Empire State Building lit Red/Yellow for 60th anniversary of Communist China...

[armyowalgreens]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091001/ap_on_re_us/us_empire_state_building_china


NEW YORK – Red and yellow lights shone from the top of the Empire State Building at dusk Wednesday, a tribute to communist China's 60th anniversary that protesters labeled "blatant approval" of totalitarianism and criticized as inappropriate for an icon in the land of the free.
The building is routinely lit with different colors to mark holidays and big events, but opponents questioned whether it's right to commemorate a sensitive political issue, particularly when China has such a poor human rights record.
About 20 supporters of Tibet, which China has ruled since shortly after communists took over in 1949, protested outside the building during a ceremonial lighting of a scale model inside the lobby. They chanted "No to China's empire; free Tibet now," and held signs reading, "Empire State Building celebrating 60 years of China's oppression."
Lhadon Tethong, executive director of Students for a Free Tibet, called the lighting "outright, blatant approval for a communist totalitarian system."
"It's a great public relations coup for the Chinese state," Tethong said as tourists gawked at the protesters. "But on the other hand, it's sure to backfire because the American public and the global public will speak against it."

[anonymous171]

1. Now now, we have to be nice to our master. nt

[Better Believe It]

3. You mean Wall Street? Of course not. You mean those radical Chinese commies!

[anonymous171]

14. Same thing. nt

[maxpower]

5. Exactly

Who actually owns the Empire State Building?


Peace,
Max

[Better Believe It]

2. Oh No! Left-wing commies in the heart of Manhattan!

Hunt down those red Chinese just like those terrists!

It's the red and yellow peril!

Do I detect zenophobia?

[armyowalgreens]

4. Well there is an argument to be made that honoring such an oppressive regime...

and violent history isn't exactly a wise thing to do.

I guess it depends on how you view things like the Great Leap Forward and violent persecution of political dissent.

[Better Believe It]

11. It's celebrating their revolution, not necessarily supporting their government ....

even if most Chinese here and in China do support the current government.

When we celebrated the American revolution during the Nixon, Reagan and Bush regimes did we honor their governments?

I didn't.

[anonymous171]

15. I take it you are not fond of Democracy? nt

[Better Believe It]

22. I take it you know nothing about Stalinism vs Marxism and socialism.

So I won't even bother bringing that issue up.

Do you really think we have a political and economic democracy in the United States?

If so, why don't we have as much in the way of social reforms that benefit the majority (for example universal health care) that actually exists in parliamentary democracies?

And don't claim we have democratic elections in the United States and a democratic congress. Why, we don't even have a popular vote for President! And a state with less than a million people has as much political power in the Senate as a state with 35 million people! What's so democratic about that? Look at how Senators who represent less than 20% of the population are able to sabotage any meaningful health care legislation!

Sure. Lecture to the world and the Chinese people about our "democracy" and our "democratic" history represented by slavery, the genocide against Native-Americans, the constant violation of our democratic rights which are supposedly guaranteed in the Constitution, the millions of poor people killed in imperial wars, the control of the mass media and government by Wall Street and corporate America.

Right. You go over there and lecture the Chinese on the finer points of democracy and our wonderful history in that regard.

That would be like Jesse James giving a lecture against bank robberies!

How do you think they will respond?

[Selatius]

25. But...the person you were replying to wasn't even defending what we have in America.

He was simply asserting China is not a democratic country. He is right. "Democracy," as the person used it, is not something the US has exclusive control over. Yet, for some reason, you took the ball and ran towards the arena of how the US isn't that democratic either even though he didn't mention the US once.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

21. I'm zimaphobic

I have a deep-seated fear of crappy alcoholic beverages marketed to pretentious half-wits

[kestrel91316]

6. Tasteless and inappropriate to celebrate a communist dictatorship.

[Better Believe It]

17. Communist or capitalist dictatorship?

Just because government leaders call themselves communists, socialists or leftists doesn't make them so.

Look at Stalin and Mao. Do you really think that they stood for anything even remotely resembling the program and ideas of those who led the Russian revolution?

You don't know.

That's because in the United States, we learn as much about real "communist" history and authentic Marxism as most Chinese do .... and that would be next to nothing!

Calling China a communist nation with a capitalist economy makes as much sense as the right-wing nuts calling people communist/nazis or claiming a nation with a planned "communist" economy is headed by a capitalist government!

They are a contradiction and are totally incompatable.

[anonymous171]

18. At least Stalin knew how to run a country.

[Better Believe It]

19. He did not. He almost destroyed Russia and the Soviet Union

He betrayed the revolution and enabled right-wingers to point at the Soviet Union and mock that so-called workers regime. Stalin's oppressive regime gave the right-wing plenty of ammunition to discredit ALL socialists and leftists.

[kestrel91316]

20. Well, PRC was a communist dictatorship for decades. Along the way,

they discovered the joys of unfettered free market capitalism, so have incorporated that into their hybrid abomination of a government. They are still a dictatorship. I guess greedy, self-serving opportunists come in all stripes.

[joeybee12]

7. Who was the fool who approved this?

Anyone who recalls Tianamen Square should be repulsed.

[closeupready]

8. Disgusting.

Sellouts. :puke:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

9. I'm literally angry with rage.

[monmouth]

10. Who is the actual owner of the Empire State building??....n/t

[kenny blankenship]

12. Don't they own it now?

They can do pretty much whatever they want with it, if so, and the rest of their North American possessions too. Not like we've left ourselves any basis to object.

[madrchsod]

16. the empire state building is owned by us investors and...

the land is owned by a us trust.

[madrchsod]

13. the 1950`s john birches are turning over in their graves

if they tried honoring the chinese commies would have lead to arrests. my, my how times have changed. now we "honor" the founding of a a brutal military dictatorship that has killed millions!


way to go walmart america-keep those commies fat and happy.

[Better Believe It]

24. And Birchers are joined by some fake liberals today who spread the same McCarthyite bull shit!

Sounds like you miss the "good ole days" of witch-hunts and McCarthyism.

What do you think should be done today with suspected commies, pinkos, radicals and other leftists in the United States?

Prison?

Concentration camps?

Make them register with the government as subversives?

Remove them from the the media and government .... in other words follow Glenn Beck?

[Bodhi BloodWave]

23. i only have one question

Was the building lit in those colors because china 'rented' the lights? or was it just done because somebody asked?

Because if they regularly allow people/organizations to rent the lights then i have no problems with what happened