Newsgroups: alt.activism,misc.headlines,talk.politics.misc,alt.news-media,alt.censorship
Subject: Re: Top 10 Under-reported Stories of '91 released by Project Censored
From: lippard@skyblu.ccit.arizona.edu (James J. Lippard)
Date: 24 Jul 1992 12:36 MST  
Distribution: world,local
Organization: University of Arizona
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    

In article <23JUL199212363943@arecibo.aero.org>, terwill@arecibo.aero.org writes...
>In article <MATT.92Jul23101419@physics.berkeley.edu>, matt@physics.berkeley.edu writes...
>>In article <9207230101.AA04031@tba.msi.cornell.edu> harelb@MATH.CORNELL.EDU (Harel Barzilai) writes:
>> 
>>> 	10.     THE BUSH FAMILY'S CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.  In recent history, 
>>> no president has had the blatant but unexplored familial conflicts of 
>>> interest comparable to that of George Bush.  These include his brother, 
>>> Prescott, a financial consultant with influential contacts in Japan, South 
>>> Korea, and the Philippines
> 
>AND AUSTERN PONTIFICATES........
>^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> 
>>And China---a major omission from this list.  Bush's brother has
>>invested a great deal of money in a hotel (for foreigners, of course)
>>in Beijing.  In other words: the Bush family has, for several years,
>>had a major financial stake in China having good relations with the
>>United States and Europe.
>> 
>>Think about that fact the next time you wonder why Bush was so eager
>>to cozy up to the Chinese leaders even after Tiananman Square.
> 
>...as someone who will really enjoy voting against Bush and his running mate
>(although the alternate is poor on an equal basis but for different units of
>measurement) I still feel your logic here is quite flawed and not rationally
>thought out, although I suspect this is far from the first time this is true. I
>believe Bush, rare that it may be, is choosing the lesser of two evils on
>China. The "easy" decision is to cut off all relations, send China back to
>being an isolated nation with a very bright population and an irrational fear
>of all outsiders and creating a sleeping dragon to deal with later. Bush, for
>whatever reason, even the one you and your supermarket tabloid mind have
>expressed, has taken the heated path on this one and kept some light shinning
>through a bamboo curtain. It is similar to a social worker or parole officer
>intervening with a cop for the good of the individuals family. 
> 
>Bush is bad for the country but he has balls to take this position and he is
>not the root of all evil. Sorry, but half-truths like yours just draw
>attention away from the valid issues people should consider.

I think the original criticism of Bush here was cogent, whereas you seem
to be presenting a false dilemma--either Bush could have done what he did
(no sanctions, gives China most-favored-nation trading status) or he could
have cut off all relations with the PRC.  Surely there are other (and
vastly superior) alternatives (e.g., some real sanctions, no most-favored-
nation status, sponsoring a U.N. resolution condemning the Tiananmen Square 
actions).

Jim Lippard              Lippard@CCIT.ARIZONA.EDU
Dept. of Philosophy      Lippard@ARIZVMS.BITNET
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721
Newsgroups: alt.activism,talk.politics.misc,alt.individualism