NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

I remember the beginning of Donald Trump's campaign, and how the end was always insight. The conventional wisdom always suggested that this flip flop, this racist rant, this sexist remark, this revelation was going to be the one to finally burst the fantasy bubble of Trump as a viable candidate. But the media and Republican establishment routinely underestimated the way Trump would tap into certain parts of the national schizophrenic psyche. Obama in 2008 taped into the desires of people for change and for the hope in a better world. Trump seems to be tapping into white anger over the changing of their country and the losing of their privilege. It is interesting to watch, how the conventional wisdom in recent times has been that racist remarks, gaffes or associations could spell the end of a candidate's career or at least hurt them politically. This isn't true with Trump however, at least not yet. Trump's sometimes thinly veiled, sometimes overt attacks on immigrants,

  The election for President in the US in 2016 has already started, and even though I am only casually following the coverage it does already seem like every single Republican or every possible stripe is teasing that they are running. It is interesting to see the bubbles in which people live and how it sustains their egos and gives them delusions of grandeur and potential power. All of these Republicans keep telling us that everyone they know is compelling them to run for President, and most of the country is wondering how many followers on Twitter or Facebook count as "everyone" nowadays. This video here from Bill Maher who has created a convenient guide for billionaires out there who are interested in buying a candidate and want one that matches their ideology or would be willing to say the craziest things. Some other articles are included below as well. ******************** Sarah Palin and the Demise of the Tea-Party Media By Eric Boehlert Huffingpost 1/30/2015

Published on Thursday, October 17, 2013 by TomDispatch.com Shutting Down Americans: The Government Shutdown in Perspective What Was “Essential” and What Wasn’t by Jo Comerford and Mattea Kramer     (Photograph by Chip Somodevilla/Getty) On a damp Friday morning 11 days into the government shutdown, a “few dozen” truckers took to the Capital Beltway in a demonstration with the Twitter hashtag #T2SDA (Truckers to Shut Down America).  They wanted to tell lawmakers they were angry, launch an impeachment campaign against the president, and pressure Congress to end itself. They were on a “ride for the Constitution,” protesting big government and yet the opinion polls were clear.  In fact, the numbers were stunning.  One after another, they showed that Americans opposed the shutdown and were hurting because of it.  At that moment, according to those polls, nearly one in three Americans said they f

 As part of his re-election campaign you can go on President Obama’s website and buy a mug that features “Made in the USA” on one side and a copy of his birth certificate on the other. It is meant to be a cute jab at those who continue, despite a mountain of evidence, to claåim that President Obama is not only Muslim and Socialist, but is also Kenyan. It is both astounding and appalling to report that an estimated 1 in 10 Americans and 3 out of 10 Republican believe that Obama was born in Kenya and therefore ineligible to hold his current office. While the Obama campaign created this mug as a joke, this refusal to recognize Obama as American is not really funny and is indicative of the racism that still exists in the US. These “birthers” are not just fringe elements, but parts of their beliefs have made it into mainstream Republican talking points. Birthers are racist, but the ideology they draw from is used by far more people than just themselves. Racis

Wrote this last year for the Marianas Variety, forgot to post it here. I almost get teary eyed thinking about how crazy the Republican contenders for the election were. Sad to be down to just Romney, Satorum and the ghost of Newt Gingrich. ********************************** “Flirting with Disaster” Michael Lujan Bevacqua 5/12/2011 The Marianas Variety Donald Trump isn’t running anymore for the Republican nomination for the Presidency in 2012. It’s a shame really. Technically, he never was really running, but rather participating in what seems to be the current national pastime of leaders in the Republican Party, flirting with the idea of running for President. It is a lucrative game and one which takes clear advantage of the problem that the Republican party lacks a clear leader or vision for their brand in the next election. Trump’s candidacy was ridiculous but had to be taken seriously for a few weeks because the media and opinion polls ended up turning the mere