This is not a picture of yours truly with My Chinese Spy.
It’s star-struck me with the great Chinese actress Gong Li on
location in China. I confess, I use any excuse to publish this photo.
The Death of Journalism
Journalism died in America when Barack Hussein Obama was running for President.
The dinosaur media gleefully surrendered to the cult of personality—standard for leftist politics—and since then normally skeptical journalists have turned into nothing less than a collective Pravda for the Obama White House.
It’s not hard to fathom the reasons for this herd-like behavior. Elite journalists and editors recognize in Obama a kindred spirit, a hard left, big government ideologue who is adept at mouthing—endlessly, tediously and vacuously—all the politically correct rhetoric.
Questions of experience, competence, and Obama’s deeply troubling political, religious and social connections were swept aside as “mere distractions.”
In fact, Obama’s numerous unsavory friends and supporters was and is at the heart of the Obama presidency.
As the American public is now discovering.
Well, only if you watch Fox News or read the internet.
Dunn Does Mao
White House Communications Director Anita Dunn, speaking at the high school graduation of one of the most elite and pricey prep schools in the country, praised Mao Tse-Tung and Mother Theresa as two of her “favorite political philosophers.”
Was she joking, as she now claims?
Of course not.
As you can see, there is not a hint of irony in her delivery—there is a strong hint of psychotropic medication as Dunn reflexively licks her lips during the speech; she’s got a case of dry mouth that can only be induced by drugs—and the titters when she mentions Mother Theresa and mass murderer Mao Tse-Tung in the same breath is the sound of nervous laughter from audience members who are, no doubt thinking: “Did she really say what I thought she said?”
You would think that the White House communications director’s praise of Mao—responsible for the death of about 50 million people—would be big news.
You would be wrong.
Only Glenn Beck and Fox News are carrying this story.
It’s a bit like, well, Mao’s China or the Soviet Union, where the media is a wholly owned subsidiary of the government.
More Mao Maoing
Well, now we have another member of the White House, Manufacturing Czar Ron Bloom, attacking the free market, and praising, yup, Mao Tse-Tung.
Roll the videotape:
H/T: Weasel Zippers
Hey, is it any wonder that President Obama refused to meet with that good man, the Dalai Lama?
My Spy
Years ago, researching a film script, the studio sent me the screenwriter, plus director, producer, and co-producer to China.
The Communist government assigned us several translators—meaning spies—to keep an eye on us.
My Spy, a genial and delicate young woman who was crazy about Hollywood movies, and totally knocked out to discover that she was in the company of a real live Jew—“Can you not just bless the pork and make it the kosher you require?”—was kind enough to warn me that my hotel room was bugged, and that her job was to make sure that I only saw the ”best side of The People’s Republic of China.”
My spy, I soon discovered, though she was working for the Communist Party, was deeply unhappy about her life and her role as a government drone.
One afternoon, as she and I strolled along The Great Wall of China—which really is great—away from the other government minders, she told me that her father, a university professor, was denounced as a counterrevolutionary during the so-called Great Leap Forward.
“What happened?” I asked.
“He was shamed and hung himself from the tree in our courtyard.”
And your mother?”
“She was sent for re-education, but I never heard from her again.”
“So you think she died?”
“Murdered. Mao killed millions.”
This was years ago and the extent of Mao’s machinery of death was not yet known in the west.
“And now you’re a member of the Communist Party.”
My Spy shrugged and smiled sadly.
“I survive.”
Praise of Mao Tse-Tung by western elite liberals might be viewed as trendy intellectual slumming—like Che t-shirts—by members of the dinosaur media, not worthy of notice or comment, but for me, Mao Tse-Tung conjures the image of a father dangling by the neck, a mother swallowed by Mao’s vast gulag, and My Spy smiling through her tears.
Ariel Chaim Avrech, ZT'L, May His Righteous Memory be a Blessing.
29 Comments
Dear Robert: Glad to hear it.
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Sigh.
Gong Li.
世界一美女
aka “The Most Beautiful Woman in the World”.
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Miranda:
My Spy is now quite safe. I would not have written this piece otherwise.
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Schools like St. Andrews sold out a long time ago when wealthy American families started to cool on boarding schools for their kids. Besides, those blue bloods don’t have enough kids on average to fill a phone booth.
Now the REAL money and student base for these schools comes from overseas. In the late 90′s, they catered lavishly to the children of rich Arab oil kleptocrats, it was sickening to see how far they went to grab their attention. I guess it may have worked.
Now they are hoping to tap into more Chinese monied families.
So, St. Andrews is more than “okay” with Dunn’s statement about Mao, they are probably doing cartwheels over it and maybe even paid her to say it!
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Dear Robert: Did it occur to you that the Chinese government might have a record of your visit and of who “your spy” was and you might be endangering her?
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Licking your lips can be a sign that you’re nervous, not that you’re on drugs.
Comparing Mao, may he rot in hell, with Mother Teresa, of blessed memory, is obscene. It is bizarre.
I must confess that a man I find, in many ways, admirable, Malcolm X, expressed admiration for Mao.
I always ask anyone wearing a Che Guevara T-shirt “Why not a Hitler T-shirt?”
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Painful. Beautifully written.
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Ron Bloom: If we really need a “manufacturing czar,” then we need someone who knows a lot about factories from the inside, and who has actually run a manufacturing business…not another investment banker.
The idea candidate would be someone who started as a factory worker and eventually became either a CEO of a stand-alone manufacturing company or a business unit general manager in a large company. There are probably hundreds of people in the U.S. that fit this profile.
Of course, you might have to do without the Ivy League degree…
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>>> …overcoming great odds to establish a country that has some scruples
Some US administrations have had precious few scruples.
Interesting discussion. Not particularly unbiased, but discussions regarding communism rarely are. It’s amazing the power and influence that word still holds.
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Sal:
Great Gong Li films. She’s one of the best, evuh!
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Real Name:
Sort of like Ninotchka. Yeah, good idea. I’m not quick when it comes to my own life.
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Regarding China. The Korean War showed what a brutal war against China would look like for America and her allies. The Chinese tactic of mass human waves against artillery proved to the west—technically it was a UN war against the Communist north—that, unless nuclear weapons were in play, as MacArthur wanted, it would turn into a forever war with staggering casualties.
Ted:
The British were magnificent in Korea, their stand at the Imjin River, to the last round, is one of the greatest holding actions ever recorded. But it also convinced the British that fighting the Chinese was too costly, especially for an empire bankrupt and in tatters.
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Bill
Fascinating about the CIA and China. I will keep an eye out for – The Book of Honor.
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Dunn spoke at St. Andrews Episcopal HS, and her daughter was in the graduating class. As I said, St. Andrews is one of the most, ahem, elite prep schools in America. Which means that the students spend a lot of time learning about Mao, and know virtually nothing about George Washington except that he was a slave owner.
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It’s not just the easy answer; it’s the correct answer.
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Kishke:
What about Fidel and his obstacles. Stalin had a lot of enemies that wanted to stop him. And it’s not like Pol Pot had an easy time making it to the top of Cambodia in time to see his dream of the killing fields fulfilled.
If students were taught actual American history they would be able to look at our founding fathers for a lesson in overcoming great odds to establish a country that has some scruples, unlike Communist China. Mao had to defeat a much softer foe than the British Empire.
Or what about Lincoln and his travails? Or was keeping the Union intact a cakewalk compared to what Mao did?
Look at what Madison had to contend with when D.C. was attacked during the War of 1812. There are so many examples of American leaders demonstrating fortitude and guile why does Dunn look to Mao? The easy answer is she admires his politics more than she lets on.
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Dunn’s speech is revolting. The same “lesson” can be learned from Hitler, who faced lots of opposition at the start of the Nazi movement, but he didn’t let it stop him, the brave fellow! Is he another of Dunn’s favorite philosophers?
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The question to ask is, what high school invited Dunn to speak and were there any adults in charge that were shocked when she mentioned Mao? I can understand students not being taught what a monster Mao was but don’t HS administrators usually have to graduate from a college?
Oh wait. Stupid me! Mao is a hero to college professors in the U.S.
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Why are people getting so worked up over what Dunn said? If you average out the deaths Mao and Mother Theresa are responsible for, it comes out to 25-35 million. Add in the lives saved or enhanced by Mother Theresa and the number goes down even more. What’s a few million lives when you’re establishing a worker’s paradise.
Of course if Dunn had picked der fuhrer instead of Mao the average would come down even more. But I am sure Mao and Stalin (and Che and Fidel) are acceptable heroes in the circles Dunn runs in while Hitler is rightfully shunned.
But somehow I doubt the circles Dunn runs in value the lives of Jews and gypsies over Russians & Chinese. It must be those pure and noble motives the commies had that are so admirable.
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If you can, try to get your American friends of Mao to watch “To Live”, starring the beautiful Gong Li in one of her less glamorous roles. Just the story of ordinary people surviving from day to day in the hell of Communist China.
There is also an episode in “The Red Violin” that is set in China during the Cultural Revolution. Chilling.
I could draw some parallels, but don’t think it’s necessary…
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Ted – I am about as conservative as they come but Harry Truman in my opinion like fine wine will just get better with age.
He stopped the Communists in Greece (1948) and France (about the same time).
At the time, a writer who preferred to be known as “Mr X” (later I believe George Kennan of the State Dept) wrote an opinion article on Foreign Affairs Magazine on how to contain an aggressive Soviet Union – again – 1948 – and Truman adopted that policy – used until Reagan finally put an end to them.
I think Joseph McCarthy was a jackass – There was a great book I read some years ago about CIA agents who died in the line of service – The Book Of Honor – The Secret Lives and Deaths of CIA Operatives by Ted Gup – one of the first CIA agents to lose his life in the service of his country was in China – near Mongolia – as the Communists were closing in. This was in the late 40s – probably 1949 (it has been awhile since I read the book.
We were there but I think barring a massive intervention it was a forgone conclusion. But that is just my opinion.
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I am also not comprehending why Anita Dumb (oops did I mispell that?) is telling high school students, on graduation day, that they need to fight a war. What war?? Even if this were, ha ha ha, a joke, why joke about a mass murderer to impressionable minds? Perhaps the murder part is only a minor detail? I hope to G-d that these students & their parents were outraged and not amused.
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My G-d, Anita Dunn….I thought she was almost going to say “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter”. Excuse my French, but what the heck is going on here? Why on earth do they want to control us? Why do they want to eliminate free speech, etc. Don’t they realize that everything they are trying to do to us, will be done to them by the ones who they idolize SOOOO much?
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Robert – How unlike you to miss the REAL movie here. It’s you – recast as an unmarried, liberal, Nick Clooney screenwriter – colliding with his attractive interpreter/spy. When you go “missing” – hilarity ensues.
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Long live Gong Li.
That is all.
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Bill
You might well be right. I know that the whole episode caused a lot of bitterness in the US as many on the right blamed the leftists in the state department for pushing a non intervention policy toward China. This claim was often made by Joseph McCarthy.
I take your point about China and Eastern Europe. But who knows, it was done in many other countries without military mobilisation. Covert ops and money in the right place might have done it. In any case though I don’t think Truman believed in sponsoring right wing military hard men. Eisenhower was the first to give it a go in Iran I believe.
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Ted – do you think the US could have affected the Chinese revolution in 1949? China is vastly bigger than Chile and remember, in the late 40s we had demobilized from WW2 and nobody really had the desire to become entangled in another large war.
And don’t forget, our guy, Chiang Kai Shek, was recognized as a big crook.
In short, I don’t believe we could have affected the outcome.
Reminds me of the time when I was at UVa taking a class in Diplomatic History. The Professor, Norman Graebner, was widely popular. You’d think a class in Diplomatic History would be as exciting as watching grass grow, but Graebner brought it alive with the personalities, economic conditions, etc.
He delved into the lament of ours in the 19850s over “who lost Eastern Europe”? – wanting to find blame for someone in the State Dept for the Iron Curtain.
The truth was that the Red Army already occupied Eastern Europe and nothing short of fighting them would have changed anything.
And like China, we were in no mood to engage in another huge war after Germany and Japan.
That’s my belief, anyway…
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I have a good friend who came over from Hong Kong, worked hard, and is very well off now. So many tangents my story about him could travel – but his wife, also Chinese, came here by a very circuitous route – via Uruguay. Her family – or remnants of her family – fled Mao in the late 40s and settled in South America.
The left idolizes collective mobilization – can you say ‘Public Option?” – and in their idolizing Mao I suppose they don’t like to remember things like murdering 50-70 million people.
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What a shame the US didn’t do to china in 1949 what they did to, lets say Chile in 73. It wouldn’t have been pretty, a strong nationalist leader (like Chiang Kai Sek) would have ruled with an iron fist. But there would have been no Korean war and probably no Vietnam war. There definitely would have been no Cambodian killing fields and there certainly would never have been a famine which killed 20 million thanks to Mao’s absurd land/agricultural reforms. And also there would have been no cultural revolution and your friends parents might have lived. To hear liberal elites praise Mao is sickening.
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