gov. Mike Pence handling the past two weeks any worse than he did.

He discounted the readily available signs that Senate Bill 101 — Indiana’s version of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act — came factory-installed with hints and allegations of discrimination against gay and lesbian Hoosiers. When those hints and allegations started turning into nixed development deals and nationwide boycotts — real deals about money, jobs and convention traffic — Pence blamed the media for smearing a law they misunderstood. He continued to listen to inside cronies with easily traceable ties to anti-gay agendas before giving in to adjustments on the law to save face — not to mention the state’s dwindling reputation.

And he looked awful doing it, wire to wire, from a hide-it-under-a-bushel, private signing of SB 101 on March 25 to Friday’s less ceremonious, but still closed-door signing of supplemental legislation intended to clarify that the law was not aimed at allowing businesses to refuse service of gays and lesbians.
Sneaking out a back door of the Statehouse and quietly leaving for Europe moments after House and Senate leaders brought him a fix to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act — even as schools started arriving for the NCAA Tournament Final Four and a mega-weekend in downtown Indianapolis — didn’t help the perception problem much.

Then again, given the heat laid on by the NCAA, threatening it was open to pulling its headquarters from Indianapolis if the Statehouse couldn’t figure how to erase the perception of discrimination hanging off the new law, maybe it was best that Pence disappeared for the sake of clearing the slate before the nation converged for one of Indianapolis’ biggest weekends.

All in all, a terrible week for the governor. And an insufferable week for Indiana.

But for all the justifiable grief piled on Pence in those two weeks, legislators deserve at least as much.

News and Tribune's principled editorial view of RFRA: "Stop the madness and repeal it."

News and Tribune columnist Amanda Beam also offered her consideration of RFRA, which was followed by an editorial authored by the Jeffersonville office's Shea Van Hoy after consultations with the editorial board.

For that, we can be grateful. If Chris Morris had written it ... well, the mind simply reels.

OUR OPINION: Stop the madness and repeal it

... The RFRA law makes equal treatment an uncertainty, and we urge legislators to repeal it.

Indy Star, Ballard speaking clearly: "Gov. Pence, fix 'religious freedom' law now."

Amid principled calls for the NCAA's Final Four to be moved from Indianapolis in protest of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the city's Republican mayor is not mincing words.

Mayor Ballard: RFRA will not define Indianapolis (WISH TV)

Ballard said he is signing an executive order that will require anyone doing business with the city to abide by Indianapolis’ human rights ordinance.

Ballard also said the passing of RFRA will not define Indianapolis.

Perhaps New Albany's mayor will say something, at some point, perhaps after Mr. Disney says it's okay.

Meanwhile, the Indy Star -- not exactly a liberal bastion -- urges immediate passage of "a state law to prohibit discrimination in employment, housing, education and public accommodations on the basis of a person's sexual orientation or gender identity."

In short: You Republicans who broke it, now go and fix it.

Editorial: Gov. Pence, fix 'religious freedom' law now

We are at a critical moment in Indiana's history.

And much is at stake.

Our image. Our reputation as a state that embraces people of diverse backgrounds and makes them feel welcome. And our efforts over many years to retool our economy, to attract talented workers and thriving businesses, and to improve the quality of life for millions of Hoosiers.

All of this is at risk because of a new law, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, that no matter its original intent already has done enormous harm to our state and potentially our economic future.

The consequences will only get worse if our state leaders delay in fixing the deep mess created.

Half steps will not be enough. Half steps will not undo the damage.

Only bold action — action that sends an unmistakable message to the world that our state will not tolerate discrimination against any of its citizens — will be enough to reverse the damage.

Gov. Mike Pence and the General Assembly need to enact a state law to prohibit discrimination in employment, housing, education and public accommodations on the basis of a person's sexual orientation or gender identity.

The loudly publicized educational “Race to the Top” has merrily morphed into another “Slog to the Bottom”.

Or so Donald Barry writes, and I agree. This one's far too good not to reprint. I hope the Tallahassee Democrat doesn't mind this family-oriented reprint, seeing as Don is my cousin, after all. Here is his introduction

Relatives of Don Barry,

Your brother, cousin, and uncle Don has written an editorial for our regional newspaper, the Tallahassee Democrat. The subject is higher education, and the article is a hard-hitting, curmudgeonly ballbuster that is guaranteed to alienate assholes, which is a true talent that he always relishes. The article will be easy enough to understand. The editorial won’t make any difference in the world, but it was hellacious fun to write. All the best.

Don

See, it runs in the family.

---

Won’t Know Nuthin’ ‘Bout History

By Donald H. Barry

William Faulkner, arguably America’s greatest novelist, once commented on the awesome power of History to shape our present and future world: “The past is not dead; the past is not even past.” Faulkner was merely explaining how our living experience is informed and impacted by long-ago events and developments. In the spring of 2013, however, the governor and state legislature of Florida, in their infinite yet predictable un-wisdom, abolished the requirement that college and university students study even one course of History. This change will be implemented in the fall of 2015. Thus, after one more year, most students in the state will study History, in the word of Poe’s Raven, “nevermore”.

That decision was incredibly thoughtless because the subject of History is the most important one for understanding the entirety of the human experience. It is the only subject, if taught competently, to cover everything—the political, social, economic, military, cultural, scientific, and athletic realities of the world as well as their inter-relationships. Elimination of History can only further dumb down and numb up the American mind even within its “educated class”.

The decision is disastrous also because many college graduates cannot gain employment in the field of their chosen major and specialization, which means that a solid general education becomes crucial in providing the knowledge and versatility to enable them to adapt to different professions and jobs.

Yet our politicians did not act alone in this debacle. Many educational administrators and “reformers” for four decades have presided over the replacement of broad, all-inclusive, comprehensive core courses with narrow, exclusive, popular-culture subjects that appeal to the child-like inclinations of our youths, lower academic standards generally, pass more marginal students, and manufacture more degrees while creating the fiction that America is a better educated society.

The mentality of some top-level administrators, especially at the community college level, was expressed to this professor a few years ago by a prominent dean and division director: “We must become more and more like McDonald’s. The students are our customers, and our duty is to give them whatever they want and to make them happy.” This preposterous notion insinuates that teenagers know what constitutes a good higher education better than professors with decades of teaching experience. Administrators still wield the authority to reinstate a required History course within the students’ choices of general studies in Florida, but so far they have adamantly declined.

Veteran professors with academic integrity often assert that education in America has been done to death by politicians, who insufficiently fund our public institutions, and by lofty college officials, who respond to financial shortfalls with strategies to “retain” more students by hiring easy-grading instructors, harassing or dismissing teachers with rigorous standards, introducing courses that entertain more than educate students, and pressuring for the classroom use of glitzy technological gizmos that dazzle the gullible over verbal articulation.

As a result, community colleges in Florida now annually grant degrees to some graduates who possess elementary-school-level capabilities in reading, writing, thinking, and calculating. Those persons who would challenge this claim lack this professor’s experience of teaching more than 12,000 students in three different institutions with a PhD for forty-five years. Meanwhile, some universities have sold their scholarly souls for big bucks to reactionary, elitist corporate interests by permitting the latter to dictate curriculum, book assignments, professorial hires, and even presidential selections.

The state of Florida has decreed the death of a study of History for most university students, and there is little chance of reversing such a stroke of splendid senselessness. The loudly publicized educational “Race to the Top” has merrily morphed into another “Slog to the Bottom”.

But there is a third culprit in this tragedy. The French political philosopher, Joseph de Maistre, wrote that, “Every nation has the government it deserves.” That comment is also true of educational systems. The fact is that most Americans absolutely refuse to pay the taxes and demand the high standards that could make us a well-educated society. Consequently, our blissful ignorance of the world is highly unlikely to pave the road to a happy future.

The newspaper finally finds itself a crusade. Are we blessed yet?

Looking at it another way, the newspaper's own lack of factual verification raises questions about the presumed nature of "innocent until proven guilty," which is rapidly jeopardizing my trust in the state of the newspaper.

In short, if the newspaper can't get the information it desires pertaining to Officer Humphrey, then what it has been printing in the absence of such verification must, by definition, be non-factual innuendo. It isn't clear to me how this is helping anyone or anything, but then again, the newspaper's forays into investigative journalism are about as rare hereabouts as a registered Democrat who actually voted for Barack Obama.

The newspaper is unhappy because its questions are not being answered? Maybe it should ask questions more often ... and not routinely accept the glib answers it gets in return. Is city (and county) government guilty of stonewalling, reticence and a serial unwillingness to proffer information unless it is pried away? Pretty much, although the time it has taken for the newspaper's editorial board to grasp this fact does nothing to strengthen the paywall's grip.

OUR OPINION: New Albany needs transparency from NAPD

Recent events involving a New Albany Police Department officer and the reassignment of the chief and assistant chief have raised questions about the state of the department.

Many of those questions remain unanswered, jeopardizing the public’s trust in the NAPD.

The city’s administration is doing a poor job of communicating with you, our readers, and it’s not from a lack of asking questions by the media — including this outlet.