Category Archives: politics

Emil Guillermo: Check out my new blog on the AALDEF site…

It’s my privilege to associate with the  Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, in starting a new blog on Asian American issues and concerns. 

http://aaldef.org/blog/on-california-nikki-haley-and-identity-politics.html

I’ll still go “Amok” here, of course, but check out the blog and see what AALDEF is doing for the broader Asian American community.

This is the first time I’ve written under the masthead of a non-profit not focused strictly on journalism.  But just as I did on op-ed pages for other publications, AALDEF has given me the independence to post my opinions on the news as I see it. 

I hope you enjoy the posts there as much as you like the assorted posts here at Amok.com.

An American fairy tale for a struggling country: San Francisco Giants, 2010 World Series Champs

 As a long-suffering fan and San Francisco native, I tried to replicate the team’s joy when the Giants won it all.  I jumped on the person next to me (fortunately, my wife) and then poured champagne (a bottle from BevMo’s .05 sale) on my head.  Wet? No worries. I had that thick orange towel they handed out at World Series Game 1 to soak it all up.

What a season. What a championship. 56 years it took? That’s just about my entire life.

So I’m still in a Giants semi-stupor, though it’s wearing off fast as I turn on the news and get a taste of reality.

Mid-terms, the stuff that counts, the direction of this country.  It’s all bad.

It’s the reason we need the Giants.

I voted last week so I didn’t have to think about real life too much today. I didn’t want a mid-term implosion to get in the way of my Giants’ euphoria.

I know I can’t stay in my Orange haze for too long, but the Giants’ story is just what this country needs. It’s a story of optimism, hope and belief. It’s a story of what happens when we all hope for the same thing and pull together.  In many ways, it’s a perfect fairy tale for a country struggling to stay afloat, socially, economically.

The Giants’ weren’t exactly royalty at the beginning of the year. They had some great young arms, but no supporting staff. No pop, no power. This team wasn’t suppose to play in October, nevermind November.

But there they were, a team put together with a recession budget. GM Brian Sabean was like a guy at the pick and pull, looking for parts to build a champion racer. He had a list and a credit card limit. He had already overpaid badly for Zito and Rowand in previous years. And even Renteria got too much.  So the Giants didn’t have the dough to build a Yankee-like coupe.  Instead, they put together a team that could race to the last day of the regular season and to Game 5 of the Series.  Castoffs? They were all grinders. Every piece was necessary and had a moment to shine at some point in the season.

But no real stars. Why that’s no good for baseball, as one commentator suggested.

The Giants and baseball may have a hard time competing with the violence of football. But they are reflective of a recession-age champion. It’s excellence built-on a budget. A team of hope. A team that the chardonnay sippers could love, along side the blue-collar bleacher bums. I sat with both during the playoffs. 

 First off, there is no team that has as diverse a fan base as the Giants. You look at the crowd and it’s not all of one type.  That’s how you know it’s San Francisco. I sat next to a young Latino teamster from the Mission, a Caucasian  female business owner from Potrero Hill married to an Asian, a white professional couple from the Peninsula.  A Korean immigrant and his born-here son from the East Bay. What kind of entertainment/team attracts that kind of mixed demos?

And after every victory, I must have hi-fived several hundred strangers after every home-run, run scored, or ultimate victory. No Purelle necessary. We were Giants family.

That kind of teamwork on the field, a sense of unity, is what was special about this team and their ballpark. Over 43,000 a night coming together over a victorious championship run is not as trivial as it seems on first blush. 

I admit I felt the same way in the  AT&T  stands as I did when I stood in 15 degree temperatures two years ago in the Washington Mall for the Obama Inaugural. There was a real sense of unity and hopefulness that I  hadn’t seen or felt  in a long time. There was no divisiveness, just talk of working together, of a brand new kind of politics. There were cheers, parades, speeches.

It wasn’t a game nor entertainment. It was for real. Where did it go? 

That’s why I want to hold on to my Giants’ feeling as long as I can. Because after today, I know the real world is not going to feel so great.

Giants lose, but I still don’t want to talk about anything else (Juan Williams? Did he play right field for NPR? Or left field for Fox?)

When I played baseball (semi-pee wee), I thanked God every time the ball was hit to someone else. Like my buddy Arnold Shaver.

So I know how difficult it is to spear a line drive and to pick up a short hop grounder.

At the professional level you just expect things to happen.  But last night they didn’t.

Balls took funny hops and caromed off bodies like Aubrey Huff’s.

Bases suddenly disappeared as when Pablo Sandoval turned to tag the bag and stepped on …dirt.

Bunts that are foul played fair.  (So much for the much ballyhooed Philly offense).

It was just a disastrous third inning for the Giants.  Tim Lincecum had just pitched to six batters in the first two innings and had struck out 2.  I admit to getting ahead of myself. I was beginning to think of a night of wild revelry.

And then things fell apart.

Despite that  one ining, it was just a one-run deficit for much of the game and the Giants had their chances to score.  But this is championship baseball. You’ve got to be picture perfect. And on this night, not even  photoshop could help.

The same things on defense happened on offense.

Hard hit balls that had found grass in previous games, were gloved. .

Runners who beat out throws, got tagged.

Batters that got wood when we needed,  didn’t.

That’s baseball. 

Next stop Philly. Avoid the overrated, hyper-fatty Cheesesteaks.  (It’s healthier just to get a box of crackers and a can of CheezWhiz . Your very own can).  The game is on Saturday.  Two shots to win it, two arms (Sanchez and Cain) to do it.

Do you still believe?

As far as Juan Williams, Fox and NPR, I don’t believe.

Philippine President NoyNoy Aquino, regular guy, goes to mass, genuflects, tells Filipino community trip to U.S. was worth it

In California, he played video games at HP headquarters,  ate In-and-Out burgers, and stayed in the Hotel Sofitel,slightly less regal accommodations than the Waldorf Astoria while in New York.

But nothing says you’re a regular Filipino guy like what you do on Sunday and on Sunday, Benigno Aquino III, AKA “NoyNoy,”  which has morphed into “P-Noy,”  was at mass in San Francisco with hundreds of American Filipino community members.

 “Please pray for me and our nation, “ Aquino asked the mass goers at the Mission Dolores Basilica in San Francisco’s Mission district. “If united, nothing is impossible for us to achieve.”

It was the final touch to a U.S. trip that included key meetings at the UN, another with ASEAN leaders meeting co-chaired by President Barack Obama, and talks with U.S. business interests including Citibank.

 Aquino said despite the costs of the trip, it had been worth it, returning to Manila with $2.7 billion in investment and aid commitments to the Philippines.

Still, that’s relatively small compared to the nearly $20 billion overseas Filipinos working in the U.S. and around the world send back to the Philippines each year, roughly 10 percent of the Philippines gross domestic product.

Aquino’s trip had had come under criticism as being a distraction from the more pressing domestic reforms he faces in the Philippines. But he stressed that the trip had reaped benefits for the country, as well as reassure American Filipinos the country was moving in the right direction.

COMING: Why American Filipinos care what happens in the Philippines.