U.S. Sen. Mike Braun, R-Indiana, delivered yet another nonsensical statement the other day.

He chided Senate Democrats for their “partisan” behavior in moving to dismiss the impeachment charges against Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas.

Several things made Braun’s statement even more clueless than is his alternate-reality norm.

The first is that it wasn’t precisely true.

It is true that all 48 Democratic members of the U.S. Senate voted to dismiss the drummed-up and unspecified charges, but so did three independents—and one Republican, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, refused to line up with her GOP colleagues on one of the votes.

The second is that his argument that Democrats were somehow evading the rules by doing so was close to delusional.

The impeachment in the U.S. House of Representatives succeeded only on the second vote. On the first vote, it failed because Republicans couldn’t get their full caucus behind it.

It succeeded on the second, desperation vote because the GOP firebreathers persuaded a couple of Republicans to sit out the mulligan round.

Even then, the House Republicans’ “decisive” mandate fell four votes short of being a majority of the entire House, which considerably weakened its force as a statement of broad public disapproval.

Worse, it moved as a nonbinding resolution.

This meant it had all the legal enforcement power of a Valentine card.

But it was the timing that made Braun’s fulminations even more foolish than normal.

He issued it two days after the trial began of former President Donald Trump on charges that he paid porn star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about their alleged sexual encounter, lied about the transaction and did so to alter the outcome of a presidential election.

Trump’s is the first criminal trial of a former president in American history.

He also will face trial on nearly 60 other charges in three other criminal cases.

As Trump’s first trial ramped up, one Republican after another—New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu and former U.S. Attorney General William Barr were the most prominent—who had been critical of the former president in the past lined up to say they would vote for him in November.

Even if Trump had been convicted on criminal charges.

I’m sorry, but that’s the very definition of rabid partisanship.

If a person is willing to support someone who flouted the law for an office that carries with it a duty to respect and enforce the law, that person’s loyalty is not to the nation or the law. It is to a political party or, more troubling, to a person who lacks respect for both the laws of the land and basic ethical behavior.

This should not be a hard bar to clear.

At least, it isn’t for many Americans.

If my best friend were charged with a felony, I might contribute to his or her legal defense fund. I likely would show up in court during the trial to demonstrate moral support.

And, if my friend were convicted, I probably would visit her or him in jail or prison, because a friend is a friend.

But I wouldn’t vote for my friend to hold any public office—much less the one that carries the ultimate responsibility for executing the law and justice across the land.

I owe my country more than that.

If anything, Mike Braun—who now is the frontrunner to be Indiana’s next governor—has been more abject in his capitulations to Donald Trump than any other Republican.

His fealty to the former president is so servile and obsequious that it would not surprise me if Braun mows the lawn, empties the trash cans and cleans the bathrooms at Trump residences.

Braun coveted—no, he begged—for Trump’s endorsement in the governor’s race and offered his own endorsement of the four-times-indicted former president so slavishly that it would make almost any other human being with a modicum of self-respect cringe.

Braun can say many things about the Democrats’ dismissal of the Mayorkas impeachment shortage.

He can say they were stupid.

He can call them short-sighted.

But he cannot expect any reasonable person to take him seriously if he accuses someone—anyone—else of being partisan.

Mike Braun doesn’t have a leg to stand on there.

Maybe because he’s stuffed his foot all the way down his own throat.

Vernon G. Smith used his experience of overcoming racism to achieve success and help mentor the next generation of African American youth in Gary.

While Smith was a student at Indiana University, racism was alive and well on campus, he said, which helped shape him into the man he is today. Smith was one of just over 300 Black students. One professor had given a 45-minute speech on why Blacks weren’t as good as whites.

Smith sat in the front determined to prove his professor wrong by having success in his class.

“I was sitting in front because I wanted to get to know the professor. I wanted the professor to know me,” Smith said. “And so if I’m between an A or B, because he knows me, he’s probably gonna give me an A. If he doesn’t know me, he’ll feel comfortable giving me a B.”

Smith received a B in the class. He said he knew being in that class was going to be challenging but he had to keep going regardless because “the battle is not over until you quit.”

“I think it was God’s way of preparing me to deal with multiple issues, you know,” Smith said. “Don’t give up, just find another talent, every setback is an opportunity for a comeback.”

Rep. Vernon G. Smith, D-Gary, became a member of the Indiana House of Representatives in 1990. Prior to his election, Smith had served on the Gary City Council since 1972.

He is currently a professor of education at Indiana University Northwest (IUN), where he has won every teaching award offered on the Northwest Campus. He has also served as the interim dean of IUN’s School of Education.

Smith’s professional background includes experience at several public schools in Gary. He was the principal of Williams School from 1985 to 1992, principal of Nobel School from 1978 to 1985, and assistant principal of Ivanhoe School from 1972 to 1978. Smith taught in Gary Public Schools between 1966 and 1971. He graduated from Froebel High School and earned his bachelor of science, master of science and doctorate of education degrees from Indiana University and has undertaken post-doctoral work at Indiana University and Purdue University.

As of January 2024, he is one of just 10 Black Democrats in the Indiana House of Representatives, where Republicans have had partisan control for over a decade.

Smith’s experience dealing with racism in college made him determined to do twice as well as his counterparts, and it also made him have drive and stick-to-itiveness because he was determined that people were not going to define his future. That’s also one of the reasons he got a full professorship.

While Smith was going for tenure and promotion, a secretary made a mistake and gave him his dossier without removing the reviews. Normally, the information doesn’t get back to you directly. The blind review did not have the names of the people on it, but there was one person who said, “He’s just a politician. If we give him tenure and promotion, he’ll never do any more research.”

“I don’t let people define me,” Smith said. “I define myself as who I want to be. I work hard in trying to create a public image and you don’t determine what I can do, what I can’t do or what I will do. And so I feel that was a way of God ordering my step because he wanted me to be a full professor.”

Smith continued: “So, you only make changes for two reasons. I don’t care what reason you come up with. It’s either through agitation, which is outside or dissatisfaction, which is internal. I wasn’t internally dissatisfied with just being an associate professor. This professor, whoever it was, I don’t know who, it was to irritate me to make me go further.”

TheStatehouseFile.com recently met Smith over breakfast for a Q&A to talk about life behind the scenes of being a representative.

Where does he stay during the legislative session?

With Gary being around two hours and 20 minutes from the Statehouse, would Smith travel back and forth every day after the legislative session?

“I stay in a hotel when I’m down there, and I have a house in Gary,” he said. “I used to have a furnished apartment down there [Indianapolis], but it’s such a waste paying for furnished apartments, and I’m only sleeping there three nights out of seven days a week. So I just figured it’s cheaper for me.

“If I just stay in a hotel, the only downside of being in a hotel is that it’s gonna move in and out. I gotta bring my first luggage down every Monday and check out every Thursday, so that’s a headache.”

What keeps him going? 

It’s a Republican supermajority in the Statehouse, so the Democrats rarely win bills. Smith introduced five bills in the legislation session that didn’t pass; for example, House Bill 1017 would prohibit Indiana schools from teaching about Christopher Columbus or former United States presidents who were known to have slaves. However, the bill would allow instruction on these individuals if the teaching included information about their ownership of slaves or the decimation of indigenous populations.

Smith’s goal was to send a message and to get people thinking. Smith knew it was essentially a waste of one-fifth of the bills he’s allowed to write, but he hoped to wake people up.

“[I’m] elected to be the voice of the people in my district. And I get up and I say things that [Republicans] don’t want me to say,” Smith said.

“And so being the voice of my people, that’s all I can do. I never make promises that I’m going to get this done or that done. I simply say I’m going to voice your opinion. That’s why I answer all letters, all emails, I return all phone calls, and I respond to people by being in the public so I can feel closer to the people.

“I believe stop signs were made for traffic, not for people. … So therefore, I have determination, I have drive, I have stick-to-itiveness because I understand that if it’s not said, if I don’t challenge it, maybe nobody will.”

Do Democrats and Republicans hang out outside of the session?

“Some of them do,” Smith said. “And I have had people that I was close to, I hung out with, but most times I don’t do a lot of hanging out. When I finish the session, I’m working on community projects for Gary and working on things that I have to do for the university. So, I don’t do a lot of hanging out.”

What community projects does he do for Gary?

Smith not only is the voice of the people in his district, he also tries to make a difference in his community. He sponsors the annual Spirit of Christmas Dinner on Christmas Day for the needy and homeless, which provides gifts and food for over 600 people. He sponsors the annual Harvest Fest that feeds the homeless and needy during the Thanksgiving season. He chairs the Alumna of Indiana University Black Alumni group. He hosts the Penny-A-Ton Drive, which raises over $3,000 annually to provide clothing, food and toys to needy Gary students. And he also sponsors a Stash the Trash project to clean Broadway in Gary.

Do disagreements on bills carry over to behind-the-scenes?

During a House session in February 2021, confrontations broke out while discussing a bill concerning school district boundaries that some were calling racist. The clash happened on the same day Black members were celebrating Black History Month by wearing traditional African garb. The Black members believed there was racist intent in the bill and were booed off the podium.

Afterward, Rep. Robin Shackleford, D-Indianapolis, spoke of a verbal altercation a Republican representative had with Smith in the bathroom.

“I don’t bring [politics] up, I leave what happened on the floor, on the floor,” Smith said. “I do go to some of the dinners and receptions, and sometimes I sit with Republicans, and they’ll ask me some questions, but usually I don’t bring it up. They bring it up.”

Do his college experiences still affect his job today?

“That made me an overcomer. I didn’t end up getting an A out of the class, I got a B, but the bottom line is that I know those challenges were there, and so because they are there you have to keep going regardless because the battle is not over until you quit. Nobody could make you stop, you have to quit. …

“Don’t give up, just find another talent, every setback is an opportunity for a comeback.”