Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in The Swamp.
On the Sterilized Façade of Political Elitism
From 1993 to 2001, Bill Clinton was the President of the United States. As a young boy growing up in 1990s America, I don’t remember much about Clinton’s presidency, save US forces dropping bombs on Kosovo, gas prices were under a dollar a gallon in my area, the Columbine shooting, and of course, the Monica Lewinsky affair. That affair marred the legacy of former President Clinton above anything else, and was the first time I remember a Congress calling for the President to be impeached.
By Johnny Ringo5 years ago in The Swamp
The American Working Class and the Failure of the Left and Right Wings
America’s working class has had it hard from day one. Ever since the presidency of FDR, and the creation of Social Security, or the so-called “welfare state” to take care of America’s disenfranchised workers (thereby creating what has come to be known as “the middle class”), American workers have struggled to be taken seriously by a political establishment that seems cut off, separate from, and blind to the struggles of working Americans. There seems almost a palpable hostility to the average working American, whether that American is a documented immigrant working hard and raising a family, a working mother holding down two or more jobs to feed her kids, a single father struggling to go to work and take care of a baby in a state with “at will” employment that can fire him at any time, for no reason, or the average nuclear American family, with one or more spouses working full time to keep food on the table, and trying to prevent their house from being foreclosed on.
By Johnny Ringo5 years ago in The Swamp
The USAPATRIOT and USAFREEDOM Acts
The USAPATRIOT and USAFREEDOM acts, as well as their historical parent legislation such as FISA, Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066, and the various Alien and Sedition acts throughout American history, are glaring examples of hostility, distrust, xenophobia, and racism as a matter of public law. To me, it is no different than Jim Crow, or the Dredd Scott 1857 ruling. PATRIOT and FREEDOM are draconian legislation, and an authoritarian’s wet dream. The instituting of PATRIOT into American domestic policy was intended, just like FISA and Order 9066, to give credence to war hysteria, paranoia, and to justify violence. Historically, sources have reported that following 9/11 and the passing of PATRIOT (the fastest legislation ever to be pushed through Congress and enacted as law in centuries), violence against brown-skinned immigrants by American citizens rose somewhere close to 800% when compared to pre-9/11 citizen-on-immigrant violence. A similar rise in violent crimes against ethnic minorities has increased 500% if memory serves, in recent years following the Trump inauguration.
By Johnny Ringo5 years ago in The Swamp
Who Watches the Watchmen? An Examination of Police, Racism, and Law
After I finished with college just last December, receiving my bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, I have been searching for jobs in law enforcement and related law fields. Interested in my subject of professional study and being a long-time supporter of the Fraternal Order of Police union (my father is a retired union ironworker and an ardent supporter of unions), my father has kept an eye out for police related newspaper articles in the local paper. Dad saved an article from the February 18th, 2018 printing, an article in the opinion and commentary section by a Peter Moskos, who is apparently “Special to the Washington Post.” The article is entitled “Baltimore’s Police Problems Go Beyond a Few Criminals in Uniform”, and this article is a response to Mr. Moskos’ piece.
By Johnny Ringo5 years ago in The Swamp
Saudi Arabia, Oil, and the Future of the Middle East
In the Gulf States of the Arab Peninsula, there is no bigger state, no more powerful player on that stage than Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is a dominant force in the Middle East, having some measure of involvement in the politics of the entire region. Similar to the United States’ involvement in the politics of nearly half the world, one can say that there are a lot of Saudi fingers in a lot of Middle Eastern pies, so to speak. Saudi Arabia is also one of the only friends the United States has left in that region, except for the UAE and Qatar. The UAE has large oil reserves, and the US has spent a large amount of wealth for construction and diplomatic efforts in the UAE. Qatar features one of the largest American bases in the Middle East, and is critical as a foothold for the US to access, trade, negotiate, invade and pressure the Middle East. Since the discovery of oil in the region, western powers such as England and the United States have endeavored to be involved in Arabia’s politics, seeking to secure rights, or at least access, to Arabian oil. The king of oil in the Middle East is Saudi Arabia. But what is the future of the Middle East, what moves are being made, and who do they benefit?
By Johnny Ringo5 years ago in The Swamp
On “Fake News”, Newspeak, and American Apathy and Exceptionalism
The popularity of the phrase "fake news" is infuriating. Every time it is seriously uttered by a Trump follower, or said mockingly by a Trump critic, the fact that anyone can possibly give such an obvious propaganda term serious thought at all is creepy to me. It makes me feel like those who use this phrase unwittingly give more power and more meaning to something that poignantly captures everything about Orwellian newspeak, in a way that just makes my skin crawl.
By Johnny Ringo5 years ago in The Swamp
If the Devil Wins, No More News for Me
Look. There’s only so much a person…and a country can take. At this juncture, here in the U.S., votes for the 20/20 Presidential election are still being tabulated and will be throughout the day. Everyone who’ve I’ve talked to is wiped out. Beyond drained. In mind, body and spirit.
By Sherry McGuinn5 years ago in The Swamp
RED and BLUE make PURPLE
Do you see it yet? I didn’t at first. I saw a reason to lament, to shake my head in disgust, to say to myself “Are you serious??”. A Voice, That Voice, cracked open the door and quietly asked “Why would it be different?” Then I saw it, and once I saw it, I couldn’t unsee it. It’s like that optical illusion plate picture where all the plates are upside down but once you see the one that is right side up, suddenly ALL the plates are right side up. And once you see it, you can’t unsee it. I can’t unsee what I have now seen. “Why would it be different” indeed. Good one God, got me.
By Nadine Buxton-Whatoname5 years ago in The Swamp
TODAY IT IS ELECTION DAY, GO OUT AND VOTE!
Tuesday morning I drank coffee and went to vote. I only had a five-minute drive to the polling place. The elementary school had two buildings to vote. I went to vote but they did not have me registered to vote. I should have gone to the school right next door. I am a registered voter and I had no problem with the ballot. I received the ballot and I went to an open station to cast my vote. After I voted I waited in line to put the ballot into the machine. I had to wait until the machine validated the ballot. I was there for about half an hour. I was done, I walked to my SUV and went home. At home, I did my chores and later I would watch the election.
By rose m lewis5 years ago in The Swamp
none of the above
From the other side of the pond the us election looks like a vote for Trump or the one that isn't Trump. The one that isn't Trump appears to be on the verge of a narrow victory while the one that is Trump is launching court appeals like a machine gun. Naturally where trump gets a winning vote its all ok, and of course where he's not winning is dodgy and biased. It must be that obvious on both sides of the ocean but I do sometimes wonder.
By ASHLEY SMITH5 years ago in The Swamp
An Open Letter To Donald Trump:
Dear Donald Trump, Where is your evidence of voter fraud? I’d like to begin by stating that I am shocked that the 2020 race for President of the United States is this close as America sits in the midst of a crushing pandemic in which numbers are again rising. Racism still clings to all places in the country, and there is a man steeped in bigotry, sexism, and hatred sitting on his self-proclaimed throne behind an un-scalable wall, while he quite clearly continues to misunderstand the meaning of democracy.
By Lauren MacDonald5 years ago in The Swamp
