Posted on 01/18/2013 4:45:26 AM PST by Kaslin
Martial arts movie legend Jackie Chan deserves a rhetorical roundhouse kick to the mouth. So does his pal PSY, the Korean rapper whose "Gangnam Style" music video has racked up more than a billion views worldwide. Both men have raked in big bucks from Western fans while trashing the very freedoms and cultures that made them superstars.
Last week, The Washington Post spotlighted a recent interview Chan did with Chinese TV in which he accused America of being "the most corrupt country in the world." The Hong Kong-born Chan also admitted proudly that he is a propagandist for the Communist Chinese government. He openly advised his fellow countrymen to speak with forked tongues when addressing foreign press: "We know our country has many problems. We (can) talk about it when the door is closed. To outsiders, (we should say) "our country is the best."
Translation: Rampant sex-selection abortions? Shhh. Jailing political dissidents? La, la, la, can't hear you! Systemic religious persecution? State-sanctioned censorship? Continued brutality against Tiananmen Square protesters and Tibetans? Nothing to see here, move along, and down with America!
Turns out that behind the jovial cinematic persona, Chan is an unrepentant champion of authoritarian rule. Despite making a living as an entertainer and "humanitarian," Chan suffers a severe allergic reaction to freedom of speech and freedom of thought. In a separate interview last month with China's Southern People Weekly, he complained that Hong Kong had become a city of too many protests. "There should be regulations on what can and cannot be protested," Chan declared.
Earlier in 2009, Chan echoed Chinese Communist leaders in asserting that Chinese people "need to be controlled" because "if we are not being controlled, we'll just do what we want." God forbid!
This contempt for freedom of expression comes from an international box-office mogul who has topped the Forbes China Celebrity 100 list and has an estimated net worth of more than $130 million. Even more damning, Chan's own personal history is defined by the turmoil of Mao's Cultural Revolution. As the 2003 documentary "Traces of a Dragon" recounted, Chan's father and mother both fled China for Hong Kong to escape Communist rule. They left behind their original spouses and four children between them.
Instead of condemning the regime that wrought havoc on his family and imposed suffering and death on millions of innocents, Chan is China's most prominent mainstream apologist. Meanwhile, moviegoers in the "most corrupt country in the world" continue to help make Chan a wealthy man. This summer, his latest movie, "Chinese Zodiac," will hit U.S. theaters. Sylvester Stallone has invited him to co-star in the next installment of "The Expendables." And Chan is working on another Hollywood project involving his popular "Police Story" series.
Will American consumers allow themselves to be punched in the gut by this trash-talking action star? If the embrace of Chan's new pal PSY is any indication, the answer is yes. The Korean "Gangnam Style" performer once urged listeners to "kill those (expletive deleted) Yankees ... kill their daughters, mothers, daughters-in-law and fathers."
Called out on the hate lyrics, he issued a hasty apology before performing for the president and his family last month. Instead of rejection, PSY continues to be courted by the American entertainment industry. He'll be working with Justin Bieber's producer and will make an appearance in a high-profile ad for pistachios during the Super Bowl.
At a Hong Kong awards show last month, Chan and PSY met for the first time. It was a mutual admiration society. "You are the legend," Chan said to PSY as a young audience cheered on. "One day you can make your dream come up. All the young people, never give up. One day your dream may come true, just like him. So proud of you."
"Yankees" -- especially those whose parents came to the United States from all parts of Asia seeking freedom from tyranny -- should shun these exploitative peas in an anti-American pod. They don't speak for me. Michelle Malkin is the author of "Culture of Corruption: Obama and his Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks and Cronies" (Regnery 2010). Her e-mail address is malkinblog@gmail.com.
Okay. I can understand that. So here is my question. Was he FORCED to appear on these shows or give these interviews? No one, from what I have read, asked him about corruption in America. He actually asked and answered the question himself. So is that ALSO required?
He's just a messenger. We need to change back to who we used to be as a nation and as individuals to his opinion wrong.
Check out this comment by "John" posted to Whole Foods CEO: Health care law 'like fascism' . As long as this is accurate, so is what Chan is saying and it will only get worse. See if you agree:
You know you live in a country run by idiots...
When smoking Pot is legal and widely accepted
but smoking tobacco is treated like a criminal offense.
===================================================
You know you live in a Country run by idiots if....
You can get arrested for expired tags on your car
but not for being in the country illegally.
===================================================
You know you live in a Country run by idiots if...
Your government believes that the best way to eradicate trillions of dollars of debt is to spend trillions more of our money.
====================================================
You know you live in a Country run by idiots if...
A seven year old boy can be thrown out of school for calling his teacher "cute"
but hosting a sexual exploration or diversity class in grade school is perfectly acceptable.
====================================================
You know you live in a Country run by idiots if...
The Supreme Court of the United States can rule that lower courts cannot display the 10 Commandments in their courtroom,
while sitting in front of a display of the 10 Commandments.
====================================================
You know you live in a Country run by idiots if...
Children are forcibly removed from parents who appropriately discipline them
while children of "underprivileged" drug addicts are left to rot in filth infested cesspools.
====================================================
You know you live in Country run by idiots if...
Working class Americans pay for their own health care (and the health care of everyone else)
while unmarried women are free to have child after child on the "State's" dime while never being held responsible for their own choices.
====================================================
You know you live in a Country run by idiots if...
Hard work and success are rewarded with higher taxes and government intrusion,
while slothful, lazy behavior is rewarded with EBT cards, WIC checks, Medicaid and subsidized housing, and free cell phones.
====================================================
You know you live in a Country run by idiots if...
The government's plan for getting people back to work is to provide 99 weeks of unemployment checks (to not work).
====================================================
You know you live in a Country run by idiots if...
Being self-sufficient is considered a threat to the government.
====================================================
You know you live in a Country run by idiots if...
Politicians think that stripping away the amendments to the Constitution is really protecting the rights of the people.
====================================================
You know you live in a Country run by idiots if...
The rights of the Government come before the rights of the individual.
====================================================
You know you live in a Country run by idiots if...
Parents believe the State is responsible for providing for their children.
====================================================
You know you live in a Country run by idiots if...
Being stripped of the ability to defend yourself makes you "safe".
====================================================
You know you live in a Country run by idiots if....
You have to have your parents signature to go on a school field trip but not to get an abortion.
====================================================
You know you live in a Country run by idiots if...
An 80 year old woman can be stripped searched by the TSA
but a muslim woman in a burka is only subject to having her neck and head searched.
====================================================
You know you live in a Country run by idiots if...
Using the "N" word is considered "hate speech"
but writing and singing songs about raping women and killing cops is considered "art".
====================================================
You know you live in a Country run by idiots if...
You can write a post like this just by reading the news headlines.
====================================================
"IN GOD WE TRUST"
By extension of your argument, the word “Chinese” is also a euphemism, given the dozens of regions and ethnic tribes that live in proximity with the Han (few of whom, BTW, are anywhere close to being genetically or culturally pure strains). But then “Han” would be a euphemism too, given the millions of families that exist in that scattered and variously languaged group. And even within the particular “Wong family” living in the third floor flat at the far left corner to the north of here, we have the “parents” and several “generations” chronologically above and below them. Even “Wong Hua,” the eldest brother, is a mere collection of tissues and thoughts, variously scattered over space and time.
Silly pseudo-argument. Collective terms (not “euphemisms”, BTW) are collective by nature, and never meant to be impeccably accurate, and yet we can’t efficiently communicate anything much without them.
China is still remarkably totalitarian, and those who rise to the top will be beaten down unless they toe the line and deliver up the goods the party people want delivered.
I’m gonna take your word for it, muawiyah, because you have been plenty right about plenty things. Sometimes I think of you as the Encyclopaedia Brittanica.
He’s been one of my favorites for years. I watch his stuff over and over. He’s someone I always thought I would love to just sit down and talk to. So...will hold my judgement for now. I think you guys are right.
Clearly he has been spending some quality time with Obama.
This takes it too far. There is little or no handicap to describing people by their nation, unless you are talking about its internal politics. Immigrants, legal or illegal, from Pakistan in Britain are, as a group “Pakistanis”.
Clearly, the British press is trying to pretend that Pakistanis, and specifically, Muslim Pakistanis, are not to be blamed as a group for all their group mischief; but should be described as “Asians”, even though other groups from Asia do not create the endless problems that Pakistanis do.
This effort to protect an offensive group, is less effective at doing so, because every intelligent person knows that it is the Pakistani Muslims to blame; but it is also libelous to other groups, implicating them in group bad behavior that they did not do.
From Malkin’s point of view, she is ethnically Asian, and is objecting to what other Asians have said as not her point of view. But this appeals to people who cannot distinguish Asian peoples by country.
She is a Filipino-American, objecting to remarks by a Chinese man and a South Korean man.
I have never looked at Michelle and seen anything but American.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.