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Sheila Kennedy

@sheilablog.bsky.social

85 followers 9 following 614 posts

Retired Professor of Law and Public Policy at IU-Indy. Former lawyer, former Executive Director of Indiana ACLU, former columnist at Indianapolis Star and Indiana Business Journal. Blog daily at www.sheilakennedy.net.

Posts Replies Media

Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 8h

Those "Superior" Private Schools sheilakennedy.net/2026/10/thos...

sheilakennedy.net

Those “Superior” Private Schools

Americans’ deep-seated anti-government biases explain a lot of defective policy positions. (I’ve previously written about the resistance to a national health system, despite the fact th…

Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

An Uncivil Conclusion sheilakennedy.net/2026/10/an-u...

sheilakennedy.net

An Uncivil Conclusion

Well, this is sort of disquieting. A commitment to civility requires citizens to conduct public debates in a manner that avoids name-calling–that we respond to what we perceive to be wronghea…

Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

The Power Of Stupidity sheilakennedy.net/2026/10/the-...

sheilakennedy.net

The Power Of Stupidity

Sometimes, academics and philosophers help us understand widespread human frailties and idiocies. In 2005, The American philosopher Harry G. Frankfurt wrote “On Bullshit” a book in whic…

Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Early Voting Starts Today In Indiana sheilakennedy.net/2026/10/earl...

sheilakennedy.net

Early Voting Starts Today In Indiana

Early voting starts today in Indiana. Later today, my husband and I intend to cast our ballots, and I encourage every registered voter reading this in Indiana–or in any state where early voti…

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Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

What If...?? sheilakennedy.net/2026/10/what...

sheilakennedy.net

A few years ago, my husband and I were on a very small chartered boat cruising the coast of Croatia (which is an absolutely beautiful country, by the way). There were only 13 people on board. Two o…

Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Things That Drive Me Nuts... sheilakennedy.net/2026/10/thin...

sheilakennedy.net

Things That Drive Me Nuts…

I’m annoyed and I need to vent. A comprehensive list of things I find infuriating (or that drive me to drink) would be far too long to post. (I’m pretty cranky.) That said, I want to fo…

Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

The Prerogative State sheilakennedy.net/2026/10/the-...

sheilakennedy.net

The Prerogative State

A while back, Lincoln Square published an essay that focused on a book written by an immigrant named Ernst Fraenkel. Born in 1898 in Germany, Fraenkel fought for the Kaiser in World War I. He then …

Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Making America Sick sheilakennedy.net/2026/10/maki...

sheilakennedy.net

Making America Sick

As we prepare to go to the polls in the most consequential election of my (long) life, I thought I’d focus on just one of the multiple threats posed by this rogue administration–the ass…

Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Women's Rights, Human Rights And The GOP sheilakennedy.net/2026/10/wome...

sheilakennedy.net

Women’s Rights, Human Rights And The GOP

The firehose of negative news that we awaken to every morning–the “flooding the zone with shit” tactic adopted by this administration–has buried news of a maddening recent v…

Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

You'll Miss It When It's Gone sheilakennedy.net/2026/09/youl...

sheilakennedy.net

You’ll Miss It When It’s Gone

Americans rarely consider the extent to which we depend on functioning government. When we board an airplane, we rely on air traffic controllers–employed by government–to ensure that o…

Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

The Rich And The Rest sheilakennedy.net/2026/09/the-...

sheilakennedy.net

The Rich And The Rest

I frequently quote Nick Hanauer, the billionaire who regularly warns other super-rich titans that unless they change their ways, ordinary Americans will be coming for them with pitchforks. Hanauer …

Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Indiana's Embarrassing Senator sheilakennedy.net/2026/09/indi...

sheilakennedy.net

Indiana’s Embarrassing Senator

A recurring question with which many of us grapple is: How did we get here? What were the flaws in our systems, in our institutions, in too many of our people that allowed–facilitated!–…

Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

The Essential Difference Between Red And Blue sheilakennedy.net/2026/09/the-...

sheilakennedy.net

The Essential Difference Between Red And Blue

As regular readers of this blog know, I spent twenty-plus years teaching university students law and public policy, and I can confidently assure you that the upcoming midterm elections are almost e…

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Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

The Measure Of A Society sheilakennedy.net/2026/09/the-...

sheilakennedy.net

The Measure Of A Society

It will come as no surprise to anyone who is even slightly aware of the reality in which we find ourselves that the rest of the world has lost confidence in–and admiration for–America. …

Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Subsidizing Religion sheilakennedy.net/2026/09/subs...

sheilakennedy.net

Subsidizing Religion

As I noted yesterday, I recently participated in an event sponsored by the Fort Wayne chapter of Hoosiers United for Separation of Church and State. (Hoosiers is part of the umbrella organization A…

Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

About Those "Christian" Nationalists sheilakennedy.net/2026/09/abou...

sheilakennedy.net

About Those “Christian” Nationalists

A few days ago, I participated in an event sponsored by the Fort Wayne chapter of Hoosiers United for Separation of Church and State. The keynote speaker was Randall Balmer. Balmer is probably Amer…

Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

The Changingf Threat? sheilakennedy.net/2026/09/the-...

sheilakennedy.net

The Changingf Threat?

I recently came across an intriguing essay by Harold Meyerson in The American Prospect. Meyerson was exploring a cultural question that has bedeviled me: given that legal and social changes have al…

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Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

The Oversight Challenge sheilakennedy.net/2026/09/the-...

sheilakennedy.net

The Oversight Challenge

Accusations that we have had a “do nothing” Congress during Trump 2 are unfair. Look at how hard the GOP-dominated House and Senate have worked to enable this terrible administration an…

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Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

The Lunatic With The Nuclear Codes sheilakennedy.net/2026/09/the-...

sheilakennedy.net

The Lunatic With The Nuclear Codes

Bill Kristol recently wrote that “Trump is headstrong, reckless, and out of touch.” It’s a common description applied to our demented President, and all I could think of was: If o…

Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

The Neo-Nazi Party sheilakennedy.net/2026/09/the-...

sheilakennedy.net

The Neo-Nazi Party

The title of this post is “The Neo-Nazi Party.” Given what we are learning every day about the MAGA cult that has replaced the once “Grand Old Party,” I’m not so sure …

Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Denying Reality, Endangering Humanity sheilakennedy.net/2026/09/deny...

sheilakennedy.net

Denying Reality, Endangering Humanity

It isn’t just the belligerence, incompetence and corruption. There has never been a worse time to be governed by people ignorant and dismissive of science and expertise. There’s an oft-…

Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Our Morphing Media And Government sheilakennedy.net/2026/09/our-...

sheilakennedy.net

Our Morphing Media And Government

I post frequently here about the enormous influence of our media environment on politics, because what citizens know–and what they think is important–is almost entirely influenced by me…

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Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Normalization sheilakennedy.net/2026/09/norm...

sheilakennedy.net

As we approach the most important midterm election of my lifetime–an election that really will determine whether we can rescue the country most of us thought we inhabited–it may be usef…

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Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

About Those Bayh Ads.... sheilakennedy.net/2026/09/abou...

sheilakennedy.net

About Those Bayh Ads….

Here in Red Indiana, the Secretary of State race will be “top of the ticket” in November, and Democrats have high hopes that Beau Bayh–son and grandson of former Indiana Senators&…

Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

It's All About "The Other" sheilakennedy.net/2026/09/its-...

sheilakennedy.net

It’s All About “The Other”

Give credit to Donald Trump for one (unintended) honesty: his own racism has made it acceptable for his supporters to express bigotries that “politically correct” social norms had supp…

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Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Early Voting Matters More This Time--A Lot More sheilakennedy.net/2026/09/earl...

sheilakennedy.net

Early Voting Matters More This Time–A Lot More

As the midterm elections near, Trump and the GOP are becoming more and more frantic, and engaging in a wide variety of tactics to suppress votes. A recent example: email and text messages urging re…

Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

The "Wokeness" Of Star Trek sheilakennedy.net/2026/09/the-...

sheilakennedy.net

The “Wokeness” Of Star Trek

The Guardian recently had a lengthy article focused on the sixty-year tenure of the Star Trek phenomenon, and current efforts by our MAGA overlords to cancel it for “wokeness.” Evidentl…

Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

The Elon Musk Party sheilakennedy.net/2026/09/the-...

sheilakennedy.net

The Elon Musk Party

The recent resurgence of Germany’s far right holds a number of lessons for Americans. The obvious lesson, of course, is the persistence of bigotry and the extent to which racial and religiou…

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Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Death (Of Democracy) And Taxes sheilakennedy.net/2026/09/deat...

sheilakennedy.net

Death (Of Democracy) And Taxes

A few weeks ago, Paul Krugman devoted two of his Substack letters to the growth of America’s kakistocracy–and the role played by tax policy in facilitating that growth. Both letters are…

Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Wow...Just Wow sheilakennedy.net/2026/09/wow-...

sheilakennedy.net

I continue to be astonished by the brazenness with which the Trump administration displays its racism, lawlessness and corruption. The attacks on diversity and inclusion have accelerated; a recent …

Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

A Gold Omen sheilakennedy.net/2026/09/a-go...

sheilakennedy.net

No, the title of this post doesn’t refer to Trump’s ongoing efforts to cover the White House and most of Washington, D.C. with garish, tasteless gold decorations. Vulgar as his bad tast…

Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

We're In Looney-Tune Territory sheilakennedy.net/2026/09/were...

sheilakennedy.net

We’re In Looney-Tune Territory

When–and how– does ignorance morph into mental illness? Let’s be candid: we are all ignorant. Ignorance isn’t stupidity; even the brightest people know little or nothing abo…

Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Eating Their Own sheilakennedy.net/2026/09/eati...

sheilakennedy.net

Eating Their Own

As the midterms approach, the media is increasingly focused on the Democratic infighting that I’ve referred to as the party’s “circular firing squad.” Those “purity&#8…

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Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Is The MAGA Fever Abating? sheilakennedy.net/2026/09/is-t...

sheilakennedy.net

Is The MAGA Fever Abating?

There’s an old academic caution to the effect that anecdotes are not data. It’s an especially important observation in politics; most of us surround ourselves–intentionally or not…

Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

An Excellent Summary sheilakennedy.net/2026/09/an-e...

sheilakennedy.net

An Excellent Summary

In slightly less than two months, Americans will go to the polls to cast votes in what I believe to be the most consequential midterm election of my (long) life. (For that matter, it may be the mos…

Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

About A Basic Income sheilakennedy.net/2026/09/abou...

sheilakennedy.net

About A Basic Income

For the last couple of years, I’ve been following a historian and author from the Netherlands named Rutger Bregman, who has focused on the issue of poverty. (His book Utopia for Realists has …

Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Soft Secession? sheilakennedy.net/2026/09/soft...

sheilakennedy.net

Soft Secession?

Maybe we really are in a sort-of civil war. As our partisan, arguably criminal administration withholds grants and disaster relief funds from the states that didn’t vote for Trump, and engage…

Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Doing Business sheilakennedy.net/2026/09/doin...

sheilakennedy.net

One of the biggest problems with our Indiana legislature is the evident inability of Hoosier lawmakers to “connect the dots.” That inability isn’t restricted to lawmakers; it perm…

Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Feeling Sick? sheilakennedy.net/2026/09/feel...

sheilakennedy.net

It isn’t just the lettuce. Under the Trump administration, which sees no legitimate reason for regulation or–for that matter–governance, food safety has taken a real hit. I didn&#…

Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Defining "Wasteful Spending" sheilakennedy.net/2026/08/defi...

sheilakennedy.net

Defining “Wasteful Spending”

Indiana’s Secretary of State race gets more interesting–as well as more annoying–every day. For those of you who don’t live in our backward Red state, a short explanation: I…

Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

A Rerun sheilakennedy.net/2026/08/a-re...

sheilakennedy.net

In preparation for an upcoming classroom guest lecture, I revisited my “Last Lecture,” a speech I’d made to university folks in 2015, when I was still on the faculty of what was t…

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Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

What Vouchers Really Do sheilakennedy.net/2026/08/what...

sheilakennedy.net

What Vouchers Really Do

Can you stand one more diatribe about school vouchers? I have posted dozens of blogs addressing the multiple negative consequences of starving the nation’s public schools in order to funnel t…

Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Food For Thought... sheilakennedy.net/2026/08/food...

sheilakennedy.net

Food For Thought…

As regular readers of this blog know, one of my sons lives in Amsterdam, and works at a company that (forgive me) does “internet stuff.” (My son has explained his job to me multiple tim…

Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Politicization Matters sheilakennedy.net/2026/08/poli...

sheilakennedy.net

Politicization Matters

Trump and the members of his administration are a disaster, but they aren’t the only ones. We are now seeing what happens when we elect Senators and Representatives whose entire allegiance is…

Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Rich Man, Richer Man.. sheilakennedy.net/2026/08/rich...

sheilakennedy.net

Rich Man, Richer Man..

One of the most trenchant commentators on America’s current disaster of an administration is former Labor Secretary Robert Reich. Reich’s tenure made him widely admired; in 2008, Time n…

Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

The Toast Is Burning... sheilakennedy.net/2026/08/the-...

sheilakennedy.net

The Toast Is Burning…

A story my mother used to tell really sums up the state of the American experiment. A young boy failed to talk. His parents took him to specialists, all of whom said he was normal, but still, he ne…

Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Who Do We Tax? sheilakennedy.net/2026/08/who-...

sheilakennedy.net

In a recent Substack, Paul Krugman reminded readers that the rise of the oligarchy is closely related to tax policy. He began by referring to his recent explanations of the effects of the huge shif…

Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Who's The Extremist? sheilakennedy.net/2026/08/whos...

sheilakennedy.net

Who’s The Extremist?

Among the (many) aspects of our political discourse that I find depressing, the substitution of insults and labels for actual analysis ranks high. Perhaps the most dishonest is the equation of Righ…

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Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

America's Brownshirts sheilakennedy.net/2026/08/amer...

sheilakennedy.net

America’s Brownshirts

A rising chorus of critics–academics, politicians and media figures–have compared ICE to Hitler’s Brownshirts, the Stormtroopers who were an early paramilitary wing of the Nazi Pa…

Sheila Kennedy @sheilablog.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

An Upcoming Presentation sheilakennedy.net/2026/08/an-u...

sheilakennedy.net

An Upcoming Presentation

On September 19th, I will participate in a program sponsored by the Fort Wayne chapter of Citizens United for Separation of Church and State. The headliner will be Randall Balmer, America’s m…