To Bail or Not to Bail out?

First of all, I'm still waiting for the government to bail me out from my $x0,000+ worth of student loan debt. Don't worry, I won't hold my breath.

With this latest proposed bail out for the auto industry, I don't think it's as easy as just saying "No! They f'd up." Yea, Detroit should definitely have been adapting existing technology for fuel efficient cars. That's poor corporate leadership.

Where I'm stuck in this is whether the workers and their families should suffer because their bosses suck. And I can definitely see the GOP using this as a ploy to end labor unions. It's not like the GOP asked too many questions when they gave the banks tons of money with no stings attached.

But then I come back to... if the banks get a bail out, and Detroit gas-guzzler producers get a bail out, when do I get a bail out?

Obama, Bill Richardson, Wen Ho Lee, and my Chinese American-ness

President elect Obama just announced his nomination for Veterans Affairs - Eric Shinseki. Cool, the first Asian American nominee, but my mind is still stuck on the Bill Richardson nomination, the only Latino nomination so far.

There's a petition going around and campaign to protest Richardson's nomination to Commerce. The group details their reasons for opposing the nomination, but I'm left asking as an organizer: What do you want? What are your goals? What is a "win" for you? Are you looking for a Richardson apology? Because that is not a very clear demand in your statement, and for any successful campaign, you must have a clearly stated demand. It shouldn't be buried. Also, Dr. Lee and his family want nothing to do with this campaign. So... I'm very conflicted on this campaign. I guess I'm just ambivalent about it.

As much as I like Bill Richardson, when he was running in the primaries, I said I could never vote for him because of Wen Ho Lee. But now he's not running for president. At the convention, I thought he was good people.

Anyway... I guess my mind is still kinda all over the place on this. Shouldn't I be backing Wen Ho Lee... a Chinese American? Well... he's not even backing this campaign. Why am I totally ok with Richardson's nomination? Is it because I'm not critical enough of Obama? Am I uncomfortable with having a campaign against the lone Latino nominee? Not sure.

I'm leaning more towards the thought that I may have just forgiven him. Forgiveness doesn't need an apology to happen. Plus, whatever Richardson did as Secretary of Energy under Clinton, he was still *under* Clinton, acting on behalf of President Clinton and their team. Strangely, in primary season despite IRA-IRA, "workfare", and Wen Ho Lee, Asian Americans supported Clinton. Are we scapegoating Richardson? Do we really know how much he was acting independently or as a representative of the Clinton administration?

We may never know. I'm going with forgiveness, peace, and moving forward.