Opinion

October is half over, baseball’s playoffs are in full swing, and I’m in sports-fan heaven.

To the Editor:

Editor’s note: This letter is paid political content. It is not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

Long ago, on a cold windy day, a youth came upon an elderly person hesitating to cross a busy ice-covered boulevard. “Might I have the pleasure of escorting you to the far side of this dangerous icy avenue?” asked the youth.

Coming home. Homecoming. This is a tradition centuries old and even older for species such as birds who migrate thousands of miles to return to nesting sites.

Every time Attorney General Todd Rokita signs Indiana onto a lawsuit somewhere in the country or files a brief in a case that doesn’t involve Hoosiers, emails and messages clog my inbox.

In 2019, Republican General Assembly leaders declined to pass legislation that would have created an independent redistricting commission. In 2021, they drew congressional and legislative maps that burnished the lopsided GOP advantage that has them controlling 71 of the 100 House seats and 39 of the 50 Senate districts.

The completion of a work of art often feels like magic. Whether transforming a blank canvas into a portrait, revealing a sculpture hidden within a block of wood, or weaving simple yarn into a complex pattern, making something from nothing can be a powerful experience. For seasoned artists and beginners alike, it can feel almost supernatural. Craig Thompson, one of my favorite contemporary artists, beautifully captures this notion in the closing passage of his graphic novel, Blankets, as he reflects on the experiences of youth and observes his footsteps in the snow. “How satisfying it is to leave a mark on a blank surface. To make a map of my movement - no matter how temporary,” he wrote.

While Becky is away for a few days, I’m on my own — I’m batchin’it as we used to say.

The United States and much of the world appears to be headed for an economic downturn. For those of us in Indiana, evidence about the depth of a downturn is mixed. We have a high share of manufacturing, which will be heavily affected by higher interest rates. This makes it more likely our recession will be worse than the national average. However, manufacturing employment is now a smaller and less important part of the state and national economies than it was in 1981 when we last went through this type of downturn.