A wake-up call to 'Walis' Man and my AAPI Republican friends

• Acquittal does not mean Trump is innocent
• True patriots support democracy, not subvert it

A Filipino American carried a FIlipino broom as he joined insurrectionists during 1/6

OPINION

Well, AAPI Republicans, it's time for some honest reflection.

As expected, 43 Republican Senators voted to acquit Donald Trump from the charge of inciting the 1/6 Insurrection that saw a mob take over the Capitol in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden's victory over Donald Trump.

The Senate's vote Saturday was preordained despite videotaped evidence and a seemingly endless stream of subversive Trump tweets. Conviction would have required 17 GOP Senators to vote with the 50 Democrats. Only seven Republicans were principled enough to put country over party and voted to convict Trump.

It's  important to note, however, that acquittal does not mean Trump is innocent.

Republican leader Sen. Mitch McConnell said as much, when after voting for acquittal, he said: "Former President Trump's actions that preceded the riot were a disgraceful, disgraceful dereliction of duty. Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day."

His statement is not so ironic because McConnell intentionally provided the reason for Republicans hid behind justify Trump's acquittal by not calling the Senate back to work until Jan. 19, the day before President Biden was sworn into office.

With a straight face, McConnell the former Senate majority leader last month, ignored calls by Senate Democrats for a speedy trial during Trump's final days in office -- said Trump was constitutionally ineligible for conviction since the punishment is removal, and Trump was already out of office. 

Still, it is disappointing to see how democracy, which depends on men and women of good faith to follow the Senate's procedural rules instead of twisting the rules for their desired outcome: acquittal.

The flag of the former South Vietnam regime flew over the Capitol on 1/6.

More important, though, this posting is directed at to those AAPI voters who favored Trump last November. I ask you, isn't it about time to reconsider your support for a party that sought to overturn the government to which you pledged loyalty, and subvert democracy, which you love?

To the Filipino American known as the "Walis Man" because he carried  a Philippine broom known as a "walis" into the Capitol during the 1/6 Insurrection; to the Vietnamese American who carried the flag of the former South Vietnam or the people who waved the banner of India, the Asian American woman who posed with the noose and the other AAPI who gleefully chanted "Hang Mike Pence" or "Stop the Steal" when they took part in the failed coup last; take a look at those around you: the man with the swastika tattoo, the guy carrying the Confederate flag that represents  slavery, the dude with the "Camp Auswitz" t-shirt, the white supremacists who beat a policeman, who killed an officer of the law, who wanted to start a new civil war. 

Again ... do you really think these people will accept you, your culture, your history,  your accent, or your language?

Seven people died as a result of the 1/6 coup attempt, including three police officers: one who was bludgeoned to death and two by suicide.

There are honest debates to be had over immigration and economic strategies to heal our country ...  OUR country ... even though I may be on the opposite side of the political spectrum than you, I love our country as much as you. I am as patriotic as you. Those policy discussions can be had if we realize, we are not enemies.

Perhaps this message my Republican friends from award-winning film maker Matthew Cooke will help you reflect on the future of your party and the future of our country and help you rethink on who and what you are supporting.

From the Editor, a word of caution: This post is news laced with my opinion. You are encouraged to seek other news outlets to form your own opinion.

 

Whither Asian Americans? United States politics strongly divided along lines of race and education

DEMOCRATIC ASIANS OF VIRGINIA

Since 2016, Asian Americans have leaned towards Democratic candidates.

The divisions within America that have been on display the last week will likely be even more evident in November when the nation's electorate votes for president between the Republicans' Donald Trump and the presumptive Democratic nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden.

A portrait of the demographic, geographic and religious breakdowns within each party reveals changes within America's two major parties that could drive them further apart, according to a new survey from the Pew Research Center.

Adding to the fears of white supremacists, over the last few decades, the American electorate and both of the two major parties have become less white. 

As more people take to streets to express their angst and anger at the death of George Floyd at the hands of four Minneapolis police officers, the unwillingness of white supremacists to live in a society where they no longer hold the position of power could threaten the the stability of the nation.

Refining the parties' bases further, the groups that the Pew report identifies as the strongest for each side are nearly polar opposites: If we were to use broad strokes and paint a picture of the Trump supporter, he would be an older white man with a high school degree living in a rural part of the country, probably the South.

In contrast, the "typical" Democrat would be a young woman (could very well be a woman  of color), with some college education and living in the urban centers either on the West Coast or Northeast.

In surveys conducted in 1996, 85% of registered voters were whites who are not of Hispanic descent. In the 2018 and 2019 data, that figure stands at 69%. 

It has also dropped in both parties, but by a larger share among Democrats (from 76% to 59%) than among Republicans (from 94% to 81%). That is not due to fewer Democratic voters but more than likely because of the concerted effort to register voters of color.

Asian Americans included in the survey data have become increasingly Democratic in recent years, though, and now 72% consider themselves Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents vs. just 17% who say they are Republicans or Republican-leaners. The survey data, however, can only reflect the views of English-speaking Asian Americans because the surveys were not administered in other Asian languages.

Asian Americans are the fastest-growing segment of eligible voters out of the major racial and ethnic groups in the United States. More than 11 million will be able to vote this year, making up nearly 5% of the nation’s eligible voters, Pew reported in an earlier survey.

Even as the racial makeup of the electorate has changed, overall partisan leanings among whites, blacks and Latinos have held roughly steady in the last few years. In the most recent data, Republicans outpace Democrats among whites 53% to 42%, while Democrats hold a massive advantage among blacks (83% Democratic vs. 10% Republican) and a smaller but still substantial edge among Latinos (63% to 29%). 

Democrats hold an 80-point advantage in partisan affiliation among black women, Republicans have a 32-point edge in affiliation among white non-college men. Republicans have a 61-point lead in identification among white evangelicals, while Democrats have a 43-point lead among the religiously unaffiliated. And Democrats have a 49-point advantage among urban Northeasterners, while Republicans have a 27-point lead among rural Southerners.

Other findings of the Pew analysis:

• Education and race. Just as the nation has become more racially and ethnically diverse, it also has become better educated. Still, just 36% of registered voters have a four-year college degree or more while a sizable majority (64%) has not completed college. Democrats increasingly dominate in party identification among white college graduates and maintain wide and long-standing advantages among black, Hispanic and Asian American voters. Republicans increasingly dominate in party affiliation among white non-college voters, who continue to make up a majority (57%) of all GOP voters.

• The gender gap in party identification is as large as at any point in the past two decades: 56% of women align with the Democratic Party, compared with 42% of men. Gender differences are evident across subgroups: For example, women who have not completed college are 11 percentage points more likely than men to identify as Democrats or lean Democratic (51% to 40%). The gap is even wider among those who have at least a four-year degree (65% of women, 48% of men).

• Age and generations. The electorate is slowly aging: A 52% majority of registered voters are ages 50 and older; in both 1996 and 2004, majorities of voters were younger than 50. Two decades ago, about four-in-ten voters in both parties were 50 and older; today, these voters make up a majority of Republicans (56%) and half of Democrats. Looking at the electorate through a generational lens, Millennials (ages 24 to 39 in 2020) are more Democratic leaning than older generations.

• Religious affiliation. As the share of Christians in the population has declined, this is reflected differently in the composition of the partisan coalitions. Today, Christians make up about half of Democratic voters (52%); in 2008, about three-quarters of Democrats (73%) were Christians. The share of Democratic voters who are religiously unaffiliated has approximately doubled over this period (from 18% to 38%). The changes among Republicans have been far more modest: Christians constitute 79% of Republican voters, down from 87% in 2008.

Massage spa owner denies she's an agent for China

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Li Yang has posted numerous photos and selfies of her with Donald Trump.

Li “Cindy” Yang, the former owner of Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Florida, is speaking out after Democrats released a letter calling on the FBI to investigate her for selling access to prominent politicians for profit, according to news reports by ABC News and NBC News.

In their letter, dated March 15, Senate and House democrats said that the reported allegations against Yang, “if true,” raised “serious counterintelligence concerns.”

”… Although Ms. Yang’s activities may only be those of an unscrupulous actor allegedly selling access to politicians for profit, her activities also could permit adversary governments or their agents access to these same politicians to acquire potential material for blackmail or other even more nefarious purposes.”

Yang denies any wrong-doing, and says she’s being targeted because of her ethnicity and political affiliation.

“I’m Chinese. I’m Republican,” Yang said in her interview with NBC News. “That’s the reason the Democrats want to check me.”

Yang said she arrived in the U.S. in 1999 and is an American citizen, but some suspect that she could have been the target of Chinese intelligence. Frank Figliuzzi, an NBC News/MSNBC analyst and former FBI assistant director for counterintelligence said, “she enjoyed proximity to power and she even started a business offering to get you next to powerful people, politicians, even President Trump himself. In itself that would have been the target of the Chinese intelligence services, who could have fed people…into that pipeline of her business, and got them access and then taken it from there without her even knowing what they were doing.”

Yang dismissed allegations she was an unwitting agent to Chinese intelligence. She said she has never had any contact with members of the Chinese government.

“Everybody can go in when you pay the money for the charity,” Yang told ABC, speaking about the fundraisers she attended at Mar-a-Lago, the President’s Florida resort.

One of her attorneys also spoke to ABC News. He said Yang was not promoting access, but networking opportunities.

“There’s a lot of people in this country that take pictures with famous people,” Evan Turk said. “[And] you have to understand that in other countries, a picture is worth a thousand words.”

Yang said in her NBC News interview that she has struggled to sleep and eat because of the media attention. “I’m so scared,” she said.

The spotlight on Yang came after Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots, was charged with soliciting a prostitute at the Orchids of Asia Day Spa. Kraft denies the charges.

Yang distanced herself from the spa, now under investigation for human trafficking. “I sold to her in 2012 or 2013,” Yang said in her NBC News interview. “How they do their business has nothing to do with me.”

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