NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

I have spent the past few weeks meeting with people who are running for political office here in Guam this year. Some for senator, some for governor. This year promises to be an exciting one in terms of campaigns and candidates. With five teams running for governor (4 Democrats and 1 Republican). More than 80 packets for senatorial candidates have been picked up, with only 15 possible seats in the legislature. Mampos meggai na månnok manmalålagu gi kånton guma'! What is different this year however is not just the amount of candidates, but also the diversity in terms of their background. More and more, people are running for office who haven't been in formal government service before. They haven't worked in a political machine. They are outsiders, activists, educators, working class people, lawyers, professionals, veterans, journalists and more. The question remains however, and I will acknowledge from the very start of the conversation, that there is nothing intrinsic

While watching the health care drama unfold for Republicans over the past few weeks and months, I kept thinking, who does this remind me of? Today it finally hit me, the Republican party, with their years of whining about Obamacare and promises to repeal and replace as soon as they were put in power, are like some of my worst students. For years they promised this, they knew that eventually it would happen and they would face a real test. But instead of studying, instead of preparing, they just kept procrastinating and accomplishing nothing helpful. Now, even their best efforts are laughable in the face of the fact that they had so much time to work something out, and can only resort of the dirtiest tricks now to try to get something, anything passed. *************** How Republicans Got Stuck on Repeal by Jennifer Haberkorn Politico 7/31/17 Republicans openly speculated in November whether they could fast-track an Obamacare repeal bill to Donald Trump's desk by Inaugur

Some recent updates on the health care debate in the United States. It is fascinating to contemplate that in the past few years one party lost political power in order to expand health care to tens of millions of more people, and now another party is on the verge of potentially losing power as well, by taking health care away from tens of millions as well. ************************* "Americans decided that health care is for all. Republicans want to roll that back." Former Vice President Joe Biden Washington Post July 17, 2017 As vice president, I met with Americans all across our country. What they told me over and over is that the Affordable Care Act gave them peace of mind — that if they got sick, or if their child got sick, they could get care and not have to worry about going broke as a result. They no longer had to lay awake at night wondering:  Can I pay for this treatment? What happens if she gets cancer? How will I feed my family and afford the care?

"Donald Trump Has No Plan to Make America Great Again" by Derek Thompson The Atlantic June 7, 2017 It’s “Infrastructure Week” at the White House. Theoretically. On Monday, the administration announced a plan to spend $200 billion on infrastructure and overhaul U.S. air traffic control. There was a high-profile signing in the East Wing before dozens of cheering lawmakers and industry titans. It was supposed to be the beginning of a weeklong push to fix America’s roads, bridges, and airports. But in the next two days, Trump spent more energy burning metaphorical bridges than trying to build literal ones. He could have stayed on message for several hours, gathered Democrats and Republicans to discuss a bipartisan agreement, and announced a timeframe. Instead he quickly turned his attention to Twitter to accuse media companies of “Fake News” while undermining an alliance with Qatar based on what may be, fittingly, a fake news story . It’s a microco

Like many issues that straddle both the US and Guam, there are ways in which their may be a shared, similar experience, but always ways in which geography, culture, identity, history and coloniality will make it different and distinct. For example, within a US context I may be on one side of any health care debate, but in Guam I may take a completely opposite position. Part of it depends on how I may see myself ideologically and politically in relation to issues of power, justice and progress in the US context. But when the discussion extends to the colonies, my sense of things tends to become more Guam and Chamorro focused. If Guam were a full part of the US, I might feel differently, but as it is not, I do not and should not assume that however things work in the US, is how they should work in Guam. Or that, like the colonial mantra goes, whatever is good for the US must be good for Guam. Because of this colonial difference, I haven't been following the Trumpcare debacle as muc