NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

For all of the damage that Donald Trump can do, he definitely helps bring about exciting renewals and rediscoveries as well. Much has been made of the competition between major newspapers for "scoops," but I would also like to mention how Trump's behavior and his regular, often mindless assaults on the norms of governance, provide great fodder for columnists and editorial boards as well. I've pasted below an editorial from the editorial board for USA Today. I never thought I would ever save an editorial from that newspaper, but with Trump's behavior, even they ended up making an articulate and impassioned case against his behavior.

One of the downsides to a year of Trumpsanity, is that the news is constantly happening and evolving, whether through strategy, stupidity or insanity, and there just isn't enough time or energy to write about it or comment on it. That is one thing I've found about this blog for instance, is that I would frequently find myself …

As Guam is making international headlines once again, it is imperative that we use this moment in order to try to change the minute media frame that is used to give Guam meaning in moments like this. Guam is more than a military base and more than an island with a snake crisis. It is a contemporary colony in need of assistance in decolonizing and encouraging the United States to fulfill its obligation as a UN member to help make decolonization a reality. My last two columns for The Pacific DailyNews focused on a letter that Governor Calvo, as the head of the Guam Commission on Decolonization sent recently to the Committee of 24 at the United Nations.

The letter provided some small details on the situation in Guam, in particular impediments that have been put in place by the United States and its courts. But more than anything it represented a request for the UN to send a visiting mission to Guam to help bring attention to our quest for decolonization. It remains to be seen if the UN …

There is a strangeness when you consider independence movements of the past with the formal process today as outlined by the United Nations and international conventions. Independence movements of long ago were, as you might imagine, violent. Colonizers didn't want to give up their conquests and fought wars to try to prevent those they had colonized or settler communities that had developed their own sense of local identity, from becoming self-determined. Untold numbers died and suffered needlessly for this selfishness and cruelty, eventually these colonies led to conflicts between colonizers.
The international system was formed out of those violent, tragic and horrible battles to keep hold of territories and control the lives of entire peoples and their resources. It was developed over time, not necessarily to protect or help those who had been victimized, but rather help decrease the chances of any further conflict between colonial and imperial powers. The basic rules or conventi…