Isn’t it nice to know that China doesn’t have a monopoly on suppression of dissent?
President George W. Bush apologized to Chinese President Hu Jintao after he was screamed at by a Falungong protester during an official ceremony at the White House.
Bush was visibly embarrassed by the incident in which the woman, accredited as a reporter for a newspaper founded by the spiritual movement, repeatedly shouted “Falun Dafa is good!” as Hu made a speech.
The woman was detained and charged and the US president “expressed his regret” to the Chinese leader as soon as the “restricted session” of the summit started, according to US national security advisor Stephen Hadley.
Bush said “this is unfortunate, I’m sorry that this happened,” according to another security council official, Dennis Wilder.
“President Hu was very gracious about it,” Hadley told CNN television, calling the incident “a blip”.
He added: “It’s unfortunate. It’s really not about freedom of speech.”
No, of course not. We all know it’s not free speech in America anymore unless it agrees point for point with the latest gassings from the Shite House. And if it doesn’t, the speaker gets bundled out of sight and never heard from again…just like that guy who confronted the tanks in Tiananmen Square. Whatever did happen to him?
BTW, here’s Attytood’s take on it all. Seems CNN is looking more like the Chinese state media everyday, too.
Freedom, anyone? Democracy? Peaceful protest? Free press? Dissent? Anyone???
Oh. Wait.
China owns a huge hunk of the US debt, doesn’t it.
Never mind…never mind.
(PS: Today is the anniversary of Hitler’s cursed birth. How singularly appropriate!)
(PPS: Just wrote to Mike Malloy, under the header “Have you forgotten what day this is?”: “It’s Hitler’s birthday. Isn’t that just so appropriate, considering Bush just told Hu Jintao, in effect, to ‘watch this drive’?” And Mike read it on the air! Yes!!!)
