1. I grew up in an odd family. My parents lived in Shanghai during the post-war period in the final years of the long Chinese Civil War. My dad liked Chiang Kai-shek knew him well. My mom did not. The one thing they both agreed on was that the Sung family was corrupt.
2. My dad also insulted Madam Chiang and she had him breifly declared PNG. So, as I approached my 16th year around the time of the Tet Offensive, I had a unique view of revolution that has shaped my views ever since. I did not support the war in Vietnam. I did, however, support
3. our troops, respected our flag and voiced my dissent. My position was consistent with the views that were part of my upbringing: corruption destroys revolutions and America was foolish to not engage with socialist revolutions like the Viet Mihn and instead permit a foreign
4. policy to develop, heavily influenced by archaic views of the developing world born out of the John Birch Society's warped view of humanity & the poor. I remain firm, that democracies inherently avoid aggression & authoritarian non-democratic regimes are compelled towards it.
5. As @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris set off on what will be an epic journey, I hope they stop for a moment and ponder why people fled Central America with their families, risking everything including their lives. It's because our pre & post United Fruit policy in Central America
6. has created a nightmare of corruption, crime and neglect that has resulted in the genocide of indigenous people who looked to America and its pledge to welcome refugees, but we abandoned them. First, by not addressing the underlying causes of immigration from Central America
7. and then second by compounding the misery of people in a burning building who to simply sought to escape. Donald Trump's stain on America's honor well be long lasting if we don't start where he failed start, by addressing the underlying reasons people become refugees.
8. And as part of that, we should finally accept and encourage democratic revolution that seeks to overturn the status quo when that includes the corrupt and brutal nightmare that the people in Central America have been forced to endure.
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