Hoosier lore

Got an e-mail about Purdue University from CampusReform.org, which does profiles of university political leanings. Purdue, the group says, has 15 liberal student groups and eight conservative groups. It invited Bill Ayers to be a distinguished guest speaker. In the 2008 election, its professors gave 85 percent of their political donations to Democratic candidates and just 15 percent to Republicans.

I thought The Journal Gazette's editorial Sunday on traffic tickets was thoughtful and well-said, and I found myself largely in agreement with it right up until the unfortunate last sentence.

But with all due respect, a majority of Americans are also saying "no" pretty loudly and clearly:

A Gary Post-Tribune columnist is a little testy overy Mitch Daniels' "I would never, ever in a million, zillion years run for president even if my life depended on it, unless I change my mind" mixed signals:

 I tell you, Mitch, every time someone asks you whether you are going to run for president, you leave the door cracked just a little bit wider.

[. . .]

I'm guessing there will be a mixed reaction from conservatives on this:

SOUTH BEND — Republican Sen. Richard Lugar said Wednesday that he plans on seeking a seventh term in 2012 in a bid that would extend his run as the longest-serving U.S. senator in Indiana history.

After speaking about world affairs and taking questions during a luncheon at The Summit Club, a private dining club in South Bend, the 78-year-old Lugar said he will run again, though he has not formally announced his candidacy.

I think there might be a country song in here somewhere:

HAMMOND, Ind. — Police said a man who had been drinking alcohol to celebrate his release from prison crashed his bicycle into a railroad crossing gate in northwestern Indiana.

[. . .]

Police said the man was drunk and that he told officers he had been trying to beat the train but didn't know how he wound up on the ground.

Wow -- wonder how she's gonna word that on her resume:

EVANSVILLE — A judge agreed Wednesday to push back the trial date of former Knight Township Trustee Linda K. Durham so she could look for work.

Durham, 31, was to go on trial Monday on charges of theft and official misconduct.

There was a big dogfighting bust in Indianapolis over the weekend, and that has led animal rights activists to renew their longstanding efforts to strengthen the state's animal fighting laws. Promoting or using animals for fights are felony charges. But attending the fights is a lesser offense:

Hey, this ain't gonna be just a bar that serves food, you know, one of those joints where people wash down cheap, greasy grub with too much liquor, then throw up in the parking lot, pee on other people's cars and make so much noise the neighbors lose their minds. No sir, this will be a classy place:

Certainly politicians are hypocrites. That's who they are and what they do. As a political scientist in this story about Gov. Mitch Daniels' flip-flop on federal stimulus funds says, "They've got their asterisk, but it's a flip-flop and it's convenient, and politicians always do the convenient thing.