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News-Sentinel.com Your Town. Your Voice.
Opening Arguments

The party line

Are you sitting down? This might shock you. Sen. Lugar likes John McCain!

“I've had a very good association with Senator McCain in the U.S. Senate for over two decades,” Sen. Lugar said. “I've found him to be an independent spirit, a courageous person, a person who is outspoken. He's described frequently in these terms, but I've had the privilege of seeing it firsthand.”

And Birch Bayh doesn't!

He's done a lot of things and can be proud of his service to country," Bayh said of McCain, "but I don't think he's ever been out on a shop floor. I don't think he fully appreciates the importance of collective bargaining."

Bayh also criticized McCain for supporting privatization of Social Security, opposing health care for millions of children and wanting to tax the health care benefits of senior citizens, "or citizens of all ages."

Why do we print such nonsense? I always try to catch "Indiana Week in Review" on PBS on Sundays, just to make sure I haven't missed commenting on some big state issue, but it's a frustrating show to watch. In addition to moderator Jim Shella, there are four panelists -- two journalists and a Republican hack and a Democratic hack. I don't use the term "hack" to be deliberately insulting. These two political figures always say exactly the party line, no more and no less, which is at least a distraction from any real discussion and sometimes a real impediment.

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