Mourdock Has Jumped the Shark

Here's the lead paragraph in tonight's Huffington Post: "Indiana GOP U.S. Senate candidate Richard Mourdock declared Tuesday night he opposes aborting pregnancies conceived in rape because 'it is something that God intended to happen'."

Look hard in the mirror, all of you who voted for Mourdock in the Indiana Republican primary.

You decided to replace a true statesman -- Richard G. Lugar -- with this Tea Party buffoon!

This Indianapolis Observer is appalled.

Surely there will be more in other news outlets, but you can read Michael McAuliff's coverage here: "Richard Mourdock On Abortion"

UPDATE
Thomas L. Friedman wrote this in the New York Times:
"Too many Republicans, particularly moderate business types, don’t want to admit how much their party has been led around of late, not by traditional conservatives, but by a radical Tea Party base that has driven decent, smart conservatives — like Bob Bennett of Utah, Bob Inglis of South Carolina, Richard Lugar of Indiana and Olympia Snowe of Maine — out of office."

How can the Indiana GOP sleep at night?

UPDATE 2
Richard Mourdock, misogynist: "The latest entrant into the Republican rape insensitivity bake-off is Indiana Senate candidate Richard Mourdock, who said tonight that 'even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen'."

UPDATE 3
"Rape Pregnancies: Just Another Part of God's Plan": "Mourdock was so busy worrying about articulating why he wants to take away women's rights after they are raped that he neglected to remember that rapists are both criminals in the eyes of the law, and sinners in the eyes of his God."

So, Offloading Peyton Was a Good Idea, How?

Broncos Beat Chargers 35-24: Peyton Manning Shines

Move Along, Folks; Nothing to See Here

"There are new concerns that the city's homeless could be costing Indianapolis big money and business," according to Fox 59.

Read it here: "Mayor's office works to solve homeless issue in city".

And a tip of the hat to Advance Indiana for calling attention to the issue: "Ballard Worries About Homeless Blight On Downtown But Not Growing Crime Problem".

This Indianapolis Observer sez, add the "panhandling problem" to Indy's high visitor tax and it's a wonder anyone books a meeting or convention in the Circle City!

A Morbid Fear

"Indiana was a free Union state, but one with strong pro-slavery sentiments," writes Stephen Towne in "Emancipation in Indiana", part of a series on the Civil War in The New York Times.

" The racism of the majority whites in Indiana of that era was profound. Both Republicans and Democrats shared a hatred and morbid fear of African-Americans."

Read the whole article here.

A World of Difference

The fifth annual "A World of Difference – An International Parade" will step off at 10 a.m. September 29 from Lafayette Square Mall, Indianapolis (map).

The celebration from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. includes the parade, but also an informational fair, restaurant taste event and performances. More than 40 different cultural organizations are involved in the World of Difference, which is sponsored by the Lafayette Square Area Coalition.

Indiana Town Hall Series

Join the conversation at the Indiana History Center, 450 West Ohio Street, Indianapolis, for the first of three public forums on health care.

"Vaccines: Yesterday and Today" is the topic for the 4 October session, moderated by Barbara Lewis, host of WFYI's Sound Medicine.

It begins with a 6:30 p.m. reception, followed by the panel conversation beginning at 7 p.m.

The last two sessions are set for 1 November and 6 December.

Golf Classic

The 21st annual Golf Classic sponsored by the Japan-America Society of Indiana and the Indiana Japan Chamber will be held 23 September at the Brickyard Crossing Golf Course, 4400 West 16th Street, Indianapolis.

After a continental breakfast, the shotgun start is set for 9 a.m. An awards luncheon at 2:30 p.m. ends the day. Registration fee for non-members is $170.