Donald McCarthy examines the myth that the left-wing is more "politically correct" than conservatives.
Letter From the EditorMatthew Guerruckey
Donald Trump didn’t magically transform into a disgusting human being when he called Mexicans rapists or called for a ban on Muslim immigrants, it’s who he’s always been.
ESSAYSense and Sensibility: Loving Bernie and Voting HillaryM.G. Poe
So you say you don’t trust Hillary Clinton. You’ve heard that she’s dishonest and deceptive and that the record speaks for itself. She is a politician who lies about everything. Everybody knows it.
You’re not gonna vote for her; or, maybe you have decided to vote for her, but you still feel this way.
Or, maybe you’re undecided, a Bernie supporter, and now despite his endorsement of her you still intend to vote for one of those other two third partiers, Gary Johnson or Jill Stein. Neither of which really has a true chance of winning the election, but you want to show your dissatisfaction with the system by casting a protest vote anyway.
You read that correctly. I am a liberal southern woman. No, it’s not an oxymoron, but some believe it to be, especially in my age group of fifty and older. I’m a minority in these parts where most southerners are taught to be seen and not heard, especially southern women. Tennessee is a conservative and primarily Republican state, and I’m smack dab in the middle of all the outraged upper class who have too much to lose, and the poor who have nothing to lose, but will lose it anyway.
ESSAYBuilding a Wall: Trump and Familial PoliticsMargaret Evelyn
There is a mosque down the street from my house. It hasn’t always been there; I don’t remember when they built it. I guess I could look it up. Post 9/11. Small furor, but it subsided quickly. Now it is just there, and not much attention is paid to it.
My mother shudders—visibly—when she drives by it. It makes her uncomfortable. Why? Who knows. She is one of those hypocritical Christians: church every Sunday, says the rosary at the nursing home in my city, sitting with the elderly, every Wednesday. Judge not, yet ye be judged.
ESSAYThe Snarl-Smile, or, Dick Cheney vs. RamboPeter Clarke
Earlier today, Dick Cheney’s face popped up on the news and I thought to myself, “Let’s figure this guy out.” Why not?
I think of a childhood myth: if you’re jumping up and down and are in mid-air when the elevator lands, you won’t be killed. Now as I crouch in the back of the elevator, I don’t want to ponder the lurking questions that still remain. In this lawsuit, could the men and women in their pinstriped suits be the experts hired by the other side?
ESSAYNaming It: An Essay in Six PartsPart Five: Incidents Relating to High SchoolNaima Karczmar
It takes a lot of white to lighten black, is usually a waste of paint (grey is more beautiful and easier to achieve with some kind of turpentine based thinner) but it takes very little dark to darken light, and for this reason, I think, my mother looked at me and thought her genes had failed her.
ESSAYThoughts & PrayersMatthew Guerruckey
Matthew Guerruckey on to function and limits of prayer in the wake of recent tragedies, and the hollow professions of faith from our political leaders.
"True prayer activates our emotions, but the pathetic, hypocritical prayers of our political leaders are designed to do the opposite—they stifle emotion in a cynical attempt to placate their constituents."