JUST WHEN YOU SAY SOMETHING GOOD ABOUT SOMETHING…

Many readers know that the Author’s hometown is Ligonier, Indiana. In a recent post he feted Ligonier for its immigrant past. In a post from September 26th entitled “The Economics of Nativist Bigotry” the Author wrote:

Ligonier, like many small towns, has an immigrant past. In the second half of the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century, German Jews settled in Ligonier. They built and operated banks, businesses and factories. They constructed large ornate homes, homes which still provide a unique flavor to the town.

In the 1950s and 1960s, people from Eastern Kentucky and West Virginia came to Ligonier to work in are factories, escaping the poverty that is endemic to parts of Appalachia.

And now Latinos bring their energy and culture to Ligonier. What greater American story could be told about such a community? When he was living there, the Author never thought there was anything remotely unique about Ligonier. But yet it is unique, uniquely American.

UNIQUELY AMERICAN TOO, IN ITS LACK OF REASONING SKILLS AND HYPERBOLIC APPEALS TO IDIOCY.

The mayor of that town, finishing out his second and final term, proposed a smoking ban in businesses, including restaurants. Most of mainstream America bans smoking in restaurants. It is a common sense public health regulation. Most people know that. Many cities even ban smoking in bars. To the Author’s knowledge such bans have not resulted in massive restaurant closings nor put thousands of grill cooks out of work.

But in rural Indiana where the irrelevant is elevated to heights beyond irony, banning smoking in restaurants is akin to fluoridating drinking water.

WORLD WAR II, FOUGHT TO MAKE THE WORLD SAFE FOR PHILLIP MORRIS.

A vigorous letter campaign and blog war erupted in the local paper and the website for the local paper. It highlights the low levels of intellectual achievement in the heartland.

A local man claims that millions died in World War II to protect the right of small restaurants to permit indoor tobacco smoke pollution low some sixty years later. In his letter to the editor criticizing a proponent of the smoking ban he states:


.. my father and several million other young Americans fought in WWII to
defend against aggressive governments, intent on imposing their will on the free people of the world. Admittedly, I didn’t spend a lot of time looking, but
I can’t find any reference to “breathing clean air” when I Google WWII.

Gee, the Author thought World War II was fought to rollback the expansion of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. He never knew that big tobacco had a stake in the slaughter. Maybe the writer of the letter can Google Winston and World War II and ferret out the connection.

And the Author is sure that millions of war dead will rest easier, knowing that their sacrifice freed millions to pollute indoor air.

THERE IS AN INVERSE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE UNIMPORTANCE OF AN ISSUE AND THE PUBLIC ENERGY EXPENDED ON DEBATING IT.

Former Indiana State Senator Louis Mahern once said there was an inverse relationship between the importance of a political issue and the interest invested in it. Property tax reform was a yawner relative to whether Hoosiers would set their clocks forward or backward an hour in fall and spring.

So, the Author is forced to say it again:

AIN’T god BEEN GOOD TO INDIANA…

FREEDOM IN THE DESERT OF THE REAL REQUIRES KNOWING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN IRRELVANCY AND IDIOCY!