Politics and other nightmares

It's one thing to give prisoners so many benefits that incarceration hardly seems like punishment -- things like premium cable TV channels and access to a college education many on the outside can't afford. When I heard that some of the poor souls in the Monroe County Jail were having to sleep on the gymnasium floor because of overcrowding, I confess that my first reaction was, "The Monroe County Jail has a gymnasium"?

Those mean, stingy county officials just wouldn't go along, and the mayor is sad, so unbearably sad:

"The dream of a joint solution to Fort Wayne's and Allen County's space needs through co-location just died,” a somber Mayor Tom Henry said in a hastily arranged news conference Thursday afternoon.

But who killed it? City and county officials identified vastly different culprits.

It's getting to the point where we should probably begin every story about what they're doing in Washington with the disclaimer, "No this isn't a joke. We're not kidding. They really are considering this."

Senate Democrats crafting a job creation bill are considering a proposal to give money to workers who cut their hours in order to avoid layoffs.

The Indiana Supreme Court's invalidation of part of Zachary's law seems pretty straightforward. The state constitution bans ex post facto laws in pretty plain language, and the portion of the law requiring even sex offenders convicted prior to the registration law to register is, by intent and effect, retroactive. But at least one law enforcement officer isn't having any of that constitutional mumbo jumbo:

We have an out-of-towner at Meijer's today. Well, yeah, Gov. Sarah Palin, too, but I mean this woman:

Proof that Indiana is not out of the political mainstream -- we have imaginary congressional districts, too!

The imaginary 00, 10th, 11th, 14th, and 18th Congressional Districts of Indiana have, according to recovery.gov, made a tax dollar windfall of about $5.3 million, and 'created or saved' 9 jobs - all of which obviously can't exist in these fake districts. 

Gee, do ya think?

The United States' climbing national debt could drag the country into a "double-dip recession," President Obama warned in an interview with Fox News Wednesday from China, though he said he's still considering additional tax incentives for businesses to reverse the rising unemployment rate.

[. . .]

RealClearPolitics puts Gov. Mitch Daniels second on its list of five most likely GOP dark horses for the 2012 presidential nomination, just behind South Dakota Sen. John Thune ("a political giant-killer, knocking off then Minority Leader Tom Dachle in 2004.") and just ahead of Texas Gov. Rick Perry ("rock-solid conservative credentials and a long electoral track record in one of the nation's largest states"). Rounding out the list are Oklahoma Sen.

The first sentence of this story makes you think, "Well, the poor guy obviously isn't comfortable with who he is -- no wonder he drinks."

The male principal of a local elementary school was arrested for suspicion of OWI while wearing a pink dress, wig and high heels, according to reports.

But then we read the second sentence:

Just what we need -- a General Assembly that starts early so it can create more mischief:

The Indiana House and Senate have planned rare December hearings on key legislation