Obama Speaks Freely--Most Is Censored

The Red Chinese government may be on to something. President Obama, a great believer in free speech (except when it's criticism of his policies), lectured the People's Republic on the virtues of freedom of speech for Chinese TV. The Chinese authorities promptly censored most of the speech, leaving only a few abstract comments for a couple of sound bites. Too bad we can't do that here. Obama speaks endlessly and mindlessly on a daily basis for U.S. viewers, and nobody bothers to cut any of it.

One Chinese entrepreneur (pictured) found himself in trouble for making a little too much of Obama's visit. He had been warned not not to try to display or promote his "Oba Mao T-Shirts," but he did it anyway. And now he's not only being censored, but is also facing criminal prosecution. Free speech and free enterprise are not highlights of the communist Chinese government.

In the past, American Presidents were allowed a surprising amount of leeway to speak directly to the Chinese people. Clinton and Bush II were hardly censored at all. But they were both talking about "warming relations" between the two nations, neither spoke about the touchy topic of free speech, and neither was there on bended knee begging the Chinese dictators to purchase more United States bonds.

All major media outlets agree that the Chinese government strictly limited dissemination of video and transcripts of the President's remarks. Internet viewings were more problematic, but were quickly censored as well. The thorniest problem for the Chinese censors is that they generally do not censor the White House's own website, and let it slip longer than they would have liked. But, better late than never.

The Washington Post headlined: "Obama backs Non-censorship; Beijing, Apparently, Does Not." They went on to say: "Most Chinese never got to hear or read what Obama said, and his talk to the students was never mentioned on China's main official 7 PM news broadcast." The Christian Science Monitor was more specific: "After a string of softball questions from officially selected students, Ambassador Jon Huntsman read out a question that someone had sent in to the US Embassy website, asking bluntly what the president thought of Internet censorship in China" Obama replied appropriately (if not entirely honestly): "I have always been a strong supporter of open Internet use, and a big supporter of non-censorship." Brave words, which were never heard by most Chinese.

The AP, forever in the Obama tank, reported that Obama "may have been hoping to set a personal example for China's leaders when he said he believes that free discussion, including criticism that may be annoying to him, makes him 'a better leader because it forces me to hear opinions that I don't want to hear.'" And as we all know, Obama takes criticism very well, and goes out of his way to learn from it. Oh, and did you know that the moon is made out of green cheese?

Even the New York Times was honest enough to admit "that most of those who attended [the staged TV opportunity] turned out to be members of the Communist Youth League, an official organization that grooms obedient students for future leadership posts, and some Chinese bloggers whom the White House had tried to invite were barred from attending." Close enough for government work. And ABC World News accurately described the atmosphere in China prior to the event: "In anticipation of [Obama's] visit, the Chinese government rounded up and detained dozens of dissidents including human right activist Chiu Ju Yung who lost his leg 20 years ago during the crackdown on the Tiananmen Square democracy protests."

The only remaining question is, was this a lesson to the Chinese about censorship, or a lesson for ACORN, the SEIU, and the Holder Justice Department on how to handle potential dissidents against Obama policy decisions?