Blog

I keep thinking of Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ), who made the front page of the Wall Street Journal as he went to his knees to pick up the pieces in the Capitol after the Jan. 6 insurrection. Two weeks later, we’re all still picking up the shards of our shattered democracy. And as we reassemble for a more virtual inaugural, it’s hard to imagine how much damage has been done to our country, not just in the last two weeks, but the last four years.

Here I am 3,000 miles away from a troop-fortified DC, in my own demilitarized zone of the U.S., and from here, the peaceful transfer of power PT—Post-Trump—sure doesn’t look like America.

When I attended the first Obama Inaugural, it was so freezing cold, my fingers turned white and numb at all the public events. But there was still a warmth and exuberance, from the throngs of people, of all ages, races, and political persuasions. The talk of unity and hope was real.

It didn’t last four years, but at least people listened to each other during inaugural week.

Today, we are witnessing a strange kind of history. We are at such a low point, we need to be reminded how great this country is again. But it’s a Covid inaugural, where flags stand in the mall instead of people. Instead of joy and excitement, there’s a solemn emptiness. Add Tuesday’s remembrance of those claimed by the virus to the fear of Trump insurrectionists, and you see how damaged our country is.

And yet, we should be happy, simply because we were able to vote out the one man who was the gravest threat to our country—the soon to be ex-president of the U.S.

Because of him, things are so different now. And now we begin the great undoing.

The executive orders rescinding the Muslim travel ban, immigration, DACA, the environment, you name it. All of it.

Whatever bell Trump rang, we must now unring.

Trump still has a few things to do. Like issue hundreds of pardons, although we’re told he won’t be pardoning himself. That would implicate guilt.

But first, I thought I’d send a letter to Donald Trump. He’s still banned from Twitter, after all, and for what he did to us, he deserves a personal note:

Dear Mr. President For Not Very Much Longer:

I know you’re busy and had to leave Washington early, though for some of us not soon enough.

Still, it wasn’t like you were a “thief in the night.” It was broad daylight, and at least you’re leaving on a nice rental–Air Force One. (Please, don’t forget to clean up and leave the spare key.)

In honor of the dying gasps of your presidency, I thought we’d try something new to commemorate the occasion: a letter (and not a resignation letter) from an Asian American not married to Mitch McConnell.

I think both Mr. and Mrs. Mitch McConnell hate you now. Me? I am merely frequently intolerant (Not enough to make your enemies list, sadly.)

But McConnell now has said publicly that the insurrectionists were “provoked by the president.” Wow. That just improved your chances of conviction in the second impeachment trial.

Congratulations! You shall be the worst!

It’s your destiny with history, even though I know you shy away from the historical showbiz part of politics. Inaugurals? Pshaw! Kissing new first ladies? You had Stormy Daniels. And as we know, you prefer to grab more than peck on the cheek.

And then there’s shaking hands with the incoming POTUS. I know, in a pandemic? You’re just doing some of that smart social distancing.

Your early exit is understandable. Can’t miss a tee time.

Still, it’s a shame that it doesn’t appear you left a letter to the next white guy-in-chief. As you know, it’s one of those traditions. I know you probably did something more personal, or a touch prankish, like locking all the White House TVs to Fox. Ah, the Trump touch. You jokester.

Back to this letter idea. President Obama did take the time and left you a letter. And wasn’t it a nice lift on your first day to get a note from the man who gave you your first mega-conspiracy, birtherism?

What grace your arch enemy showed to leave you some wise advice for the future.

“We are just temporary occupants of this office,” Obama wrote. “That makes us guardians of those democratic institutions and traditions — like rule of law, separation of powers, equal protection and civil liberties — that our forebears fought and bled for. Regardless of the push and pull of daily politics, it’s up to us to leave those instruments of our democracy at least as strong as we found them.”

And look at how wonderfully wise you were to ignore every single word Obama left for you.

So I am offering to draft a letter to Biden for you. Gratis. You were my president. I wrote speeches for a congressman. And I will keep it to well under a tweet (which, unfortunately, you’re still banned from, but I would be happy to let you use my @emilamok or @AAPundit).

Here’s the letter:

Dear Joe:

I won. By a landslide.

C’est tout, as your pal Macron might say. It’s you. And all of it memorializing, the biggest of the more than 30,000 lies you’ve told during the presidency.

There is none bigger.

We can leave it tucked under the frame of Andrew Jackson in the oval office. Or in the mouth of a stuffed effigy of Mike Pence. (Does that exist? Or is it just my imagination?)

And you can sign it with your choice of expletive, and with that signature of yours (the one that looks like an abstract of three hooded Klansmen riding in a posse coming for “others”).

It’s the same signature used on all those executive orders that ravaged traveling Muslims, immigrants, people of color, DACA recipients, all the “others” you don’t like.

If only you wrote out “Chinese Virus” and “Kung Flu,” we’d have those damning words in your hand. But it was only spoken. All Asian Americans felt the sting each time.

Just think, all of that was in defiance of Obama’s words. You showed him.

America and democracy is so much worse than you found it.

For a while, lie when you gassed the BLM folks so you could hold up a bible, it seemed like you were heading for martial law. Those of us whose ancestral homes have experienced autocratic rule recognized it from the start. You came close. Add the racism and xenophobia, and you had the great recipe.

But time ran out and you left the country where insurrection is a real fear and where at least true Trumpers like Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz, and Josh Hawley know the next step–if only they had the courage of your hair color.

You leave America doubting itself, its institutions, and its abilities. Lying about a stolen election was your master stroke. Putin couldn’t have done a better job to make American citizens hate their own country and want to take it down.

But now I’m rambling like you at your rallies.

Consider the speech offer. Good luck on life’s 19th hole.

And if you need a suggestion for the Trump library (Or will you just have a Trump Comic Con?), you really just need one book: The Turner Diaries, by William Luther Pierce, about how a race war and the extermination of whites fuel the violent overthrow of the federal government. Wow. Art imitates life. You would be the life part, not the art.

By the way. America just surpassed 400,000 Coronavirus deaths. An historical moment to go with your 30,000 lies. 74 million votes, the most ever in a losing cause. Double Impeachments.

What a baseball card you would have had.

Wish you had been a better president.

Cordially,
An Asian American citizen

DASHING OFF THAT LETTER. . .
. . .was like a cleanse. After four years, what would be better for unity, but for all of us to jump in the reflecting pool and bathe.

After four years of Trump, we could all use a bath.

Trump didn’t leave a letter. But he did record a video.

“This week we inaugurate a new administration and pray for its success in keeping America safe and prosperous,” the president said. “We extend our best wishes. And we also want them to have luck, a very important word.”

That was the most empathetic and least self-serving thing he said. He used the word “luck.”

How was he able to do all that he did, that would have sunk any other politician? I guess he’ll find his luck has run out.

And maybe ours is just beginning. Joe Biden is starting his first day going to a Catholic Mass. Prayer may beget luck.

But let’s be optimistic. Both he and Harris are saying the right things, and both seem poised for all that’s needed for the great undoing.