Independent since 2002 Issue No. 1102 Week of November 7, 2026 Get the free email dispatch →

Category: The Other Side of the Tracks

Commentary

Mass Murder Is Right On Cue

By Perry Redd Columnist

mental health professionals welcome more resources and attention, but I continue to scream and they agree that this Administration is ignoring the real problem, which is, easy access to guns, particularly the kind of high-powered, lethal assault weapons used in many of these mass shootings. This simple truth is simply apparent, and now, this message from the medical profession is knocking conservatives off cue.

I cannot begin to tell you how many times I’ve written about this topic…for all intents and purposes, it appears this won’t be the last time…

Continue reading 8 min

Commentary

Magician-In-Chief

By Perry Redd Columnist

Donald Trump is contrast to the alpha male, yet portrays himself as such. Never played football, never served in the military and probably scared shitless of a gun, but that’s the magician in him. Any male dominance he might possess comes from the business end of a dollar bill and a gift from his disgraced father. Does he think he can wave his “I’m the president” fairy dust and we’ll believe the magic?

Among the worst insults one can receive is being thought of as a liar. That insult is made doubly worse when the one making the accusation…

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Cover Story

The National Anthem Is Not A National Test

By Perry Redd Columnist

What’s disrespectful is that white people ignore the lives of Black people in this country! What is disrespectful is that juries continue to acquit white people when they kill unarmed Black people in this country. What is disrespectful is that prosecutors across this country choose not to charge police officers when they shoot and kill unarmed (and in some cases, armed) Black people in this country.

It’s a no-brainer, right? If there’s no clause, amendment or article saying you have to, then you don’t have to, right? Obviously that’s not the case.…

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Commentary

A One-Man Movie

By Perry Redd Columnist

His talk of acting unilaterally is the equal of a child bully with a barrels-loaded super-soaker water gun while the other kids have Dixie empty cups. Many humans were totally offended, not only in this nation, but all who were listening. Peace cannot be achieved by walking alone, chiefly because the United States never leaves anyone or nation alone!

Have you been to the movies lately? Me? I’m not a real movie-goer…I think they’re too expensive and the theaters are too grandiose (therein lies the…

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Commentary

An Executive Thug Imitating a Rug

By Perry Redd Columnist

The rug was pulled out from under the Trump voters who believed his claim that his plan to repeal the ACA would be great and “everybody’s going to get healthcare.” Trump has repeatedly demonstrated he doesn’t even understand how healthcare coverage, including Medicaid, and the legislative path toward delivering it (to the American people) works.

I’ve been alive long enough to have seen 10 presidents (nine, I can vividly remember). During the tenures of the nine Chief Executives prior to the…

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Commentary

Translating 2nd Amendment Privilege

By Perry Redd Columnist

police have the right to shoot and kill another person, regardless of the circumstance; civilians are simply “deputized” to do the same…if they are white.

You can act as if you didn’t see it, but you can’t act as if you didn’t hear it. Hear what, you ask? The silence of…

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Commentary

Angry, Ya’ Think?

By Perry Redd Columnist

A wrongful death at the hands of law enforcement cements generations on the opposite side of police loyalty.

So we’ve now just about reached the mollification point in yet another acquittal of a police officer who has killed a Black man under the cover…

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Commentary

Give Him a Chance to Do What?

By Perry Redd Columnist

He's had his chance to act presidential.

So we’ve now just about reached the six month mark in a Donald Trump presidency and I can’t see the pot of gold at the end…

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Commentary

The Confederacy is Rising Again Over Our Dead Bodies

By Perry Redd Columnist

Acceptance and living as a repulsive person is a sickness. That sickness in the form of speech many times evolves into a repulsive action. Racial hatred combined with the repulsive speech usually amounts to racial violence that can only be deemed a hate crime.

If you are among the residents of the United States of America with a pulse, then you cannot feign ignorance regarding the alarming number of hate-inspired…

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Commentary

Muted Joy When the Devil Gets His Due

By Perry Redd Columnist

For the sake of women—and for the sake of justice—I am celebrating O’ Reilly’s departure, but just know that getting rid of this devil isn’t a win for women. It is a win for America.

At my quickly advancing age, I’ve learned three things about the Devil. He doesn’t always wear horns, so sometimes he’s hard to recognize. Second, the devil…

Continue reading 9 min

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