Trump Makes a Valid Point About ‘Changing Culture’

My main point about yesterday’s memorable press conference with President Donald Trump has less to do with his full turn of opinion when he reestablished air cover for his Alt-Right peeps by reincarnating his “Many sides” theory as an explanation for the death and racial violence this past weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia. But I should […]

Whose Streets? Film and the New Black Leadership

Although I plan to see the Ferguson, Missouri uprising documentary Whose Streets? in a theater this week, I’ve declined to write about the film up to this point because mentalunrest’s editorial policy typically forbids me from writing about media I’ve neither seen nor experienced, but I have to share some thoughts about the recent and […]

Let’s Revisit Robots and Minimum Wage Fast Food Workers

I’m not a fan of convenience stores. But I get the case for why so many of us visit them — familiar structures located within the familiarity of our neighborhood’s borders, and merchandised with a limited set of familiar choices to enable easy purchase decisions. The world is already difficult to navigate. We love “easy” […]

The Decision to Murder Jordan Edwards

As the car carrying then-alive teenager Jordan Edwards departed a house party where everyone in the vehicle collectively felt was no longer safe to remain, Balch Springs, Texas police officer Roy Oliver’s calculations went from zero to I-need-to-kill-somebody within sub-seconds. Or perhaps Oliver was able to arrive at his deadly conclusion so quickly because he […]

94 Percent — The Sad Truth About Democrats and the Obama Economic Recovery

Hillary Clinton blaming the calendar for why she’s not your President today elucidates my earlier points about the Democratic Party running from salvation — as if they’ve discovered a shortcut to redemption. The calendar fails to adequately explain one of several reasons why traditionally-Democratic voters either switched parties or stayed home last November: the economic […]

Racial Segregation and Death Through Secession — Jefferson County, Alabama Schools and the Rest of America

We’re witnessing an social crisis in Jefferson County, Alabama — a county with one of the worst measures of income inequality [PDF, page 15] in a state with one of the worst measures of income inequality, nestled in a country whose Gini Coefficient among industrialized nations is embarrassingly topped by only Mexico and Chile — that […]

Fire Spicer; Shut Down Pepsi; United Still Not Down

Politics aside, US Press Secretary Sean Spicer should be fired for being an idiot. President Trump is free to choose any Conservative he wants to serve as his mouthpiece. I’m just asking that he chooses among the smart ones. No need for me to break down Spicer’s waves of failing “Assad worse than Hitler” remarks […]

The MLK Speech You’ve Heard Before (But Not Really)

I’m recognizing the 49th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s assassination by posting his final speech — better known to many as “I have Been to the Mountaintop” — since many of us only know two minutes of it. Along with the media-saturated “I Have a Dream” speech by MLK, just playing the climax of […]

DNC Doesn’t Want to Be Saved

In another Democratic National Committee move that didn’t surprise me by any measure, unofficial Obama favorite, Clinton family ally and former Labor Secretary Thomas Perez was elected to serve as the imploded political party’s chairperson yesterday. Perez’s win over his more more Progressive opponent, Representative Keith Ellison, confirms a thought that’s been droning in my head for the past […]

Wordcraft: Strangers in Their Own Land by Arlie Russell Hochschild

Listening to the replay of Tanya Free’s recent radio show reminded me that I should share my thoughts about Arlie Russell Hochschild’s National Book Award-Nominated work, Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right. (Ahem) I did commit to posting about each NBA shortlisted finalist entry … During the latter part of […]