Friday, April 21, 2006
Run Over By The Tank
So, Hu Jintao visited the White House yesterday to discuss trade with Bush. He got all the pomp and pageantry that one would expect the leader of a regime that shits all over civil liberties to receive*. For God's sake, governmental censorship is so bad in China that many people there don't even know the Tiananmen Square massacre even happened.
So, one woman, Wenyi Wang, stood up during the showmanship and yelled about mistreatment of the Falun Gong, a religious group in China that is often arrested for "dissident" activities and, it is rumored, tortured. So, what does Bush do?
Once they reached the Oval Office, Bush apologized to his guest.
"He just said this was unfortunate and I'm sorry it happened," said Dennis Wilder, acting senior director for Asian affairs on the National Security Council staff.
Hu was gracious in accepting Bush's apology, Wilder said.
"So, uh, why don't you politely ignore the woman who's telling it like it is, and we can get back on to our big important deal?"
And as for Wang?
The Secret Service identified the protester as Wenyi Wang, 47. Secret Service spokesman Jim Mackin said she had been charged with disorderly conduct and that a charge of intimidating or disrupting foreign officials also was being considered.
I know that, to truly interact in a global economy, we must sometimes interact with unpleasant people. I am not naive. But for fuck's sake, can we stop pretending like they're our bestest friends in the whole wide world?
*Remember, people; unless they're in any way overtly hostile to us, repressive regimes are our friends.
So, one woman, Wenyi Wang, stood up during the showmanship and yelled about mistreatment of the Falun Gong, a religious group in China that is often arrested for "dissident" activities and, it is rumored, tortured. So, what does Bush do?
Once they reached the Oval Office, Bush apologized to his guest.
"He just said this was unfortunate and I'm sorry it happened," said Dennis Wilder, acting senior director for Asian affairs on the National Security Council staff.
Hu was gracious in accepting Bush's apology, Wilder said.
"So, uh, why don't you politely ignore the woman who's telling it like it is, and we can get back on to our big important deal?"
And as for Wang?
The Secret Service identified the protester as Wenyi Wang, 47. Secret Service spokesman Jim Mackin said she had been charged with disorderly conduct and that a charge of intimidating or disrupting foreign officials also was being considered.
I know that, to truly interact in a global economy, we must sometimes interact with unpleasant people. I am not naive. But for fuck's sake, can we stop pretending like they're our bestest friends in the whole wide world?
*Remember, people; unless they're in any way overtly hostile to us, repressive regimes are our friends.
