Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in The Swamp.
My Italian Immigration Story Hails from a Shithole Too
Over a century ago when my family started to immigrate from Southern Italy, I don’t doubt that established Americans thought the area was a shithole too. I’m sure they extended the sentiment to the people also. Now long acceptable as an immigration source, you’d think people like Donald Trump would know God himself didn’t welcome all those Italians—and that’s whether they came with papers or not. Of course, the President isn’t the only idiot we have, and my family story cuts across many of the same immigration issues America has wrestled with in the past.
By Rich Monetti8 years ago in The Swamp
Why Oprah Might Not Be The Best Choice For Presidency
Since her inspirational Golden Globe speech went viral, talks of "Oprah 2020" has risen from whispers, to chatter, to potentially possible. We considered what she would wear to her inauguration. We pondered her poll numbers and thought about potential venues to showcase her inspirational speeches about how she would change the world. We came up with strategic ways for her to campaign her presidency through her talk show. Most of all, we eagerly restarted the countdown to Trump's dethroning.
By Delilah Jayde8 years ago in The Swamp
Making America Great?
Let's talk about something that's been bothering me for awhile... Trump's policy on illegal immigrants. Before you get on my tail about how it's a "good thing," how illegal immigrants are "taking our jobs, raping our women, and murdering people," you don't need to read if you don't want to. Go ahead and close the page, but be warned. You'll be forever blinded by ignorance.
By Mary Caitlyn8 years ago in The Swamp
'On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century' by Timothy Snyder
Throughout the reading of On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century (Timothy Snyder, Vintage Publishing, 2017)the figure of Victor Klemperer resonates strongly. Klemperer was a humanist, philologist, and Professor of Romance Languages and therefore, a man shaped by language, culture, and books. His testimony of the Nazi Germany shares many features with other witnesses but his condition of linguist makes Klemperer a sharp observer of the nazi's perversion of language. Klemperer filled his diaries I shall bear witness (1933-1945) with personal impressions, objective or subjective descriptions, from a jewish and no-jewish perspective, what represent an evocative narration of daily life under Nazism picturing the entire trajectory from the first years of Nazism after the elections in 1933 to their defeat of the Germans and the end of the war in 1945. But if there is a trait relevant about Klemperer work is his analysis of how the Nazis appropriated the language and enraptured the entire nation in the process. In 1947 he published LTI – Lingua Tertii Imperii: Notizbuch eines Philologen (The language of the Third Reich), a close study of the language of Nazism and how propaganda helped to form individual and collective identities. Klemperer used the book as a resource to keep himself sane, while he was forced to abandon his classes and start to work in a factory. It is remarkable that most of the words used for the nazis were not new terms but existent words that were adjudged with new meanings like for example New Order. Also ‘Umsiedlung’ (resettle) or ‘Aussiedlung’ (evacuation) words for the killing of Jews, while the gas chambers were called the ‘Badeanstalten’ or bath houses. And of course the biggest of the euphemisms used for the systematic extermination of Jews known as the Final Solution ‘Endlosung.'
By Guillermo Fernandez8 years ago in The Swamp
Is Peter Rabbit a Communist?
Is anyone surprised Armitage Hux does not like rabbits? During a lecture break, I watched the trailer for the new Peter Rabbit. Looking beyond the ridiculous concept, strange plot, exhausting amounts of cuts (can trailers please relax?), I saw ("The Light" by Hank Williams, a great song) something interesting.
By The Decadent Roomies8 years ago in The Swamp
Trump Is Not the President We Deserve, but the One We Need Right Now!
Trump—you either love him or hate him. He's either the signal for the Golden Age, or proof that an apocalypse of nuclear fire is upon us. He and his presidency are the subject of much controversy and much consternation of the people. Simply put, Donald Trump is a very...complex character. Is he a "stable genius?" Is he a "f*cking moron"? Will we ever be able to tell?
By Force Of Will8 years ago in The Swamp
Impactful Political Cartoons About Gun Control
There is a mass shooting virtually every few weeks. Hundreds of men, women, and children die because of gun violence, and still we have no solution. And while we sit around waiting for the next mass shooting to happen, these political cartoons about gun control depict the senselessness, sorrow, and stupidity surrounding the firearms debate.
By Jody Hopkins8 years ago in The Swamp
Patty Cannon: The Infamous Slave Trader of the 1800s
On Investigation Discovery, the show Deadly Women focused on a 50-year-old woman named Patty Cannon who was living in a man’s world. In 1810, in Sussex County, Delaware, Cannon was known to dress and portray herself as a man, according retired state archivist of Delaware Russ McCabe.
By Darryl C. Richie8 years ago in The Swamp
