Howey Politics

V26, N29 Thursday, March 25, 2021 Holcomb steers through virus gauntlet and during about a roughly ‘Light at the end of the 20-minute Q&A that Holcomb and Hupfer conducted, nary tunnel’ speech comes a complaint was heard on how the governor was han- as he begins to loosen dling the pandemic. restrictions toward normal The pundit class isn’t needed to validate By BRIAN A. HOWEY Holcomb’s job performance INDIANAPOLIS – Last October, Gov. during the unprecedented Eric Holcomb and Indiana Republican Chair- pandemic of 2020-21. A man Kyle Hupfer pulled into a parking lot more thorough measure in Shelburn, Ind., where the governor did a came on Nov. 3 when 1.7 media avail with the local press. The power million Hoosiers, or 56.5% of pair then disappeared momentarily into the voters, decided to send him governor’s black Toyota before emerging back for a second term in a adorned in Hawaiian shirts. race waged against a former It was meant to be a bow to the state health commissioner. fashionable Sullivan County Republican Chair- The Novel COV- man Bill Springer before they addressed his ID-19 pandemic didn’t create Lincoln Day luncheon. But Springer turned that one moment snapshot the tables on them out of apparent respect, of gubernatorial authority, wearing a three-piece black suit. The conser- like it did in 1989 when Gov. vative, Trump-loving Sullivan County Repub- Evan Bayh led a hundred licans were partially masked for the meal, Continued on page 3 Political censorship By MARK SOUDER FORT WAYNE – Censorship of political speech is not new. In fact, in world history freedom of speech is rarer than censorship. In the United States, expanded freedom of speech and freedom of the press (the corollary “I’m excited to begin a second of free political speech) are among the hallmarks of what makes our nation different. The term as party chairman and hon- focus of this is not whether Don- ored to have the trust of Gov. Hol- ald Trump should get his Twitter finger back, though it is certainly comb and the Republican State a current, visible example of our Committee to continue serving in nation once again re-defining censorship. this role.” Traditional media, in every - Indiana Republican Chairman decision, must pick and choose what to cover. Newspapers, Kyle Hupfer, who was reelected magazines, radio and television have space and time constraints. on Wednesday. Page 2 So even does social media, in different Disaffected Trump people, ways. One of the biggest constraints who felt that their ideas were reject- is simple; consumers also have time ed unfairly, were vulnerable to being constraints. convinced – including by Russian When Adolph S. Ochs in and other sites with a vested inter- 1897 put “All the News That’s Fit to est in chaos – that the election was Howey Politics Indiana Print” on the masthead of the New stolen, the American system can- WWWHowey Media, LLC York Times, he meant it as a state- not be trusted, that everybody who c/o Business Office ment that stressed the “all” meaning disagreed was part of a “plot,” that PO Box 6553 not just partisan newspapers, often an individual strong leader was more owned by candidates, parties and important than a coalition of a party, Kokomo, IN, 46904 interests jockeying for political control. etc. Most Trump supporters who www.howeypolitics.com “Fit to print” is how they sorted them- feel that way are not Russian dupes selves from scandal sheets that truly nor did they support the storming of Brian A. Howey, Publisher did and still do produce “fake” news, the U.S. Capitol Building. Most BLM Mark Schoeff Jr., Washington not news called fake by people who people also don’t support the vio- disagree with it. lence that occurs after their protests. Mary Lou Howey, Editor Slanted news (i.e. one-sided Most are not part of Antifa. Susan E. Howey, Editor facts) is not fake, though it can lead Don’t, however, claim one to false conclusions. In Subscriptions other words, omission or exaggerated emphasis HPI, HPI Daily Wire $599 can easily lead to a false HPI Weekly, $350 conclusion. Incomplete Lisa Hounchell, Account Manager facts are dangerous (765) 452-3936 telephone because they appear to (765) 452-3973 fax be true. But they are not [email protected] “fake.” In today’s politi- Contact HPI cal debate, the allies of [email protected] former President Trump Howey’s cell: 317.506.0883 routinely refer to news that advocates for the Washington: 202.256.5822 other side as “fake news.” Business Office: 765.452.3936 This problem on the right is not going away © 2021, Howey Politics whether or not Trump is Indiana. All rights reserved. relevant in the future. It has become ingrained. Photocopying, Internet forward- On the left, it is similar but side is captured and represented by ing, faxing or reproducing in any manifests in numerous ways, though the extremists, but the other is not. form, whole or part, is a violation not through the usage of “fake.” Both are penetrated but that does of federal law without permission They tend to attack what not mean that the majority agree from the publisher. are called “biases” – the establish- with the extremists. Nearly all con- ment, white supremacy, nationalist, servative media, and the majority of imperialist, capitalist, or other such Republican politicians are bowing to Jack E. Howey justifications to deny legitimacy to hard right pressure feeding the false editor emeritus alternative views. view that the election and the sys- 1926-2019 In fact, the left-wing corollary tem are corrupted. Nearly all liberal to right-wing yelling and discredit- media, and the majority of Democrat ing of media and those with whom politicians, are bowing to hard-left they disagree as “fake news” is the pressure to jam the enforcement of left’s takeover of liberalism with the “cancel culture” with no balanced nickname of the “cancel culture.” The discussion. left-wing political censorship has two The danger for both con- approaches. One is to silence former servatives and liberals is that when President Trump and his allies. you align yourself with people who Page 3 are intent on wrecking trust in the basic American system marched on Washington in 1894, because of an economic (deliberate or not), claiming that it is inherently corrupt, depression that was the worst in American history up until that it is evil, that it cannot be reformed, you are well on that time. The federal government responded rather vio- the path to being a useful tool of those bent on destroying lently to break it up. our basic constitutional principles. In the early and middle part of the 20th century, You become part of those assaulting the there were massive protests and threats to our economic system while trying to win reelection or, in the case of system, including penetration by the Russian-controlled media, catering to people who watch you or subscribe. Communist Party. There were massive protests by veterans The mantra that, “I can do no good if I lose or go out of who sacrificed but were ignored after major wars. business” has truth in it, but if you are essentially assisting Race riots burned significant parts of downtowns of the assault on our values, how are you all that different major cities in the 1960s. There were massive anti-Vietnam from those who invaded the Capitol or torched buildings in war protests and campus violence. JFK was fatally shot in Portland? You are what, in alcoholism, would be called an 1963. On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was assas- “enabler.” sinated. On June 6, 1968 – just two months later – Bobby The lines between trying to overturn an election Kennedy was assassinated. In the ‘60s and into the early that has been certified by 60 courts, all states and Con- ‘70s it seemed as though this nation was about to com- gress and that of claiming that the court system is white pletely come apart at the seams because it was. supremacist and that all police forces are corrupt are basi- A core question today is this: Are the institu- cally invisible. It is just the same argument from the other tions that helped hold us together, push desired reforms side. Increasing numbers from both sides don’t seem to and avoided civil war still there with credibility? The understand that the false premises are the same, and the church? The media? Business leaders? Education leaders? threat to the system. They are too busy yelling about the And now, apparently, even respect for the courts and the threat from the other side. government itself? Is there any trust or respect left? Sharp differences on major issues always have Our nation needs politicians and leaders willing to and always will cause conflict. Our nation was created with risk losing – not necessarily losing, but risking it – to take an internal contradiction on race – claiming freedom for all stands explaining things to their own side. We don’t need but denying it for Black slaves – that was finally resolved more people to explain how the other side should behave. by a civil war. But the fact is that before the Civil War and Right now, Democrats are cowering from their left more since the Civil War, America has teetered on violent inter- than Republicans are from the Trump saluting on the right nal conflict many times. (though not by much). Profiles in courage are hard to find. The Shays Rebellion (1786-1787) was an early We need leadership from those elected to lead.

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