Duckworth wins second term as Illinois' US Senator

US Sen. Tammy Duckworth heads back to Washington for her second term.

Incumbent Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill, was easily re-elected for her second six-year term with 56% of the vote, beat back a challenge from Republican Kathy Salvi, who wound up with 42.1% of the cast ballots. Libertarian Bill Redpath took 1.7% of the vote.

"I know there are still some folks seeking to sow seeds of division among us," Duckworth said in a statement. "I know that we’re a Union that, yes, at times has been anything but united. But the miracle of America is that when it looks like those worst instincts are set to prevail, we come together and resist. 

"We refuse to give in to that darkness,” said the 54-year old Army veteran who lost both of her legs when the helicopter she was piloting was shot down in Iraq.

Duckworth's mother is from Thailand and she can trace her father's ancestry back to the Revolutionary War. Before winning her first term for the Senate in 2016, she served in the US House of Representatives.

There are only two US Senators of Asian American heritage. Besides Duckworth, there is Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, who won re-election in 2020.

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

AAPI blast Trump's disparagement of U.S. veterans, POWs and war-dead

U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth at the WWII Memmorial in Washington D.C.

United States Senator Tammy Duckworth lambasts Donald Trump's calling America's military war dead and wounded as "losers" and "suckers."

In a bombshell article published in The Atlantic, Trump also allegedly requested amputees not be included in plans for a Washington D.C. military parade because, in his words, “nobody wants to see that.”

Trump also requested amputees not be included in plans for a military parade because, in his words, “nobody wants to see that.”

Duckworth, who lost both legs while serving in Iraq as a helicopter pilot, said: “I’ll take my wheelchair and my titanium legs over his bone spurs any day,” referring to the minor ailment Trump used multiple times to obtain a medical deferment from being drafted during the Vietnam War.

During a conference call arranged by the campaign staff of Democratic POTUS nominee Joe Biden, Thai American Duckworth continued to hit Trump hard for the comments he made as reported in The Atlantic article, which has been verified by multiple media outlets since it was first published.

“This is a man who spends every day redefining the concept of narcissism. A man who’s met a life of privilege, with everything handed to him on a silver platter,” said Duckworth.

“Of course he thinks about war selfishly,” said the Illinois senator. “He thinks of it as a transactional cost instead of in human lives and American blood spilled, because that’s how he’s viewed his whole life. He doesn’t understand other people’s bravery and courage because he’s never had any of his own.”

On Twitter, Duckworth continued her relentless attack on Trump, who on numerous occasions she has referred to as "Cadet Bonespurs," and "Coward-in-chief." 

“What @realDonaldTrump will never understand is that our Wounded Warriors earned their wounds. They are our badges of honor from our service to the country we love. If he can’t bear to witness those who have sacrificed for our nation, perhaps he should avert his cowardly eyes,” she tweeted.

Also taking part in the conference call was Khizr Khan, father of the late Captain H. Khan, who was killed while serving in the U.S Army in Iraq.

“Words matter," said Khan, who was attacked by Trump for his rousing speech during the 2016 Democratic National Convention. "The words we say are a window into our souls — of how we see the world and our place in it. 

“When Donald Trump calls anyone who places their life in service of others a ‘loser,’ we understand Trump’s soul.”

Trump, said Khan, is “incapable of understanding service, valor and courage. His soul cannot conceive of integrity and honor. And let me say very loudly and clearly so America can listen: His soul is that of a coward.”

Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, also author of the article, reported that Trump called the soldiers who died during World War I “losers” and “suckers”, while canceling a 2018 visit to a cemetery of U.S. war dead in France. Trump claimed the cancellation was due to the inclement weather, which did not prevent other French and foreign dignitaries from appearing at the memorial.

In a Friday press conference, Democratic rival Joe Biden said, "if what is written in the Atlantic is true, it’s disgusting and it affirms what most of us believe to be true – that Donald Trump is not fit to do the job of president, be the commander-in-chief."

"If these statements are true, the president should humbly apologize to every Gold Star mother and father and every Blue Star family that he’s denigrated," Biden said.

Other vignettes included in The Atlantic article:

• Trump also allegedly told his senior staff “we’re not going to support that loser’s funeral” after U.S. Sen. John McCain died before calling him “a f-ing loser,” a which he repeated in a televised interview. 
• He also mocked former President George H.W. Bush for being shot down while piloting combat missions during World War II.
• At a 2017 service at Arlington National Cemetery, Trump told former chief of staff John Kelly, whose son Robert died in 2010 at age 29 while serving as a Marine Corps officer in Afghanistan, turned to Kelly, while standing by Robert Kelly’s grave, and said, “I don’t get it. What was in it for them?”

Not surprisingly, Trump has called The Atlantic article "fake news," a "hoax" and a "continuation of the witch hunt,” according to Politico.

Meanwhile, White House staff has scrambled issuing denials, but at this point, with the number of falsehoods, misleading statements and outright lies emanating from administration officials and staff, their credibility is almost zero.

Since the article was published Thursday, the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Associated Press, NBC, ABC and other news outlets have independently confirmed the statements attributed to Trump.

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.

Sunday Read: Duckworth slaps down Tucker Carlson's swipe questioning her patriotism

Fox TV host Tucker CArlson, left, questioned the patriotism of Sen. Tammy Duckworth

Conservative Fox News host Tucker Carlson learned the hard way: Don't mess with Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth.

When Carlson said that the Thai American senator "hated" America, Duckworth, who lost both her legs as a helicopter she was piloting was shot down in Iraq, naturally took umbrage at Carlson's questioning of  her patriotism, Duckworth responded with a left hook on Twitter:

Carlson, who never served in the military, was still recovering from that tweet when Duckworth's wave after wave of body blows in a New York Times oped, July 9, finished off the pompous blowhard:

"Attacks from self-serving, insecure men who can't tell the difference between true patriotism and hateful nationalism will never diminish my love for this country -- or my willingness to sacrifice for it so they don't have to. These titanium legs don't buckle," she wrote.

She never advocated for tearing down statues of George Washington, that Carlson accused her of saying.

"What some on the other side don’t seem to understand is that we can honor our founders while acknowledging their serious faults, including the undeniable fact that many of them enslaved Black Americans.

"Because while we have never been a perfect union, we have always sought to be a more perfect union — and in order to do so, we cannot whitewash our missteps and mistakes. We must learn from them instead."

She said that Carlson's attacks, followed is simply an attempt to distract the public's attention from the poor leadership from the White House, from the blundering around the coronavirus pandemic, the confusing mythology and the historical truth surrounding race or the silence about the Russian bounties offered to Afghan Taliban fighters to kill Americans.

"Remember that part of what has always made America not just great but good is that every American has the right to question those in charge. Anyone claiming to stand up for 'patriotic' values should recognize that, because, without it, the country these impostor patriots claim to love so much would not exist.

"Our nation deserves leaders mature and secure enough not to race-bait or swift-boat anyone who dares disagree with them. After these past four years, and especially after these past four months, it’s clearer than ever that we must choose public servants who will focus on the serious issues facing our country — from the spread of the coronavirus to systemic racism to foreign adversaries threatening our troops’ lives — rather than cynical bullies who use schoolyard tactics to distract from their own shortcomings," Duckworth wrote.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth lost both her legs when her helicopter crashed in Iraq.

We now know where Carlson gets -- or got -- his racist and sexist material from. On Friday, Fox News fired Carlson's head writer, Blake Neff for racist comments he made on social media under a pseudonym.

Responding to a thread started by another user in 2018 with the subject line, "Would u let a JET BLACK congo n****er do lasik eye surgery on u for 50% off?" Neff wrote, "I wouldn't get LASIK from an Asian for free, so no."

Under the face account, on June 24, Neff commented, "Honestly given how tired black people always claim to be, maybe the real crisis is their lack of sleep." On June 26, Neff wrote that the only people who care about changing the name of the NFL's Washington Redskins are "white libs and their university-'educated' pets."

Neff reportedly wrote Carlson's monologue and presumably, the attacks against Duckworth.

Duckworth should expect more attacks to come in her direction the more that her name comes up as a strong candidate for Joe Biden's pick for a running mate.

As nimble as Duckworth is proving to be as her national profile rises, she shouldn't underestimate the efficacy of the goons working for the GOP and their ability to lie, twist the truth, and fabricate. They are experts at this type of negative campaigning. Remember what the Republicans did with veteran John Kerry and the dishonest but effective Swiftboat attacks that played a major role in derailing Kerry's campaign.

If Duckworth become Biden's pick for Vice President, expect the GOP to "swiftboat" Duckworth, whose service and sacrifice has thus far survived the attacks from her detractors.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth emerges as a surprise contender as Biden's running mate

SCREEN CAPTURE / ABC

Sen. Tammy Duckworth was the first US Senator to bring her child to the Senate chambers.

As the days tick by, the day draws near when former Vice President Joe Biden will name his running mate before the Democratic Convention. The only certainty on Biden's choice is that his running will be a woman.

For most, the next question is: should she be white or black? Almost no one mentions Asian Americans.

Most experts have Sen. Kamala Harris, who is half Asian Indian, as a favorite for Joe Biden's choice, but Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth is emerging, seemingly out of nowhere, as a serious contender for the No. 2 spot.

Three people close to the Biden campaign say Duckworth is emerging as a serious contender for the Democratic nomination for Vice President, reports the Washington Post.

Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told the Washington Post the Purple Heart Iraqi War veteran is getting a “lot of attention”

“You had all the other names there, and it was as if she didn’t exist,” Reid said. “And suddenly people began to look at her — this highly decorated woman, member of Congress, senator.”

In 2018, Duckworth became the first to give birth while in the Senate and the first to bring her baby to the Senate floor.

There has been much speculation that Biden will pick a Black woman as his running mate because of the wide attention being given to the Black Lives Matter Movement.

When asked on Sunday, Duckworth appeared to dodge the question about whether a Black woman needed to be selected, according to Newsweek.

Duckworth told CNN she believes Black women are a “key to victory” for Biden, but fell short of saying he needed to choose a Black women.

“The Biden campaign have their own process that they’re going through and I’m sure Vice President Biden will pick the right person to be next to him as he digs this country of the of the mess that Donald Trump has put us in,” she said.

In Duckworth's favor is that she is from the Midwest, which might appeal to cautious Heartland voters who harbor a distrust against the bicoastal in-crowd that appear to run the major parties. 

RELATED: Kamala Harris appears to be among frontrunners for Biden's vice president

Duckworth sits left of center on the political spectrum, the same position shared by Biden, which would appeal to those moderate Republicans who have given up on their party. The 

“I think that you can’t win the White House without the midwest,” Duckworth told CNN’s State of the Union. “And I don’t think that you can go too far to the left and still win the midwest.

“Coming from a Midwestern state, I think you need to be able to talk to the industrial midwest. You need to listen to the people there in order to win an election nationwide.”

The Thai American senator is less of a polarizing figure than Harris, whose progressive credentials have been questioned by the far left and is seen as too radical by moderate Republicans who want somebody other than Trump but fear voting for anyone they consider as a leftist.

While Harris, whose mother is from India and father is from Jamaica, polls well among Blacks, she also brings baggage with her, especially from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. It is the same baggage, most of which she gained as California's Attorney General, the state's chief prosecutor, that caused her to withdraw early from her presidential campaign.

As a decorated war veteran, losing both of her legs when an RPG hit the helicopter she was piloting in Iraq, her patriotism would be unquestionable. There is no comeback from Republicans when she calls Trump "Cadet Bone Spurs," a nickname she coined to describe the medical condition that Trump says made him ineligible for military service.

Most of Duckworth's legislative successes has been on a number of bills benefitting the military and veterans, which won bipartisan support. But last week, she co-sponsored the broad police accountability and reform bill introduced in the Senate, along with 34 other Democrats. Duckworth had previously sponsored a bill to enforce diversity training within law enforcement.

Her story is compelling. Her mother is Thai Chinese and her white American father, a retired Marine, worked on refugee and housing projects in varioius Southeast Asian countries.

At one point in her life, after her father lost her job and the family moved to Hawaii, the young Duckworth sold flowers on the roadside to help support her family. During that time, they had to subsist on government assistance. 

Veteran and Senator Tammy Duckworth at the WWII Memorial during a recent observance.

If there is one drawback to Duckworth if she was chosen by Biden -- she is basically unknown to the Black community. Democrats need Obama-like excitement from those voters to assure a Democratic victory up and down the ticket. However, Biden's high popularity with Black voters may negate the need for a running mate who mirrors his voting appeal

One more quality Duckworth has in her favor: She's a decent human being. For a country seeking a relief from the self-centered, lying and cheating that is a hallmark of the current administration, Duckworth seems to be that antidote.

But just because she's decent, doesn't mean she isn't afraid to fight back. 

After reports surfaced that Trump had received intelligence about a suspected Russian effort to pay bounties to the Taliban to kill US troops in Afghanistan, Duckworth was  sharply critical of the president.

“I am disgusted, flabbergasted,” Duckworth said in an MSNBC interview Monday. “He continues to put Russia’s interests above the well-being of American troops, and that is absolutely unacceptable.”

She's been particularly active on Twitter as of late, no longer waiting for a formal press release, she's shooting from the hip. For example, Tucker Carlson, who hosts the highest rated program on the conservative Fox News Network, suggested Monday that Duckworth "hates" America, the war veteran tweeted back. "Does @TuckerCarlson want to walk a mile in my legs and then tell me whether or not I love America?" Duckworth wrote.

No matter who Biden picks as his running mate, Duckworth vows to continue fight Trump. “I am coming from a place where I have the ability to push back on him in a way that someone who has not served can’t,” Duckworth said. “I’m not going to watch him bully other people when I can stand up and say, ‘I see you. You are a fake patriot. You are a coward, who did not serve his country when the country called. So, don’t talk to me about patriotism.’”

ASAM NEWS contributed to this report.

Coronavirus claims the lives of two 2 veteran Asian American journalists

Veteran journalists Brahm Kanchibhotla, left, and Anick Jesdanun

ASAM NEWS

Two long-time Asian American journalists passed away in New York City after being diagnosed with the coronavirus.

Brahm Kanchibhotla, a correspondent for United News of India died on the morning of April 6th after fighting against the novel coronavirus in a New York hospital for nine days.

His death follows that of 51-year old technology writer , Anick Jesdanun who died April 2.

The 66-year old Kanchibhotla emigrated to the US in 1992 after working for several publications in India. Throughout his 28-year career in the US, Kanchibhotla worked as a content editor for Merger Markets, a financial publication from 2007. He was also a senior correspondent for United News of India, a wire service based in New Delhi where he wrote about New York City’s economy and ethnic communities from 2001 to 2006.

Brahm Kanchibhotla son, Sudama Kanchibhotla told Live Mint that his father showed COVID-19 symptoms from March 23rd. Five days after his symptoms worsened, doctors admitted Brahm Kanchibhotla to a hospital on Long Island and immediately gave him an oxygen mask. His son said his father was then put on ventilator and on Monday died from cardiac arrest.

Brahman Kanchibhotla succumbed to the deadly pandemic, leaving his wife Anjana, son Sudama and daughter Siujana behind.

At the moment, the Kanchibhotlas are not sure how they will hold a funeral for Brahm because of COVID-19 restrictions in New York. “We have not set a date and it will have to be a very small gathering because only ten people are allowed at funerals,” Sudama told Live Mint.

The Asian American Journalists Association on Monday also announced the death of Jesdanun. Affectionately known as Nick, he covered technology for the Associated Press from the beginnings of the internet.

“He covered the rise of the internet with sharp insight and a sense of humor, closely reporting on the ways in which it changed our everyday lives, including his own,” said a statement from AAJA. “Nick worked at the AP bureaus in Philadelphia, Harrisburg and Washington, and was most recently based in New York.”

An avid runner, he completed 83 marathons, including one in Antarctica, reported the AP.

"Out of all the members of our family, Nick is the one who shouldn’t have succumbed to this virus," a cousin told Buzzfeed News. "But we would have been foolish to think he couldn’t."

As of Wednesday (April 8) morning, New York City, the hardest hit city in the US, reported 77,967 total cases of coronavirus, a 7.8% increase from Tuesday morning, according to city data. There have been 3,602 deaths from the virus as of Wednesday morning, 400 more than the prior day’s tally, a 12.5% jump.

Views From the Edge contributed to this report.

Former Miss Universe offers a helping hand to Thai American college students

ASAM NEWS

Former Miss Thai and Miss Universe Porntip Bui Simon awarded 41 students the annual Angels Wings Foundation scholarship. According to South China Morning Post, Simon founded the foundation herself.
After being crowned Miss Universe in 1988, Simon was humbled by schools and orphanages in her native land of Thailand.

“Some of the schools had chalkboards in the dirt,” said Simon who appeared humbled by the experience.

Some of these college students are attending the best institutions in the U.S. including MIT, Stanford and UCLA. In order to be considered for the scholarship, students must demonstrate financial need and a passion for their Thai heritage.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the Thai national anthem was played before the ceremony began.

The foundation held the ceremony in July at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills.

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Disney introduces TV's first Thai American lead character

Brenda Song and Matt Braly at Disney's Fan Fest last April.

ASAM NEWS

Animated series Amphibia premiered this week on Disney Channel and features Brenda Song voicing Anne Boonchuy, a Thai American teenager who gets transported to a mystical land of anthropomorphic amphibians.
“She has leaves in her hair. She’s missing a shoe. She’s blasé about everything,” Song said of the character Anne. “I was like, ‘Oh, my god, I kind of love her.'”

Song, who is Thai and Hmong, saw Anne as a chance to showcase her heritage through a role. Song is known for playing London Tipton in The Suite Life of Zack & Cody on Disney Channel.

“I remember [Song] during her audition, and she’s killing it,” said executive producer Matt Braly, who is half Thai. “One of the executives said to me, ‘You know, she’s also Thai.’ I remember being like, ‘I’m trying to evaluate the performance and that is just going to extremely bias me.’

“It’s always been a huge goal of mine to create a Thai character. From the very inception of Amphibia, I knew that Anne had to be Thai.”

The titular world of Amphibia is inspired by Braly’s own childhood summers in Bangkok. Anne’s messy appearance, with hair full of twigs and leaves, is based on a picture of Braly’s grandmother as a child.

“This amazing thing would happen every summer where, by the end of the trip, I wouldn’t want to leave,” said Braly. “This sensation of getting to a new place, getting very uncomfortable and slowly but surely adjusting was a sensation I wanted to bottle up for my own show.”

Song and Braly even called Braly’s mother for help to make sure Song pronounced Thai words in the script accurately.

“Something I really love about what we’re doing with the show is that we’re introducing our audience to a very specific culture, but she’s not defined by it,” said Song. “It’s just who she is.”

“These characters have different cultural backgrounds,” Braly added. “But it really is about this great universal story that anyone can hop in and enjoy.”

You can watch the full first episode here.

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Andrew Janz resets sights from Congress to Fresno Mayor

Andrew Janz during his 2018 Congressional campaign.

Politics is firmly in the blood of Andrew Janz, the Thai American who launched a serious challenge to one of Donald Trump's stanchest defenders in Congress.

Though he lost to incumbent Rep. Devin Nunes in the 2018 midterm elections, Janz did so much better than expected everyone -- his supporters and opponent -- thought he would try again in 2020.

Instead, the Fresno County violent crimes prosecutor has decided to run for Mayor of Fresno. “Time has shown that (incumbent Mayor Lee Brand) just doesn’t have what it takes to manage a city of this size. And I will admit, unlike him, I’m not a career politician,” Janz said in an interview with the Fresno Bee.

 “I’m not running for city manager. … The job of the mayor is to be the representative of the city – the person who speaks for and acts on behalf of the people that live here. And during my time running for Congress, I met thousands of people … and I know and I understand the needs of the people that live here.”

In response, Brand. a Republican, said, “I welcome the opportunity to have voters compare my well-earned experience and record of accomplishment, highlighted by creating over 5,000 good-paying jobs with benefits, to his complete lack of experience and a track record that consists of saying ‘I’m not Devin Nunes.’

Since his six-point loss to Nunes, Janz launched the Voter Protection Project to work nationwide combating voter suppression and targeting “bad actors” who are on the wrong side of the issue.

Janz's decision to run for mayor leaves the Democrats scrambling to find an opponent against the controversial and politically vulnerable Nunes.

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AAPI Vote 2018: First-time candidates fail to flip their Republican California districts

California's fertile Central Valley.

OUTSIDERS LOOK AT CALIFORNIA and see a Democratic  governor, state legislature, U.S. Senators and the home of Hollywood liberals, Silicon Valley progressives and San Francisco leftists. They see California as the bluest of blue states.

But the San Joaquin Valley, and parts of southern California have conservative voting patterns and conservative values that mirror the states in the Deep South and Midwest that saw Donald Trump as their savior.

Those conservative majorities were enough to defeat two promising Asian American candidates, Andrew Janz and TJ Cox. Both of the men have never run for office before. 

ANDREW JANZ

They were inspired to run against Trump and some of his policies and the division Trump espoused.

Deputy District Attorney Janz sought to unseat against Rep. Devin Nunes, Trump's primary defender in the House, and Cox went up against incumbent Rep. David Valadao

When it became apparent that Janz, a Thai American, could not overtake the Congressional District 21 incumbent, Janz gave his concession speech to his supporters. “I think that one of the most important takeaways of tonight is the fact that Devin Nunes is no longer going to be the House Intelligence Committee chairman,” he told to loud cheers.

Nunes' role as chair of the intelligence committee gave him a national profile as he ignored the committee's Democrats' pleas and openly sided with Trump's vision of the Russian investigation.

“Democracy only works when we have viable candidates running against each other, when we pit two ideas against one another,” Janz continued.. “We need to make sure we hold elected officials accountable. This is what this campaign is about.”

And perhaps we have not seen the last of Janz when he hinted: “We need to lay the groundwork for a new administration in 2020, and that fight begins here and now.”

TJ COX

Just south of Janz's district, District 21 was one Democrats saw as flippable so they brought in their big guns, including Gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom and former President Brack Obama, to campaign for Filipino American businessman TJ Cox.

It became apparent early in the evening of Nov. 6 that Rep. David Valadao was going to keep his seat, which he has held since 2012.

Cox’s campaign released a statement just after 11:30 p.m.: “I’m proud of the campaign that we ran and our message of working for the people to deliver health care, jobs and opportunity. There are still many votes to be counted and it’s important that everyone has the chance to have their voice heard.”

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AAPI Vote 2018: Devin Nunes' hometown newspaper endorses Thai American opponent

Former prosecutor Andrew Janz running against the odds.

FOR THE FIRST TIME in 16 years, The Fresno Bee is endorsing someone other than Republican incumbent Rep. Devin Nunes in the 22nd congressional district race. Instead, the Bee is endorsing first-time candidate Andrew Janz over the incumbent.
"Voters in the 22nd District ... can elect a representative who will both help them with their needs, listen to their concerns and invite them into the process, and chart a bipartisan course that the nation must find if it is to meet the challenges of the future. That leader is Andrew Janz," the paper's editorial board wrote about the former Deputy District Attorney.

"Voters can also choose Nunes and remain stuck with the damaging partisanship he practices, the party-above-country mode that motivates him to protect President Trump from the investigation into Russian meddling more than meet his constitutional obligations as an independent arm of government," the editorial continued. "Then there is his lack of regard for the needs of his part of California."

The Bee invited both candidates to interviews, but only Thai American Janz accepted. Relations between the newspaper and Nunes has been tense this campaign. The Republican has accused the newspaper of pushing a "leftist, liberal socialist." agenda. Last week, Nunes' campaign mailed out a 40-page pamphlet attacking the newspaper.

The newspaper points out that Nunes has not bothered to hold a town hall of public forum in years while Janz has been all over the district outworking Nunes, who prefers action in Washington. He has gained the reputation as one of Trump's most loyal defenders.

"Nunes," the Bee editorial points out, "voted along party lines in approving the House version of the American Health Care Act of 2017. It would have shrunk Medicaid by 15 million enrollees nationwide by 2026. Medicaid is the government program that covers low-income children, adults, seniors and people with disabilities, aiding one in five Americans. In Nunes’ district, 313,000 people were enrolled in Medi-Cal as of January. Of those, 74,000 would have immediately lost coverage, and all would have had their coverage impacted through loss of benefits or access to doctors. (Medi-Cal is California’s version of Medicaid)."

District 22 is in the heart of California's San Joaquin Valley's agricultural center and includes parts of Fresno and Sanger and Visalia.

The important endorsement comes a day after a poll taken in mid-September showed that among likely voters, Nunes led Janz 53 to 45 percentage points. That lead, apparently is large enough to make the Democratic Party spend its money in closer races. Janz is not getting any help from the party. Republicans also have an edge in voter registration.

The political website fivethirtyeight, gives Janz's chances to pull an upset at 1:40.

Janz has been able to raise a sizable campaign chest, over $7 million, on his own, the majority in small donations. Nevertheless, Nunes has more money for the home stretch. Most of his money came from outside the district.

“Look, I am not a career politician,” Janz said in a Sept. 5 interview with The Bee. “I am not a political pundit. All I can do is my best. All can do is go out there and talk to voters.”

Read the entire op-ed at The Fresno Bee.


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Sen. Duckworth remembers fellow veteran, Sen. McCain

SCREEN CAPTURE / MSNBC

SEN. TAMMY DUCKWORTH

AS A FELLOW VETERAN, Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth, had a special bond with the late Sen. John McCain.

Although elected to the Senate a little more than a year ago, Duckworth met McCain years before she was elected to office, Duckworth was recovering from her injuries when her helicopter was shot down in Iraq.

She described her first meeting with McCain in an interview with NPR's Ailsa Chang.

"There I was just a couple months after having been so severely wounded. And I was sitting on the therapy bed. And it's a room full of war-wounded and most of us amputees missing one, two or even three limbs, sitting on these mats, going through our physical therapy. And he was walking around the room. It was a little bit notable because I was one of the few women.

"And he came, and he sat down next to me on the therapy bed. And we got to talking. And they introduced me. And then they said, you know, this is Captain Duckworth. She was shot down. She's a helicopter pilot," recalled Duckworth, who is Asian American. "And I said, you know, Sir, you're a great hero to me, Senator McCain. And he said, well, you and I both - you know, we have something in common. I said - you know, of course, here I am, just in awe of this great man, this hero.

"And I was hanging on to see what he was going to say," she smiled. "And he said, you know, we both flew into missiles and rockets. That didn't take a lot of - that didn't take any talent at all. Now what you do to recover is what matters.

"I had, like, done this whole build-up talking with him about how he was my hero and everything. And he said, well, I just flew into a rocket, and so did you, and that didn't take any talent. Like, OK, well, yeah, you're right.Falling out of the sky - this is not a talented thing to do," laughed Duckworth at the recollection.

"That's the thing about John McCain. He had kind of a subversive sense of humor," she said.

After McCain's death from cancer Saturday (Aug. 25), Duckworth sent out this statement:
“My heart is heavy today as I join countless Americans across our country in mourning the loss of one of our nation’s greatest leaders and statesmen, one of my personal heroes, Senator John McCain. Throughout his life – as a Naval Aviator, a Prisoner of War who endured years of torture, a Congressman, and a six-term Senator – John repeatedly showed how anything is possible when armed with determination, a deep sense of patriotism and an unbreakable will.

“His refusal to give up in the face of adversity inspired me when I was a mission-less helicopter pilot with no legs recovering at Walter Reed. In fact, I met him there for the first time when he visited us Wounded Warriors. He joked that he and I both flew into a missile and that didn’t take much skill. It’s what you do afterwards that matters. His unyielding optimism showed me there was a way to continue serving my country and to advance the core values of the nation that we both fought to protect. His integrity and commitment to putting country above all else as an elected official is an example I have tried to embrace during the comparatively short time I have had the honor of holding political office.

“I will forever treasure the privilege of working with John McCain in the Senate—even if it was only for a short time—and I will be forever grateful for the sacrifices he made in service to the greatest country the world has ever known. I hope the heights he reached and the life he led can be a lesson to us all about the power of perseverance and the ability of every American to overcome any challenge and make our country a better place.”

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Sen. Duckworth's pregnancy challenges the U.S. Senate

Sen. Tammy Duckworth often takes her daughter through the halls of Congress.

IT'S APPROPRIATE that Sen. Tammy Duckworth is championing the issue of paid family leave.

“Across our nation, working parents face barriers to staying in the workforce," she wrote in a CNN commentary. "Lack of access to affordable child care and to paid family, medical and parental leave forces people to choose between taking care of their children or a sick family member and losing their job and their health insurance.”

Duckworth, who announced her pregnancy last month, will soon become the first senator to give birth while in office. While she plans to take 12 weeks of paid leave, according to her interview on the latest episode of Politico’s Women Rule podcast, she doesn’t think she can “technically take maternity leave.”

A pregnant senator presents new questions and potential conflicts that the Senate has never before considered. For example, Duckworth says that if she takes maternity leave, she “won’t be allowed to sponsor legislation or vote during that time period.”

There’s also a rule against bringing children onto the Senate floor, which could potentially cause problems for Duckworth.

“You are not allowed to bring children onto the floor of the Senate at all,” says the Thai/American who gave birth to her first daughter when she was serving in the House of Representatives. “If I have to vote, and I’m breastfeeding my child, especially during my maternity leave period, what do I do? Leave her sitting outside?”

Rights for the working woman seem to have stalled over the past generation. Since the passage of the Family Medical Leave Act in 1993, only those who work for government or large companies could have enjoyed the protection.

“At the time," says Duckworth, "it was an important step forward for our country, but it is nowhere near enough. For instance, the law is not comprehensive; many workers across the country are ineligible under the law and don’t qualify to receive unpaid time off, and the FMLA does little to help Americans who cannot afford to take unpaid time off.”

The United States remains the only industrialized nation without paid family leave.

“Paid family leave is an elite benefit in the U.S.," according to a report from PL+US,  "94% of low-income working people have no access to paid family leave. Unequal paid family leave policies at the nation’s largest retail employers hits low-income and households of color the hardest.”

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Thai American med student joins DACA lawsuit vs. Trump administration

INSTAGRAM

Jirayut Latthivongskorn wants to change the world and improve health systems.

A THAI/AMERICAN medical student is one of the six DACA participants suing the Trump administration.

The suit, filed today (Sept. 18) in San Francisco federal court, is the first to be brought by beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program since U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced earlier this month that the Obama-era policy would start winding down in March 2018, according to Garcia’s lawyers.

"Today, I join as one of the co-plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Trump administration," wrote Jirayut (“New”) Latthivongskorn in his Instagram account.

"Just like how undocumented youth stood up to fight and won the original DACA, it is critical that we, the ones directly affected, are central to our current fight," wrote Jirayut. "Excited to be able to contribute to the chance of stopping the rescission of DACA for 800,000 undocumented folks! Rest assured we will defend DACA AND call on Congress to pass a long term solution that does not further criminalize our communities."

The legal claims in all of the cases, including Garcia‘s, are similar: that the Trump administration did not follow proper administrative procedure in rescinding DACA, and that making enforcement promises to a group of people, only to revoke them, violates due process.

Jirayut was brought to the United States from Thailand when he was nine. He is now a fourth year medical student at University of California San Francisco and a master’s degree candidate in public health at Harvard. 

His DACA work authorization expires in January 2019. Jirayut's medical residency is not set to begin until a few months after that, and could be impossible if he loses his authorization to work legally.

“I have all these big ideas about how I want to change the world and change systems around health care,” he said. “The fact I might not be able to get there is troubling and frustrating.”

Since Obama authorized DACA by Executive Order in 2012, the program has provided protection from deportation and the right to work legally to nearly 800,000 young people. 

Jirayut joins five other plaintiffs, all originally from Mexico, include one licensed attorney, a therapist, a law students and two teachers:

• Dulce Garcia, a San Diego attorney, was brought to the U.S. from Mexico when she was 4, 
• Viridiana Chabolla Mendoza, a Pomona College graduate who is now a first-year law student at UC Irvine. Her family brought her from Mexico to the U.S. when she was 2.
• Norma Ramirez is a Ph.D. candidate in clinical psychology from the Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena. Since 2016, she has worked at an outpatient clinic in Monrovia, providing school- and home-based therapy to patients in English and Spanish. Her parents brought her to the U.S. from Mexico when she was 5.
• Miriam Gonzalez Avila, a teacher at Crown Preparatory Academy, an unaffiliated LAUSD charter school in the Jefferson neighborhood of Los Angeles. A 2016 UCLA graduate, she is earning a master’s degree in urban education, policy and administration from Loyola Marymount University. Her family brought her to the U.S. from Mexico when she was 6 years old.
• Saul Jimenez Suarez, a former college football player who is now a special education teacher, coach, and mentor in Los Angeles. His family brought him to the U.S. when he was 1 year old.

He graduated from the University of California-Berkeley, with a bachelor’s degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology. Throughout college, he funded his education with part-time jobs and private scholarships while staying involved in groups such as the Thai Student Association, Resident Hall Assembly, and the AB540 Coalition on campus. 

RELATED:

• Meet more Asian/American DREAMers 
• Read more about Jirayut's journey to become an activist

Off-campus, he served as a first co-chair of ASPIRE (Asian Students Promoting Immigrant Rights through Education) at Asian Law Caucus, where he advocated and fought for the passage of the federal and the CA DREAM Act of recent years. As a New American Scholar of Educators for Fair Consideration, a nonprofit organization supporting students in higher education, he shares his personal immigration experience to portray a different side of “DREAMers.”

In April of this year, Jirayut received a 2017 U.S. Public Health Service mission to "protect, promote and advance the health and safety of our Nation.

Although a majority of the DACA beneficiaries are Latino, there are about 17,000 Asian/Americans in the DACA program.

Though Asians account for a significant and growing population of undocumented immigrants in the United States, they had some of the lowest application rates to DACA. Only about 20% of the eligible Korean population applied, and only 23% of eligible Filipinos and 20% of eligible Indians applied, according to the Migration Policy Institute. But 82% of eligible Mexicans applied.

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LOL - Trump blocks Chrissy Teigen

CHRISSY TEIGEN has joined an exclusive club. Donald Trump has blocked her on Twitter!

This - apparently - was the last straw.

There's no love lost. The super model and social media queen is not losing any sleep over it.

The Lip Sync Battle hostess, who is part Thai, and her husband singer John Legend have been trolling Trump for years, even before he ran for president.

Speaking to USA Today in February, Teigen said she has "actually been a big Donald Trump hater [for a long time]. I've been trolling him for about five to seven years now. I've been doing this forever, and I take pride in that."

Things got serious for Teigen when Trump declared his candidacy for president.

And then, Donald Trump became the White House occupant.

Teigen is the latest high-profile star to be blocked by the POTUS, joining Rosie O'Donnell and Stephen King. Some Twitter users who've been blocked have filed a lawsuit in federal court, arguing that the president can't stop people from communicating with him, reports The Washington Post.

Tiger only wonders - why did it take so long?

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