Hu Jintao runs a for-profit police state, complete with a gulag, slave labor, and an organ-harvesting operation. Rush Limbaugh pokes fun at him, and a bunch of Asian American Democrats flip out. I think this is a case of missing perspective.
New York assemblywoman Grace Meng wins the gold medal in buffoonery with this remark: “Making fun of any country’s leader is just very disrespectful for someone who says he is a proud American.” But Hu is precisely the sort of man who should be mocked — for his own crimes, for those of his regime, and for all that he stands for. Disrespectful? I defy Ms. Meng to explain why Hu ought to be respected. I’m all for our diplomats being diplomatic, but Rush is no diplomat. He’s a free man in a free society, something that cannot be said for anybody living under Hu’s government. So, yes, disrespect Hu — at least: The Chinese people ought to have the honor of hanging him and his cronies.
Leland Yee, a California Democrat and state senator, said: “You think you’ve arrived and all of a sudden get shot back to the reality that you’re a second-class citizen.” This in response to mockery of Hu Jintao, who is, so far as I know, not one of Mr. Yee’s constituents. If you identify that strongly with Hu, you’ve got bigger problems than Rush Limbaugh. Being from Texas, I’m used to having my accent made fun of. I’ve never felt like a second-class citizen because of it. If somebody made fun of Alexander Lukashenko for being bald, or Kim Jong-Il for his flamboyant style, I would not feel like a second-class citizen because of it. What gives, senator?
Naturally, Rush is accused of racism. So, let’s talk racism: One of the underemphasized features of Hu’s regime is its barbarous racism — by which I do not mean lampooning foreign accents, but rather wiping out peoples and cultures that show themselves inconvenient or fail to fit easily into the Beijing regime’s racial nationalism. Don’t hold your breath waiting to hear from Meng or Yee about that.
I do not pretend to know what is in the hearts of Asian Americans, but I cannot imagine that they would much want to be identified with the likes of Hu or the collection of horrors for which he stands.