Posted on 02/09/2022 4:10:35 AM PST by Kaslin
Anyone under 30 today has no idea what it was like to live in America during the Cold War. That includes the reflexive tendency of liberals and leftists to insist repeatedly that we really shouldn't lecture the authoritarians in the Soviet Union or China for gross abuses of human rights because the United States isn't much different.
Back in 1989, the year the Berlin Wall fell, USA Today founder Al Neuharth was lecturing, "There is little more logic to Lithuania being permitted to unilaterally and unlawfully declare its independence from the USSR than there would be for Texas to secede from the USA." In 1990, NBC reporter Bob Abernethy explained, "Congress changed the Soviet Constitution to permit limited private ownership of small factories, although laws remain against exploitation of everyone else."
The regrettable decision to award the 2022 Winter Olympics to Communist China caused an acid reflux of this disturbing distortion of geopolitical reality.
"Meet the Press" host Chuck Todd implied that the Jan. 6 riot should keep us from saying anything critical of China. "I can't help but wonder about our inability to get the world to follow us on a diplomatic boycott of China on something that's fundamental about sort of what we believe should be freedom bigger than financial ties. It makes me think, well, maybe the example of our democracy is not so good."
Todd did not lower himself to suggest the failure to get a wider diplomatic boycott can be blamed on the Biden-Blinken team. Nope, blame the rioters for that.
On CNN (and then rebroadcast on PBS), TV host Christiane Amanpour pressed Republican Sen. Todd Young on his op-ed strongly calling out China: "A million Uyghurs, Kazakhs and Kyrgyz are locked away in gulags. They are raped, tortured with electric batons, sterilized and forced into abortions. Taiwan's sovereignty is continually threatened. Hong Kong's democracy is strangled."
Amanpour somehow thought she could compare this to American politics, that some "from abroad" might tell us, "Hold on a second, America's preaching democracy to us yet, you know, treating democracy rather cavalierly."
Then she brought up the Republican National Committee condemning Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for helping the Democrats crack down on "legitimate political discourse" on Jan. 6.
Rioting is not legitimate political discourse. But how can supposedly educated journalists compare that five-hour riot to a million Chinese citizens locked away for years in gulags? Young denounced the riot and shamed her for the comparison. Amanpour buckled and said, "You're absolutely right" that it's not like the gulags. So why try that junk in the first place?
Then there was journalism professor and ex-ESPN journalist J.A. Adande, who appeared on ESPN's "Around the Horn" show and compared the gulags to -- get this -- American police brutality and red states passing laws with allegedly outrageous impositions such as asking for voter ID. "Who are we to criticize China's human rights record when we have ongoing attacks by the agents of the state against unarmed citizens, and we've got assaults on the voting rights of our people of color in various states in this country."
No one would ever catch this educator in a "Uyghur Lives Matter" T-shirt.
The Olympics only last a few weeks, so this ridiculous exercise in rhetorical gymnastics will fade. But the imprisonment and injustice lasts as long as the Chinese communists remain in power. We can easily guess that all of these pampered journalists and professors would prefer to remain here, uncorking their hot takes in this allegedly failing democracy for the rest of their lives.
The author is confused. Maybe the author can explain why the Constitutional right to a speedy and fair trial was summarily denied to the J6 prisoners who still await trial for things like trespassing, and disorderly conduct? They are political prisoners, so yes, there is a comparison to be drawn between the J6 and the Uyghars.
But there is also a perfect right, and I would say duty, for Americans, the media, private industry, to denounce the actions of china. And of the US government.
these pampered journalists and professors would prefer to remain here probably receive under the table compensation for defending the actions of the CCP, like the rest of the CCP’s huge worldwide propaganda campaign aimed at showing the correctness of CCP style rule and that the Han are the superior race.
Say what you will about the Russian...East German...Polish leaders of the time but they *didn’t* fire on their own people
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Really?
Then all those Germans, Russia, Poles, Cheks, etc who crossed the mine fields along the East German, Polish, and Check borders died of spontaneously contracted solid lead disease?
Did the soldiers guns accidentally leak bullets?
Or did the bullets take action of their own volition?
Thousand of dead bodies are inquiring or asking for friends.
I was talking about the moment of truth. When they realized that what happened to Ceausescu could happen to them they decided to throw in the towel. At a similarly pivotal moment in June 1989 the Butchers of Bejing did fire...and murdered thousands!
This holier than thou piece is so much crap.
Both the left and the right are being hypocritical.
Us on the right suddenly feel sympathy for Muslim Uyghurs, when in most cases whenever a Muslim is mentioned, we on the right are quick to label them terrorists.
The left, who has a soft spot for communism and thus China while hating the US, is quick to dismiss any evil that China is doing while manufacturing a myriad of “injustices” here in the US.
As someone one once said... “It all depends whose bull is getting gored”
Today’s lesson - In a war both sides use whatever weapons they have at their disposal to win the war.
And the Olympics is mostly a propaganda war (as are most things nowdays). Let’s realize that and fight accordingly.
Then why didn’t you say that instead of the misleading and wrong statement you made?
Please be more clear in what you write - its confusing to have to divine what you intend.
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