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David French of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America welcome reports that members of the Illinois congressional delegation have at temporarily convinced President Trump not to commute the prison sentence of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. They're also frustrated that President Trump is not speaking out more forcefully in favor of the pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong, and is instead just saying he hopes it works out well for everyone. And they roll their eyes once again as Stacey Abrams - who lost the 2018 Georgia governor's race fair and square - is now accusing the Republicans of planning to intimidate voters of color in 2020 and also making herself available to be the vice presidential nominee for the Democrats next year.
Discussion (2)
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French says Kim is arguably the worst dictator in the world, but I think Abrams would argue the worst dictator is Trump.
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I disagree with Mr. French, Mr. Corombos, and the conventional wisdom that the president's lukewarm response to the Hong Kong situation is a bad move. I think it's entirely appropriate for the whole of our situation.
The CCP is in a no-win situation here. They are trying to achieve a Chinese break-out as a new world power, while avoiding the inevitable cycle of centralization and dissolution of authority that has defined the past 3500 years of that country's history. They're in a race against the clock, their coastal tech sectors growing richer and more influential on the world stage as their impoverished agrarian interior grows ever more restive and dissatisfied. The trade war we are already waging against them is slowing their growth and slowing them down in this race.
In order to succeed in their goals of achieving world power, they need to hide their vulnerability and convince the world that they are the inevitable future, and that the rest of the world should start throwing in with them instead of, or at least as a second alternative to, the United States.
These two internal and external realities are like the two prongs of a fork for china, and what make this Hong Kong situation such a danger to them. If the CCP backs down and relents to these protesters, you will soon see protests in cities all throughout the mainland. The mainlanders are jealous of their compatriots in Hong Kong, and if they see Hong Kong's intransigence as effective, they won't tolerate the double standard any more.
However, if the CCP cracks down, its another Tieneman Square situation and China's outreach to the world is set back who knows how many years as no one wants to throw in with an openly violent oppressive regime. China's cycle of slow deterioration and dissolution will likely be inevitable at that point.
The only thing that might pull the CCP out of this dilemma would be if they could pin these protests on the Americans somehow. Claiming we're instigating this a la the color revolutions is almost guaranteed, and possibly even correct. But either way from the president's perspective, the less noise the US makes right now the better. Let the ChiComs choose they're own poison here.