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.

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.

One of the unspoken rules in politics is to leave family members out of the ring. In the first presidential debate, however, Trump attacked Biden’s son again and again. Biden defended his son, but never returned any attack on his opponent’s family members. Biden didn’t sink low to Trump’s level. He kept his decency. For that alone, I have tremendous respect for Biden.

I first read this book three years ago, but I struggled to grab the story. Not just this book alone but I had a hard time following any work of fiction. My reading interests were mostly none-fiction until the pandemic hit. Being locked down, I wanted to read books I could escape; therefore, I turned to fiction. The more I read fiction, the more my imagination seemed to open up. As a result, I decided to reread this book and I am glad I did.

I read it at a slower pace. If I got lost few paragraphs in, I would reread the paragraphs to make sure I understood what went on. At times, the dialogs can be confusing because Nguyễn omitted quotation marks. It took me a while to get used to who was doing the talking. I also had a cantankerous quibble with the omission of diacritics in Vietnamese words. For example, du me lacks the expressiveness of đụ mẹ (fuck you). The underdots add tremendous weight to the foul language. In addition, I could not figure out the two characters’ name. Without diacritics, Man and Bon don’t sound like Vietnamese names to me. They might as well be M and B.

Nevertheless, Việt Thanh Nguyễn’s The Sympathizer is a well-written novel and a well-deserved winner of the Pulitzer Prize. It’s a lot unpack, but they story about the squid stuck in my mind. I am not sure if I can ever see a squid without seeing what it had described in the book. In any rate, it is definitely worth a reread if you couldn’t get into it the first time. I am definitely looking forward to reading the sequel, The Committed, which will release in March 2021.

Tonight’s debate has confirmed that Trump is an incompetent president. Unlike most incumbent presidents who became older and wiser as they served the country, Trump has become more childish and clownish. It was such a national disgrace witnessing the president of the United States behaved like a toddler who could not follow a simple rule. It’s a damn shame!

The endorsement for Biden from the Washington Post is not a surprise, but its editorial board makes strong case for China and democracy.

On China, the board writes:

Both Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump promise to “get tough” with Beijing and to combat its mercantilism, thefts of technology and expansive claims in the South China Sea. However, Mr. Biden’s approach would be values-based, not erratic and transactional. He would work with allies to confront China’s abusive behaviors while seeking cooperation where interests converge, such as on climate change and health security.

On democracy, the board writes:

Democracy is at risk, at home and around the world. The nation desperately needs a president who will respect its public servants; stand up for the rule of law; acknowledge Congress’s constitutional role; and work for the public good, not his private benefit.

Just as desperately, it needs a president with the know-how and experience to show that values and results can go together.

It is fortunate to have, in Joe Biden, a candidate who can lead an administration that is both honorable and successful.

I have voiced my worry on democracy again and again. The Post has confirmed my concern. Read the full endorsement at the Washington Post.