What just happened?

WTF, America? 

Over half of you voted for Donald Trump, a man guilty of 34 felonies, declared bankruptcy with his six business ventures,  convicted of rape, guilty of fraud, unfaithful to his wives, and a narcissistic racist fascist.

He cannot finish a comprehnsive thought without insulting, belittling somebody or whole groups of people like Mexicans and Puerto Ricans. 

And, he regularly seeks the advice of Russian strongman Vladimir Putin, who wants to weaken NATO and destroy western democracies by sowing distrust in democratic institutions by spreading misinformation and interfering in free elections.

You'd rather have a man who has already failed as President in his first term in office.  What he had going for him, apparently, was that he was white and a male.

I'm exasperated. I have no words to express my deep disappointment in the gullibility of the voting majority.

More on the Presidential election later. I need to take a breath and meditate.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is a developing story. Check back later for updates. For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X or at the blog Views From the Edge.

Trump's Guam-born personal aide indicted for mishandling classified documents

SCREEN CAPTURE

Walt Nauta, right, Donald Trump's personal aide, has been indicted for mishandling classified documents and lying to federal investigators.

A Guam-born aide to Donald Trump pleaded "not guilty" today to federal charges that he conspired with the former reality show host and former President to withhold classified documents.

Walt Nauta, a Navy veteran who served as Trump's valet when Trump occupied the White House, faces five counts of concealing or withholding documents and taking part in a conspiracy to obstruct justice, a charge that carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. The federal indictment alleges that Nauta moved dozens of boxes containing classified documents at Trump's direction at Mar-a-Lago, Trump's home in Palm Beach, Fla., and then lied to federal investigators about it.

When Trump lost the 2020 election, Nauta retired from the Navy and became his personal aide and "body" man. Nauta, 40, is usually seen nearby wherever Trump goes, ready to do whatever Trump asks him to do.

Nauta was born in Agat, Guam where his relatives continue to live. When contacted by US media, his family sounded surprised at the news.

In an interview with the Washington Post before Nauta was charged, relatives in Guam described him as a "good boy" who moved to the United States "to enjoy his life, not to cause problems."

Nauta's mother, Pauline Torre, told the Washington Post, the fact that her son had been selected to serve the president "says it all."

The charges against Trump and Nauta largely center around their alleged efforts to mislead authorities about the classified material the former president hoarded at Mar-a-Lago.

Although surveillance footage shows Nauta moving 64 boxes out of a storage area at Mar-a-Lago, Nauta told federal investigators he didn't know the contents of the boxes nor if they were classified or not.

Trump and Nauta have continued their close working relationship, despite being named as Trump’s co-defendant . The relationship is complicated by a judge's order that the two to not talk to each other about the case.

Late last week, Nauta accompanied Trump on a political appearance in Philadelphia, where the two were photographed side-by-side ordering cheesesteaks at a famous city institution, reports The Rolling Stone.

Trump defended Nauta on his Truth Social social media platform and accused officials at the DOJ of "trying to destroy his life" and "hoping that he will say bad things about 'Trump'."

Nauta’s attorney Stan Woodward, accompanied by Florida attorney Sasha Dadan, entered Nauta’s not guilty plea at a federal court in Miami July 6 in front of Chief Magistrate Judge Edwin G. Torres, the Washington Post reported.

The Department of Justice charged Nauta with six felony counts in conjunction with Trump’s June 8 indictment: conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record, corruptly concealing a document or record, concealing a document in a federal investigation, scheme to conceal and making false statements and representations.

Investigators of the DOJ's Special Counsel Jack Smith allege Nauta helped Trump move boxes at Mar-A-Lago containing classified documents in an effort to evade federal investigators and Trump’s attorneys. The indictment accuses Nauta of lying to the FBI by saying he did not know where the boxes were located before agents obtained security footage showing Nauta and another aide moving materials.

Federal Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee who is overseeing the case, scheduled Trump’s trial to begin August 14 but that will likely be delayed, a favorite Trump legal tactic.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter or at his blog Views From the Edge.

Why was Congress talking about Chrissy Teigen?

OPINION

Oh, my! We knew Donald Trump had thin skin but we didn't know how paper thin until today. 

Rather than tackle topics such as violence, education, health, foreign policy or immigration, Republicans, in the majority in the House in the 118th Congress, spent six hours grilling social media executives trying to prove collusion between Twitter and Democrats. Their uninformed efforts backfired spectacularly.

How the lawmakers are wasting taxpayers' money was on full display during a House Oversight Committee hearing on Wednesday regarding Twitter’s supposedly left-leaning bias and the social media corporation's alleged politically motivated censorship at the social media site.

Among the GOP's goals is to expose President Biden's son;s, Hunter Biden, alleged business dealings in Ukraine and China while Biden was President Obama's Vice President and to expose the social media corporation's alleged left-leaning bias. the hearing took an awkward turn to Chrissy Teigen's tweet (See below). 

Her tweet was in response to a series of 2019 tweets posted by Trump in which he called John Legend, Teigen's husband, "boring" and called her "his filty mouthed wife."

Trump's tweet was sent to his followers but did not send it to Teigen.

Trump's White House staff asked Twitter to eliminate the tweet from Chrissy Teigen, an Asian American model with 12.9 million followers on her Twitter account.

Twitter found that Teigen's tweet did not meet the criteria requiring a posting to be removed and left it online, angering Trump and his right-wing allies.

Responding to the televised questioning during which her name and tweet was brought up, Teigen tweeted only "I ... oh my god."

Despite Republican allegations, Twitter’s algorithm promotes tweets from right-leaning political parties and news outlets more than from the left, according to its own research which was recently peer-reviewed in PNAS journal. The authors of the study also found that content from right-wing news media was also amplified more than outlets with non right-wing ideologies.

In fact, prior to the Jan. 6 Insurrection, Twitter employees tried to ban the dangerous inflamatory tweets leading up to the attack on the Capitol. However, Twitter allowed the hate and conspiratorial tweets to fester and inflame uninformed radicals to the events of Jan. 6.

During the Congressional hearing, disputing the GOP's allegation of Twitter's bias against conservatives, Democrats on the committee which included progressive Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, found plenty of examples of Twitter's actions countering that allegation.

In questioning of a Twitter employee who was monitoring inappropriate tweets, the New York City Congressmember was able to confirm that Twitter actually changed its original criteria so that Trump's more outrageous tweets Including a posting on July 14, 2019, when Trump told Democratic congressmembers, AOC and Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, to “go back” to their countries in a series of racist tweets.

“So much for bias against the right-wing on Twitter.” Ocasio-Cortez concluded her remarks.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

New polls bolster VP Kamala Harris as she withstands attacks from right-wing media and misogynists

Vice President Kamala Harris addresses a convening of Pacific nation leaders.

ANALYSIS

Women, Asian Americans and Black Americans cheered when President Biden picked Kamala Harris as his vice president. Unfortunately, the historic selection immediately put a target on Harris' back by the right wing, racists and sexists.

As vice president, Harris is the presumed frontrunner to become the next President of the United States in 2024 or 2028 depending whenever Biden decides not to run for re-election. If she were to become President, Harris would make history in a number of ways: as the nation's first woman, the first Black woman and the first Asian American.

From the day picked Harris, the conservative media machine went into overdrive to sow doubts about her capabilities: making fun of her laugh  and fashion choices to highlighting anything that could be interpreted as a misstep.

During a livestreamed event hosted by Politico’s Women Rule Exchange, Politico senior editor Anita Kumar asked White House press secretary Jen Psaki if she felt Harris was receiving more criticism because she is the first woman and first woman of color to serve as vice president.

“Yes,” the outspoken Psaki answered, before adding: “Criticism from the outside, absolutely.

“I do think that it has been easier, and harsher, from some in the right wing who have gone after her because she is the first woman, the first woman of color,” the press secretary added. “I’m not suggesting anyone will acknowledge that publicly, but I think there’s no question that the type of attacks — the attacks on her that certainly, being the first she is many times over, is part of that.”

Despite the focus on Harris' poor polling performances, as if past Vice Presidents have always done poorly. It seems to be the nature of the position, not to outshine the President and to carry out the President's agenda.

Despite the mainstream media's tendency to fall into the no-win trap set up by the negative spin by the conservative media such as the New York Post and Fox News, the Vice President received a boost from three recent polls.

An Echelon Insights survey conducted July 15-18 found that if the next election were being held today, voters would narrowly back Harris. A total of 46% of likely voters said that they would vote for Harris, compared to 44% who would back Trump in a hypothetical race. Harris also beat DeSantis by 43% to 42%, albeit within the net margin of error of 1%.

The same poll also placed President Biden over both Trump over DeSantis: (46%) over Trump (44%), with the president also the preferred choice when up against the Florida governor (45% to 41%).

When those taking part in the poll said who they would vote for between Harris and the two Republican frontrunners, the vice president also came out on top.

A total of 46 percent of likely voters said that they would vote for Harris, compared to 44 percent who would back Trump in a hypothetical race. Harris also beat DeSantis by 43%to 42%, albeit within the net margin of error of 1%.

The same poll found that if Biden and Trump decided to run in 2024, both would lose a portion of the voters that voted in 2020. run again. Biden would lose 28% and Trump would lose 58% of his voters.

A recent poll from the Harvard University Center for American Political Studies (CAPS) found that Harris had 39% support against the presumed GOP Presidential wannabe, Florida's Gov. Ron DeSantis, who garnered 37%. Twenty-three percent of respondents were undecided between Harris and DeSantis.

While the White House has maintained that Biden intends to run again in 2024, there has been public speculation that Biden will not actually seek a second term due to his age. Biden has said that he would run despite being 82 in 2024 and that he would keep Harris as his second-in-command.

For Harris, there was additional good news from the poll in terms of the 2024 Democratic primaries, however. She placed second behind Biden among Democratic voters, garnering 18% support to the president's 30%.

But when Biden was excluded, Harris was the clear leader with 25% support. The next highest Democrat was Hillary Clinton polling with 15%.

Kamala Harris is polling ahead of Donald Trump and Rod DeSantis

Harris also strengthened her credentials in foreign affairs, an area her critics long considered her weakness. 

A recent Pew Research Center Survey ffound Harris fared higher with the rest of the world than in the US. Pew found a median of 55% of adults in several foreign countries have confidence in Harris to do the right thing regarding world affairs, including half or more who hold that view in 14 countries. Confidence in Harris is particularly high in Sweden, where 77% of adults view her positively.

Harris has taken on a variety of internationally focused responsibilities during her time as vice president. Those responsibilities have included a high-profile trip to Europe at the beginning of the war in Ukraine and coordination of relations with Central American leaders to stem the flow of migrants coming to the southern border of the United States. Earlier this month she reassured leaders from the Pacific nations of the US commitment to their governments.

With the Presidential election more than two years away, all the candidates still have time to change their position in the polls. A lot will depend on events between now and the elections, some of which Biden and Harris have little control over.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

2021 Presidents Day: WPOAT -- the Worst President of All Time

 

OPINION

Seven years ago, I wrote along posting that named Richard Nixon as the worst President of all time. It was so long that I had to split it into Part 1 and Part 2.

After the last four years, on this President's Day I have to revise that. Donald Trump has taken over the top spot as the worst President of all time (WPOAT).

I'm not alone in that feeling.

Trump -- the only president who has been impeached twice -- has been named as the worst president in US history in a new YouGov poll. Asked who they felt was the worst president in history, 46% of those surveyed named Trump. 

(One thing to note: the survey was conducted Feb. 6-9 before the impeachment proceedings in the Senate.)

Much to Trump's chagrin, Barack Obama, the man Trump hated most and sought to undo every accomplishment Obama had during his time in office, was voted the best President of all time.

Nixon was named the worst by only 5% of the respondents. Through the passage of time, I'm sure most of the 1,500 people surveyed had forgotten the havoc Nixon wreaked with the Watergate scandal, which in afterthought, seems inconsequential to Trump's attempt to alter the election results or his kowtowing to Russian President Putin.

The distrust sown by the 1972 break-in of Democrat HQ at Watergate is just a minor blip compared to the 1/6 attempted coup, which caused the death of seven people.

Here's the scary part: Respondents were also asked who they thought was the best president in history. Obama narrowly topped the list on 18%t, followed by 17% who voted for Abraham Lincoln. But then Trump was voted as the best by 13%, making him third in the list ahead of Franklin D Roosevelt and George Washington, the latter whose birthday along with Lincoln's, we celebrate today, Presidents Day, (Feb. 14).

While Nixon left in disgrace in 1974, Trump left still spouting the lies that the election was stolen from him. And his followers still believe him.

His acquittal by virtue of the 43 spineless Republican Senators means the Republican party will remain under his control through the 2024 Presidential elections.

The silver lining from the poll is that 53% were opposed to the idea of rump running for president again. But Trump maintains a firm hold on his cult-like followers. A total of 37% said they would support him if he ran again.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

Trump's second wall, courtesy of US taxpayers

During a recent visit to Washington DC, I took this picture of the classic view of the White House.

There will be fewer souvenir photos of the White House with this damn wall.

OPINION

Donald Trump is building a new wall at the taxpayers' expense. The wall is around the People's House, also known as the White House.

New fences and barriers are going up outside 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, with dark days possibly around the corner. The construction will be completed by tomorrow, Election Day.

One thing for certain: Mexico ain't paying for it.

US taxpayers are already saddled with paying for the border wall between the US and Mexico, contrary to Donald Trump's promise to have Mexico pay for it. Almost overnight and without a whole lot of coverage, the White House is being surrounded by a new, reportedly "unscalable" wall.

In addition, ir is being reported by White House correspondents that 250 National Guardsmen will be on standby, if needed. As you all know, they don't have ID badges or required to have body cameras.

Is Trump preparing for a siege?

EDITOR'S NOTE: A word of caution, this is news sprinkled with opinion. Readers are encouraged to seek multiple news sources to formulate their own positions.

Both the GOP and Democrats wooing Indian American electorate

ANALYSIS

It appears the Republicans are targeting the Indian American community as the ethnic group most likely to switch their traditional political preference for Democrats to Donald Trump. 

Claims by supporters of the two candidates -- the Democrats Joe Biden and the GOP's Trump -- contradict each as they argue for their candidate.

Representing less than 1% of the voters in the US, Indian American votes can be difference maker in three key states -- Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania -- which Trump won in 2016 even though it was assumed would vote for Hillary Clinton, according to Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez.

Indian Americans are most likely to be Democrats of any Asian-origin group, with 50% supporting the party and just 18 per cent identifying as Republicans, nonpartisan think tank Pew Research Center has said in a study.

Trump''s campaign disagrees, believing this major ethnic community is now moving away from the Democrats.

Asian Americans are the fastest-growing segment of eligible voters of the major racial and ethnic groups in the United States, according to a recent survey by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center.

"In our experience, surveys do not reflect ground realities. In President Trump, Indian Americans have the best friend ever inside the White House. It is a myth that Indian Americans vote for Democrats," said Al Mason, co-Chair of Trump Victory Indian American Finance Committee.

Trump attended a huge rally in Texas featuring Indian Prime Minister Narandra Modi where the latter received a more enthusiastic response than Trump. A state visit to India earlier this year was great for photo opportunities for both leaders but without major announcements on trade or security.

"This has pleased the Indian American community a lot. Indian-Americans love Trump. Mark my words, they are moving away from the Democrats to Trump," Mason said.

In a statement, Americans4Hindus,  a non-partisan independent political action committee, said that 30,000 people watched a virtual rally for Trump live on multiple social media platforms and groups and another over 70,000 watched it in the next few hours online. During the online event, American4Hindus announced its endorsement for Trump.

On the other hand, Ajay Bhutoria, National Finance Committee member of the Joe Biden for President campaign, said the former vice-president would be the best choice for Indian Americans.

"Indian Americans strongly support Biden to bring a respected leadership on the world stage and reinvigorate our own democracy and strengthen the coalition of democracies around the world including relations with the largest democracy -- India," said Bhutoria, who is also a member in American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin Leadership Council for Biden.

Republicans will have a tough task convincing Indian Americans to vote for Trump, whose immigration policies alone, affect Indian American immigrants with restrictions on worker visas and deemphasizing family reunification. Of all the different Asian American ethnic groups, Indian Americans is the group most likely to vote Democratic, says several polls.

In the 2018 midterms, four-fifths of the Indian American candidates ran as Democrats for local, state and congressional positions.

However, Republicans may be  tapping into simmering divisions within the Indian American community. India's politics have spilled over into the Indian American community, which previously, had not allowed the religious animosities in favor of political and social unity in the US. When Modi last year introduced immigration policies which favored Hindus over Muslims the fissure between conservative Hindus and more progressive South Asians went public.

Donald Trump hopes appearances with Indian Prime Minister Modi will help him win Indian American support.

To Modi's critics, the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) -- which fast-tracks applications for immigrants, including Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who arrived in India before 2015 -- has heightened a Hindu nationalist agenda aimed at marginalizing Indian Muslims. Opponents in India and in the US say it is part of an effort to rip apart India's secular identity and in a roundabout way, attacks the Indian American Democratic politicians, including California's Sen. Kamala Harris, potentially Joe Biden's vice president pick, and outspoken progressive Rep. Pramila Jayapal and Biden supporter Rep. Ro Khanna.

Although Indian American voters are a small percentage nationally, in key swing districts, their votes could determine the outcome in the three key swing states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

“The Indian American vote, the AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islanders) vote more broadly, can be an absolute difference-maker (in the 2020 presidential elections),” Perez said at a virtual event a during a virtual town hall, “An Electorate Coming of Age: Indian Americans for Biden”, jointly hosted by the South Asians for Biden along with AAPI Victory Fund and Indian American Impact Fund.

"The Indian American votes alone can be the difference in moving forward,” Perez said. 

UPDATED 9:30 a.m. PDT, edited for clarity.

Asian American att'y a casualty of Trump interference in Roger Stone sentencing

Former US Attorney Jessie Liu was a Donald Trump appointee.

An Asian American attorney's nomination to a top position in the Treasury Department was withdrawn by Donald Trump.

Former US attorney Jessie Liu for the District of Columbia, who was appointed by Donald Trump, was all set to be grilled by the Senate for her nomination for the Treasury Department's undersecretary for terrorism and financial crimes, a top position overseeing economic sanctions, according to two sources with direct knowledge when she was suddenly and unexpectedly informed Tuesday that the nomination was dropped.

It is not clear if her nomination was linked to the sentencing of Trump advisor Roger Stone.

Trump associate Stone, was found guilty for lying to Congress and witness tampering during the Russia investigation, according to a new court filing.

"Roger Stone obstructed Congress' investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, lied under oath, and tampered with a witness. And when his crimes were revealed by the indictment in this case, he displayed contempt for this Court and the rule of law. For that, he should be punished in accord with the advisory Guidelines," prosecutors wrote on Monday.

At the time of the trial, Liu was the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. Axios notes that Liu had been expected to stay in her position leading the DC US attorney's office until she was confirmed in the Treasury role, but she was informed last month that Attorney General William Barr was replacing her with his associate Timothy Shea. 

Shea‘s name appeared on Monday's initial filing stating the sentencing recommendation of up to nine years. Those recommendations are usually written by the line prosecutors on the case, all four of whom resigned Tuesday.

Early Tuesday morning, Trump tweeted that he thought the sentence to be too harsh. "This is a horrible and very unfair situation," Trump wrote. "The real crimes were on the other side, as nothing happens to them. Cannot allow this miscarriage of justice!"

Later in the day, the DOJ headed by US Attorney General William Barr, a Trump appointee, revised the recommendation urging for a more lenient sentence.

Tuesday afternoon, after the revised recommendation was made, all four prosecutors who worked on the case — Aaron S.J. Zelinsky, Jonathan Kravis, Adam Jed and Michael Marando— filed a motion to withdraw from the case. Zelinsky and Kravis both resigned from the D.C. U.S. attorney's office.

Barr's actions, prompted by Trump's tweets, is being interpreted as unprecedented interference in the judicial system, the third branch of the government.

"This signals to me that there has been a political infestation," NBC News legal analyst Chuck Rosenberg, a former U.S. attorney in Virginia, said on MSNBC. "And that is the single most dangerous thing that you can do to the Department of Justice."

US District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who, will announce the sentence next week, is an appointee of President Obama. She was also attacked by Trump by Twitter.

As the US attorney in charge of the D.C. office, Liu also oversaw prosecution of Paul Manafort, another Trump associates.

Liu was due to appear before the Senate Banking Committee for a confirmation hearing Thursday.

The Washington Post says its sources contend Trump decided to withdraw Liu's nomination because he was worried she would be asked about the Stone case during her confirmation hearing.

Congress: Stephen Miller, Trump's man for immigration, has got to go

SCREEN CAPTURE / NBC

White House senior adviser Stephen Miller is credited for Donald Trump's immigration policy proposals.

In the run-up to the 2016 election, White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller promoted white nationalist literature, pushed racist immigration stories and obsessed over the loss of Confederate symbols after the Charleston church massacre, according to leaked emails reviewed by Hatewatch.

More than 100 Democratic members of Congress are demanding the firing of senior White House aide Stephen Miller after e-mails that contain white nationalist sentiments he sent as a congressional staffer were leaked. Miller is credited for the racist policies proposed by Donald Trump including the wall with Mexico, the Muslim ban, the deportations of Southeast Asian refugees, the separation of refugee children from their families and doing away with family reunification as a priority.

"A documented white nationalist has no place in any presidential administration, and especially not in such an influential position," the representatives wrote recently in a letter to Donald Trump. "Miller's white supremacist influence on your immigration policy, and it seems like that his perfidious adherence to extremist ideology has shaped your administration in ways that are not yet public."

Last week the leaders of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), and  issued a joint statement calling for Stephen Miller’s resignation, following a report released by the Southern Poverty Law Center documenting multiple instances in which Stephen Miller espoused white nationalist beliefs and vilified communities of color and immigrants in leaked emails to Breitbart.

“It’s clearer than ever that Stephen Miller is a far-right white nationalist with a racist and xenophobic worldview. His beliefs are appalling, indefensible, and completely at odds with public service,” said CPC Co-Chairs Mark Pocan (WI-02) and Pramila Jayapal, CBC Chair Karen Bass (CA-37), CHC Chair Joaquin Castro (TX-20), and CAPAC Chair Judy Chu (CA-27). 

"As documented by the Southern Poverty Law Center, Steven Miller has embedded himself in white nationalist doctrine for years, including promoting racist propaganda from fringe sites like VDARE and InfoWars. And as the chief architect of the Muslim Ban and cruel family separation policies, Stephen Miller has spent the last three years turning his bigotry into policy — with President Trump’s blessing,” read the letter, which was sent Thursday (Nov. 21).

In their letter, the members of Congress link the white nationalist sentiments in the email with policy produced by the White House.

"Stephen Miller's nativism was cited as a major impetus behind your decision to reject a bipartisan compromise immigration bill that would have protected Dreamers due to his belief that the compromise would not reduce enough documented immigration," the authors wrote. "Appallingly, Mr. Miller referred to refugees as 'foreign-born terrorists' in his e-mails, a belief which clearly translated to the unprecedented low ceiling on refugee admissions and even lower actual entrants at a time of the worst refugee crisis in history."

The representatives concluded that they "refuse to tolerate white nationalism and xenophobia in the White House" and that Miller "must be fired immediately."

Common Dreams reported Wednesday that tens of thousands of people have signed petitions demanding Miller's resignation or firing since the Breitbart emails were made public. Civil rights organizations including the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Never Again Action, and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) have also said Miller must leave the Trump administration.

“We feel like it is up to us to point out the obvious — someone who writes, talks, and governs like a white nationalist is in fact a white nationalist. Stephen Miller is a white nationalist and he has no business serving in the White House,” the Congressmembers added. “As leaders in the Democratic Caucus, representing diverse constituencies who have been targeted by Stephen Miller’s hateful beliefs, we call for his resignation without delay.”

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AAPI presidential hopefuls blast Trump's go-back-where-you-came-from attack

Democratic presidential candidates, from left, Sen. Kamala Harris, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and Andrew Yang.

The AAPI candidates for the Democrats' nomination for POTUS joined in the chorus of condemnation of Donald Trump's racist attack against four Congress members of color by "othering" them even though they are US citizens.

“It is absolutely racist and un-American. And it is an old trope, ‘go back to where you came from,’ that you might hear on the street, but you should never hear that from the president of the United States. said Sen. Kamala Harris, whose parents immigrated here from India and Jamaica. 

On Sunday, Trump  in a series of tweets, said some Democratic congresswomen should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.”

While Trump did not name the targets of his attack, the context of his tweet made it clear it was aimed at a group of four progressive Democratic women of color – Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley. Except for Omar, the House members were born in the US. Omar became a citizen while still in teens.

On Tuesday, the House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning Trump's remarks. Except for four Republicans who voted for the resolution, the tally was along party lines.
Of the three AAPI candidates, Harris issued the strongest reaction, saying Trump should "go back to where he came from."

Trump’s racist tweets “defile the office of the United States” and “take the presidency to a new low,” said Harris.

The 2020 presidential hopeful's comments came after the House of Representatives voted to condemn the US president’s racist tweets on Tuesday night.

In an interview with CNN, Harrs said, "I don't think that we can survive having a president of the United States who uses whatever voice he has in a way that is about dividing and fueling hate in our country." 

She added: “He wants to distract by lighting fires around the issue of race – it’s disgusting.”“I think it is a turn for this president,” she continued. “Could it get any worse? Apparently yes, it just did. How low can he go?”

“He needs to go back where he came from and leave that office,” she told CNN.

"I don't think that we can survive having a president of the United States who uses whatever voice he has in a way that is about dividing and fuelling hate in our country."

Hawaii's Rep. Tulsi Gabbard told ABC News' Senior Washington reporter Devin Dwyer that Trump's remarks had what she described as devastating consequences.

"Stoking these racist feelings and stoking religious bigotry in this country, tearing apart and already divided country for his own political game is beneath the office of the presidency and undermines the very values and principles of our democracy," Gabbard said.

Gabbard further said that Trump was using the platform of the presidency to tell people who are critical of him that they should "go home."

Andrew Yang tweeted out:

In an interview with MSNBC, Yang was asked what his reaction was as a son of immigrants.

“Exactly what you’re suggesting," he responded. "As a son of immigrants myself, I know when someone says to go home in my case I was born in upstate New York, it’s the opposite of what we need from our president to try to call out these false distinctions between different types of people. We’re all Americans. These are members of Congress born in this country this is the opposite of what president should be saying.”

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Opinion: Trump blinks in showdown on the Census citizenship question

OPINION

Donald Trump backed down Wednesday (July 11) on his insistence to include the citizenship question on the 2020 Census. Hooray! 

Instead, he issued an executive order mandating that federal agencies share their infomration with the Department of Commerce, which oversees the Census , in order to determine the number of noncitizens living in the US. He neglected to mention that this is information the Census regularly gathers and the agencies willingly share. 

Trump didn't really want to know how many undocumented residents are living in the U.S. He probably knew this already. 

Broken down by immigration status, the foreign-born Population includes 20.7 million naturalized U.S. citizens and 22.6 million noncitizens. Of the noncitizens, approximately 13.1 million are lawful permanent residents, 11.1 million are unauthorized migrants, and 1.7 million hold temporary visas. Heck, all he had to do was ask the Census Bureau this question. They have all that data. That's where I got the 10.5 million figure.

The Census Bureau told administration officials it can collect citizenship records from the Social Security Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, the State Department and US Citizenship and Immigration Services.

This is something the Census Bureau does regularly for other sets of data, such as economic surveys, the income-inequality gap, or the jobless rate among certain demographic groups.

He could also have asked the Pew Research Center, AAPI Data or any number of think tanks. They all base their conclusions on the data from the Census Bureau.

He could even have broken the figures down state to state and maybe even to region to region. The Census data analyzers could probably have figured out county to county, maybe even city to city. 

What Trump was after was their addresses so his buddies in the state legislatures could figure out how to gerrymander districts that favor them. What some critics of the question feared  was that his minions would use the information to deport individuals and/or families.

The fear of the misuse of that data is real. The Census, which asked the citizenship status of respondents, was used to round up Japanese Americans during World War II. No matter that it was totally illegal, leaders, including President Franklin Roosevelt, were drowning in war hysteria. When people are hysterical they tend to do stupid, and illegal things: Like round up people of a certain race and put them in concentration camps.

That's the same kind of hysteria Trump is stirring up in his anti-immigrant posturing and  hateful statements about "sh-thold countries" and a Muslim-ban for foreign travelers. You keep feeding that ignorance, hate and fear and you get groups like the self-annointed private vigilante militia in their camo gear and AR-15s detaining anyone who looked like a border crosser; and white supremacist groups becoming more emboldened and stirring up the pot further their racist rhetoric.

Some people try to shrug that off as the action of a few fringe loonies. I call it Trump's 30%, his base, who would vote for him even if he shot someone in Times Square, which he once stated during his campaign. They would still vote for him because he's as off-balance as they are.

The problem is, like all bullies, when Trump doesn't get his way, he's likely to take his ire out on someone more vulnerable and unable to fight back. That's right! That's why we're having ICE raids starting Sunday. Picking on those least ability to fight back.

We have a crisis in this country but its not a border crisis. It's a mental crisis and the best example of that illness occupies the White House.

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Trump favors the white guy over the first Asian American No. 1 draft pick

Draft pick No. 2, Nick Bosa, left, was congratulated by Trump. The No. 1 pick, Murray was ignored.

Leave it to Donald Trump to make the NFL draft about himself and his base.

Apparently, winning the Heisman Trophy, the award given to the best college football player, getting drafted in pro-football AND major league baseball or being the first Asian American to be taken No. 1 in the NFL draft was good enough for Trump to send Kyler Murray a congratulatory message

Instead, Trump opted to tweet congratulations to the No. 2 pick, defensive end Nick Bosa, who is white, and passed over the Arizona Cardinal's choice, Murray, who is part Korean and part African American.

"Congratulations to Nick Bosa on being picked number two in the NFL Draft. You will be a great player for years to come, maybe one of the best. Big Talent! San Francisco will embrace you but most importantly, always stay true to yourself. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" Trump tweeted, completely ignoring Murray's accomplishments.

Bosa voiced his support for Trump on social media years ago. However, more recently he had been critical on numerous occasions of Colin Kaepernick and his national anthem protests. He even went after Black excellence in various tweets, calling Beyonce and Jay-Z’s music “trash” and describing Black Panther as the “worst Marvel movie” ever. All tweets about Kaepernick and attacks on Black celebrities have been deleted from Bosa’s Twitter account. 

The fact that the offensive tweets were deleted indicates Bosa and 49ers are aware the public relations challenge for the team in the liberal San Francisco Bay Area.

In his first press conference in front of reporters who cover the 49ers, Bosa apologized for his past remarks, attributing them to his younger self. 

"I'm sorry if I hurt anybody," Bosa said. "I definitely didn't intend for that to be the case. I think me being here (San Francisco) is even better for me as a person, because I don't think there's anywhere, any city, that you could really be in that would help you grow as much as this one will. I'm going to be surrounded with people of all different kinds, so I'm going to grow as a person. I'm going to be on my own. I'm going to grow up, I'm gonna learn a lot of new things. It's exciting."

Talking about Kaepernick, who started kneeling during the National Anthem in protest of the unequal treatment of people of color by the judiciaal system.

"No, It wasn't directed toward that. It's not like I'm saying his stance and what he was doing -- that's not what I was talking about at all," said Bosa. "It was just a specific thing that happened, and me, as a young kid, a thought popping into my head and, boom, decided to tweet it out. Bad decision. I respect what he's done. If it empowers anybody, then he's doing a good thing. I apologize for that."

Forgotten in the Twitter storm generated by Trump's diss is U. of Oklahoma quarterback Murray, who has thus far kept his political views to himself. Drafted by the Arizona Cardinals, Murray's father is African American and his mother is half Korean.

Ignored by Trump, Murray has attracted the attention of basketball legend LeBron James. Murray has come to an agreement with James' production company for a documentary about Murray's journey to becoming a professional football player. 

After winning the Heisman Trophy last year, he did apologize for homophobic rermarks he tweeted in 2012.

“I apologize for the tweets that have come to light tonight from when I was 14 and 15. I used a poor choice of word that doesn’t reflect who I am or what I believe. I did not intend to single out any individual or group.”

To the credit of both young men, they owned up to their past mistakes and apologized. That is more than can be said about Trump, who hasn't apologized for ignoring Murray, the first player chosen in the NFL draft.

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Mar-a-Lago intruder denied bail

Zhang Yujin's passport.

The strange case of the Mar-a-Lago intruder keeps getting stranger.

A Chinese citizen, Zhang Yujin, apparently lied her way into Donald Trump's Florida resort and was found to be carrying multiple phones, a laptop and a thumb drive that preliminary investigations suggested contained malware. A search of her hotel room found more than $7,500 in cash, multiple SIM cards and a signal detector used for finding hidden cameras.

Monday, federal Magistrate Judge William Matthewman in Florida denied Zhang bail saying there was an "extreme risk of flight" if she was released.

Matthewman noted that Zhang, who lives and works in Shanghai, had no family or ties to the U.S. and that there is no extradition treaty between the two nations. There was a serious risk of flight, said the judge.

Zhang’s charges were of a serious nature, said Matthewman. It appeared to the court that she was “up to something nefarious” when she allegedly tried to gain unlawful access to Mar-a-Lago.

Court documents indicate that Zhang has entered the U.S. at least six times since 2013, arriving at various ports including New York, Seattle and San Francisco. Since being charged, her 10-year B1/B2 visa, a business visa, has been revoked — meaning that, had she been granted bail, she could have faced immediate idetention by immigration.

Zhang is accused of lying to federal officers and gaining access to a restricted area after she entered Mar-a-Lago on March 30, when Donald Trump was present at the seaside resort. She allegedly told Secret Service agents she was there to use the pool, then changed her story, telling reception staff she was there to attend a function and mingle with members of the Trump family, according to a criminal complaint. The receptionist noted that there was no such event scheduled and called in the Secret Service.

EDITED April 16, 2019, to incude test results of alleged malware.

Zhang pleaded "not guilty," to the accusations. The allged malware has since been tested and that charged was removed. She claims it was poor translation that got her in her predicament although Secret Service officers says that Zhang spoke and understood English perfectly.

“The sad fact is that if a Mandarin interpreter had been provided at that first Secret Service checkpoint, we very well would not be here today,” said Kristy Militello, one of Zhang’s  court-appointed federal public defenders.

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