Sessions of Corruption

For one brief moment, it seemed like Donald Trump had finally mastered the art of being a president in the House Chamber Tuesday night. As he stood on the dais and repeated the promises and slogans made throughout his campaign, Trump's appearance that night -- especially his admittedly moving tribute to the widow of Navy …

You’ll Get No Chance From Me

For eight years, I watched as the Right savaged Barack Obama, and used the Legislative Branch to deny him anything regarding his own agenda. I watched as Senator Mitch McConnell defiantly declared their ultimate goal of making him a one-term president by any means necessary, from incessant stonewalling in Congress and attempts to repeal the …

DWB: Dating While Bipolar

BROOKLYN-- My parents are one of the quintessential examples of what a marriage should be. At the age of fifty-eight, Kevin and Robin Carter have been together for 36 years. This has rubbed off on three out of the four men I am thankful to call my little brothers. Just recently, one of my brothers …

The Failed Northern Strategy

NEW YORK--Imagine, if you will, being painted with a broad brush; marginalized, ridiculed and made fun of for years for being a bunch of backwards-thinking, gun-fellating, Bible-thumping trailer trash, who hate all minorities and religions other than those "Judeo-Christian" values they hold so dear, by granola-crunching, kombucha-drinking hypocrites, with our "safe spaces", "trigger warnings", and …

The Reality of a Deadbeat

Permit, if you will, a moment of personal reflection. I have been a man in a state of rebuilding for the last year and four months. During that time, and even before my separation from my now ex-wife, my writing has suffered. My writing and tweeting have dwindled down to nothing more than a few …

Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump, and the Inversion of Liberalism

Several weeks ago, I had a conversation with a good friend of mine. A Bernie Sanders supporter, he did a lot of work getting the word -- and the vote -- out for Sanders' presidential campaign in his neighborhood. Our work schedules don't afford us the opportunity to see each other regularly, but we run …

Trump’s Rise is America’s Descent

Being the vulgar pragmatist, I often do what I can to see things beyond the typical buzzwords thrown around on social media, especially when talking about race. Too many times, "racism" and "privilege" are used as silencers of dissent in progressive circles, much like "repentance" and "sin nature" are among evangelicals. What has resulted from …

A Return to My Readers

Hello all. I'm back. Allow me to first apologize for being absent over a year. So much has changed in the last several months, and along with a change of scenery (and careers), I have spent this last year and change doing something I should have done years ago: finally set to work on myself, …

Liberals, the Right’s Best Voting Base

There was always a bit of hoping against hope on my part that Democrats would pull off the impossible and retain the United States Senate. After all, there has been an abundance of tangible wins to light upon when thinking of what has been called the "Age of Obama": despite the sickening intransigence of the …

Getting Delores Back

On Wednesday morning, approximately around 3:30 a.m., I was awakened by my mother-in-law, who had heard the sound of a diesel truck pull up directly in front of the house. She screamed for me to go out front, as the diesel engine belonged to a tow truck, which had arrived to carry out the most …