by Abdul-Hakim Shabazz, Esq.
Well, it’s that time of year where I trot out my top ten stories of 2015. So here we go, in reverse order to get you to read all the way down to the bottom…
- Dan’s Departure – Dan Coats decides not run for re-election to the U.S. Senate. I was planning to list all the people running for his seat and then the candidates running for their seats and the people running for those seats but we figured it would be probably be easier to draw a map of the human genome blindfolded.
- Statehouse Sex Scandals. Whether it’s Moed, McMillan or Ashley Madison, the moral of this story is there’s something rather nostalgic about that phone you had from 1998. Also, if you can’t keep it in your pants, at least keep your phone in your pocket.
- Ballard Bails. After serving two-terms as Mayor, Greg Ballard calls it quits. Democrats first called him the “Accidental Mayor”, now they just call him undefeated. Joe Hogsett runs and wins, proving that if you run long enough, eventually you will get somewhere.
- Governor Glenda. What more needs to be said?
- Just IN was Just Out. Proof that a good idea can go bad if not communicated properly, which is kind of ironic seeing how the point of a state-operated wire service was to more efficiently communicate information about the state.
- Road Rage. Only in Indiana can you spend more money to fix roads, damage one while making improvements to it and everyone gets mad at you for not spending enough money on roads and infrastructure so you end up spending more money on roads and infrastructure. Did you follow all that?
- ISTEP Mis-Steps. Anyone ever remember having all these testing problems from 1987-2012?
- Drugs R’ Us. In the same year that the Hoosier state saw serious problems with meth, heroin addiction as well as the spread of HIV and needle exchange programs, we also saw the creation of the First Church of Cannabis under the RFRA statute. Stuff like this is enough to drive you to drink.
- Same-Sex Marriage Legalized. The U.S. Supreme Court codified the holding that same-sex couples are entitled to be as happy as the Lovely Mrs. Shabazz.
- RFRA Madness. Can anyone ever recall when something that was so unnecessary managed to cause so many problems and bring Indiana’s economy and Governor Mike Pence’s political career to the brink? If you can, let us know and we’ll make it the new number one.
Happy New Year!!!
