Structural Patterns

I’m bracing myself for another four years of chaos. Four more years of lies, manipulation, hate, nepotism, self-interest, tax dodging, racism, tax cuts for the rich (who are better at saving than giving), market deregulation, white empowerment, pussy grabbing, virus magically gone by Easter, the phrase “shit hole countries,” separating families, putting children in steel cages, forking over millions of dollars for faulty three-mile border walls, opening precious forests to oil drilling, funding dirty energy like coal mining instead of presenting a better future, climate change denial, civil unrest, hatred…

The reason that I’m bracing myself is because the New York Times mentions Trump at least twice for any mention of Biden. I saw this during the 2016 elections – mainstream media obsessed with Trump whether positively or negatively, mentioning and covering Trump over and over. It’s like feeding the Slime Monster – whether it’s critical news or not, when only one name is mentioned, that name grows and sticks. I’ve often wondered why liberal, one-sided media channels don’t just go on a “he who must not be named” approach. We all know that any news is good news and Trump knows this better than anyone, his entire life has thrived on it. He doesn’t care if it’s negative news as any news can be spun. Most importantly he is mentioned; he who must not be named is named and his power grows.

Biden is a senior citizen who I think would like to stay alive and is not self-obsessed, so he acknowledges the pandemic. Whereas Trump is so self-obsessed that he considers himself a demigod, immortal, perhaps a god, perhaps the Almighty himself who has been so well informed on COVID-19, that he knows that as long as he allows his germophobia guide him, he can show up in-front of large audiences in enclosed spaces without a worry. After all, his minions on an individual-basis don’t matter, so let them be dumb enough to expose themselves while Trump enjoys their adoration of him and gets headlines for brining the minions together, unmasked and inches from one another. All news is good news.

Trump is also incredibly talented at projecting cheesy, televisual images of grandeur. From disgustingly furnished home interiors to way too many flags in front of the White House topped off with very polished golden eagles. Trump’s motto – “if it’s gold, polish it, cause it’s mine…”

Trump is effectively capturing the ignorant, televisual imagination of the United States, while Biden Zooms to no audience. And I’m not even mentioning Pence flying around with the racist, pre-Civil Rights “Make America Great” message while Harris tries to not choke on toxic air. We are soooo screwed.

VOTEMOS.US the site that questions what the 2008 U.S. presidential elections would look like if all residents in the U.S. could vote will now feature weekly video interviews with U.S. immigrants and Mexico City residents concerning the presidential elections and general relations between the United States and Latin America.

Although VOTEMOS.US is a Spanish-language site, the videos have English language subtitles so that U.S. citizens may have an insight into the views of their Spanish speaking neighbors within the country as well as those south of the border. The weekly video interviews are available on the site, as a podcast or rss feed:

This week Argentine Jose Antonio Lazzari relaxing in the park Alameda Central located in the historical center of Mexico City states that he would not vote for Obama, Hillary or McCain and he questions who the leftist candidates are in the U.S… Jose Antonio goes on to point out that the United States is controlled by the transnational companies that are making a fortune in Iraq.

We had a lengthy conversation with Jose Antonio Lazzari, a theater actor and educator who runs a free school in Argentina. Sections of this conversation will be published over the next few weeks. Past interviews with NYC undocumented resident Raymundo are also available and all videos will be archived on the site.