By now most people whether they are into politics or at are at the very least, remotely aware of the circus Election 2016  has become. The presidential race is bananas. Soap operas can’t compete with all that’s unfolded. Donald Trump and all his over the top antics are in the news every hour, every minute and damn near every second.

His recent disparaging remarks against the family of a soldier who died in combat and happened to be Muslim has resulted in a vicious firestorm and huge backlash. Folks who are fearful and absolutely hate the brand of politics Donald Trump stands for have been gleeful that all that push back against him has moved his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton up 10 points in the polls. Many are gleeful that the Republican Party seems to falling apart at the seams as more and more prominent figures are distancing themselves from Trump.

Some Republicans are publicly stating they are pledging support for Hillary Clinton citing that they see Trump as unfit. Is that a good thing? Does that mean Hillary will even further abandon her base to cater to an appeal to new right wing arrivals? Will she be gentrifying the Democratic Party?

Gary Johnson is gaining ground among Republicans angry at Trump

Still others are staying they will either sit this election out or throw their support behind Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson who is on the ballot in all 50 states and is scheduled to be featured in a CNN backed Town hall.

With all this political turmoil going on at Trump’s expense, there have been a more than few who have done some premature celebrating. bad move. Don’t do it..

If there is one thing we should’ve learned over the years from 9-11 to Katrina to major storms and earthquakes, it is in times of chaos that dirt gets done. It’s in times of chaos that moves are made in relative silence by the most powerful among us. The political chaos caused by Donald Trump is no different. If anything it seems a bit manufactured. It keeps the corporate press focused on his antics vs investigating key issues and the merits of proposed policies

Karl Rove has a Shadow RNC and plans to toss unlimited amounts of money at specific contests

While we have been focusing on the Presidential election clown fest, we should be asking ourselves who are we NOT hearing anything from? For example, where is Karl Rove these days? Once touted as the brains behind President Bush and a master strategist for the GOP who has raised hundreds of millions, we should be asking why is seemingly so quiet? Did he pick up all his marbles and go home after Jeb Bush who he publicly backed was soundly defeated?

We should be asking ourselves what are the Koch Brothers up to? These are the guys who backed the Tea Party Movement, flipped lots of elections and have been key investors in ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) which have led to all sorts of regressive state side and voter suppression laws being passed.  Many people gave huge sighs of relief when it was made known the Koch Brothers would be sitting out the Presidential contest and not supporting Donald Trump. But did they totally disappear?

A recent article that appeared in Alter Net shows clearly their formidable ground game and Get Out the Vote apparatuses are set and will be in full effect come November. You can read that HERE.

There are  many who have been turned off by electoral politics who have famously asserted that it doesn’t matter who is in the White House. Many like to quote Malcolm X who noted Democrat or Republican are the same.  Thats probably true on a number of levels, but truth be told Malcolm wasn’t the only one who believed that.  Many others including the folks I mentioned Rove and Koch Brothers) understand that it doesn’t matter who sits in the oval office as long as you control the economics and politics of your community. That’s something Malcolm pushed us to do as well. How are we doing that in 2016?

Blue Lives matter bills are being proposed all over the country

So why are some of these powerful aforementioned forces and individuals so silent? Because while everyone is talking about Donald Trump, they have been steadily investing time, energy and laying out strategies to rule the day by winning stateside and local races. In short these folks haven’t disappeared they are literally out in these streets grinding. They’re allowing Trump to be the clown that everyone laughs at while they make sure hard-hitting, ruthless lawmakers are pushing and passing laws like the recent slew of Blue Lives Matter bills designed to give police even more power.

The latest was proposed in New York which would make police a protected class of citizens where hate crime status could be applied to any attacks on them. The person who proposed this is NY Assemblymen Ron Castorina who blames Black Lives Matter for the recent polkice shootings. How do we plan to counter those bills and what will we do to law makers proposing them?

Powerful forces like the Koch Brothers and Karl Rove  are looking into local races in key cities where they can flip school boards and further privatize education. They are looking at local city council races where they win contracts to control water, electricity and other entities and institutions that effect our day-to-day life.

These forces are looking to see who they can win key US Senate seats to continue controlling the senate as well as win key congressional seats to continue locking down the house. They are looking to see who will be district attorney and who will be sitting on benches as a judge?  The game for them is down ticket candidates and measures which has been a pretty effective for GOP over the past 6 years. The question we should all be asking how are we locking down the community on a local level?

Several City Council Seats are up for grabs in November

In the city of Oakland there are 5 city council seats up for grab. What’s are thoughts on this? Did all those running for re-election do right by us on key issues? Were they on the right side for issues like Gentrification? Police accountability? etc..

In June, San Francisco saw a huge surge for progressive candidates. Does that momentum carry over in November? Who gets rewarded who gets booted? What’s our electoral strategy to leverage those contests and get whats needed in our community?

There are local elections ranging from Bart Board to state Assembly and Senate seat? What’s our relationship with the candidates running. Some of them are friends and steady do work in our communities are we supporting a Lateefah Simon or a Jane Kim over opponents who haven’t done right by us?

Are we talking to people like Nicole Lee of the Black Movement Law Project about electable judges?

With respect to judges. We saw a lot of attention being given to Judge Aaron Persky who gave a light sentence to a convicted rapist and former Stanford student Brock Turner. There is currently an attempt to recall this judge. But what do we know about other judges who are up for election  in November. Have we been speaking with folks from the National Lawyers Guild or the recently formed Black Movement Law Project or the NAACP Legal Defense to find out which judges are social justice minded vs corporate or prosecutorial minded?

Now is the time we should be sharing information with one another, making up voting guides and figuring out all the ways we can control our community from top to bottom, from dog catcher to mayor, from congressional rep to state and US senator. Leave no stone un-turned. Some will need to be political punished and ousted or recalled while others are rewarded with the clear understanding you will hold feet to the fire..

So again don’t be fooled by the silence of the Karl Roves and Koch Brothers types. They are plotting and scheming and plan to run the table in November, While we’re laughing at Trump, they intend to install people who hold ratchet views like Trump but can look and sound ‘respectable’. #staywoke #beprepared