Hoosier lore

Top contender for Jerk of the Year so far:

Hey, my alma mater is famous again. No, not for the Letterman-Oprah gabfest. It's a court case to answer the burning question, "Who's the boss around here anyway?"

This really won't be that much of a fight:

Supporters and opponents of gay marriage are already squaring off in a battle over whether to amend Indiana’s constitution that could stretch until voters decide the issue in November 2014.

Voter approval of recreational marijuana in Colorado and Washington probably isn't quite the tipping point some people are claiming it is. Two states isn't even a regional trend, let alone a national one. These remarks by Indiana's State Police chief are more significant:

I certainly think he'd be a better choice than Susan Rice:

So, President Obama, you need a new Secretary of State to replace Hillary Clinton, but you don't like any of the choices sitting on your desk? You think Susan Rice deserves it and would do a great job, but she comes with too much controversy? You feel you owe John Kerry a favor for helping you in the campaign, but wonder if he'd fit right on your team?

Our ancestors crossed oceans and prairies.  They climbed mountains and carved homes out of the wilderness. They fought wild animals and wicked weather. And this is what their descendants have come to:

The Indiana Department of Labor is encouraging retailers to take precautions to ensure employees and shoppers are safe during "Black Friday" sales and other major shopping days.

The Muncie Star-Press editorial page is mighty pleased that that nasty extremist, Tea Party partisan Richard Mourdock lost by 6 percent to that paragon of moderate virtue Joe Donnelly:

Today's "tail wagging the dog" news:

Indiana University Athletic Director Fred Glass didn’t hire men’s basketball coach Tom Crean. But he’s sure bent on keeping Crean in Bloomington for a long time.

Last week, Glass announced that Crean’s contract is being extended two years—through 2020. An extension always amounts to a pay raise.

This strikes me as a pretty simplistic -- that is to say, almost simple-minded -- analysis:

INDIANAPOLIS — What do President Barack Obama, Schools Superintendent Tony Bennett and State Treasurer Richard Mourdock have in common, aside from losing Indiana voters this year after winning them over on previous ballots?

They all represented break-neck change, and Indiana voters said "No, thank you."

OK, let's do an election once-over before moving on to more important things.