Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in The Swamp.
Confessions of Someone Who Isn't Black
I wrote this essay back in July of 2016 when week after week, we would see more and more brutality from the police against unarmed black men and women. In light of the events in Charleston, I felt it important to share this with the world again.
By Michael LaMasa9 years ago in The Swamp
Not Like a Business
Leading up to the last election, a lot of people said things along the lines of, "Trump will be good because he's a businessman, not a politician, and he'll run the government like a business." Somehow, enough people were confused enough to think this was a good idea, and enough of them voted that way, so with the help of the winner-take-all electoral vote distribution in all but three states, Trump managed to win by the largest losing margin in American history. It was a big margin. Really big. And he lost by it, but the Electoral College turned that around and gave him the White House anyway.
By J.T. McDaniel9 years ago in The Swamp
Dear Theresa, Who Are You?
I'm not from the UK or even Europe at all. I live here in grand ol' America (sarcasm emphasis on grand), though I do come from Europe (born, but not raised, in Moscow, Russia). I've heard a lot about you, both from the other Dear Theresa pieces on this site and in the news. I kind of know what Brexit is, and I know that most people who believe in the same things as me don't like it.
By Katie Marchbank9 years ago in The Swamp
Racist British Media Ruined Carnival
Notting Hill Carnival is the second biggest carnival in the world, after Rio de Janeiro. Given the almost polar opposite climate and demographic of the UK, I would say that’s quite impressive and really pays tribute to the amazing contributions of Caribbean people to British culture.
By Cicely Blain9 years ago in The Swamp
Fighting the Good Fight
That quote from John F. Kennedy is based on one in Dante’s Inferno and boy is it applicable to the recent events happening in the United States. On Friday, white supremacists marched on the Virginia Tech campus wielding tiki torches. I shit you not. The Internet got their jokes in (as they always do) because nothing is intimidating about a mob of preppy, privileged white kids supporting a disgusting cause — I guarantee it won’t get you laid. If you’re reading this, and you fall into the “preppy and privileged” category, I’m sorry that Julie didn’t kiss you during spin the bottle in 7th grade. Also, I’m sorry you have no moral compass.
By Zach Cronin9 years ago in The Swamp
Indian Guides. Top Story - August 2017.
A truly moral nation, wishing to leave as its legacy the foundational principles and guiding ideals of freedom, fairness, justice, responsibility, and love and regard for future generations, must fully own the sins of its past and bend over backward to rectify crimes against humanity, which have too often been fueled by the American government’s unlawful interest in favoring the greed of a master population over the survival and viability of the oppressed peoples from whom its power was unlawfully derived. Particularly victimized have been this continent’s and nation’s First Peoples. As the majority of Americans continue to be beneficiaries of unconscionable acts of brutality, malice, racism, religious bigotry, theft, and other wanton acts of avarice against First Peoples, it is incumbent upon us and future generations to show the moral courage, stamina, sound judgment and wisdom the generations before us abdicated, for the evils exist not only in the past, but much as our own continued benefits from the crimes and privations of genocide sustain us, so do those crimes and privations continue to inflict undue suffering upon the most marginalized, impoverished, and vulnerable among us—a people so marginalized, indeed, that even the most well-meaning of liberals, rejecting the overt and cynical racism of President Trump’s brand of immigration reform, rally to the cry, “We’re all immigrants!” — seemingly or happily oblivious to the reality that some 5.2 million of us are not.
By Padma Thornlyre9 years ago in The Swamp
Trump's Truth
Armed men march with swastikas, Nazi flags fly high and racist and anti-Semitic White supremacist slogans are shouted without shame. This is not Germany in 1933, but Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017. Counter protestors cried out in opposition only to be crushed by the terroristic roar of an engine and the death of Heather Heyer. I sit here in Israel, writing from Tel Aviv, heartbroken. Heartbroken that this brand of vitriolic hatred is still a loud voice in my American home, heartbroken that the President of the United States struggled to condemn Neo Nazism and White Supremacy and heartbroken that the land of the free and home of the brave may no longer a home for me, an LGBTQ+ Jew.
By Micah Thau9 years ago in The Swamp
Chaos President Has a Cunning Plan
by FRANCIS GRECOROMACOLLUDEN, Alternate Reality News Service National Politics Writer There is an old saying in the nation’s capital: when a President flaps his lips in Washburningdington, a dissident is jailed in China. Chaos President doesn’t understand the elegant mathematics underlying this phenomenon. Chaos President barely understands the concept of mathematics (part of the reason signing a business contract with him can be such an adventure). Chaos President just likes to see high winds topple governments to the ground—especially if he can make a buck out of it...
By Ira Nayman9 years ago in The Swamp
Dear President Trump
President Trump, First, thank you for running and taking on the enormous undertaking of MAGA. Recently, as talk grew about the large Powerball jackpot, I began to think what could be done with that kind of jackpot... like many others for sure. As a former term limited legislator here in Montana, I have some experience on how difficult the legislative process can be to navigate. Getting comprehensive legislation passed... well Congress has proven lately that is nearly impossible. The dynamics are so complex and fluid that even the most desired public interests cannot be achieved. While I could point to many different failures and problems America faces, I think one need only look at our debt to realize congress is part of our problems.
By Daniel Fuchs9 years ago in The Swamp
People are Struggling to See the Danger of the Right
Worryingly, I have seen more and more people aligning themselves, knowingly or not, with views of the alt-right movement, often indirectly supporting the views of Trump. There’s a lot of reason to want to be part of a seemingly anti-establishment movement and it’s important to understand the reasons for the rise of populism, but people seem too often to just be misdirecting their confusion to support public figures like Milo Yiannopoulos, because people like this appear to have a strong message and confidence, which is understandably attractive at a time of political and social turmoil.
By Katie Kenyon9 years ago in The Swamp
