Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff. 

Just like Hollywood’s Academy Awards for movies or the Tony Awards for theater or the Grammy Awards for music it’s time for the Costa Rican Expat Media Awards — Roses, Thorns, Prickly Thorns and Magic Mushrooms – are at stake. Roses get a solid-gold neck medallion of President Trump, Thorns get a silver-plated medallion of Bernie Sanders, Prickly Thorns get a full-face medallion of Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Magic Mushrooms get the Timothy Leary Award for Excellence in Politics. 

Now folks this is serious business giving out all these awards in front of millions of people on national TV, spread all over social media and various websites. Let’s hope we get it right the first time and don’t announce the wrong winner. Yikes, the tension! Drum roll please.

The first Thorn Award goes to the people of France who preferred a centrist candidate claiming to be “neither right, nor left,” as their next president, Emmanuel Macron, 39, the youngest French president ever elected — over right-wing candidate Marine Le Pen. Macron advocated continued partnership with the European Union, increased immigration and open borders. Le Pen wanted to seal the boarders, limit immigration and leave the European Union, like the United Kingdom voted to do last year. In the last three years about 800 people have been murdered in France with thousands wounded by radical Islamic extremist attacks. Macron will always be looking over his shoulder at that open border that surrounds him and the French people. Always.

A Rose goes to the United States Senate for taking on the development of a new health care system for American citizens that were betrayed by the last administration with a faulty and failed health care system that did not deliver on the promises made by former President Obama — remember when he said “You can keep your doctor.” In the coming weeks, and perhaps months, the Senate will wrestle with this tough opponent supported by the powerful, rich and far reaching special interests that are guarding the medical cash cow flowing to insurance companies, hospital chains and doctors. President Donald Trump will be watching what the Senate does and he will be fully involved, but he will veto their health care measures that don’t measure up to the promises he made to the American people – lower costs, reasonable deductibles and choices for individuals and families that suit their income. In the last several years hundreds of thousands of Americans have filed for bankruptcy due to their medical bills, according to news reports.

A Prickly Thorne is hereby awarded to all those sanctuary cities that refuse to go along with federal law regarding the deportation of illegal immigrants that end up in the criminal justice system, and others, plus those harboring the likes of violent ‘MS-13’ gang members from Central America. There are more than 300 sanctuary cities in the U.S. Their federal funding should be cut off dry as a bone. Liberal courts are blocking President Trump’s efforts to cut off funding. This issue will end up in the U.S. Supreme Court for a ruling.

This week’s Timothy Leary Award goes to Miss Magic Mushroom herself the delusional Hillary Clinton and her re-emergence onto the political scene from her loss to now President Trump. Last week during a nationally televised appearance on CNN she ended the interview with, “I’m now back to being an activist citizen, and part of the resistance.” Resistance to what?

Soon after this interview, Clinton defiantly announced on national TV that she was starting a PAC or political action committee entitled ‘Onward Together’ with the purpose of collecting DONATIONS to fund anti-Trump groups and activities that ‘resist’ anything and everything President Trump does even though he is the legal democratically elected president. Some are calling her actions treasonous. Here she goes again begging for DONATIONS just like her Clinton Foundation and endless pleas for money for her losing campaign for president. Clinton lost the presidency because of Hillary Clinton and her obvious and continuing deceit. End of story, give it up Queen Snowflake.

And last — a big red Rose goes to conservative political commentator Tomi Lahren who just settled her wrongful termination lawsuit against her former boss — the odd and unusual Glenn Beck and his on-line news ‘The Blaze.’ Lahren is now free of her contract as is available for hire. She comes with her millions upon millions of social media followers on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. The question is who has the guts to hire this 24-year-old firecracker who will upstage them all? She is the right woman at the right time with the right stuff to represent the right. Right On!

About the Author

Britt Nelson relocated to Costa Rica in 2011 from Florida, where he served as news editor for the Palatka Daily News, a newspaper owned by the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group (NYT-RNG) for 20 years.

Nelson served the NYT-RNG for 18 years in Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida as a correspondent, reporter, staff writer, senior staff writer training new reporters, copy editor, page designer, editorial writer, editorial page editor and editorial board member.