Overseas Chinese Web Guide

Tag: politics

  • President Obama’s Controversial Inaugural Address

    During the broadcast of President Obama’s inaugural address, CCTV panned out when the President said the “c” word – communism. Not exactly one of the seven dirty words. However, if you read the inaugural address, you will realize that CCTV overreacted. President Obama said:

    Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with the sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

    Of course, the fascism comment refers our victory against Nazi Germany in World War II. As for communism, I’m pretty sure that Obama was talking about the Cold War with the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union collapsed. Again, we won, they lost. I’m not positive that “faced down” applies to the Korean War where the US fought to a standstill or the Vietnam War where the US departed in defeat. So, just because Obama talks about communism, it doesn’t mean he’s talking about China.

  • Dennis Kucinich Pick-Up Line

    I stopped by the local farmers market this morning and was bombarded by all the political activists hawking their own candidates. Among the Democrats, representatives from Hillary, Obama and Kucinich were present. For the Republicans, I only spotted the Ron Paul contingent. For the most part, all the reps kept to themselves, except for the Kucinich supporter. His pick-up line was a question asking whether I supported the war. I was going to say that I supported the war before I was against it, but I bit my tongue.

    The truth is that the war doesn’t affect me. There may have been a time, say 40 years ago, when everyone watched the coverage of the Vietnam war on the evening news and had friends or family members involuntarily serving in the Armed Forces. But, that day is not today. First, the end of the draft cut most of our ties to the Armed Forces. I don’t have a close stake in the war because there is no threat of being called up. I check the scores every morning to see how my sports teams are doing. I don’t check every day, week or month to see how we are doing in Iraq. In traditional warfare, the civilian population could tell who was winning or losing the war. In modern warfare, I can’t tell whether we are winning or losing in Iraq. I have no idea whether the surge is working or not. Iraq is pretty much like gymnastics or ice skating. It’s totally subjective and you see what you want to see.

    The other matter is that news is so personalized today. I subscribe to the news feeds that interest me. You won’t find an Iraq War RSS feed in my reader. So, I know everything that is happening in the world except what happened in Iraq yesterday, last week or last month. And I am fine with that.