I’ve been wondering for a while now why the heck Rep. Thad McCotter is running for president.
Yes, president of the United States.
You may not have encountered the Michigan Republican as presidential candidate because he did not meet the 1 percent poll threshold for the Fox News debate in Iowa. But a few days later, at the Ames Straw Poll, there he was.
At the Iowa State University stadium, what began as a professorial lecture gave way to a sharp wake-up call as McCotter brought up China: “We have to accept the reality that Communist China is a strategic threat and a rival model of governance to the United States.” The applause made clear that the audience had been called to attention.
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McCotter continued: “And the reason, as the party of Reagan and Lincoln, we understand, as a free people — we understand our liberty, which comes from our creator, is the foundation of our security and the foundation of our prosperity. The Communist Chinese regime in Beijing that butchered my generation in the streets of Tiananmen Square for quoting Jefferson and Madison believes that human liberty is a threat to state-provided security and prosperity. They are as wrong today as the Soviet Union was wrong in the 20th century, and I for one will not cede the 21st century to a Communist nuclear-armed dictatorship that tells you how many children you can have, that tells you if you can pass out Bibles, that tells you what Catholic Church you can attend, or tries to culturally commit genocide against the people of Tibet.”
China, of course, is home to the one-child policy, which turns 31 this September. The policy has manifested itself in a kind of brutality that we can’t watch on CNN but that is nonetheless both real and devastating. China will boast that it has prevented 400 million births since 1980; the program has been implemented through a culture of forced abortion, involuntary sterilization, infanticide, and other persecution. The World Health Organization tells us that China also has the highest female suicide rate in the world. “Could this high suicide rate be related to forced abortion?” asks Reggie Littlejohn, president of Women’s Rights without Frontiers. Many families make sure that their one child is a boy. China has reported as many as 37 million more men than women, making unhappy bachelorhood increasingly commonplace.“China’s One Child Policy causes more violence towards women and girls than any other official policy on earth,” Littlejohn contends. “It is China’s war against women and girls.” And not only against Chinese women; desperate times open the floodgates for sex trafficking. A North Korean women’s “refuge” is sex slavery in China. Women from other neighboring countries, such as Vietnam, often suffer the same fate.
Mark Steyn in his new book, cheerily titled After America: Get Ready for Armageddon, makes a typically practical point: “China has structural defects. It’s a dictatorship whose authoritarian policies have crippled its human capital. It has too many oldsters and not enough youth, and among its youth, it has millions of surplus boys and no girls for them to marry. If China were the inevitable successor to America as global hegemon, that would be one thing. But the fact that it is incapable of playing that role is likely to make things even messier, more unpredictable, and far more destabilizing.”
When I met with Cardinal Joseph Zen, the Shanghai-born bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, in Washington, D.C., earlier this year, his message was simply, “Help!” His focus is on the Orwellian rhetoric coming out of China. “Religious freedom” does not mean remaking a church into a government institution. Our Founders knew that. But that’s what China is doing today. When the Chinese authorities are not arresting Christians, they are consecrating Catholic bishops. “Obedience” is the key word — not to Rome but to Beijing. This has pernicious implications for what can be preached and taught. During his pontificate, John Paul II canonized 120 martyrs from China. That fact is both inspiring and ominous, especially when Zen tells you he worries about a lack of courage today: Some bishops may have joined the government-run Catholic Patriotic Association without resistance.
McCotter, a Catholic, is helping as he seizes his freedom to grab the somewhat louder megaphone of even a lowest-tier presidential campaign. And his campaign is about more than China. When I interviewed him about his book, Seize Freedom, earlier this year, I titled the interview “Servant, Not Servile,” because his message in the book — and now on the campaign trail — is about clearly choosing what America’s future will look like. As McCotter put it at the straw poll: “You are the masters of your fate, and you are the custodians of the legacy of liberty that we have been bequeathed throughout the generations. And now, in a difficult time, you are asked to transcend the challenges that we face.”
How we respond has implications the world over.
In the streets of Tiananmen Square back in 1989 was a student protester named Chai Ling, who would be subsequently nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. She lives in Massachusetts now and runs a group called All Girls Allowed, seeking to expose the injustice of the one-child policy and help support families in China, with its horrific gender imbalance.
In the future, will America still be the place dissidents look to, for a model, inspiration, support — moral and otherwise — and, if need be, exile? The place where the huddled masses come, yearning to breathe free?
Well, I satisfactorily figured out why McCotter is running for president. And I thought you might want to know, too. It’s because individuals matter. And because societies that recognize that can make all the difference.
— Kathryn Jean Lopez is the editor-at-large of National Review Online. This column is available exclusively through United Media.
Female infanticide has a long and murky history in China and we can document it with increasing statistical evidence from the mid 1850s. Mr. McCotter is right on message. Is anyone listening?
As David Goldman says "The fifth horseman of the Apocalypse is Infertility" and "China will get old before it gets wealthy." China's one-child policy is already starting to reap the evils of what was sown.
Thad's my Congressman, and believe me when I tell you when his pre-announcement email arrived asking for cash, I happily obliged as he represented conservative ideals well during his time in DC. I saw his campaign, not so much as a run at the Presidency, but as an opportunity for Conservatives to have another voice in the race; to shift the debate further Right, and to add emphasis to our economic trouble.
But he never grabbed any attention; never was able to grab a headline or make a splash. My guitar pickin Congressman was spinning his wheels. Then came the debt ceiling debate and his time to shine. Only McCotter was one of the 218 votes that passed the Boehner Plan that was sent to and defeated in the Senate.
Now, that there are Liberals in the GOP who would vote for the plan is no surprise, but that a Conservative, Tea Partying Presidential Candidate would cast the deciding yea vote on such a bill is disturbing.
McCotter may as well get out of the Presidential race now, and be thankful no one noticed he was in. Thad has become a disappointment and may have some trouble if he is primaried for his Congressional seat in 2012. More than a few of his constituents have noticed that he does talk a good game, and when his votes didn't really matter (under Dem Super Majorities) he could be a staunch Conservative. It's when his vote could have made a difference and could have reinforced his principles, he failed. Some of us noticed he was one of the 218 votes, and was not one of the 22 Congressmen who held to their professed principles.
No, THAT kind of President we don't need. Now the question is - do we need that kind of Congressman?
To hear that Thad voted with the Boehner deal - as did Allen West and my congresswoman Anne Marie Buerkle - another Tea Party favorite, only encourages me to support him, given the many other reasons. It strains common sense to exclude from membership in good standing with the Tea Party people like these. This shows that McCotter thinks through these things tactically as well the aims. There is no point in aspiring to reduce government and resist China if you don't know how to achieve your goals. Given that there was no way the House GOP could really negotiate for real spending reform under this administration, the best it could do was so to act to assure a new administration, rather than give ammunition to the Democrats on the campaign trail. They sacrificed some alienation with their base to secure a greater appeal to the broader electorate, and I think they calculated the risks well. It's easier to rally than to recruit.
You did know all along that he was going to vote for that bill didn't you?
I'm still waiting for the Armageddon that was a comin' after Obamacare was passed.
And now we are a gonna' oppose an extension of the payroll tax cut favored by the other half of the ruling class.
As is so eloquently put here, "It's always a net positive to let taxpayers keep more of what they earn," says Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas, "but not all tax relief is created equal for the purposes of helping to get the economy moving again."
They oppose any tax cut and there will be hell to pay... Or should be hell to pay .. Or might be ... Could be ... Should be .. Maybe..?!
I adore Thad McCotter. I'm so glad he's running; even if he doesn't win it may pave the way for a future run. Besides, he's bound to improve the quality of debate if his speeches on the floor [my fave: 'How to Speak Democrat', look for it on YouTube]are any indication. That is, if they finally let him in on one of these farcical televised Republican debates.
You should be fearful of China if for no other reason than their young men will become desperate for wives. Do not discount the pressure on the Chinese government to expand their reach to lands with large numbers of females. You may think that this is too absurd to be practical but men without women can be very desperate.
While I have some big questions about McCotter, I must admit he is the only candidate that doesn't make me sick when he opens his mouth. Perhaps it's someting about the fact that he addresses his audience as adults, and not children.
While I usually enjoy your columns and perspective, I feel you have as have many other fellow conservatives been hoodwinked by the 'resume' of Ms. Chai Ling. As has been extensively detailed, Ms. Chai Ling exhorted others in Tiananmen Square stay in the square and become cannon fodder, while she ran away. To list her as a hero is quite regretful. Also I wish more attention was paid, both by you and the Church, to the epidemic of lifestyle abortions that are currently taking place in 'Good' China, ie Taiwan. I think that we as conscience Catholics and Americans need to pay more attention to this life issue, on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, rather than just who happens to appoint the Bishops.
Being opposed to one evil doesn't excuse or provide a pass for those who, as long as they also oppose said evil, to commit sin without similar denouncement.
Oh, I knew he was gonna vote for it, but have yet to hear back from his offices as to WHY he finally decided to supported it.
You won't have but a couple more years to wait for that "Armageddon" to materialize. Remember, OBoehnerCare was designed to be implemented after the 2012 elections. Of course, signs of the Apocalypse are all around us. You see this Admin. Usurping power from Congress (most recently the deportation policy announced) and the Judiciary, empowering agencies beyond the scope of their function, Granting czars authority over people and entities with no oversight or accountability to voters or shareholders.
For those of you in Thad's corner (or at least eyeing it for offering your support), just look at his actions closely since his being in the majority and then decide if we really need another orator leading from behind in the Oval Office?
Of course, it really is a moot point - thank the Good Lord! After-all, McCotter can't even get attention in his home State and District.
I don't understand the viewpoint of some of the folks here.
A man who is a fiscal conservative lives within his means and pays his debts. A man who defaults on his debts is nothing but a bum!
Why should the definition be any different for the United States? And if you agree with that then how could it have been the responsible thing to do to default on the national debt?
Furthermore McCotter is the only candidate who has a clue of how to get us out of debt and here's why...
1) There is a 60-72% correlation between unemployment and trade deficits. People who are out of work collect benefits from the government instead of paying taxes into the system. Our biggest trade deficit are with China - the very country McCotter is targeting.
2) Loss of our manufacturing base also costs us industries which also pay taxes.
3) McCotter doesn't want to just tweak government spending - he wants to totally restructure the government for the modern era.
In McCotter we have an intellectual and a visionary. Listen to what the man has to say and tell me he isn't far and away the person who has put the most thought and research into why he wants to be the President of the United States and what he would do with the power if he had it. He would absolutely CRUSH Obama in a debate.
What default? That was never a real threat, and certainly not one that could be caused by anyone other than Geithner and Obama. So how exactly did Thad's support of raising the limit get us closer to solvency?
But hey, go to McCotter2012 on Facebook and "friend" him. He's lost about 5k of us in August already!
"...We have taken the ratings off CreditWatch because the Aug. 2 passage of the Budget Control Act Amendment of 2011 *** has removed any perceived immediate threat of payment default *** posed by delays to raising the government's debt
ceiling..."
In other words THERE WAS "A PERCEIVED IMMEDIATE THREAT OF PAYMENT DEFAULT" that had to be REMOVED. Nobody is making that up, its right there on the S&P website.
To make full disclosure I've already friended McCotter because I think he's right about China and because he also has abortion and illegal immigration right. Nobody else in the race seems to have a clue on China yet.
Sorry, but McCotter's support of card check and other issues his union backers favor disqualifies him from consideration.
My strict policy is to always look for the union label. If I find one, I buy something else, or nothing at all. But not one dime or one vote, ever again, for a union toady.
Estragon, do the words "Reagan Democrat" mean nothing to you? Do you not understand the difference between public sector and private sector unions? I wonder if you'd rather see Obama keep his day job, instead of getting challenged by someone who could wipe the floor with him in any debate because he understands policy issues in more than one dimension while steering by a set of good principles.
McCotter is on record saying he made an error in voting for card check and wouldn't vote for it again. Considering his district is largely union blue collar workers and his record since 2003 he doesn't rate any slack on ONE vote?
What about Ronald Reagan? He was President of the Screen Actors Guild, differentiated between government unions and private sector unions and vigorously argued that the right to unionize was a fundamental human right.
So by the standard your applying how could Ronald Reagan pass muster to be President of the United States?
We really need to stop building China's industrial capacity (and that of other 3rd-world nations) instead of our own. Too many things like this have happened:
1. NEW DELHI—Ford Motor Co. plans to invest about $900 million to build its second factory in India . . .
2. General Electric Co.’s health care unit, the world’s biggest maker of medical imaging machines, is moving the headquarters of its 115-year-old X-ray business to Beijing.
3. Boston Scientific Corp. said yesterday that it plans to eliminate 1,200 to 1,400 jobs . . . was investing $150 million and hiring 1,000 people in China, . . . will gradually shift more work to foreign sites...
4. The New Learjet, Now Mexican Made. G.E. and Bombardier are making big investments in Mexico, using locally-trained workers to help build their newest jets.
5. Caterpillar Inc. announced that it plans to open a new manufacturing facility in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, China..... When fully operational and at full capacity, it is expected to employ about 400 people.
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As Mark Steyn has pointed out, we have financed China's massive military build-up ourselves.
What we need is a way to discourage capital flight. We can't just CONSUME -- we have to produce as well.
Hey, Feds: connect the dots! It's the Giant Sucking Sound, stupid! Get over your neurotic fear of "protectionism" and giving us some PROTECTION against third-world wage rates.
Quit soiling your pants every time somebody yells "Smoot-Hawley," and make some move to stop the massive dis-investment from our nation's economy.
IMHO: good manufacturing jobs were not "stolen" by other countries, they were driven out of the U.S. by a thick, strangling web of regulations and other economic interventions and compulsions intended to punish companies for manufacturing goods in the U.S., because, face it, the conventional wisdom and overarching myth from the 1960s on was that Corporations that Manufacture Stuff are Oppressive and Bad and Should Be Slapped Around A Whole Bunch. You want more manufacturing jobs here, neutralize these interventions (don't settle for just rigging more of them) so that we get back to where the MARKET will naturally reward manufacturers for creating them, and permit them to compete globally with better products.
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