Sáng thứ Bảy thức dậy chân trái vẫn đau điếng vì gout nhưng cũng phải ráng lết đưa Đạo và Đán đi hướng đạo ngoài công viên. Thấy mấy ông bố tụ tập bàn tán và trong đó có một ông mặc áo đỏ ngói với chữ Trump nên tôi tìm một băng ghế đá ngồi đọc sách chứ không dám tham gia. Cả tuần nay tôi không viết về chính trị cũng không muốn quan tâm đến nữa sau khi thấy một cái clip cộng đồng Việt tranh cãi nhau dữ dội giữa phe Trump và phe Biden.

Gần đến giờ kết thúc hướng đạo tôi quay lại chỗ tụ tập để đón bọn nhỏ. Người cha bận áo đỏ ra xe lôi ra cây cờ rất lớn với chữ Trump và dựa chiếc cờ vào băng ghế kế một người cha khác đang ngồi. Bỗng nhiên có một cháu gái khoảng 12 tuổi đến kéo bố đi không muốn ông ngồi gần lá cờ. Ổng nói tiếng Anh với đứa con gái rằng, “Ba không ủng hộ ai cả. Ba được quyền tự do ngồi ở đây.” Con bé trả lời lại bằng tiếng Anh, “Nhưng con là người nắm quyền cuộc đời của ba” (“But I control your life.”) Ông bố cũng lắc đầu. Rồi thì có vài bé gái khác khoảng 9 đến 12 tuổi chạy đến giật đi lá cờ rồi cuộn lại không cho cờ phát lên.

Tôi thấy thế nên đến gần hỏi mấy cháu, “Tại sao các cháu không ủng hộ ông Trump?” Một bé đáp rằng, “Vì ông ta là một người bần tiện (meanie).” Còn bé trả lời rằng, “Ông chế nhạo người tàn tật.” Tôi nói, “Các cháu trả lời rất đúng và chú rất hãnh diện về các cháu.” Một cháu trả lời, “Cám ơn chú. Ít ra còn có người lớn biết lẽ phải (common sense).”

Khi tạm biệt ra về, tôi lết đến bãi đậu xe mà lòng mừng thầm và nuôi hy vọng cho thế hệ sau. Các cháu là tương lai của người Mỹ gốc Việt và các cháu đã có thể nhận thức được những điều mà cha mẹ của các cháu không thể nào nhìn ra được.

Every word in the editorial piece from the New England Journal of Medicine is worth reading, but here’s the gist of it:

Reasonable people will certainly disagree about the many political positions taken by candidates. But truth is neither liberal nor conservative. When it comes to the response to the largest public health crisis of our time, our current political leaders have demonstrated that they are dangerously incompetent. We should not abet them and enable the deaths of thousands more Americans by allowing them to keep their jobs.

Must read.

After reading the first few paragraphs of this article, I can’t help but wonder if some of our Vietnamese Americans have indeed injected themselves with disinfectants. They are spreading the theory that Trump had been chosen by God; therefore, he cannot die from the coronavirus before completing his mission. They pointed out that it is not a coincidence that the word Trump appeared twice in the bible: “Last Trump” and “Trump of God.”

I hate to ruin the party, but Trump’s family surname was not Trump but Drumpf. His grandfather’s original name was Friedrich Drumpf, but anglicized to Frederick Trump. Trump’s Vietnamese-American supporters are so brainwashed that they didn’t even bother to do one simple fact-check. The level of absurdity running in our community is unimaginable. We’re going to have a lot of soul searching to do after this election.

I am not religious, but if I were I would be so disappointed in God if he had chosen Trump. God could have chosen a much better disciple. God could have picked someone who wouldn’t brag about grabbing women by the pussy or someone who wouldn’t have sex with a pornstar while his wife carrying his son. I doubt that God would approve those actions, but what do I know about religion? What I do know is that Trump is the wrong guy for the job unless God’s mission is to destroy humanity.

Kamala Harris came prepared to fight. Mike Pence came prepared to pivot. Harris took shots at Trump on every issue including his failure in handling the pandemic, his failure to disclose his income tax, and his failure to condemn white supremacists. She was calm yet fearless. I am really pleased that Biden picked Harris as his running mate. From the way she talked about Joe, they seemed to have a great chemistry.

On the other hand, Mike Pence is such a Trump’s bitch. He seemed to be so fearful of Trump that he literally didn’t answer any of the questions, particularly the ones about Trump. When asked about Trump’s health, he talked about something else. When asked about Trump’s failures, he rolled back to a previous question. When asked about Trump’s tax cut for the wealthy, he turned around and lied about the Democrats raising taxes on the middle class. When asked about Trump’s refusal to a peaceful transfer of power, he completely dodged it. He knew Trump was watching and Trump would bitch-slap him if he said Trump would accept the election results if they lose.

Susan Page was such an awful moderator. She did not press Pence on any of the questions he pivoted. What was the point of asking the questions if she just let him say whatever he wanted? She couldn’t even get him to stop his lies when his time was up. Despite Pence’s interruptions and dodging of questions, the VP debate was much more civil than the first presidential debate. Harris came out like a champ and Pence came out so full of shit that even a fly could detect it.

Virginians, if you are planning on voting in person on November 3^rd, make sure you read up on the “Proposed Constitutional Amendment #1.” When I received my absentee ballot, I had to read it several times and spend at least an hour researching it. Here’s the language:

Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to establish a redistricting commission, consisting of eight members of the General Assembly and eight citizens of the Commonwealth, that is responsible for drawing the congressional and state legislative districts that will be subsequently voted on, but not changed by, the General Assembly and enacted without the Governor’s involvement and to give the responsibility of drawing districts to the Supreme Court of Virginia if the redistricting commission fails to draw districts or the General Assembly fails to enact districts by certain deadlines?

I voted no. Here are the reasons.

President Trump has called me a hoax. He claimed that I would just disappear one day, but I am not going anywhere. I reached over 7.5 millions of Americans and took more than 210,000 lives. He even invited me to the White House and I moved on him like a bitch. I must confess. I like being inside him. His body has been built just for me. He’s trying to get rid of me with all the drugs, but I am feeling stronger than ever. I am loving the competition.

I am endorsing Trump for president because we have one trait in common: we love to spread our disease. He has infected 40 percent of America, but I have infected the world. The United States makes up only 4 percent of the world’s population, but accounts for 20 percent of cases and deaths. Thanks to him, the United States is leading the world on me.

Trump has tried to discredit me in public, but in private he knew damn well I am as dangerous as he. With all the resources he has at his fingertip, he could have stopped me, but he didn’t. Even masks could make it hard for me to catch on, but wearing a mask would look weak. He is more concerned about looking weak than being sick and dead. He wanted to save his own re-election and Wall Streets more than he wanted to save lives.

If you want me and him to continue to ruin your country, vote for Trump. I can’t guarantee what I will do in the next four years, but I can promise you this: I am a killer so don’t push me. Revenge is the sweetest choice next to grabbing pussy.

I don’t talk about abortion in public because I don’t have a say on this matter. Nevertheless, I am going to put my head on the chopping block and share my thoughts.

I support abortion in extreme cases such as rape, incest, and fetal nonviability. I don’t find having an abortion due to financial difficulty is sufficient, yet it is the most common cause of abortion. I believe there has to be a better choice.

First, the U.S. government does provide food for the kids through welfare if the parents cannot provide for them. It’s not a whole lot, but enough to live.

Second, shouldn’t the father have a say in keeping or aborting the baby if money is the issue? If the mother felt that having a baby would put her in financial burden, can the father step in and take his responsibility? If he is man enough to get a woman pregnant, he should man up to raise his child.

My views are based on my own thoughts and not religion, but I am glad that I have found a group of pro-life evangelicals supporting Biden for the same reasons. I thought I would never agree with evangelicals, but here we are in 2020 and I am on board with their views:

Knowing that the most common reason women give for abortion is the financial difficulty of another child, we appreciate a number of Democratic proposals that would significantly alleviate that financial burden: accessible health services for all citizens, affordable childcare, a minimum wage that lifts workers out of poverty.

For these reasons, we believe that on balance, Joe Biden’s policies are more consistent with the biblically shaped ethic of life than those of Donald Trump. Therefore, even as we continue to urge different policies on abortion, we urge evangelicals to elect Joe Biden as president.

Sáng thứ Bảy đưa hai thằng con đi hướng đạo. Lâu lâu mới gặp lại những phụ huynh nên cũng hỏi thăm vài câu. Dĩ nhiên là phải đeo khẩu trang và giữ khoảng cách. Cuộc trò chuyện nhanh chóng chuyển sang dụ ông Trump. Tôi định rút lui đọc sách nhưng nén lại lắng nghe thử họ nói gì.

Có người cho rằng tại sao ông Trump lại cẩu thả để bị nhiễm. Tôi định nói ông ta có thèm cẩn thận bao giờ đâu mà cẩu thả nhưng chỉ lắng nghe. Có người cho rằng họ không thể nào bỏ phiếu cho ông Biden vì ổng nói chuyện yếu ớt và không hay bằng ông Trump. Tôi hơi ngạc nhiên đỉnh hỏi ông Biden nói yếu ớt ra sao còn ông Trump nói hay chỗ nào thì có cho rằng cuộc tranh luận vừa rồi ông Trump đánh gục ông Biden không có đường đỡ. Nghe xong tôi cũng im luôn. Theo tôi nghĩ chắc tiếng Anh của họ còn kém nên ông Trump nói dễ hiểu hơn vì ổng nói như đứa con nít lớp hai lớp ba. Ngược lại ông Biden nói về những chính sách ở tần lớp cao hơn nên họ không hiểu hoặc không muốn tìm hiểu.

Có người cho rằng họ ủng hộ ông Trump vì chỉ có ông mới chống chọi lại Tàu. Tôi đã nghe rất nhiều người Việt nói về điểm này. Họ chỉ nghe và tin những lời đe dọa trống rỗng của ông còn việc ông bị Tàu chơi xỏ thì họ không thấy. Chẳng hạn như lúc COVID mới bắt đầu ở Tàu, Trump dại dột tin lời tụi Tàu nói mọi chuyện đã ổn định. Ổng còn khen ông Xi đã giải quyết mọi chuyện tốt đẹp. Lúc COVID tràn vào nước Mỹ, ổng mới biết bị tụi Tàu chơi nên chửi bới tụi Tàu này nọ. Lúc đó đã quá muộn. Có la ó um sùm cũng đã thua tụi Tàu. Bây giờ còn bị nhiễm con “vi trùng Vũ Hán” nữa. Vậy mà nói ông ta có tư cách chống tụi Tàu. Thật là một sự mù quáng.

Có người bình luận rằng bây giờ có hai bên. Một bên muốn ổng mau bình phục còn một bên muốn ổng chết. Tôi hỏi ai mà ác vậy muốn ổng chết? Câu trả lời là đám Dân Chủ. Tôi đáp lại rằng bên Dân Chủ không muốn ổng chết. Chỉ muốn ổng thua. Một con người tự cao như ông ta, thua còn nhục hơn chết.

Đến giờ phút này mà họ vẫn không thể nhìn ra được sự thất bại nặng nề của ông ta trong việc ngăn chặn COVID. Họ vẫn cho rằng con số hơn 209,000 người chết là giả tạo để lật đổ ông Trump. Họ cho rằng nếu như ông Biden thắng, nước Mỹ sẽ trở thành cộng sản. Không biết phải nói gì hơn nữa ngoài sự thất vọng với những người như thế trong cộng đồng Việt.

After the primary election, I jumped on the Biden wagon because we don’t have a choice in the general election. His candidacy didn’t inspire me like Elizabeth Warren’s or Pete Buttigieg’s. Even Biden’s record hasn’t been all that great. He made many mistakes and he came off arrogant. I still remember him ridiculing Paul Ryan on the VP debate stage in 2012.

Looking back to his recent primary debates and his first debate with Trump last Tuesday in particular, I noticed the change in him. Despite calling Trump a clown and telling him to shut up, Biden was so much more disciplined. He held his composure. He didn’t counterattack Trump’s family members even though Trump dragged his son through the mud. He tried his best to speak directly to the American people despite Trump’s constant interruptions. He was still sharp. Unlike Trump who wrongly accused him of calling young Black males superpredators, Biden showed no sign of dementia.

Unlike the blustering younger Biden, the older Biden is wiser and quieter. He listens more and he is being honest about what he doesn’t know. Like Obama, Biden is constantly learning and searching for new information to help him make better and smarter decisions.

I was curious to know what had changed him; therefore, I did a bit more research. The pivotal moment was in 2015 when his son Beau Biden died of cancer. The death of Beau had a profound impact on Biden. He turned his tragedy into positivity. He has compassion. He treats people with kindness. He cares for all Americans. By picking Kamala Harris as his running mate, Biden is a man of his word.

I have come to realize that Biden is the right candidate all along to help us get out of this mess. Biden alone can’t fix everything, but he will unite America, keep us healthy, and resuscitate our dying democracy.

I sincerely wish Trump and his wife well. As much as I want to see him lose, I want to see him defeat by votes, not by COVID.

I also sincerely hope his supporters discontinue to believe that COVID is a hoax. At this time, we have over 208K deaths in the U.S. In addition, Herman Cain who contracted COVID at Trump’s rally died 28 days after he was tested positive. Then again, Cain was in a high-risk category because of his history with cancer.

Trump had dodged lots of bullets in the past four years. I hope he will dodge this one as well.