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!
