From now on, read my blogging madness over at the Rocky Mountain News (bookmark it: http://blogs.rockymountainnews.com/bridget/), where I'm the new diva of online opinion, member of the editorial board and an opinion writer.
GOP Vixen will remain active for now so that archives are available. But all new posts will be at the aforementioned Rocky Mountain News site. So come on over!!
I’ve had Kuwait’s back ever since
I was 15 years old. Bad boy Saddam Hussein had just invaded Iraq’s
tiny, oil-rich neighbor, and before too long the Gulf War was on.
Promptly, my high school campus turned into an emirate lovefest: We
scribbled “Free Kuwait!” (and, er, “Saddam Sucks!”) on our book covers
and binders, and some enterprising students even printed buttons for
our backpacks. Since expanding my horizons past the point of
rudimentary 10th-grade knapsack foreign-policy advocacy, I’ve still
always supported the decision to liberate Kuwait. Now if only Kuwait
would liberate itself.
Read my column about last weekend’s disappointing parliamentary vote in the wee Gulf nation…
Or at least that’s how I sound in this interview I gave for a profile in Nielson Business Media: “To be in this business, you have to just love the news to the point where you don’t mind working weekends, holidays, nights, overtime; and you don’t mind dropping everything when a story happens. … You have to be the person who will do the editorial equivalent of walking to school three miles in the snow barefoot. You have to put the news and the newsroom first.”
Incidentally, I didn’t remember too much what I’d said in the interview because I’d just come off of working many many days straight and spoke with the reporter while still in PJs (which lends immense credence to my weekly gig at Pajamas Media) and fuzzy socks, bleary eyed and wondering how much Diet Coke it would take to arrive at a semiconscious state…
Former WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko is running for mayor of Kiev, and the May 25 vote is swiftly approaching! I recently got a one-on-one interview with the boxer from the campaign trail, and wrote about it in my Los Angeles Daily News column. I have a feeling GOP-V readers will find him to be much more than a pugilist — having grown up in the Soviet Union, he’s committed to bringing real democracy sans corruption to the Ukraine, and his model is the West: “I see the life standards in the U.S. and what we have to bring here to Ukraine People want to be part of the modern world. It’s one point to speak, another point to be.”
Or for a snapshot of Klitschko’s quotes and a poll on his chances for victory, click on over to my *NEW* (shameless plug alert!) World News site at About.com.
Yesterday
I finally scored an interview -- via phone, direct from the Ukraine --
with former WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, who's running
for mayor of Kiev. The vote is coming up on May 25, and Klitschko is
attempting to knock out (well, theoretically -- but he does have a
higher knockout percentage than any other heavyweight champ!) incumbent
Leonid Chernovetsky.
So stay tuned for my column on this matchup, where Klitschko -- who holds a Ph.D., incidentally -- confesses that politics is much more difficult than boxing. He also uses his upbringing in a Soviet state to craft his vision of how the Ukraine really needs to embrace true democracy and knock out corruption.
As Israel nears her 60th birthday,
this is major food for thought: Hamas airs a “documentary” showing that
Jews supposedly plotted the Holocaust to weed out the weak and gain
international sympathy. They release it just a couple of weeks before
the day when the world remembered the victims of the Holocaust. The
media largely ignores this outrage, because Hamas represents the
“persecuted” Palestinians. I write about the lessons we need to learn
from this — with the insight of my pal Valerie Harper, who took her
amazing Golda Meir character to the big screen recently — in my Los Angeles Daily News column this week:
“Sadly, as we marked this year’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, ‘never again’ seems further from reach than ever. Jews continue to be targeted, be it in the 1994 bombing of the Jewish center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, or the repeated desecration of Jewish graves in Berlin. Holocaust denial has became accepted as legitimate thought in some circles and has become a foreign-policy talking point in the regimes of others.And when I, a gentile columnist, have written about the outrage of Holocaust denial, I’ve received far too many letters defending the deniers.
‘Jews don’t care about anybody but the Jews,’ wrote one Canadian reader. ‘…Only a fool would trust a Jew to play fair with gentiles. … They’re laughing at you for falling for their lies. Don’t be such a sap.’
Hamas is doing its best to stoke that disbelief in the true nature of the Holocaust, while fanning the flames of hatred for the Jewish people.
On April 18, Al-Aqsa TV - which brought Palestinian kiddies Farfour the martyr mouse and Assoud, the Bugs Bunny rip-off who vowed to ‘eat’ the Jews - aired an ‘educational’ program that accused Jews of perpetuating the Holocaust to weed out the weak among their ranks and simultaneously gain international sympathy.
This, of course, walks a fine line with Hamas’ contention that the Holocaust never happened…”
And if you want to be even more depressed, read the reader comments, which include this from a woman in Redondo Beach:
“Holocaust ‘denial’ is a misnomer. Nobody denies the Holocaust. Some people have noticed irregularities with some aspects of the official holocaust story and have raised questions. For example, why haven’t the mass graves at the death camps been opened up to estimate the number of victims and see what we can find out about who they are or how they died? Why hasn’t anybody demanded information about a relative they believe was murdered in one of the death camps? How exactly did the gas chambers work and how did they dispose of all the bodies?
All reasonable questions but instead of answers, you get called a bigot and anti-semite for asking them. For that reason, people will continue questioning the holocaust. It’s not bigotry that leads people to holocaust revision, it’s simply curiosity.”
To which one reader responded:
“Christina, I could not agree with you more. It’s not bigotry to find the truth. The real bigots here are the stiff-neck mutated counterfeit jews that reasons with their own vile vehement that spews forth without intelligences, along with their brain dead following..”
Feeling truly ill yet? There was a positive comment over at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer to lift one’s spirits:
“I’m surprised the PI let Bridget Johnson’s opinion on here.
The popular opinion on the far left is that the Jewish people and Israel are the root cause of all violence, poverty and hate in the Arab world. Without Jews, none of it would exist.
I’m sure they would have felt sorry for them as they were being cooked early in the late 30s, had they been around to see it, but now that they have recovered, prospered and are white and wealthy, they are a target.
Hamas could fry babies, and they do in a sense, and they would be the noble ones to the far left, because they aren’t wealthy.
Keep the faith Bridget and if your letters smell of lattes and incense, save yourself some grief and throw them away.”
Here are my columns I've been too busy/burned out/crazy to post lately:
And over at my About Journalism site, I did blog on Putin's alleged monkey business with a Russian gymnast (sorry, Reaps, I had blogged on this elsewhere but hadn't linked from GOP-V).
There's a line in "Pulp Fiction" where Samuel L. Jackson's
character, Jules, has a "moment of clarity" after several short-range
bullets miss him: He decides to quit the hitman career, finally start
living the Ezekiel passage he quoted to victims about the path of
righteousness being beset on all sides by evil men, and even though
totally unsure of his future he tells Vincent Vega (John Travolta) "I
can't go back to sleep."
After this week's protests against the Olympic torch in San Francisco, one can't help but think -- and hope -- that many spectators now have that feeling about the myriad grievances brought against China: Tibet, the PRC's support for Sudan and Burma, press freedom (or lack of it, as the situation is), even the crackdowns on China's Uighur community (which showed up waving Eastern Turkistan flags). Media reports tend to leap to the loony protesters -- like the trio of nude guys I interviewed (and photographed, providing a scary surprise for my mother in her e-mail) -- but a strong message was sent by a passionate mass of protesters who generally heeded the call for nonviolence yet blocked the path for the torch to enter the closing ceremonies.
I was there for it. Protest events actually began Tuesday, with a Tibet-centric rally at U.N. Plaza, marching to San Francisco City Hall and the Chinese consulate after that. Many in the crowd were ethnic Tibetans, waving Tibet and American flags, but many were supporters from other walks of life. One speaker -- described as the only Tibetan in Appalachia -- eloquently compared this fight against communism to Eastern Europe's efforts, and hoped that Rangzen ("independence") would reach the same one-word movement recognition as Solidarność in 1980s Poland. One organizer handed me a sobering list -- names, ages, gender, town of those Tibetans thus far confirmed killed by the Chinese government since March 14. The elected North American representative for the Tibetan government in exile had sobering news: Some of those monks who were arrested and tortured for defying protest bans have committed suicide upon their release from Chinese custody. As it is, monasteries are under siege without access to food or water.
Mayor Gavin Newsom, of course, cowered inside City Hall and didn't come out when the protesters massed on the steps and spilled across the street. Marching up Van Ness Avenue (and yes, I did get new running shoes for the week) toward the consulate, cars driving the opposite way stopped in lanes to take pictures of the monks, the activists, and the plain ol' concerned citizens; drivers honked and flashed peace signs.
On Wednesday I got to the Embarcadero long before the torch relay was to start, sipping the best ever clam chowder on the patio of the Waterfront Restaurant as helicopters buzzed overhead and a plane flew a "Free Burma" banner. As Newsom decided to play hide-and-seek with the torch at the last minute, protesters made the wise decision to gather near the closing ceremonies site rather than spread out among the supposed waterfront route. Before long, the police barricades were null and the Chinese nationalists who had lined up to watch the missing torch were treated to a parade of demonstrators. I was in the middle of the protesters, dashing over to watch the latest shouting match or flag wrestling with China supporters who had wandered into the protest crowd.
At
about 2:30 p.m. -- the relay was supposed to start at 1 p.m. -- Tibetan
organizers told protesters to go through the Embarcadero Center
building to get around police barricades branching far from the stage
setup. “Block all the entrances!” a protest leader shouted. “Do not let
the torch enter the closing ceremony!”
Demonstrators streamed through the doors of the shopping center,
chanting slogans as shopkeepers peered from windows.
Once close to the ceremony site, protesters pressed against another set of barricades that kept the public out of reserved seating. “Bring down the barriers!” demonstrators shouted as police lined up and a band played covers of tunes such as David Bowie and Queen’s “Under Pressure.” A couple of protesters asked me -- I was smushed in, close to the front of the pack -- if I would push in on the barrier: "You have a press pass, so you won't get in trouble!" they theorized. Uh-huh.
I find it interesting that so many stories are painting the day as a victory for Newsom when it was the strong protest efforts that made the torch run and hide.
This, I think, is one of the saddest stories of relay day:
"At least one torchbearer decided to show her support for Tibetan independence during her moment in the spotlight. After being passed the Olympic flame, Majora Carter pulled out a small Tibetan flag that she had hidden in her shirt sleeve.
'The Chinese security and cops were on me like white on rice, it was no joke,' said Carter, 41, who runs a nonprofit organization in New York. 'They pulled me out of the race, and then San Francisco police officers pushed me back into the crowd on the side of the street.'"
I'm so glad that, here in America, Chinese authorities are allowed to decide what's acceptable speech, and then our law enforcement officers go along with it, acting like her peaceful display of a Tibetan flag is a crime. Shame on the city of San Francisco!!
But major, major props to the people of San Francisco, who are unlikely to continue to be silent about the policies of communist China. Once you learn the truth, it's hard to go back to sleep. (Unless, of course, you're President Bush, who unfortunately refuses to ditch the opening ceremonies in Beijing.)
Here's the coverage roundup thus far from my trip:
MY VIDEO:
MY STORIES:
Round One of Anti-China Protests in San Francisco
And coming very soon, my Daily News column on an interesting angle of the whole torch protest affair...
Apologies for so few posts on the blog lately: I've been crunching deadlines to clear the decks before I go up to San Francisco for the Olympic torch protests. (And considering what happened in London today, looks like it's going to be good times!! Leave bail donations in the tip jar, please!)
Anyway, here's the catch-up from last week. My Los Angeles Daily News column was on Geert Wilders' "Fitna" film, which I watched and critiqued:
"Geert Wilders is not going to win an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short anytime soon.
The far-right Dutch politician with the trademark blond mane has delighted in being the shock-jock of parliament, and spends his days in police protection for a litany of anti-Islam comments. But while Wilders' short film 'Fitna,' released online last week with equal parts fanfare and trepidation, makes some salient points about the impact of Islamic radicalism, the message falls flat because of, well, the messenger.
Wilders, after all, prefers no Islam instead of championing moderate Muslims in Europe. He compares the Quran to Hitler's 'Mein Kampf.' And his film bounces back to the same premise: The Netherlands has too many Muslims.
The terror that killed filmmaker Theo van Gogh in 2004, though, goes a lot deeper than demographic figures.
With a script credited to 'Geert Wilders & Scarlet Pimpernel,' 'Fitna' begins with the cartoon of Mohammed with the bomb in his turban that sparked deadly riots in 2006. The fuse on the turban bomb is lit, sizzling across a blank page of a book that later stands in for the Quran.
Kurt Westergaard, who drew that cartoon for Danish publication Jyllands-Posten and was recently the target of a murder plot, said Wilders' usage was 'theft' and 'an abuse of my cartoon.' Nowhere does 'Fitna' touch on the real story behind that cartoon, either, which is one of the most troubling parts about the vicious reaction to the Jyllands-Posten spread: Westergaard drew the cartoon to show how terrorists misuse Islam. ..."
And something I never thought would happen: The Arab-American News has cited me as a voice of reason.
Over at Pajamas Media, I previewed the San Fran torch run, which took an interesting turn last week with the Board of Supervisors approving a resolution basically dissing the torch and calling out city officials for being so accommodating to Beijing:
"...Newsom postponed releasing details of the torch route — to wind along the waterfront Embarcadero — until Tuesday, stymieing protesters’ organizational efforts. Protesters, he said, will be allowed to assemble at the end of the six-mile route, and officials also have designated Union Square, Portsmouth Square, Civic Center and Washington Square as acceptable rally points — also known as points far enough removed from the torch route.
Tuesday’s resolution, authored by Supervisor Chris Daly, was a symbolic, stern resolution that included the following:
- Urges federal authorities 'to call for an international inquiry to investigate these recent atrocities' in Tibet and asks China to allow free media inside the country;
- Urges Newsom to buck up and express his concern regarding the Tibet crackdown and asks him to urge China to behave;
- Urges Newsom to give protesters full access outside of the designated 'First Amendment Areas';
- 'Urges the Olympic Committee to boycott the Beijing 2008 Olympics Opening Ceremony if there is no cessation of violence from Chinese security forces against peaceful protestors and other critics of the Chinese government';
- Commends the Olympic-protest flames also passing through town: the Human Rights Torch Relay and the Tibetan Freedom Torch;
- Urges the city official who accepts the torch to do so in the name of human rights and 'urges the above City Official to also make publicly known that the 2008 Summer Olympic Games Torch is received with alarm and protest at the failure of China to meet its past solemn promises to the international community'
The resolution passed 8-3. A resolution introduced simultaneously by Supervisor Carmen Chu — a watered-down statement welcoming the Olympic, Human Rights, and Tibetan Freedom torches equally without slamming China for human-rights violations — thankfully failed. Before Tuesday’s votes, the Chinese Consulate was quoted by the San Francisco Chronicle as saying the passage of either would be 'an insult to good, friendly relations.'
In fact, on Friday morning Chinese Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong stopped into Newsom’s office for a half-hour meeting that his office was otherwise zip-lipped about. On Tuesday, Newsom was passing off Daly’s resolution as symbolic mumbo-jumbo. Hardly surprising. Shortly before his 2004 swearing-in, Newsom credited Chinatown with handing him the runoff victory: 'There is one reason I won a very close election. And that is the support of the Asian community, and the Chinese community in particular. I could not have done it without you.'..."
Read the whole thing! And stay tuned for my San Fran coverage...
Lots of interesting reaction -- including my first Chinese death threat! -- to my Los Angeles Daily News column this week on China's game-playing (and we're not talking about the traditional Olympic variety).
It seems there have been some new events added to the Beijing Summer Olympics!
Adding the Asthma Run through the city's smoggy streets would be no surprise. But blocking live broadcast feeds from Tiananmen Square could be a sure sign that China plans to add the Running of the Tanks to the events schedule. Journalist Shi Tao would be there to cover it, but unfortunately he's in prison for reporting on restrictions on uttering a word about that 1989 Tiananmen blip.
Recent events also indicate authorities may be considering moving the sharpshooting contest to Lhasa. And when global outrage rears its head, just whip out the new event called Blame the Holy Man. The goal? Convincing people around the world that this wise, placid, saffron-robed guy is the devil incarnate.
The games might not kick off until August, but the Tibet crackdown has inspired an early exhibition of the Chinese government's favorite event: P.R. Gymnastics.
Bold-faced lies fly through the air with the greatest of ease in this event, like when slamming the Dalai Lama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for trying to bring attention to the repression in Tibet.
"`Human rights police' like Pelosi are habitually bad tempered and ungenerous when it comes to China, refusing to check their facts and find out the truth of the case," state-run Xinhua published in a Sunday editorial.
Human rights being such a bad thing and all. Tibet's government in exile said Monday that 130 Tibetans had been killed in China's crackdown. In the Communist Party Math Bowl, the figure was whittled to 22 deaths.
When will the time come when we refuse to play China's games anymore?
How many more people have to die like Wei Wenhua, who was beaten to death by officers in Hubei province in January for filming villagers protesting against Chinese authorities dumping garbage in their neighborhood? (A little pre-Olympic "housecleaning" on China's part.)
How much longer will Tibetans have to suffer under forced "re-education" and, as the Dalai Lama aptly put it, "cultural genocide"? How many more journalists and bloggers have to be thrown in prison? How many dissidents must disappear? When the world wows at the Olympic spectacle, will they care how many poor people had their homes razed or how much migrant labor was exploited for "beautification" projects or gaudy stadiums?
The time has come for action. Not as members of any political party, or adherents to any particular religion, but members of the human race who respect the dignity and inherent freedom of each and every individual.
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 |
Change is good
Recent Comments