General Commentary

General Commentary

Racism in the United States, patriotism, and the United States Military

Racism in the United States, patriotism, and the United States Military

For most of my life I grew up on an Air Force Base. I wanted to work on aircraft more than anything and I joined the USAF right after graduating from high school. I continued to serve for 23 years and retired from active duty in July, 2010. Many people join for many different reasons, but one thing is the

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My Own Personal Trump

My Own Personal Trump

Steve’s prized possession is a picture of him shoulder to shoulder with trash talk-show host Maury Povich, taken on set after Steve finished a cringe-worthy guest appearance any sane person would spend a lifetime trying to forget. But he didn’t. He bragged about it, and often. It was his 15 minutes. After Steve married into my family in the late

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On March 22

On March 22

On March 22, 2020 COVID-19, Wuhan Flu, Corona Virus, whatever you want to call it, went from invisible to having a face to me.  A young, beautiful, vibrant, full-of-life, life face.  No matter your religious persuasion, it is not possible this young, beautiful, vibrant, full-of-life, life is not looking down over us all taking on an epic proportion battle against

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America Through the Eyes of a Sixteen-Year-Old

America Through the Eyes of a Sixteen-Year-Old

In eighth grade, my English teacher asked my class for something no one had ever wanted before; she asked for our opinions, and I don’t mean our opinions on what we thought Johnny meant when he told Ponyboy to “stay gold”. She wanted to know how we felt about the world around us – abortion, gun rights, police brutality, climate

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A Survivor of Revenge Porn

A Survivor of Revenge Porn

Being the victim of a federal crime is not how I expected to get my 15 minutes of fame. In October of 2018, my husband was running for the state legislature and I was managing his campaign. Three weeks before the election, he received threatening emails insisting he drop out of the race. Attached to one of those emails was

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Trump Tax Cut Song

Trump Tax Cut Song

At the very early stages of the Trump administration, a little known band from Milwaukee, Happiless, cut a prescient pop song which eerily predicted the dark path America has taken since the 2016 election. Called “Hopscotch Town”, the song is about a place which is willing to ignore all kinds of inhumanity as long as the economy is humming along.

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The Un-American History of America First

The Un-American History of America First

They say that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.  But, that presumes that those who do remember the past, and those who do not, wish to avoid a recurrence.   President Trump routinely evokes two phrases from the past: “fake news” and “America First”.   The phrase "fake news" is strikingly similar to Adolf Hitler’s “lugenpresse”, German

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Tri-Caucus Amicus Brief on Public Charge Rule

Tri-Caucus Amicus Brief on Public Charge Rule

Trump's #PublicCharge rule is motivated by racism & intended to deny healthcare to vulnerable families. That's what Rep. Chu & leaders of the The Black Caucus, Hispanic Caucus, & CAPAC have told courts in a brief filed this week to stop the rule from going into effect. Below is the amicus brief that was submitted on behalf of the tri-caucus yesterday

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Patriot Not Partisans own Ken Mejia- Beal is running for office!

Patriot Not Partisans own Ken Mejia- Beal is running for office!

I met Ken Mejia-Beal at the pizza restaurant where folks gather after local Township Democrat meetings. I took a seat across from this handsome African American man who had an infectious laugh and a slight Southern accent. Ken Mejia-Beal immediately struck me as an authentic, "what you see is what you get" kind of guy. He is intelligent, warm, and

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The Republican Identity Crisis

The Republican Identity Crisis

During my grad school days in the early 2000s, when I was just learning to teach, I used to lie to my students quite a bit. For example, on the first day of class, I often introduced my married self to my class using the word partner instead of wife. I thought I might learn something about my students by

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The Only Criterion for Selecting the 2020 Democratic Presidential Candidate…

The Only Criterion for Selecting the 2020 Democratic Presidential Candidate…

By way of introduction, I used to be a Republican, am now an Independent, and intend to vote for every Democratic candidate in all upcoming elections until the Republican Party regains its moral principles (if ever). I have a modest proposal about which I am entirely serious but which has zero chance of being adopted. Here's what the Democrats should

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Fundamentalists Have Chosen Their Side

Fundamentalists Have Chosen Their Side

A two-party system has the unfortunate side-effect of reducing nuanced approaches to multi-faceted issues to simple binaries: us vs. them, or right vs. wrong, Christian vs. non-Christian. Fundamentalists have exploited this tendency for years, staking out labels like “Christian” or “evangelical” in popular media, and thereby pushing a narrative that the other side is the one opposed to Christianity and

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Open letter to Speaker of the House and Florida Representatives.

Open letter to Speaker of the House and Florida Representatives.

I am writing a letter to request to speak in front of the house chambers as a concerned American citizen and a former Trump supporter and voter. I have been a Conservative Republican for so many years, until this past year when I registered as a Democrat. I have witnessed firsthand how dangerous conservative propaganda can be, especially how it’s

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The Progressive Case Against Impeaching Trump

The Progressive Case Against Impeaching Trump

Let’s get this out of the way: Donald Trump has committed impeachable offenses. It’s clear that Robert Mueller believes Trump obstructed justice. His disregard for the constitution is evident in his steadfast refusal to allow his staff to comply with Congressional subpoenas. He refuses to remove staff who violate the law like Kellyanne Conway. He uses his bully pulpit to

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Chemical Castration and Alabama

Chemical Castration and Alabama

When people think about Alabama and what it's famous for, of peanuts, college football and Lynard Skynard come to mind. Many would like to think that it would welcome progressiveism to overcome its terrible history of Jim Crow laws. However, recent legislative actions in the state have proven that no matter how much good comes out of the actions of

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Former Trump supporter endorses Warren for President

Former Trump supporter endorses Warren for President

I would like to officially endorse Senator Elizabeth Warren as the next President of the United States of America. This decision wasn't easy, especially with the candidates running in the Democratic Party. Her story, and her values in what she is fighting for got to my heart the most, because her values are what I envision a liberal Democrat should

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The Certainties of Impeachment

The Certainties of Impeachment

Now that Special Counsel Mueller has spoken publicly about his findings, the time has come for a discussion about what know. While the understanding of what we know and don’t know might become clearer as we move forward, a number of facts have been pretty thoroughly established. For example, we know the Trump campaign courted assistance from a hostile foreign

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Are You Going To Wait Until There Is?

Are You Going To Wait Until There Is?

This is a question I ask of Speaker Pelosi and democrats who oppose common sense border security simply because the President is Donald J. Trump. Let me put this in context. Despite countless examples of icon democrats: B Clinton, H Clinton, Obama, Pelosi, Schumer, and more -- voting for and speaking on the problem of illegal immigration more aggressively than

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On the Weakness of Wealth

On the Weakness of Wealth

While wealth is seen by most as a good thing, as a strength in both the individual and in society as a whole, we do ourselves a serious disservice when we ignore the weakness that wealth, especially concentrated wealth, creates. In a time of abundant wealth in the United States, wages are stagnant for working people, poverty is on the

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Chicago

Chicago

I was raised on the Southside of Chicago - 79th and Hermitage to be exact, in a community called Auburn Gresham. Over the weekend of August 3rd, 2018, 74 people were shot in Chicago. Two weeks later, 58 more. Many of these victims were shot in my old neighborhood. This great city is the victim of many social injustices. It

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Racism in the United States, patriotism, and the United States Military

Racism in the United States, patriotism, and the United States Military

My Own Personal Trump

My Own Personal Trump

On March 22

On March 22

America Through the Eyes of a Sixteen-Year-Old

America Through the Eyes of a Sixteen-Year-Old

A Survivor of Revenge Porn

A Survivor of Revenge Porn

Trump Tax Cut Song

Trump Tax Cut Song

The Un-American History of America First

The Un-American History of America First

Tri-Caucus Amicus Brief on Public Charge Rule

Tri-Caucus Amicus Brief on Public Charge Rule

Patriot Not Partisans own Ken Mejia- Beal is running for office!

Patriot Not Partisans own Ken Mejia- Beal is running for office!

The Republican Identity Crisis

The Republican Identity Crisis

The Only Criterion for Selecting the 2020 Democratic Presidential Candidate…

The Only Criterion for Selecting the 2020 Democratic Presidential Candidate…

Fundamentalists Have Chosen Their Side

Fundamentalists Have Chosen Their Side

Open letter to Speaker of the House and Florida Representatives.

Open letter to Speaker of the House and Florida Representatives.

The Progressive Case Against Impeaching Trump

The Progressive Case Against Impeaching Trump

Chemical Castration and Alabama

Chemical Castration and Alabama

Former Trump supporter endorses Warren for President

Former Trump supporter endorses Warren for President

The Certainties of Impeachment

The Certainties of Impeachment

Are You Going To Wait Until There Is?

Are You Going To Wait Until There Is?

On the Weakness of Wealth

On the Weakness of Wealth

Chicago

Chicago