Following the Democrat victory in the US midterms the new buzz word is 'bi-partisan'. Meaning, of course, the two parties working together through the executive and legislature to avoid gridlock and actually achieve something over the final two years of George Bush's presidency.
The Democrats want to see a change of direction, not just on the war in Iraq but also on stem cell research, abortion and tax. And Bush? Well, he just wants to have some kind of legacy to make his pappy proud.
Watch the video to see how the Chairman would deal with delicate political situations like this and find out why China is the real force in geopolitics.
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4 comments:
Dear Madame,
Regarding your video:
Last year in Lijiang, I was wandering the back streets, just outside of the Old Town area, when down an alley; I spotted a large Union Jack on the front of a building. Always on the lookout for “disconnects”. I immediately stepped inside of
The Frosty Morn Irish Pub” and tipped a few Guinness’ and chatted with the owners, a British ex-pat and his Chinese National wife.
In the course of the evening, I mentioned that I had noticed one hardly every saw Chinese police carrying guns, and I opined that this was probably due to a low crime rate.
He told me a story.
A month earlier he had gone to the police station to renew his license, and the person who normally took care of this was not there and he was told to go out the back door of the office, across the enclosed courtyard, and into the door directly on the other side, where someone could help him.
In the middle of the courtyard were four tall posts; anchored into the ground, and cello-taped to the poles were two men and one woman. They were taped from head to foot, with only their noses and mouths exposed, and judging by their soaking wet pants and the obvious odor, they had been there for many days.
His point was, I believe, who needs guns?
Cello tape (and of course Mao’s flame thrower) are very convincing.
Keep posting – you have a very refreshing style!
Regards, Bob
The endless brutality of communist regimes never ceases to enrage and amaze me.
I read Simon Sebag Montefiore's Court of the Red Tsar about how hundreds of thousands of his victims were chosen by lot.
Then I read Jung Chang and Jon Halliday...
My Dear Madame,
Wandering around China, one is constantly confronted by the surreal attitudes and quality of life one encounters. In many parts of Eastern Europe, where Soviet terror long lashed out at all and sundry, you often see the results today, especially in the older people. Perhaps I should say older women, for there are few men over fifty-five available. They walk with eyes down, rarely meet the eyes of anyone on the street, and always talk quietly – there are no streets noisy with conversations. In China however, on the surface, people smile, talk animatedly, and seem to enjoy their (admittedly harsh) life. East European parks are somber except for the children, Chinese parks are filled with people, singing, dancing, playing sports, public exercise, conducting impromptu concerts and games, so many games!
Most people seem quite willing to talk of Mao, and the Gang of Four (even of you, my dear Madame) with both criticism and occasional contempt. There is no show of acceptance, either public or official, of The Cultural Revolution, and the horrible, horrible privation and famine it produced, and there is overtly criticism of Mao dealing with the Soviets and the overwhelming financial hardships it caused. These criticisms existed, even from public officials and museum postings. Even peasants along the Yangtze talk with pride about their cities and farms that are now underwater, and their forever-vanished ancestral towns and burial grounds, drowned to alleviate floods in Eastern China and to burn the bright lights of Beijing and Shanghai. The Yangtze farmers talk with pride about the fact they will now make shoes in a new factory of the side of the mountain and live in a concrete high-rise with running water and a TV on each floor.
Speaking of Soviet Terror, check out Stalin and His Hangmen by Donald Rayfield, and the chapter and verse accounting of this evil man’s reign.
On a lighter note, I invite you to visit my blog:
ArtQuest1.blogspot.com
Rest Peacefully, Bob
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