Greetings, Hunter!! Hope this email finds you well. Happy Spring! While catching up on newspaper reading, thinking of you and Uncle Jim.
You should not be distracted by random media articles. You need to help Uncle Joe run for President. Your father really should run for 2020 for this country.
He will be one of the best presidents in our country’s history! I truly think so, especially after reading the wonderful books he wrote. Not only for our country and for American people, his party, also for Beau and for the spirit of your family, he really should run!
Not sure if you got the messages I left for you. You are a good person, but the problem is you don’t communicate and led to all sorts of misunderstanding especially when mixed messages and actions by other people in between caused more confusion. Please do not try to reach me through a third party, especially when what I wanted to tell you may never reach you or taken out of context, and similarly what was your intention might be misrepresented to me. I have already cut any association with such third party/person.
I wrote to you about business and 2020 election months ago, but never heard back from you. Once again, here are a few thoughts I would like to share with you, and with a few updates from this week’s news. Please see below and attached.
On another note, I reached out to you multiple times last year (see whatsup, wechat, text and phone message) regarding the delivery of your doggie chain and holiday/birthday package. I safe kept your belonging for you as promised. I don’t think it is appropriate to drop off to a third party given the risk of miscommunication as happened in the past. How about I will either deliver it to you in person at your convenience or FedEx to a designated address where you can receive it directly?
We could have been very good friends and trusted partners as based on all the astrology and numerology reads I firmly believe in, but unfortunately with the confusion and misunderstanding arose from other people in between us back then, amidst you were too busy to have much time to get to know me. Nevertheless, I just don’t want to regret that I didn’t do my part to try to sweep away the misunderstanding clouding over us, didn’t tell my friend how much I value our friendship and treasure my relationship with a good person.
I’m wr iting to you as a friend expressing my gratitude for the kindness and generosity you have once showed me – I want to share some candid thoughts with you as I want to be helpful to you but not sure what I can say or do to help, so here comes a “stream of consciousness” on topics from business to election I wanna share with you.
You can always count on me as a trustworthy friend wishing you all the best from afar.
“Look as long as you can at the friend you love, no matter whether that friend is moving away from you or coming back toward you” Rumi.
Hunter, Ignore Media Nonsense!
Focus on Priority = Support Your Father
1. Whoever you date/hangout is your personal matter, and it is your freedom. Your personal life has nothing to do with your business outside of your household. More importantly, your personal life has nothing to do with your father. Regardless who you are, your personal space and your freedom in personal life deserve to be respected and protected. Don’t let bad people abuse every small gossip they can find to distract you. There is an adage that says if someone wants to find fault in you, they will always find a way, no matter what you do. Why care about what they say?
2. Maybe some people feel entitled to criticize their leader/president’s marital life, but they should not disturb the private life of president’s children and relatives, unless you are Donald Trump who practices nepotism obsessively by granting his family members top security clearance and promoting his children into key posts/government positions.
3. You should be proud of your work as a lawyer and as a business executive. Through my work with you, I could tell you are a righteous person always interested in helping others and helping this country through your involvement in the business world. You were helping American companies and American entrepreneurs to make money in energy, agriculture, real estate, and sectors that our national policy promotes exports and investments globally. You have contributed to “Made in America” for this country’s best interest.
You treat your business partners not only fairly, but try to find the best solution with everyone’s interest in mind, even sometimes that sacrifices your own interest. No matter how experienced and gifted businessman you are, you will always stumble upon bad deals, dishonest individuals, or bad people who took advantage of you, and run into incompetent partners who cause burdens without your knowledge. These people’s conduct has nothing to do with you.
Trump advocate’s stupid book with exaggeration and fabrication on your business connection with Chinese or that NYTimes article mentioning a retired Hong Kong official trying to reach you/Uncle Jim when need help have no relevance whatsoever! “Fake friends”, “acquaintance of all sorts”, and even strangers, may have access to your contact info, so what? In business, you have no control over your counterparties’ action, you can’t predict the conduct of random businessmen who claim to “know you well” either. Some folks love to “namedrop” and call your number simply because of a casual conversation in public events, your attendance of formal business engagement, or after meeting in conferences. Nevertheless, as with any professionals or business executives, you are obligated to attend such functions/events and meet people from all walks of life from diverse cultures.
If there is anyone who deserve to be scrutinized for doing business with Chinese, it would be Donald Trump:
§ Trump real estate selling American citizenship cheaply to corrupted Chinese officials. He and his rich real estate friends’ “visa for rich” immigration program led rich + legal immigrates abuse U. S. social welfare (while those who really need the help couldn’t get any)!
§ Trump’s easygoing with Chinese “state-owned enterprise” ZTE amidst opposition from Congress
§ Trump also let China go easy on human rights violation…
Plus
§ Trump association with Chinese owner of Florida prostitution parlor
Further, his trade war with China has been a complete failure thus far, resulting in tremendous loss to Americans (from American farmers/energy companies, to enterprises across spectrum, to average people). As of now, we have the highest trade deficit in 30 years, but ironically China has not changed a single thing on unfair business practice and intellectual property thievery that have been going on for decades! Even if a look-good-on-paper agreement is reached, it will take years for China to enforce properly + the damage and expense already incurred (but could have been avoided).
I could agree with Trump that it is the right direction to re-evaluate China and prevent another country take advantage of the U. S., but Trump is so inexperienced with execution! By the way, keep in mind, before Trump, it was President Obama and your father’s administration who initiated this effort of curtail China’s global influence, and it was Democrats’ initiative to fight against Huawei espionage under President Obama and your father’s administration. The critics who first raise concerns about China’s raise to power and about trade are primarily Democrats. Trump should not take credit from the administration before him + play the China card to gain popularity. (If we were really to play the China card and debate on policy toward China, Blue should have the upper hand. Lastly, the mistakes made on China policy should really trace back to Republican era of Nixon/Kissinger and the Bushes were all pro-China, more so than anyone else.)
Last word on the trade war, we have a hand of good cards to start with, but Trump didn’t use it well, at least not fully utilize it, with his inexperience in diplomacy/international affairs, his arrogance and overconfidence, his poor strategy and subpar execution. I don’t mean to be arrogant, but I really think even I have better ideas than him and could have done much better negotiating for America.
Uncle Joe 2020
Lead by example
Running for 2020 is not about winning, it is about presenting constructive, alternative (better) solutions that our country needs to hear, and it is about inspiring other leaders / next generation of politicians to do something and have their voice heard as Uncle Joe exemplifies through action.
Bring back sensibility
The positions taken by current Democratic candidates are too radical – full of empty promises and unrealistic proposals to grab attention. People from conservative Asian cultures start to look at our democratic election as a joke or some sort of reality TV drama. We need experienced politicians to bring back some good sense back. Democratic party needs a wise elderly to unify and to lead.
Most qualified
Your father’s experience, character, wisdom, reputation, and leadership make him the most qualified person for the job of president. A lot of people we can’t stand Trump anymore.
Trump, despite of his age, still acts like a kid and he is so “blind” (arrogant + ignorant). Shut down the government for his border wall is merely one example of his backward thinking and immaturity. Constructing a border wall is worse than throwing money down the drain. Besides this border wall proposal, if you count this wall as an “infrastructure”, I don’t see how he is helping this country updating our infrastructure.
Yes, illegal immigration, and even loop-holes within legal immigration process, should be addressed, but we need someone who can address these issues smartly and practically. Immigration reform is not a showmanship of photogenic walls, especially in today’s digital world, with sophisticated transportation and communication tools, it does not require people to jump over a wall to committee crime, and when conmen could enter this country legally to defraud our community resource, they don’t need to jump over a border fence. The Chinese spent more than a hundred years to build and upgrade their Great Wall to keep out “barbarians”, but how come China was ruled then colonized by “barbarians” for over 500 years (Mongolians, Manchurians, Europeans, Japanese, etc.) and the wall didn’t stop various small to large scale invasions by “barbarians” throughout Chinese history? USSR built Berlin Wall, but what happened to the Berlin Wall and to USSR in less than three decades since the wall construction?
Trump is not focusing on the right issue and not using the right approach. His inefficient and ineffective way of doing things can lead this country onto the wrong path.
With age, comes wisdom
Frankly, before I thought age is a big obstacle against Uncle Joe, but not anymore. Hey, if Trump is running at his age, why not Uncle Joe? Winston Churchill was already 77 when he started his second term PM. Further, Mahathir—whom I and Asians respect highly but thought that he is too old—was sworn into office at the age of 92 (surprise to many people)! Now I understand age is just another superficial factor (like appearance, skin color, and gender) that doesn’t mean anything. What matters the most is what you can do for your country and for your people.
Take Malaysia Prime Minister, Mahathir bin Mohamad as an example, at the age of 92, I have more respect to him than if he were a younger president. At his age, he is entitled to choose an easy life, but thinking of what is best for his country and what he could help to make things better for his people, he made the challenging decision of running for office. Like him, Uncle Joe is the same kind of selfless leader.