The bad news is Indiana's governor and legislative leaders are scurrying like scolded children, attempting to fix a freshly minted law that smacks of discrimination and alienates people, harms businesses big and small and potentially stymies revenue flowing into Indiana.
The good news is Northwest Indiana, often seen as the Hoosier state's red-headed stepchild, is responding to this legislative blunder with enough dignity and class to make us all proud.
During a damage-control press conference Tuesday, Gov. Mike Pence said he "can appreciate" a perception that the state's newly passed "religious freedom" law might allow businesses to deny services to gay customers.
Just days after he signed this disaster into law, Pence is now calling for a fix by week's end — language that would be added to the law, making it clear it does not allow for discrimination against gays, lesbians or any other human being, for that matter.
While he's at it, the governor ought to reflect on his penchant for making social issues the basis for his time as the Hoosier state's chief executive. His proclivity for pushing social issues above real fiscal policy is sucking the state right back into the 19th century.
And Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma and Senate President Pro Tem David Long, the top legislative leaders under whose watch this epic monstrosity evolved, should relinquish their leadership roles to more forward-thinking lawmakers. Northwest Indiana legislative leaders who voted for the bill also owe their constituents an explanation.
Last year, the Indiana Republican majority championed a bill opposing gay marriage at a time when our nation is evolving to accept such unions.
This year, they pushed through a law that further fans flames of potential discrimination and has business leaders throughout the state doing their own damage control to convince segments of the population they're still welcome in Hoosier establishments.
For a state party regularly hailing itself as pro-business, Indiana Republicans have some work to do to fix what is turning out to be an incredible embarrassment.
Fortunately, a silver lining to the disaster can be found in the way level-headed Hoosiers, including many in Northwest Indiana, have disavowed the law.
Business groups in Hammond, Valparaiso, Whiting and elsewhere have affixed decals to their storefronts, making sure all potential customers from all walks of life know they're welcome here.
The governor and other backers of the law have said it doesn't explicitly condone discrimination.
But they've acknowledged a nondiscrimination clause needs to be added to what a few days ago they hailed as sound legislation.
Pence and other Hoosier Republicans would do well to borrow more pages from the playbook of previous GOP Gov. Mitch Daniels, who avoided inflaming such social issues in favor of shaping actual fiscal policies.
They also need to climb out of their 19th century bubble.
The Civil War — a conflict leading to freedom and eventually voting enfranchisement for millions of black Americans — ended 150 years ago next month. More than 200,000 Hoosiers fought, and in many cases died, in the conflict to blot out the biggest discriminatory stain in our nation’s history.
This type of law makes the Hoosier state appear as if it has experienced little social evolution since Lee surrendered to Grant.