Indiana schoolteachers are hopping mad at Gov. Mike Pence. Every day, my Facebook timeline is strewn with links to articles which, basically, express disgust at what Pence is doing to public education, and in particular, how he is treating Glenda Ritz, the state’s elected Superintendent of Public Instruction. We’re talking conservative evangelical teachers who would probably prefer voting for Republicans, but have had it up to here.

I have no horse in this race–we’ll homeschool our cats–but it’s been interesting to follow. The policies of two successive Republican governors have thoroughly demoralized Indiana schoolteachers. In 2012, teachers mounted an impassioned campaign to get rid of Tony Bennett, the Republican superintendent (a total jerk by all accounts, and now being brought up in federal charges), and elect their own. They succeeded.

But now Glenda Ritz is the only Democrat holding statewide office, and Gov. Pence is doing everything he can to marginalize her and make her powerless. Pence already appoints members of the State Board of Education, which the Superintendent has always chaired. But now, the Republican-dominated legislature is working on a bill that would enable the board to select its own chairman–in other words, Pence’s choice. Ritz, the teachers’ choice, would be powerless. David Long, who is president of the state senate and represents my own district–I’ve voted for him every time he has run–dismissed Ritz as a mere “librarian.” Okay, I won’t be voting for him again.

This is just pouring gas on what already is a raging fire.

Then there’s the annual ISTEP test given to kids in grades 3-8. This year, the length of the test has increased from 5 hours to 12 hours for third-graders, and more than doubled in length for every grade up through 8th. Yes, third-graders sitting for 12 hours taking a test. From what I’ve read, you can trace this right back to Republican policies. However, the other day Pence came out saying the test’s length was unacceptable and he would have none of it, and he pretty much blamed Glenda Ritz. It’s almost comical (especially since the testing starts in just a couple weeks).

The thing is, if Mike Pence runs for president–and he probably will, at least eventually–he’ll get points by bragging about how he “took on the powerful teacher’s union.” But it sounds to me like all he’s doing is demoralizing teachers and hurting the state of education. On teacher told me she was so upset, she would never again vote for a Republican governor.

Like I said, I have no stake in this. But it’s interesting to watch. No doubt my timeline today will contain many additional articles linked by totally disgusted educators.

I’ve been reading about how a foreign company is using “eminent domain”–basically, condemning good American farmland–so they can build a Big Shiny Pipe. We’re talking about TransCanada, which will build the Keystone Pipeline.

To secure land for their Big Shiny Pipe, they’ve been very aggressive with US farmers, threatening to take them to court and sue for eminent domain if they don’t take TransCanada’s offer. They’ve filed scores of eminent domain lawsuits against the minority of American ranchers who have stood firm, who want to keep the family land they’ve owned for decades.

So, productive land that has provided American jobs for a hundred years, and could continue doing so for a hundred years, will be taken out of production as we employ a few thousand people for two years to build a Big Shiny Pipe.

Is that right?

In 2008, I was delighted to know that, regardless of who won the presidency, my country would no longer be a state sponsor of torture. I’d been writing angrily against torture for years. To me it was a shameful, shameful chapter in our history. My country was better than that. I was glad to see torture end.

Jane Mayer’s excellent book “The Dark Side” told about the FBI’s effectiveness in questioning al-Qaeda detainees after we invaded Afghanistan. The Bad Guys were talking quite freely, and the FBI was following all the legal rules. But then the Bush administration, pushed by Cheney, turned everything over to the CIA. FBI agents stood aside as CIA operatives swooped in, took their prisoners, and sent them off to secret bases, or “rendered” them to countries like Egypt and Syria to be tortured. Suddenly, the prisoners all clammed up.

Even if we did gain valuable information from torture–and it’s highly questionable that we did–we were already getting it without using torture. It was totally gratuitous–even barbaric–on our part. A collapse of our moral authority as a nation.

Mayer pointed out that the FBI was interested in prosecutions, so they followed all the rules to build a case that would stand up in court. But the CIA had no interest in prosecution. All they cared about was gathering intelligence. As a result, we’re in a pickle, with some truly evil prisoners whom we can’t prosecute. Our very own laws, developed with great wisdom over 250 years, tie our hands.

As a Christian, I mourn that so many of my fellow evangelical Christians fully support torture of prisoners. Right now, I’m listening to FoxNews, and I want to vomit at how vigorously they are defending torture. I’m sad knowing that many Christians watching are shaking their heads in unquestioning agreement.

As a country, we are better than that. And as Christians, with the command to be Christ-like, we MUST be better than that.

The information in the CIA Torture Report has been in the public domain for years. I’ve read it all before in the many other reports which have bee done. But this one definitely carries more weight, and I’m glad it has been released.

I agree with John McCain, who said today, “I believe the American people have a right–indeed, a responsibility–to know what was done in their name.”

I continue to be outraged at the ways Republicans try to prevent Democrats from voting. It’s called voter suppression, and it’s normally aimed at poor people and ethnic minorities. I find it totally shameful. And un-American. I cannot possibly champion democracy while also trying to prevent people from voting. The two don’t go together.

Now, I don’t have a problem with voter IDs. Though instances of voter fraud are extremely rare, the idea is valid. But Republicans have taken voter suppression way beyond that. A wide range of tactics are being used in local and state elections to make it more difficult for poor people and minorities to vote.

Here are some of the tactics being used.

• Eliminate early voting days. Minorities use early voting far more extensively than other people.
• Reduce the number of polling places in areas with large minority communities. One Florida county, heavy with minorities, eliminated half of the poliing places.
• Redistrict to push all of a community’s minorities into a small number of districts to dilute their voting power.
• Divide minority districts so that minorities now find themselves grouped into districts where their votes will be outnumbered by the majority population.
• Limit the number of places and hours where you can get a voter ID.
• Move polling places for urban districts to suburban locations.
• Eliminate Sunday voting (a day when African Americans vote heavily).
• Eliminate weekend early voting altogether (days when working class people are more likely to be off work).
• Cut back on early morning and evening voting hours (to favor professional workers over working class workers).
• Eliminate same-day registration.
• Eliminate absentee voting.
• In Dade County, Florida, where voting lines in minority districts were extremely long, voters weren’t allowed to use restrooms.
• Purge suspected felons from voting rolls. They then show up to vote, and are told them aren’t registered. In Florida, this has happened to thousands of voters. In 2000, about 50,000 persons were told they would be dropped from the rolls unless they proved their innocence. Florida has also wrongfully purged persons for being non-citizens (including a World War 2 vet).
• The Republican legislature in Wisconsin eliminated early voting on nights and weekends.
• In some states, in order to get a voter ID, people must provide a residential address.
• In Republican dominated Arizona, voter registration cards and other materials were distributed with the correct date on the English language version, and a date two days later (after the election) on the Spanish language version.
• Place unreasonable requirements on nonprofit organizations that conduct voter registration drives. (Like the League of Women Voters.)
• Until 2008, over half of Floridians used early voting, a disproportionate number being minorities. Florida reduced early voting from 14 days to 8 days. Ohio went further, reducing early voting from 35 days to 11 days. Both states eliminated voting on the Sunday before the election; black churches have historically mobilized members to vote on that day.
• Georgia reduced early voting from 45 to 21 days. Wisconsin cut out 16 days, West Virginia 5 days.
• Require a photo ID, and that it be gotten from the DMV…and then reduce DMV hours leading up to the election.
• Put voting locations for poor people in areas where they must pay for parking.
• To cut down on young voters, who tend to vote Democratic, several states no longer allow student IDs from state universities to be used as voter ID.
• An estimated 25% of African American’s don’t have a current government-issued photo ID.
• Deny voting rights to ex-felons who complete their sentences. There are 5.3 million Americans, disproportionately minorities, who are former felons.
• Require a birth certificate as proof of citizenship, and then make it difficult to get a birth certificate. Cut the hours of agencies that give out birth certificates, and also require a fee to obtain a copy of your birth certificate.
• Disallow a birth certificate if the person spells their name differently than on the birth certificate.
• Require a photo ID to get a birth certificate…and require a birth certificate to get a photo ID.
• Wisconsin, Tennessee, and Texas closed DMV branch offices.
• In the weeks leading up to an election, cut the hours of agencies that issue photo IDs.
• Eliminating early voting increases the size of lines on election day, which makes it more difficult for working class people to take the time needed to vote.

Those are just some of the tactics Republicans are using. They DO NOT want certain people to vote. Like I said–totally shameless, and un-American.