A Promised Land

America as a Developing Country

January 6, Venezuela and a Tale of Two Coup Attempts

Another "Mission Accomplished?"

January 6 marks the fifth anniversary of the seizure of the U.S. Capitol as part of Donald Trump’s de facto coup attempt, which featured egging on insurrectionists as well as his less violent attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. Contemplating that day, which will live in infamy as much as December 7, 1941, my thoughts turn to another assault on democracy that I witnessed, in the Philippines back in August 1987.

It was just 18 months after the country’s “People Power” revolution toppled dictator Ferdinand Marcos and installed a fragile democracy headed by Cory Aquino. The widow of slain opposition leader Benigno Aquino, she’d recently beaten Marcos in an election he then stole to perpetuate his rule. People Power righted that wrong.

To rekindle those recollections, I dug up a letter I sent to friends days after the failed putsch. I quote parts of it here, and then offer some related reflections…

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Maligayang Pasko! (Merry Christmas!) And a Few Thoughts on Cheerfulness and Resilience During Dark Times.

Americans can learn a lot from Filipinos.

Keep the flame burning…

Having lived and worked in the Philippines from 1987 to 1993, I experienced several Christmases in that predominantly Catholic country and exchanged countless “Maligayang Pasko!” (‘Merry Christmas” in Pilipino) greetings along the way. I often reflect on my time there, especially at this time of year…but also as America goes through some dark times.

Many of my holiday season memories of Manila, the capital, are positive. There were delightful celebrations, abundant Christmas decorations, lots of time off work and relatively mild (by Southeast Asian standards) weather during December.

On the other hand, the lead-up to New Years meant increasingly frequent, loud fireworks explosions throughout the month. Traffic congestion soared as shopping and partying put even more cars on Manila’s clustermuck of clogged streets.

A Christmas Spirit All Year Long

But what Maligayang Pasko means most to me is not about the holiday season itself, but how Filipinos display the Christmas spirit of joy, giving, cheerfulness and resilience throughout the year. I’ve never been in a place where so many people smiled and joked around so easily. (In a  bit of culture shock, upon moving back to the States in 1993 I found that in meeting strangers I needed to tone down my Philippines-enhanced jocularity, even in the generally friendly Bay Area.)

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Democracy in Flames: Will Charlie Kirk’s Killing Be America’s Reichstag Fire?

But...Hope, California and George W. Bush

On the night of February 27, 1933, a massive fire – apparently set by a Dutch communist who confessed to the crime, though other accounts suspect other communists or even Nazis – severely damaged the German parliament building, the Reichstag. Arriving at the scene, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler declared, “If this fire, as I believe, is the work of the Communists, then we must crush out this murderous pest with an iron fist.”

Within a month, Hitler incinerated German democracy.

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Funeral for a Friendship? Trump Spits at Polite, Pleasant, Insulted Canada

With Friends Like Donald...

And that’s not all we’re sorry about…

Strolling several years ago in Vancouver, Canada, I inadvertently crossed the street in front of a car after my light turned red but before the vehicle began moving. If you do this in the San Francisco Bay Area, the driver might toot and shout at you. In my native New York, you’d hear a loud honk and an even louder expletive.

The Vancouver motorist instead said, “Excuse me, did you know that you’re crossing against the light?”

Couldn’t Happen to a Nicer Country

Canadians are among the nicest and most polite people on the planet. Americans are blessed to have them as neighbors.

Yet Donald Trump is spitting in these wonderful folks’ faces, on everything from fentanyl to immigration to tariffs to statehood. His spiteful barbs portend long-term damage to what once seemed our two nations’ unbreakable goodwill. This potential funeral for a friendship says much about America’s shrinking place in the world.

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