By Emil Guillermo
Emil Amok’s Takeout: What does an Asian American think about?
Kamala Harris gave her closing argument on the DC Ellipse, the
same place Donald Trump urged his followers to commit an act of
insurrection.
Harris mentioned Jan. 6, but she didn’t have to.
That’s when Donald Trump showed Americans how little he cares
about the country and our democracy when he stood back and
watched the violence he instigated on TV. Six people, including
one police officer died because of that day. 174 police were
among the injured. Trump dishonored the presidency and doesn’t
deserve your vote. A Trump ad running on TV says, “Donald
Trump will keep us safe.” Don’t count on it.
At the Ellipse, Harris once again talked about how Trump has an
“enemies list” and how she, in service to all voters, has a “to do
list.”
Voters should make your own list comparing Harris and Trump.
Check it twice.
Here’s mine:
She’s Asian American like me, born in the Bay Area, from middle
class Oakland. He’s privileged and white from Silver Spoon, New
York.
She’s a former top cop and prosecutor. He’s the convicted felon,
34 counts.
She’s been a DA, AG, U.S. Senator, and Vice President, more than
qualified to lead our country. He was the unqualified winner of
the presidency in 2016, and has been deemed by historians as the
worst, most ill-informed and stupidest president in U.S. history.
She has received the endorsement of the president she hopes to
replace. He has the majority of his top aides, including his former
vice president, voting against him.
She is advocating a bipartisan approach to immigration and
border issues. He wants to empower ICE to round up all
undocumented persons and put them in camps.
She wants to work with Republicans and those who may disagree
with her toward a consensus. He doesn’t know that word and
wants to use the military to round up those who disagree with
him, “the enemy within.”
For me, the most shocking comparison?
Kamala Harris is not a fascist nor a would-be dictator. Trump says
he’d be a dictator on day one. And now his former chief of staff
General John Kelly says Trump fits the definition of a fascist, one
who has praised Adolf Hitler, and said the Nazi leader “did some
good things.”
AND STILL WE’RE TIED?
Surprisingly, the race remains in a virtual tie in all the latest
opinion polls.
A tie implies that Harris and Trump are so alike there’s no
discernable difference between the two.
We know that isn’t true.
Over the weekend, I was talking to one of my in-laws who is a
Trump voter. I asked him about the Hitler/fascist stories about
Trump in the last week. I asked him about the racist hate rally
Trump had on Sunday.
His response: “Has it moved the needle?”
What will it take?
Last Sunday, Donald Trump found a way to deflect all those new
“f” word charges that hang around his neck like a medallion of
Hitler’s head.
He’s hoping you’ll forget his fascist tendencies by surrounding
himself with racist, sexist hate talk that is vile and vulgar.
His best defense is to share the stage with his mignons who call
Kamala Harris a prostitute; Hilary Clinton a b—tch; And then there
was Tucker Carlson purposefully misidentifying Harris as a
“Samoan, Malaysian” and not of South Asian Indian descent.
And this was supposed to make us all feel better about a second
Trump presidency?
THE RALLY DOPPELGANGER AND THE MOST OFFENSIVE JOKES
For longtime political watchers it had to be like attending their
first soft Klan rally. This was a non-hooded, but still offensive
gathering. Some observers saw it eerily similar to the second
coming of a neo-Nazi assembly at the old Madison Square Garden
in 1939.
The most offensive and ill-advised joke/comment came from Tony
Hinchcliffe, the comedian/host of the podcast “Kill Tony.” He’s
become a key gatekeeper of young comedians who seek his blessing to launch their careers. In the comedy world, Hinchcliffe
is seen as a king maker.
But on Sunday, Hinchcliffe’s “Kill Tony” magic was more like “Kill
Trump” as he rocked the political world with this joke: “There’s
literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean
right now, trash in the middle of the ocean and I think it’s called
Puerto Rico.”’
It’s a joke that could cost Trump the presidency.
In the battleground state of Pennsylvania alone there are nearly
500,000 Puerto Ricans. Nationwide, there are about 5.9 million
Puerto Ricans in the U.S. If they’re naturalized, they can vote. But
if they live on the island, Puerto Ricans are second class
Americans who have no vote and no representation in Congress.
Either way, there’s nothing funny about Puerto Rico’s status. The
joke was offensive.
Blacks didn’t get away unscathed as Hinchcliffe told a watermelon
joke. In 2024.
Trump had a chance to apologize for it all but didn’t. On Tuesday
he called the Garden event, “a love fest, an absolute love fest.”
Just like he referred to Jan. 6.
To top it off, Trump called Harris the candidate of hate.
The man is not well.
Certainly, we’ve all seen enough to break the tie.
Trump talks about what voters should fear, immigrants and fellow
Americans.
At the Ellipse on Tuesday night, Harris talked about “pleading to
seek common ground and common-sense solutions to make your
life better.”
She tied it to her vision of “those united in our pursuit of freedom,
and our belief in fairness and decency, and our faith in a better
future America.”
When does Trump talk like that? Or like this.
“America, for too long, we have been consumed with too much
division, chaos, and mutual distrust,” Harris said in her appeal to
undecided voters. “It doesn’t have to be this way…We have to
stop pointing fingers and start locking arms.”
If you haven’t already voted, or aren’t registered, you can still
register and vote provisionally on election day in California, and in
many other states. (Check your secretary of state’s web page for
details).
In this election, your vote really matters if the needle is to move
democracy’s way.
The opinion expressed is the writers and not AsAmNews. Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. See his micro-talk
show on www.patreon.com/emilamok. He performs an excerpt
from his Emil Amok Monologues, “Transdad,” Nov. 4 and 18th at
the Marsh, 1062 Valencia St, San Francisco. Tickets here.
AsAmNews is published by the non-profit, Asian American Media Inc.
We are supported through donations and such charitable organizations as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. All donations are tax deductible and can be made here.
Please purchase your tickets to our fundraiser Up Close with Connie Chung, America’s first Asian American to anchor a nightly network newscast. The in-depth conversation with Connie will be held November 14 at 7:30 at Columbia University’s Milbank Chapel in the Teacher’s College. All proceeds benefit AsAmNews.
