Retired Admiral William McRaven, the Navy SEAL who oversaw the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden, voted for Biden. He writes in the Wall Street Journal:

This week I went to the polls in Texas. Truth be told, I am a pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, small-government, strong-defense and a national-anthem-standing conservative. But, I also believe that black lives matter, that the Dreamers deserve a path to citizenship, that diversity and inclusion are essential to our national success, that education is the great equalizer, that climate change is real and that the First Amendment is the cornerstone of our democracy. Most important, I believe that America must lead in the world with courage, conviction and a sense of honor and humility.

If we remain indifferent to our role in the world, if we retreat from our obligation to our citizens and our allies and if we fail to choose the right leader, then we will pay the highest price for our neglect and shortsightedness.

I voted for Joe Biden.

Well-said!

For the first time in USA TODAY’s history, the Editorial Board is endorsing a presidential candidate:

For nearly four decades, the Editorial Board has stood for certain core values: truth, accountability, civility in public discourse, opposition to racism, common-ground solutions to the nation’s problems, and steadfast support for First Amendment rights. These aren’t partisan issues, or at least they shouldn’t be.

Donald Trump has trampled each of these principles, making more than 20,000 false or misleading statements, ducking responsibility for his actions, spewing streams of invective at his critics, trafficking in racial fearmongering, governing more as the leader of the red states than of the United States, and relentlessly attacking the free press.

Everything about Biden’s nearly half-century political career suggests he would do a far better job of respecting these values. “We need to revive the spirit of bipartisanship in this country, the spirit of being able to work with one another,” the Democratic nominee said in a recent speech in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

I don’t believe in religions, but I respect people who believe in their religions. I have evangelical family members who I can trust to have deep, honest conversations about faith and politics without resolve to confrontations. I often questioned them on how they have come to accept Jesus. I was not trying to be ignorant, but I couldn’t find their answers convincing. Unlike science, math, or logic, religion makes no sense to me.

Every evangelical family member I have talked to had offered to pray for me after all of my questions. I accepted their prayers out of respect, but I know prayers never worked. Nevertheless, I consider evangelical family members to be grounded with high standards of morality. They are successful and generous. They are happily married and raising their kids well. I look up to them in those regards.

Their support for Trump; however, goes against their faith. Trump mocked evangelicals behind closed doors. “Those fucking evangelicals,” he said, “Can you believe people believe that bullshit?” On the other hand, evangelicals have considered him a “baby Christian” or a “born-again Christian.” Most Vietnamese-American Christians go as far as worshipping him as someone God had chosen to fight against the communists and China. The more I learn about these moral corruptions, the more I question their credibility. The hypocrisy is just too glaring to ignore.

My wife keeps telling me that I am being too harsh on them and that I don’t understand the reason they support Trump. From my conversations with them, I understand their religious view on abortion and Trump can help them with his appointments of conservative justices on the Supreme Court. Just for that issue alone, they are willing to sacrifice all other Christain values. Pro-life is the commitment to the sanctity of human life from the beginning to end. Allowing 220,000 deaths caused by the coronavirus is not pro-life. “It is what it is,” he said. Trump doesn’t care about human lives. He is just hijacking their faith for his own political gains. If people of faith trade moral integrity for political power then I do not want to be a part of it.

Another respected scientific journal supports Biden. Nature’s Editorial Board:

No US president in recent history has so relentlessly attacked and undermined so many valuable institutions, from science agencies to the media, the courts, the Department of Justice — and even the electoral system. Trump claims to put ‘America First’. But in his response to the pandemic, Trump has put himself first, not America.

It has always been about Trump first.

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.