Category Archives: news

Emil Guillermo: Obama’s final State of the Union could have been great had the nation been ready for Obama

I kept shaking my head.  That’s SMH, for those into social media.

President Obama did some great things during his first seven years, but they will always be shortchanged as long as the politics in this country stays as it is.

The president, you’ll recall,  was the nation’s first African American president, and has the middle name Hussein.

And that’s why he had to remind the country about the fear of change and the fear of foreigners this week.

It was an appeal to diversity in our democracy before it’s too late.

Read my whole column on the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund blog.

 

 

Emil Guillermo: Obama says regulating guns is our “shared responsibility.” So why don’t we see more Asian American voices included in the gun debate? That CNN Town Hall was like a Lions Club meeting in a white suburb. Asian Americans are 5% of the nation, and 20% of the most noted mass killings since 1984.

Really. What does it take for a little more inclusion.

See my piece on the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund blog

I saw just one Asian American.

It was like watching a network cop drama or legal drama and seeing a juror. Or person walking by.

But we know Asian Americans are not immune to gun violence in America.

(Oh, there’s one! An Asian American in the back? Next to the bald guy….).

See my piece at http://www.aaldef.org/blog

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Emil Guillermo: Trumping Kim Jong Un’s “bomb” claim in news cycle, Trump says, “China should solve that problem.” So a Trump presidency’s foreign policy on a big issue like N.Korea is essentially a business solution: You outsource it. And then he tells CNN, he’d get Mexico to help pay to build his wall or tax their trade. Talk radio campaign stuff.

It’s all business with Trump. China can handle North Korea? “They can handle it so easily,” he says to CNN. “They’re taunting us.” Trump’s answer is to use the leverage of taxing trade.

Trump laughs at the politicians who think he’s kidding. And then on his wall along the Mexican border, says Mexico will have to pay for it. Or he’ll put tariffs on trade. Everything is easy with Trump. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy in real life.

Emil Guillermo: U.S. disputes Kim Jong Un’s bomb size. Yes, it’s come to that. When is an H-bomb a Hoax bomb? When it lacks the visual punch of a hydrogen fusion explosive and more of the smaller footprint of an atomic fission bomb. But either is a big birthday candle for Kim who turns 33 on Jan. 8.

When is an H-bomb a Hoax bomb?  The U.S. says the size is inconsistent with hydrogen bombs, and more like fission type atomic bombs.  So a bomb isn’t always a BOMB.

And this may be Kim’s way to have one foot in the news cycle, a step ahead of Donald Trump.