Sunday Smack: Who Cares if Russia Hacked the Truth?

The US Office of National Intelligence ’s report of Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections [pdf] published three sentences that will serve as this week’s Sunday Smack. The first sentence offers no surprise: We assess with high confidence that the [Russia Main Intelligence Agency] relayed material it acquired from the DNC and senior […]

Despite “Intelligence Report,” Still No Proof of Russia Hacking US Elections

Since the debate about Russia hacking and influencing the US Presidential elections to favor Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton has reached deeper levels of crazy with the US intelligence community’s release of a damning report, allow me to share a crazy story of my own. Let’s say authorities have accused your hypothetical child of stealing underwear […]

WordCraft: Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson

On a different planet, we could have been Lois Lane or Tarzan’s Jane or Mary Tyler Moore or Marlo Thomas. We could have thrown our hats up, twirled and smiled. We could have made it after all. We watched the shows. We knew the songs. We sang along when Mary was big-eyed and awed by […]

The Error of Trump’s Weapons-Chasing Ways

Wassup with President-elect Donald Trump’s fixation with the 80s and ramping up military spending? Even if you cast aside the confusing media cycle of Trump tweeting about how the US needs new nukes (as an aside, President Obama proposed spending $1 trillion to upgrade America’s nuclear arsenal), doubling down with a declaration to MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski and […]

Unpacking Trumpland: The Unmentioned Way Hillary Clinton Played Herself

After losing the Presidential election, Hillary Clinton and her merry band of campaign planners have blamed nearly EVERYONE for why she missed her November coronation. They blamed Huma Abedin, one of Clinton’s insiders. They blamed so-called “fake news.” The F.B.I. Self-Hating White chicks. Angry-Azz White dudes. Putin. Millennials. Think about that for a moment — […]

Unpacking Trumpland: Will He Avoid the Economic Storm Ahead?

I want to continue my thoughts from yesterday about the possibility of another economic crisis ahead and what President-elect Donald Trump could do for the poor and middle class. For starters, I’m going to state two things that will make Conservatives and Liberals cackle and become pissed — not necessarily in that order or at the same […]

Unpacking Trumpland: The Economic Storm Ahead

“And now Yellen raised the rates.” I’ll get back to the importance of Yellen in a moment. There’s so much to unpack with this blog, given the panic of fake news, the Trumpocalypse and Evil Muva Russia 2.0 — I’ll need a series of posts to cover everything. But I want to start by explaining […]

mentalunrest’s 2016 Person of the Year

I’ve decided to riff on Time Magazine and name my own Person of the Year, plus four entries for the short list. Needless to say that my take will differ a bit. 1. Vladimir Putin The Russia President changed the decades-long Neoliberal regime change machine in addition to changing the West’s entire narrative. Do a word cloud […]

WordCraft: The Performance of Becoming Human by Daniel Borzutzky

The 2016 National Book Award-winning poetry book, The Performance of Becoming Human by Daniel Borzutzky, describes a depressing and violent world of wars, societal dismemberment from the assault of free trade agreements, migrant crises, inequality, xenophobia, and dictatorial oligarchs. Borzutzky’s prescription for living in this mad world is to take on a “spiritual mission in […]

Trump May Pick Hard-Core ‘Whites Only’ Banker for Treasury Secretary

Remember Steve Mnuchin, the Goldman Sachs guy who became President-elect Donald Trump’s chief fundraising guy during this year’s campaign? He could be The Donald’s pick for Treasury Secretary. Mnuchin followed up his 17-year run as a Goldman Sachs banker — where he led the firm’s mortgage-backed trading group and also became the investment bank’s chief […]