Weekly Roundup

The Friday Five. I know you're reading this on Saturday, but I typed it on Friday, so the alliteration works!

1. MAHA Mockery

   1. Governors Mike Braun of Indiana and Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas received waivers from the USDA to prevent Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamp) recipients from purchasing soda or candy using SNAP benefits. Indiana and Arkansas have some of the worst health outcomes in the entire country with high rates of cancer mortality, substance abuse disorder, smoking, heart disease, and infant and maternal mortality. Adding a silly administrative task that targets SNAP recipients will do nothing to improve public health. It is just a stunt and a way to ignore the policies Braun, Sanders, and their party have enacted that have contributed to their states’ poor health and instead blame poor people for consuming soda and candy.

2. What the Actual Frank Mrvan?

   1. Indiana’s 1st district Congressional Representative Frank Mrvan voted YES on a symbolic resolution that expressed appreciation for ICE “protecting the homeland.” This resolution was clearly designed as a trap for Democrats because it also condemned antisemitism and condemned the attack in Colorado. Mrvan was one of 75 Democrats who joined Republicans to vote YES. It was disappointing to not see Mrvan take advantage of this opportunity and make a big deal about Republicans wasting time with political games instead of actually dealing with immigration. He could have pointed out that his Republican colleagues complain about our broken immigration system and although they are actually in a position to fix it, they don’t want to pursue meaningful immigration reform because they’ll lose one of their most lucrative campaign talking points. Instead Mrvan, one of Indiana’s only two Democrats in Congress, is on the record expressing appreciation for the federal heavies kidnapping people off the street to satisfy a wannabe dictator. Doesn’t sound like that vote will end up on the right side of history.

3. The Disappointing Indiana Dems

   1. Following a horrific display of power, silencing a sexual abuse survivor and dragging her from the chambers of the Indianapolis City-County Council on Monday evening, I have kept several tabs open on my computer. Constantly refreshing the Indiana Democrats website and their social media pages. The only sign that they were paying attention was when Chair Karen Tallian responded to a request for comment from WRTV. She mentioned the Dems new ethics committee but still did not specify what, if any, consequences should be faced by perpetrators of abuse. Vop Osili, the Council president who ordered sheriffs to remove Lauren Roberts and her supporters from the chambers, issued his own statement on Wednesday where he apologized and said, “I failed Ms. Roberts.” The original legislation Roberts was there to address will be heard by the Administration and Finance Committee on Tuesday, and chair of the Committee, Councilor Frank Mascari has said he will allow survivors to speak for 20 minutes or more at that meeting. Watching the footage from Monday evening, it is astounding that in the moment, none of the other 8 councilors said anything to come to Roberts’ defense, but in hindsight many are sorry. There are now three Indy councilors; one Republican and two Democrats who have called for Hogsett’s resignation but he has firmly stated, “I’m not resigning.”

   2. If you want to learn more about this disaster, check out the coverage in the Indy Star and Mirror Indy or check out the two pieces I wrote this week Indiana’s Shame and The Dems Deafening Silence.

4. MAGA Mike Braun Wants to be President

   1. Because of course he does. Braun is apparently in discussions about possibly making a run for president in 2028. What in the world would he run on? He easily won brainwashed Indiana by literally doing nothing except inherit his father’s business and having an (R) next to his name but I don’t know how far that’s going to get him on the national stage. Shit. I literally just described Trump. Moving on.

5. My Love for Indiana

   1. This isn’t exactly news, but an offer of hope to you. Making content about Indiana is daunting, depressing, and draining, majorly draining. The events of Monday night at the Indianapolis City-County Council meeting, watching people I respect and admire being treated like criminals was heartbreaking. I have watched the video so many times because I wanted to feel all the emotions that came. By watching it over and over, I maybe felt a fraction of the rage and pain and helplessness Lauren and Caroline and Maggie and the other women have felt over the past decade. In all of that darkness, I got to make some raw content and so many of my fellow Hoosiers reached out to me to express their frustration, their pain, and their hope for real change. This is the side of Indiana no one sees. There are an extraordinary amount of lovely, progressive people in this state that is a national punchline for its backwards-assery (yes that’s a word). For cryin’ out loud, our Lt. Governor Micah Beckwith just made national news for claiming the 3/5 compromise was “a great move.” Clearly, we have much work to do. But for now, I will take a lot of comfort in the fact that thousands of people heard the stories of Lauren and Caroline and Maggie and the other women this week and that is small victory.