Current Affairs

Not crazy about Jon Huntsman and his attempts to appeal to moderate voters in the primary, but his tax proposal looks interesting:

Sen. Richard Lugar is right on this one -- the U.S. government needs to get out of the sugar business:

Not sure what I think about this:

(Indianapolis, Ind.) - “Survivor” fan favorite Rupert Boneham is hoping he is just as popular with Indiana voters as he was with viewers.

 The former reality show contestant announced Tuesday he is entering the race for Indiana governor. Boneham has filed paperwork to establish an exploratory committee as a Libertarian candidate in 2012.

This plays into the stereotype of fiscal conservatives peddled by the left, that we all can't wait to throw Grandma off the cliff while we lunch with our rich pals and laugh about it.  I think if they push it too far, it would be a big mistake:

Some whiny libertarian is complaining about New York City's sensible and long-overdue ban on dogs in bars:

More and more online courses are available at Indiana colleges and universities, and I've noticed Gov. Daniels has been all over TV lately with ads touting WGU Indiana, the state's newest university, which offers more than 50 accredited online bachelor's and master's programs. Somebody had better start ramping up the pitch a little, because the public apparently isn't buying it.

So, the media hyped the hell out of Hurricane Irene, and then the whole thing sort of fizzled:

The media and the United States federal government [are] trying to live up to their own doom-laden warnings and predictions while a sizeable number of ordinary Americans just carried on as normal and even made gentle fun of all the fuss.

I've always admired Justice Clarence Thomas. Disagree with his judicial or constitutional philosophy, but if you think he's a fool or a poor thinker, you haven't bothered to actually read the things he's written.

Further evidence that many Republicans are still hoping for a Superhero Candidate to swoop in to save the day and don't think Rick Perry is the one: For our weekly poll question (results in tonight's paper), we asked readers for their GOP candidate preferences, listing the three front-runners (Perry, Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann) and "Someone else" as the fourth choice.

Only Monday and we already have two strong contenders for most preposterous argument of the week. First is this case being made here for the addition of a new civil right -- and, no, it's not from The Onion but From The New York Times:

A more radical solution may be needed: why not offer legal protections to the ugly, as we do with racial, ethnic and religious minorities, women and handicapped individuals?