From the margins

A recent column on my motorcycle days put me in touch with one of the sons of my old friend Joe Emerson.

Someone had sent him a copy of my comments about his dad and of our friendship while we were both living in Palouse.

He said that his dad was in the Air Force, not the army, and that Joe was not a member of the Colville Confederated Tribes.

I had misunderstood when Joe told me of his family’s property along the Columbia River when the dam backed up the water submerging the family home. Joe had said that his family was given land higher up from the water to compensate for the loss of property.

I was thrilled to talk with the son, Lawrence, who lives in Ohio. After we had talked for a time, he said that he was going to have his brother contact me.

I was able to tell Lawrence a lot of things about his dad that he didn’t know.

This past week the news was about President Joe Biden’s trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia, where he met with the heads of state of several Asian nations.

It seemed odd that they met in Cambodia, in that it had only been such a short time since Cambodia was under the influence of the communist Khmer Rouge, a group responsible for the purge and death of 1.5 million to 2 million Cambodian people. 

My first thought was if it was safe to meet there.

I had been there just before the Khmer Rouge took over the country. It wasn’t considered safe when I was there, and then things really deteriorated fast. 

Sien Riep is where the famous temple of Angkor is located.

Today, Angkor is visited by several millions of people each year.

During the time of the Khmer Rouge, many parts of the temple had been damaged or destroyed. Soon after the Khmer Rouge had been chased out of Cambodia, the government put in place a plan to repair and restore the temple damage.

Yes, apparently the area was now safe.

Later on Biden’s trip, he met with Chinese President Xi, where the two were able to explain their disagreements on political policy on a whole range of issues.

For China, one of its main issues is getting Taiwan back under China’s influence.

This will continue to be a source of problems, but given time might work out.

One thing the Chinese need to learn is that policies drive political futures. When policies seem grounded in personal liberties then solutions might be possible. Until then, China will claim that Taiwan and the outer island belong to them.

Close to home, the elections are either nearly or are over.

Everyone wants to weigh in on what went wrong with the election.

Actually, what went right with the elections is a better pursuit.

In spite of Biden’s seemingly negative polls, voters didn’t seem to care, but picked up on his plea for “saving democracy.”

Maybe it will be the beginning of a better political climate here in the United States.