What Good Did the Impeachments Do for the American People?

 I’m adding my response to this question in a blog, so I’ll have it to look back on... but I won’t be posting it to FB since it was a FB post.

Although I can’t speak for the American people at large, I will speak about how it benefitted me.  I wouldn’t say the impeachments themselves taught me anything; but the impeachments were part of the fabric of my political education.  Basically, the experience has shown me how broken our political system is. I was an Independent voter who just figured, “Conservatives and Liberals are basically trying to solve the same problems - but Conservatives view things like EPA regulations as restrictions, and Liberals view them as protections... But we all want what’s best for the country.”

I’ve learned how naive I was.  It could be partly because, being Independent, I didn’t really entrench myself in either ideology.  I’ll be honest, I didn’t even vote for President every election because I knew that it was going to go Blue anyway in California. That is one of the evils of the Electoral College - it makes people think their vote doesn’t really count since only those “swing states” really count.  I still try to stay Independently minded but admit that I do have a Liberal leaning now.   I didn’t glue myself to the TV for either of the impeachment proceedings because I had a job and didn’t want to take time off.

Throughout the history of this country,  the parties have flipped in my opinion.  What started out as the Party of Lincoln is now largely the Party of Trump.  Democrats who were once filled with KKK are now more in line with JFK/LBJ.  Both parties still continue to push through racist policies in an effort to “be tough on crime” in the “war on drugs” while feeding a mass incarceration prison system (often for-profit) of POC disproportionately. 

Back to the impeachments... We agree that both had charges that were warranted.  Clinton was let off the hook, as was Clarence Thomas previously (for the sexual harassment of Anita Hill).  Republicans were so “upset” about Clinton’s sexual escapades and lying, yet installed Thomas to the highest court of the land 6-7 years prior.  Hypocrisy.  Let’s go now to the Democrats - They turned a blind eye and let Clinton off the hook; but in 2018, they drove the “Me Too” movement.  There were allegations by Tara Reade against Biden that have largely been ignored by Democrats.  Hypocrisy again. 

Fast forward to the 2016 election in which I became a Democrat.  The White Evangelicals are a huge part of the Trump base as demonstrated by the 80% of them that support him despite the well documented adulteries/divorces, bankruptcies, gambling businesses, etc.  The party of White Evangelicals and fiscal Conservatives had a ton of folks in the Primaries and that’s who they came up with?  That’s when I knew I was voting Blue.  I’ll admit that I was already frustrated by McConnell’s and the GOP Senate to block everything Obama tried to pass and their refusal to consider Merrick Garland but putting Trump at the top of their ticket cemented it for me.  

Now let’s discuss the Trump impeachment and what I learned.  Clearly it’s okay with the GOP (except for Mitt Romney) for their President to abuse his powers, solicit foreign governments for “dirt” on his opponent and then try to obstruct any investigations into his acts.  I can understand that as politics... but the “Christian Right” who lifts this clown up as a true Christian and great leader infuriates me.  It’s not even Trump that makes me mad because he’s made no secret who he is.  It’s the high-profile WE like Mike Huckabee, Pat Robertson, Franklin Graham etc that tick me off.  The GOP Senators who didn’t hold Trump accountable quote Bible verses etc on their Twitter feeds and give Christianity a bad name.  

In addition to learning how broken our political system is with hypocrisy, I also learned that the “Christian Right” is not necessarily that Christian.  Again, the impeachments alone did not open my eyes at once; but their place in the stream of events helped me to see something that saddens me... and that is how White Evangelicals are turning young Americans off from Christianity.  

As my daughter Lindsay Yuen noted above, she is one of the younger adults that no longer want to affiliate with American Christianity.  They see self-ascribed Christians behaving in ways not consistent with “loving your neighbor,” being hypocritical and judgmental, and supporting the Party of Trump.  I can’t say I blame her as I have often reconsidered my stance on “Church” and my place in it.  For now, I will continue to try to make inroads where I can in the hopes that my example will show that not all Christians are like the ones they see on their news and social media feeds.

2020: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

This is my end-of-year blog as I want to record some of my thoughts to look back on later in life.  2020 has been an impactful year, but I will only cover 3 main events in this.  Please open the linked articles for more details.

THE GOOD:

COVID-19 - On the surface, one wonders how anything could be good about this virus.  However, Shelter-in-Place orders have resulted in fewer school shootings and my family members have been able to stay healthy so far from even the usual colds.  It has also forced me to stay home and find ways to occupy my time productively.  Since I can't actually travel anywhere for vacation, I am reading books like "The New Jim Crow - Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness."  It's not an easy read - both from the standpoint that there's a lot of disheartening information, and it is written like a textbook.  Nonetheless, I am glad to have the time to read it if I can't be enjoying time with family and friends in Hawaii, Tahoe and Vegas.  I am learning a lot from the book as well as other resources regarding the racist origins and current practices of this country.

Presidential Election - Joe Biden appears to be the President-Elect and that helps me sigh a bit of relief.  He was not in my top 5 during the Primaries, but when House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn turned the South Carolina and the entire Primaries on the ear with his endorsement (followed by Klobuchar, Mayor Pete, etc),  I suddenly got excited.  Biden may have supported some racist policies in the past (most of the past Presidents including Obama and Clinton have), but he is able to admit when he makes/made a mistake and learn from it.  He worked under the first Black President for 8 years without complaint - a true racist would not be able to do that.  Biden's not terribly dynamic and has a speech impediment, but he is calm, reasonable and has a history of reaching across the aisle.  I know it's infuriating to have to wait for progress and working with people we disagree with, but that's how this country was built... and we need to get back to doing that.

Black Lives Matter - Since the killing of George Floyd, the American public has been forced to witness 8-9 minutes of a murder that shouldn't have happened.  A man calling out to his mother in his last moments of life should have impacted every mother around the globe, and BLM demonstrations/protests have been held around the world because we know George Floyd is just one of way too many.  In America, I knew (at a surface level) that Black and Brown men are stopped and harassed by police disproportionately more than White men; and I supported the football players who kneeled before games.  But I didn't really realize the depth of racism built into our justice system until I honestly tried to learn more about it... Not just police killings of unarmed Blacks (although that is bad enough), but systemic/institutional racism which impacts criminal justice, employment, housing, health care and education. I'm glad that I have the resources available to learn more and try to share this knowledge.

THE BAD AND THE UGLY:

COVID-19 - The bad and ugly is obvious - As I write this, over 320,000 Americans have died, 1.7 million people died globally.  This has impacted the national and global economy... and there are people going hungry.  You would think Americans would come together in a crisis like this, but the pandemic has been politicized to where even wearing a face mask is called into question.  Trump, the "Leader" of our country, purposely and continuously lied about the severity of the virus and admitted it to Bob Woodward.  He told Woodward, "I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down... Because I don't want to create a panic." In short, I believe he was mainly concerned about the stock market and he didn't want to panic the investors.  Never mind the fact that many of the poor and middle class folks don't have the income to invest in the stock markets because they're just trying to make ends meet.  He cares more about Wall Street than Main Street, but his followers don't see that.  It took a Republican-run Senate 9 months to pass a second "relief package" which includes $600 per person.  I'm not the only one that is angry at a Senate who granted the wealthy a huge tax cut and just parceled out $600 to the people who are struggling.  (If I have any Georgian friends reading this, please remember this and vote blue in January). While his Administration helped fund Operation Warp Speed to get vaccines to the public, it's after hundreds of thousands of people died under his watch.  Yes, people would have died even if he was a good leader, but I don't think the numbers would've been nearly this high.  If he had just supported what Anthony Fauci and the CDC recommended (simple things like social distancing, masks, hand sanitizing), things would've been a lot better.  Instead, he held super spreader events and rallies in addition to mocking face masks.  And since I want to keep this short,  I won't go into detail on how his Administration passed on 100 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine.

Presidential Election - Although Biden appears to have won the election with over 81 million votes, Trump still got over 74 million votes.  I consider this bad news because it shows how badly divided this country still is.  To be clear, I expected that Trump would win because of how the Electoral College is setup to benefit formerly slave-owning states.  Nevertheless, Biden won but many Trumpicans are not ready to admit it because their "leader" won't admit it.  They've been trying to overturn the election results and even the Supreme Court ruled against their case.  Instead of dealing with starving families, COVID deaths and Russian cyber hacks, Trump is trying to overthrow the election. You know it's bad when Trumpicans complain about Fox News.   As the linked article mentions, Trump may just be trying to get his own media/"news" company to spew his conspiracy theories and other QAnonsense.  Fox and Newsmax had to walk back their claims of election fraud.  I believe all of Trump's thrashing about is to get more money to pay off his debts and line his pockets so he can start his new company.  

That is all bad, but here is what I think is truly ugly: 80% of White Evanglicals still support Trump; and I believe that this is why Christianity in America is dying.  I go to three different churches (especially during COVID) and I know a good number of people who support Trump... after hearing him brag about grabbing women by the pussy, lying about the severity of COVID, and talking trash about immigrants and refugees.  It's easy for White Evangelicals to say "Make America Great Again" because they weren't the ones being enslaved and/or oppressed when it was so "great."  It also annoys me to hear Christians say that the Church is dying in America because of the culture we live in. No - it is dying because we're not practicing what we preach.  Trump-supporting White Evangelicals are not loving their neighbors - they're loving this con artist who got them a Conservative Supreme Court. I know a number of Trumpicans who vote strictly on a "pro-life platform" while complaining about paying taxes for social programs to help families get by.  While they say, "Put prayer back in the schools," they forget that prayers were in the schools while oppressing the "least of these."  As one of my pastors said: During the Civil War, both sides prayed to the same God.  Church - If you want to truly share Christ with the world, you need to stop being so hypocritical and judgmental.

"It isn't my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning.  God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, 'You must remove the evil person from among you.'"  1 Corinthians 5:12-13

Black Lives Matter - While the movement has grown and people are gaining more understanding about  systemic racism in America, there are still too many people who refuse to see it.  Just like COVID, you'd think the country would be united in eradicating racism.  But unlike COVID, racism is easy to deny if you aren't experiencing it.  Most of us by now know somebody who has battled and perhaps died from COVID.  But not all of us understand the systemic/institutional racism that exists if it doesn't impact us or ones we love.  The ugliest part of this is that many Americans simply lack the empathy for those that are being oppressed.  After watching George Floyd die, I (and many other Americans) vowed to learn more about what I'd been averting my eyes from.  It saddens me to know that so many Americans prefer to live in denial and long for a day when America was "great" again.  Until this year, I didn't understand the true depths of this issue - partly because I am Asian-American and didn't have the experience of growing up Black or Brown.  To be sure, there is racism against Asians as well which I'm familiar with, so I've always known racism is still a problem in America.  However, my White friends may not be aware of it because they only see things from their life experiences and viewpoint.  It takes an actual willingness and effort to learn more about systemic racism; and not everybody is "there" yet.  If you don't have the time and energy to read The New Jim Crow (I admit, it's taking me a while because it is like a textbook), then please read this New Yorker interview with the author Michelle Alexander and/or this NPR interview with her.

MY FAITH in God remains intact, even as my disappointment in Trump-Supporting White Evangelicals grows.  I'm sure they are just as disappointed in me, and I can live with that.  I'm not really in a festive mood this Christmas as I feel like the fight for racial justice is being put on the back burner by America again... and I doubt Jesus wants us to be complacent.  Currently I go to three different churches online as they all have different styles in addressing racism. I've liked that the Chinese Baptist Church (in SF Chinatown) pastor(s) have prayed weekly for BLM and one pastor centered a message around it.   I haven't found the perfect multi-cultural church yet because there is no perfect church; only a perfect God.  In order to get there, you'd have to have diversity at all levels - in the congregation, on the stage, on the leadership boards, on the staff, in the message, etc.  One of my Black friends said he's also been going to an AME church in addition to our local one. Perhaps I'll check that out too.  One of the great things about sheltering in place is that I'm now able to visit multiple churches to get true diversity.  Perhaps this is the best way to get my perfect multi-cultural church experience - through various congregations. 👍 

Roller Coaster Week

 It's been a roller coaster of a week as 2020 continues to "do its thing."  Tuesday was election day, I had a busy week at work with 5 am alarms set and, worst of all, somebody near and dear to me went to the hospital Wednesday night for COVID (fever and low oxygen level).  Thankfully, the doctors at Kaiser treated her immediately and the fever is gone. She's not totally out of the woods yet, but we are sleeping better at night.

I haven't really been posting much about the election on Facebook because I know I have a lot of friends who are Trump supporters and I don't wanna rile things up more than they already are.  I've unfollowed some a while back because I found some of their posts to be pretty disrespectful of liberals (to put it mildly), but I noticed that one of my friends has actually posted a couple reminders to Christians to act like Christians (instead of talking about Civil War etc). Another Conservative friend posted congratulations to Biden/Harris and he was quickly met with posts about how liberals are a bunch of baby-killers, Commies, Marxists, etc.

And of course there are plenty of posts that parrot the President's claims that the election is being stolen with fraudulent ballots.  There is no evidence of such and many of his claims have already been thrown out in court.  The ones that have are pretty minor (such as letting more Conservatives observe the ballot counters).  These folks seem to forget that poll workers and ballot counters are from both sides of the aisle, and they work together in a non-partisan fashion.  It is pretty awful for folks to denigrate these people who are risking COVID in order to have fair elections... but whatever... The next official term doesn't start until January 20 (day after my birthday), so there's plenty of time for recounts.

The worst part of this is that, because the election is so close, it's clear to see that Trump has many supporters who don't recognize or mind his racism, misogyny and incompetence.  They let themselves get all hateful of liberals even though they know liberals have been there for them when the chips are down in personal matters.  They let a politician that they've never met rule how they behave to others. I compare some of these White Evangelicals to Pharisees because of the hypocrisy they demonstrate.  They'll say God commands us to pray for our leaders (like Trump), but turn around and denigrate Gavin Newsom (and Obama during his term).  If they were not Christians and pulling that "pray for our leaders card," I would be fine with them pulling for "their guy" and slamming "the other."  But these are self-proclaiming Christians who give non-believers more reasons to not believe.  I personally just do a blanket prayer for "all our national and world leaders."  

By the way, the Bible also has verses which say it's okay to pray for the removal of bad leaders (Proverbs 25:5) which I have done.  Everybody has their own opinion of a bad leader, but only God truly knows the hearts of each of us. I also don't necessarily believe God appoints leaders, people do.  He's given us free will and people in the USA are supposed to have free elections. Of course God can use anybody to see His will be done, but that doesn't mean each leader in every country was hand-picked by God.  Just look at how many dictators have ruled in the world, and let's not forget that Satan also has a presence in this world.

When I was an Independent voter and agnostic, I cared most about my pocketbook... and I think a lot of people are still like that, no matter their religion.  The Bible says it's hard for the wealthy to get into heaven (Matthew 19:24), and I believe it's because the wealthy love their wealth more than God and/or their neighbor.  This is usually how I base my vote - Who will love his/her neighbor more than their wealth?  This current Administration is mostly benefitting the wealthy and large corporations. He downplayed the virus because he didn't want it to impact the stock market (which many middle and lower income people have no means to dabble with). He put money above lives... and in the end, damaged both.  While it's not his fault COVID spread, he did not call the nation to address it aggressively and now we have more cases per capita then anywhere else.  We also can't get the economy going as well as others like Japan because many people refuse to do the simple things like wearing a mask, staying out of large indoor crowds, etc.

Many conservatives will base their vote strictly on abortion.  While I don't believe anybody "likes or loves abortion," I believe that it will happen whether it's legal or not. It's happened since the beginning of time, and making it illegal doesn't magically make it go away.  I believe that, if you want to decrease it, then you need to decrease unplanned pregnancies with birth control and sex education; and you need to provide more social services for people who want to give birth to their babies and sustain a quality of life for the child.  You can't claim you're truly pro-life and then accuse women of being "welfare queens" (who are, btw, mostly White and not Black as folks try to portray).  I've said this all before, so I'll stop yammering about it.

Anyway, I'm praying that God can use Joe Biden/Kamala Harris to heal this nation.  From a human point of view, it doesn't seem possible with all the rancor between the right and left wings.  I didn't pick Biden in my top 5 candidates during the primaries, but my eyes opened up when Jim Clyburn backed him.  It made me see that, while my leanings may be more progressive, only a moderate (with ties to the Black community) would be able to win the Presidency over Trump.  David Flores-Workman, a young Christian man at New Life church, posted on Facebook that he "chose morality over policy; please let there be healing now" and I really loved that.  While he and I may have different political ideology, we both see the need for healing.  That is my prayer. With God, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).

Election Week 2020

 I feel like this is a week I need to blog as this election is probably one of the biggest of my lifetime.  So far the polls have Biden ahead but that was the case in 2016 also with Clinton.  Suffice it to say that I overestimated 'Merica in 2016 and I won't do it again in 2020.  I hope Biden wins, but I suspect Trump will stay in the White House another 4 years.  If it's close, it'll be like the "hanging chad" fiasco in Florida, and his hand-picked Supreme Court will likely rule his way.  And let's not even mention all the voter suppression going on in communities of POC.  It's ridiculous that many Texans, Georgians etc have to stand in line for hours in order to vote during a pandemic. Perhaps it's just a self-preserving thought process so that my hopes for this country aren't shattered again.  Perhaps it's because I know so many Trump supporters that continue to support him despite:

• Mexico didn't pay for his wall - in fact, there is very little of his promised wall (which I was never for)
• Over 500 refugee kids separated from their parents
• His promised medical program that never got rolled out despite having the Senate and WH for 4 years
• His history of racism - Condemning the Central Park 5 who served years in prison despite them being innocent, his promotion of the stupid "birther movement" claiming Obama isn't an American citizen, calling Neo-Nazis "very fine people" (imo anybody who loves Confederate statues is a racist as they care more about the loser slave-loving Confederacy than they do about actual living people or the people who died for the Union and to end slavery), made it sound like refugees are rapists and gang members, continuing to call COVID-19 the China Virus despite knowing it impacts the way Asians in America are treated, etc.  I could go on and on but it's fruitless because they will always defend him.  And as I now know, even if they consider themselves to be "not racist," him being a racist is clearly not a deal breaker to them.
• His disparagement of military leaders.  The GOP is supposedly more pro-military and "patriotic" than Democrats.  They decry athletes protesting peacefully by kneeling during the anthem, yet they're okay with him talking smack about those that served the country (calling them suckers and losers) for decades like John McCain who was once the GOP nominee for POTUS.  They are willing to overlook that he dodged the draft like a coward with "bone spurs" and none of his kids ever tried to serve anybody but themselves. He's even tried to block immigrants who served in the U.S. military a path to citizenship.
• He has paid very little in taxes, as little as $750/year.  While it may be "legal," it doesn't make it right.  Slavery was legal once too.  People are so impressed that he didn't take his presidential salary (other Presidents have done the same), but ignore the fact that over $1 Million of taxpayer money has been spent at Trump properties.
• His continuous "downplaying" of the virus which has now killed almost a quarter million Americans and is surging again across the country.  He caught it himself and, of course, got the best of care and recovered... yet STILL encourages large crowds of people, many maskless... and he mocks people who are wearing them.

Here's what they like about him:

• He cut taxes.  The problem is that it also added to the deficit and the biggest beneficiaries (large corporations) continue to layoff workers and send jobs overseas.  Also, taxes are not a bad thing to me if they provide services and infrastructure.  As Jesus said, "Give Caesar what is Caesar's."  There are a lot of Christians out there who don't even tithe their 10%.  So it's no surprise that many of them also will try to cheat Uncle Sam like Trump does.
• The economy - Republicans conveniently forget that the Obama administration handed over a pretty good economy. Also, Obama's last three years saw more job growth than Trump's first three years.  I'd also like to add that other countries who have handled COVID better are also getting their economies up and running faster than the US.  Trump downplayed the virus because he didn't want the stock markets to suffer - in the end, he could care less about lost American lives than his "economy."  The shame of that is that, because the US is doing so poorly with the virus under his "leadership," we haven't been able to reopen as quickly as others.  How hard is it to be a role model and ask people to wear masks?   It's really annoying how people that are against a woman's "right to choose" can't even put on a friggen mask (but that's another subject that I'll hit on next).
• Supreme Court justices - There are "pro-lifers" who vote on this single issue alone.  They ignore the fact that abortions happened when it was illegal too, and that they will continue to happen whether it's legal or not. I happen to believe that the best way to reduce abortions is to provide better sex education, contraception and social services for struggling families (who do want to keep their children).  Nonetheless, if your biggest thing in 2016 was SC justices, Conservatives now have a 6-3 majority on the court... so you can vote on other pro-life issues (beyond the womb). 
• You can say "Merry Christmas" again? I don't know what other people's experience is, but I live in liberal California and have never felt that I couldn't say Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, etc.  This is just a bogus argument to me.  There is no "attack on Christianity."  To me (and I'm a Christian as the title of my blog says), it's the other way around.  Christians are attacking the right for LGBTQ people to be married, use the restroom (which has stalls btw), etc.  Nobody says atheists, Buddhists, etc can't be married - so why can't LGBTQ?  I live by this: Love God and love my neighbors.  If my neighbor is atheist, Buddhist, Christian, whatever - I love them.  And for those folks that say, "God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve..."  I say, "Yes, he did create Adam and Steve... just as he created Abraham and Sarah who shared the same father."  A lot of people think incest is "yucky" but apparently it was okay for Jews at that time.  My point is this - those were culturally different times when I guess that was okay.  By the same token, I'm not gonna argue with same-sex people getting married.  It doesn't bother me at all.  If anything, it bothers me that it bothers other people.
• He's cut back protections for climate change, air, water, etc.  Conservatives call it regulations, liberals call them protections.  It's no use arguing the finer points cuz nobody ever changes their mind.  My opinion is that God created the world and asked people to take care of it (Genesis 1), so I prioritize caring for God's world and environment. We have enough brains in the world to use solar, wind and other sources of energy that He provides... whereas oil is a finite substance that we need to drill the earth for.  And let's not even start down the trail of wars fought over oil.
• Middle East "Peace" - Again, this is more smoke and mirrors as the "peace" was merely formalizing ties between people that weren't at war.  I contend that there is no real peace until Palestinians and Israelis are at peace. As my friend and pastor the Rev. Dr. Larry Jay said: "When it comes to Jerusalem, I really don't think God cares whether it's Israel's or it's Palestine's.  Theologically, the temple was destroyed, thus making Jerusalem's spiritual significance void as God's Spirit technically withdrew from a building made of hands to a building found in the hearts of people.  Thus, I don't think it's important and that it's all politics.  Conservative Christians may state that the Bible says Jerusalem belongs to Israel.  But the Bible ultimate says that God does not live in a temple made of stones but in a temple made of flesh.  Ultimately, I believe it is none of our America Christian business.  There are more important issues our world is facing and starting a war over land should not be one of them."
  

I know nobody reading this is gonna change their minds.  This is just a reminder to me so I can look back and remember exactly what I was thinking during Election Week 2020.  As mentioned above, I'm preparing for another 4 years of Trump.  I won't be rejoicing if Biden wins, but I will be relieved.  I'll take a moment to be thankful the country isn't in as sad a shape as I thought... But I realize that there is still a LOT of work to do to get it where it needs to be.  Win or lose, my focus will still be on BLM because fighting racism and injustice is a nonpartisan issue...  It's part of loving my neighbor which is admittedly difficult for me on some days.  Please pray that my heart doesn't get hardened by my witnessing of White Evangelical Trump supporters. 

Diversity in Culture and Politics

When I was a kid, I attended schools in the Richmond School District (now called West Contra Costa USD) in the 60s and 70s.  The schools were fairly integrated and I believe I got a good view of how diversity enhanced my life.  My dad always worked for the Berkeley Unified School District - first as a PE teacher at Burbank Jr High, working up to being the Principal at Berkeley High (their only public high school) in the 70s and then retiring as Associate Superintendent.  He always had friends of different ethnicities coming over for Poker games at our house, and that reinforced my appreciation for diversity.

On the other hand, I also grew up in a Chinese-American home and went to SF weekly to see my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.  We would go to Chinatown to mai soong (buy groceries) and later my uncle and aunt started taking me to the First Chinese Baptist Church in SF.  I got a good dose of cultural education during these trips, especially during Chinese New Year and Moon Festival time.

When I reached Junior High (now called Middle School), Berkeley Unified School District offered an Asian-American Summer School that my cousin and I attended (my older cousin was the Principal).  I remember learning a lot about the histories of Asian immigrants and remember thinking, "Gee, they don't teach us this stuff in regular school."  It was then that I realized that the education I was getting was mostly from the Euro-American standpoint; and that all the other minorities were probably experiencing the same gap in learning of their backgrounds and cultures.  This is especially true for Blacks and Natives who may have had their history glossed over because, let's face it, the truth is not pretty.

Since then, I've always been interested in the histories of different ethnicities and cultures.  They say "Variety is the spice of life" and I find that to be true.  Up until 2016, I was registered (like my dad) as an Independent Voter.  I welcome the chance to interact with people from different backgrounds and cultures, both socially and politically.  While I don't always agree with other folks, I'm okay with that.  If my friend is a Buddhist and I'm a Christian, that doesn't effect our friendship.   Same thing with politics - if someone's a Republican, I'll let them have their say and go about my business.  I usually go with the assumption that my friend or family member has good intentions; and that they are assuming the same of me.  There have been times that I've been proven wrong later, but I'd rather still start with giving the benefit of doubt.

What. A. Week.

 And it's not even over.  There's so much to unpack but I will try to keep this brief.

My thoughts on the "debate" - I watched 5 minutes of these two old guys interrupting each other and decided to binge watch Downton Abbey instead.  Apparently that was a wise decision.  Of the 5 minutes I did watch, Trump got to answer the first question uninterrupted... But when it was Biden's turn, it quickly became a shit show with interruptions etc.  I thought Chris Wallace handled one of the 2016 debates pretty well, but he had no control over this one.  That was quickly apparent so I changed the channel.  I already knew who I was voting for and I'm thinking most of Americans also know too.  For those on the fence, they probably got no clarity from this "debate."

My thoughts on the NYT report that Trump paid "$750 in federal income taxes the year he won the presidency. In his first year in the White House, he paid another $750. He had paid no income taxes at all in 10 of the previous 15 years — largely because he reported losing much more money than he made."  This was no surprise to me; nor is it a surprise to me that his CULT45 followers don't care that they pay more in taxes than this supposed "successful businessman" did.  They brag about how he gave up his salary while in office (something many Presidents did), yet ignore how he's been cheating the country for decades.  They say, "Well, he was just smart and got out of paying taxes."  One Republican once railed at me and asked, "Why do you want them to take your money?"  He wouldn't even let me get a word in edgewise to say, "It's not really my money - it's just a resource God gave me to utilize."  Some of these folks who hate paying taxes call themselves Christians, but even Jesus said to "Give Caesar what is Caesar's."

My thoughts on tapes of Melania talking about immigrant kids separated from parents and saying "Who gives a F__ about Christmas stuff and decorations?  Suffice it to say that I don't really criticize first ladies or kids (unless they're adults and part of the Administration like Ivanka and Junior)...  However, I'll say this: Republicans gave Michelle Obama a much harder time for less than this, and I absolutely know they'd roast her if she made that Christmas comment.

My thoughts on the Breonna Taylor case (young black woman killed in her home while police came with a "no knock warrant" to look for evidence on an ex-boyfriend) - LEO rammed her door in, her current boyfriend who has a gun permit fired shots because he didn't know who was invading the home, and officers returned fire which killed Breonna Taylor.  Only one cop was charged for wanton endangerment because some of his shots went into Taylor's NEIGHBOR'S apartment.  And then that same cop came back after the shooting while investigators were gathering evidence from the scene which is a procedural violation.  Turns out maybe Taylor's boyfriend didn't shoot the LEO; That LEO may have been hit with "friendly fire" from one of his partners.  You can read more about it here.  But no matter, I think it's a tragedy that Taylor was killed in her own apartment because the police were after her EX-boyfriend. This was reckless behavior on behalf of the police 6-7 months ago, and none were even tried for manslaughter.  This just reinforces my belief that there needs to be more reform on police practices - and thankfully the city of Louisville did come to a $12 Million wrongful death settlement with Taylor's family which includes a major police reform package "to prevent a tragedy like this from ever happening again," Mayor Fischer says.  #BLM

Last but not least, Trump has contracted Coronavirus and is being flown to Walter Reed Medical Center.  My initial reaction was: Not surprised, but at least he has the best medical care at his disposal and a large portion of the nation praying for him.  While I don't wish this virus on anybody, TBH I feel more empathy for the 205K who have died already (and of course their loved ones who are grieving)... the countless Essential Workers who make minimum wage and got sick and/or died because they couldn't afford to stay home... the Nurses and Doctors and Emergency responders who put themselves at risk to care for the sick... If anything, I hope and pray that this is a wake-up call for the people to take this virus seriously.  That people will "love their neighbor" and do all they can to contain this virus.  At the very least, wear a mask - it's not too much to ask.

Silence Of Our Friends

Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "In the end, we will not remember the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."  

During my three-week "no political posts on social media fast," I saw this quote by MLK and it really struck me.  At the beginning of the fast, I was thinking of dropping off of Facebook completely because of all the political divisiveness and how saddened, angry and disappointed I was getting with some of the stuff I was seeing.  Some of my oldest and dearest friends are not on FB at all, and we communicate through phone calls, zoom etc.  Why do I need the agitation?  Wouldn't my time be better spent "Getting Out the Vote," working with the ACLU, etc?  But then I saw this quote, and I felt as if God was telling me that I can't be silent.  I need my Black friends and family members to know that I stand with them in the quest for racial justice.  That is why I am re-committing to staying on FB and posting about BLM.  I basically am still SIP anyway - I only go out for essentials for my household and my parents, walk the dogs and ride my bike.  I have time to still work on getting out the vote and working with the ACLU (both non-partisan efforts imo).  I'll just make sure I don't get too "time-sucked" into FB.

At the top of my blog, there's a pic of my "Stay Loud for Equality" sign that I carried in the first Women's March in January 2017.  MLK's quote was also a reminder that I am called to seek "liberty and justice for all."  As a Christian, I am called to love God and love my neighbor, so I feel "liberty and justice for all" is part of loving my neighbor. 

I hear people say all the time, "We're a Christian nation," but I really don't see evidence of that. We may have been founded on Judeo-Christian principles, but I do not see a lot of Christ-like behavior.  I hear a lot of preaching and scripture quoting, but I don't always see a lot of loving our neighbors.  And honestly, I am fine not calling this a Christian nation because it then gives Christ a bad look.  The USA was founded on religious freedom - not just Christianity.  The original pledge of allegiance did NOT say "one nation under God."  I have friends of all faiths (or non-faiths) and I love and respect them all.  God doesn't want us to hit people over the head and force them to be Christians.  If that was the case, He'd make us all believe and love Him.  He wants Christians to show non-believers why having Christ in our hearts makes us better people than we were without Him. 

This is the end of my non-political post.  If you don't want to hear my political thoughts, you can stop reading now.

By and large, I won't be posting political posts on my FB wall unless it's to spread the word on a local candidate I have met in person like Doriss Panduro.  Otherwise, you can still see my political thoughts on Twitter or here.

One of my co-workers in Dallas asked me, "So you're in California... What do you think about Nancy Pelosi in the hair salon?"  I was honest and I told him, "I think it was pretty stupid of her.  Yes, there may not have been any other clients in the salon and they may have told you that it was okay...  But you should be aware of the rules/laws and KNOW that people are out to get you anyway.  You've been in politics long enough to know this.  Not to mention you may be putting yourself and others at risk of the virus. "

After I answered him, I wondered if any of my Republican friends would be so frank about 45.  There's no doubt that he's done and said many more bone-headed things than Pelosi did... and I've even heard GOP friends say, "I wish he wouldn't tweet so much."  But that's the whole point - he tweets and says things on purpose to incite bad behavior.  Words do matter and reflect people's character.   I find it odd that his wife has an anti-bully campaign while her husband is one of the biggest bullies known.  Bullies are actually insecure cowards, but that's another rabbit hole I don't need to follow right now.

The Atlantic reported that he said disparaging remarks about WWI veterans and that's supposed to be a big story right now.  The Atlantic cites anonymous sources so he may or may not have said these things.  But he has said awful things that EVERYBODY has heard about John McCain: "He's a hero because he was captured. I like people who weren't captured."  McCain served this country for decades (both in uniform and the Senate), and this President thinks it's okay to disrespect him?  The other GOP who supported McCain's run for Presidency think it's okay?  It didn't take me an Atlantic article about him disparaging WWI veterans for me to see what he really thinks of the military.  Did he or his kids ever serve?  He has no room to criticize those who have like McCain and James Mattis. He's disrespectful to people who have served and hasn't done a thing about Russia putting a bounty on our soldiers. 

Speaking of the military, more Americans have died from COVID-19 than have died in four wars - Korea, Vietnam, Aghanistan and Iraq.  We will likely surpass 200,000 American deaths from COVID-19 by end-of-year.  It's not Trump's fault we have this pandemic (it's global, not a Democratic hoax); but he lacks the leadership and grit to face it.  He dismissed it for weeks (saying it would just go away), put Pence in charge (who created an HIV crisis in his own state of Indiana), pretty much told Governors to duke it out among themselves for supplies, resisted wearing a mask, etc.  The US has 4% of the world population, but 25% of its cases... and that's because all these people who think it's a "Democratic hoax" and have COVID parties etc.

There will be some who say that the BLM protests are also spreading the virus, and that may be true.  I went to a prayer vigil sponsored by our local clergy, police department and BLM chapter at our local park.  It was outdoors and most people wore masks, but I still kept a social distance too as much as possible.  There is a risk involved that people fighting for racial justice are willing to take; but they are by and large outdoors with masks; not crowded into an arena.  The people I went with did not come down with COVID, but it also probably wasn't as crowded as some of the protests and marches in bigger cities.  I just want them to stay healthy although I understand their desire to protest.

Speaking of protests, there are a few things I want to say:

• We are not against the Police; we are against Police Brutality.  There is a difference
• Rioters and Looters are not Peaceful Protesters.  Over 90% of BLM protests are peaceful.  
• Extremists from Left and Right are making them violent.  If you think it's only left-wing "Antifa," you should look up "Proud Boys" and "Boogaloos"

Both Biden and Trump will make political gaffes and have made past mistakes; but I look at the body of their work during their lifetimes and whether they own up to their mistakes.  Biden has been serving the country for decades despite personal tragedies while Trump lived off his inheritance, bankrupted casinos, run cons on other businesses, and ran a "reality" TV show.  Biden owns up to his mistakes - he will change his stance and walk back comments, risking the label of "flip flopper." But Trump never has, he just double downs.   I trust somebody who can learn and grow.  I cannot trust someone who just deflects, double downs on mistakes and gets worse day by day.   Biden served under Obama, the country's first Black president, for eight years.  Trump couldn't stand having a Black president and even started the "Birther" conspiracy to imply Obama's not American. This is all in the racist handbook on how to attract other racists.

I could go on and on, but this post is already pretty long.  If you wanna hear more, you can catch me on Twitter @BuckyYuen or read through some of my older posts you haven't read yet.  Thanks for listening if you read this far!

Feels like Old Testament Biblical Times

It's been almost 3 months since I blogged because it seemed like I was always repeating myself...  but these feel like OT Biblical times, and I want to write down my thoughts so that "Future Me" can look back and remember what I was going through.

I went to Maui with some friends at the end of January and remember hearing about COVID in China and thinking, "I wonder how many of these tourists here may have it on the plane going home?"  Hawaii is where people from all over the globe travel to, so there could be travelers there with the virus.  I didn't really give it too much thought and was just enjoying the time with my hubby and friends.  But in February I started thinking, "This stuff can get serious.  My uncle won't go to church in Chinatown for a while because he's 87 years old and wants to make sure he doesn't catch it."  Some people thought he was over-reacting, but he and other cautious folks were vigilant despite what the President was saying.

Then we get into March and New York is having high numbers of COVID.  My dad turned 90 in March, but all parties were postponed til further notice to be safe... and then we got the Shelter-in-Place (SIP).  Since then, I've been real careful to minimize my time outside the house - just walking the dogs or riding my bike, getting groceries, etc... because I don't want to inadvertently be a silent carrier and spread it to my parents.  I still wear my mask inside their house when I bring in their groceries and do some light cleaning for them... so I try not to worry too much about spreading it to them.  I do what I can to protect them and I pray to God that He protects us all.  Dad and my aunt had to go to the hospital since March, but thankfully neither got COVID and were easily treated and returned home.  I can only imagine how heartbreaking it is for people who have loved ones that died alone with nobody by their side.  I'm thankful for the hospital staff that work through this and give as much comfort and care they can to the patients.

You'd think, "A global pandemic should bring the world together to find a cure and beat it."  But sadly, we have a President who dismantled the National Security Council Pandemic Response Team in 2018, ignored the Pandemic Playbook left by the Obama Administration, and initially downplayed the seriousness of the virus that's now killed over 100k American people.  Other folks like the South Koreans took early action and limited their number of victims per capita.  On top of that, 45 had to call it the "China Virus" to try to deflect any "blame" off himself to China despite experts worldwide asking him to call it the Corona Virus.  Consequently, Asian-Americans were/are harrassed and mistreated and blamed...  but the President continued to push the narrative.  When he finally stopped calling it the China Virus, he pulled out of the WHO... so no, the global pandemic did not bring the world together (or at least not the U.S.)   I've prayed that nation and world leaders would work together, but instead it seems "Pharaoh's heart was hardened."

Thankfully, the California Governor Gavin Newsom called for Shelter-in-Place or it would've been a lot worse.  After a few weeks, I saw news footage of people arming themselves and protesting SIP at various locations around the country and asked myself, "Why are they bringing guns? You can't shoot the virus.  Why aren't they at least wearing masks?"  And then I saw the President encouraging this behavior and not wearing a mask himself.  Most sensible people know that the mask is to protect others in case you are a silent carrier, and wearing a mask is to show others that you care for them.  The fact that 45 won't wear one tells me a lot about where his priorities lie.  Again, it seems "Pharaoh's heart was hardened."

I joked with my daughter about these being Biblical times with plagues being set before us.  Then there were killer hornets!  It was as if we were getting modern-day locusts!

Then in close succession, we got three incidences of Black people being unjustly killed: Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.  In Arbery and Floyd's cases, there was video footage of the killings.  Make no mistake - these racially fueled killings by law enforcement has been going on for decades if not centuries...  But the video of one Law Enforcement Officer (LEO) killing a Black man while 3 other LEO stood by has made it crystal clear to America that there's a problem.  Before, people could say, "Oh it's just a few bad apples," or "What about Antifa" or "All lives matter" etc.  And while too many people STILL say these things, there are a good number of people who are waking up to the reality that, like insects, if you see one bug, then there are probably thousands more that you don't see yet.  We are now starting to see them come to the forefront thanks to cameras.  The fact that 3 others just stood by also indicates that there could very well be a "blue wall of silence" so that no LEO will report their peers who abuse their badges.

Instead of trying to calm the nation and show any empathy towards the injustices that Blacks have been enduring for decades, 45 decides to use racist dog-whistle rhetoric to make him seem like a tough guy.  Peaceful protestors get tear-gassed and shot with rubber bullets so he can hold a Bible (upside down) in front of a church for a photo op.  Again, it seems "Pharaoh's heart was hardened."

These feel like OT Biblical times, and I definitely feel like God is thumping Americans in the head.  Here's a plague to keep you SIP....  now here's some killer hornets... Here's a short video of a Black man being run down and murdered.  Do I have your attention yet?  Now you can see 8-9 minutes of video footage of a Black man being killed, so you can no longer dismiss the racial injustices.  It's a shame that we have to actually witness it before we believe our Black brothers and sisters, but so be it.  Educate yourselves about how POC have been treated, especially Blacks.  They and the Native Americans have taken the major brunt of the country's abuses.  If you're Asian like me, realize that the "model minority myth" was likely a construct to keep POC prioritized so we'd resent each other.  Understand that we have implicit racial biases that we all grew up with, and overcome it.

The worst part of all this is that my heart is hardening too... or maybe I'm feeling a bit of what Jesus felt when he overturned the merchant's tables at the temple.  I feel so much frustration for Trump, his followers and especially the White Evangelicals who continue to support him.  I feel like they are giving Christianity a bad name when they support his misogynistic, racist rhetoric.  But I don't want this post to be about politics, I want it to be about love, justice and peace which I believe God calls for.  Here is what I will try to do to unharden my heart:

• Continue to pray that the Nation and World leaders work for the people
• Learn more history about Native and Black Americans as I've mostly been taught Euro and Asian-American history
• Learn more about BLM and the other movements to correct the broken systems
• Learn more about the justice system at the local, state and federal levels... and vote for representatives who push for advances
• Continue to donate to the ACLU, churches and other organizations who advance racial and social justice
• Find other ways to advance and implement racial and social justice

Would you please join me?  Feel free to reach out to me anytime :)

Impact

There's a lot going on with the COVID-19 spread, and it's given me time to just sit still and reflect on the impact we have on each other as humans.  Yesterday was a special day for two reasons - 1) my dad turned 90 and 2) I went to a funeral for my friend Letty who died of cancer.  Both of these people made an impact on my life in different ways. 

Dad (and Mom who is ironically also named Letty) raised me and showed me how to perform acts of love throughout my life.  Dad raised me to be pro-active: Look for ways to help instead of being asked to help.  Try to understand what others are going through and don't focus too much on your own problems.  Negotiation and compromise are good things that help everybody win.  Listen more and talk less.  And he did this while working as a teacher then administrator at the Berkeley Unified School District.  He was busy and went to a lot of meetings for work, played poker 2 nights a week and played golf on the weekends.... but I never felt he was absent through any of my childhood or youth.  When he retired, he and Mom took care of our kids two days a week.  They gave me a foundation of love that you cannot put a value on. 

Letty showed me in the 6-12 months that I've known her how to face cancer and death with the strongest of faith.  When my dad was in the hospital for intestinal twisting, she shared with me how her father also had that issue and was able to get through it.  Even though she was going through her own health issues, she made time for me.  And she showed me what it's like to not just live well, but to die well too.  Letty was only 46-47 years old and her passing reminded me that no one ever knows the number of their days, only God does.  When I saw Letty a few days before she passed, she was encouraging the other young ladies in our Small Group and reminding them how much they've grown in faith. 

When my mother-in-law died, my nephew said something that has stuck with me.  He said that one of his biggest regrets is that he didn't help his grandmother come to faith... but was grateful that she was baptized days before her passing.  Since then, I've been trying to subtly bring my parents, aunts and uncles to faith as they are all getting up in years.  God gave Letty and each of us time to make an impact and we shouldn't squander it.  Each day is a gift.