Cross Posted at www.andrewwarner.org
Chinese President Hu Jintao was welcomed to the White House with a 21 gun salute, a salute usually reserved for honorary occasions like the death of a soldier or police officer. Now President Bush has extended that honor to cruel dictators.
The main event from the historical meeting of presidents, men separated by thousands of miles and a sea of ideals, was one woman protesting:
"President Bush, stop him from persecuting the Falun Gong!"
She went on to tell the Chinese president that his "days are numbered."
Most people don't really know anything about the Falun Gong, my own knowledge is about an inch deep. I've met them in Cincinnati, they have a tendency to set up displays, artwork, protesting tables, etc., in order to raise awareness within America for the persecution they suffer at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Such persecution is not widely reported since the corrupt government of China also controls the media of the country, no negative reports or "liberal bias" to worry about.
Had the protestor voiced this opinion in China, who knows what would have happened to her? A dictator like Jintao wouldn't tolerate such an outburst on his own soil, the protestor would likely never be heard from again. In America, President Bush merely had to apologize for the right of free speech afforded to our citizens and have the secret service rush her away from the scene so his master wouldn't feel uncomfortable.
Now wait a second, I was operating under the impression that Bush fought and removed such dictators, not rolled out a red carpet and performed a 21 gun salute for them.
I guess China is to George Bush as Visa is to me. You can't really bite the hand that feeds you. You just kind of have to do what they say, make your payments on time, and hope they don't call in your debt when your pockets are empty. And Jintao is taking advantage, getting all sorts of promises in exchange for saying "sure thing President Bush, I'll work on that human rights stuff" as he winks (not a real quote).
Bush, the man who wants to spread democracy throughout the world, swore off Taiwan, a free and open Democracy. So I don't get it, are we for spreading Democracy or for supporting dictators like the communist party of China? When America refuses to recognize Taiwan as a country, we disable trade with them, all the while we are trying to trade with China as much as possible. Not a very exciting topic, but the fact is that Bush continues to dismantle the democratic Taiwan by not trading with it, preferring to support a cruel communist party in China with American dollars-- a country that openly stifles protestors, free speech, or dissent of any kind... I am starting to see why Bush respects this guy so much.
I'm not a free trade guy in the first place, but do we have to trade so extensively with one of the cruelest governments in the world? We don't want to spread democracy there as well? I guess President Bush is only tough and an advocate of independence when the country he is dealing with has oil and is the size of one American state.
A little consistency please.