If you’ve got half an hour, watch this – a fascinating Australian broadcast with a Chinese government official (it’s in English – well, Australian – so don’t get put off by all the Chinese script on the Youtube vid), a couple dissidents, and a few journalists.

And when I say journalists, I don’t mean the weak-tea narrative fluffers that infest most “elite” American newsrooms. The Ozzies actually make the Chinese government rep break a sweat.

As Chinese people get more access to the outside world, and become more aware of how their government really works, and they suffer the effects that the coverup and crony economy (in information as well as goods and services) has on them, the people of Hong Kong are reminding me more and more of the people of Poland 40 years ago – the canary in the socialist coal mine.

It’s going to be an interesting couple years in Asia.

The situation in China seems to be much, much worse than the all-powerful Communist Party is willing to let on.

From an American doctor with a Chinese wife:

My mother-in-law lives in a smaller city – far on the western fringe of China – If Wuhan were Atlanta – she would be in a place like Boise. She had a fever about 8 days ago. Please note – official statistics note that there are 9 people in her province confirmed to have the virus. This belies the fact that she (never known to me to be a liar or fabulist ) has been telling my wife for days that there are hundreds upon hundreds of people all over the sidewalks and streets outside the hospital – and that the hospital is completely filled with patients. And apparently the crematorium has been very busy. Of most grave concern to her – is Beijing nationalized all of their small province’s health care workers and sent them to Shanghai or Beijing – leaving their city of a million with only a handful of doctors. When she had her fever – a nurse looked at her for 10 minutes. They found out she had a runny nose – and because of the runny nose told her she did NOT have the virus. NO TEST WAS EVER DONE – WHY? they simply do not have enough kits – and are having to go by their gut instinct. She was sent back to her own home – and placed in quarantine there – never having been tested. She is unable to leave – and this is being violently enforced in her city. They bring her food 3 times a week. All this to say – any and all numbers coming from China are highly suspect – and basically worthless. And thankfully my mother-in-law is getting much better.
Her younger brother and his young family live in Nanjing. I cannot tell you the grief expressed by my wife the other night – when he called her the last time – and said all international calls have been stopped effective at midnight that day. Nanjing is now under martial law – for the first time since the Japanese occupation before World War II. He told her about the tanks going down the streets and all the main streets being guarded by men with sub-machine guns. All exits out of the city are now being blocked with layers of concrete blocks. Each family has to designate one person who can go outside 2 times a week – to the nearest store for food and supplies. Anyone caught on the streets without appropriate permission – or not wearing a mask is immediately arrested – and placed in quarantine camps themselves. Anyone who thinks this is all being done just because of a “flu” or “a little virus” really needs to have their head examined.
Her father is in Beijing – and has not been heard from in two weeks.

Traditionally, one “advantage” of totalitarian government is their ability to enforce public health restrictions – see also Cuba’s crackdown on HIV, using old-fashioned public health methods reinforced by thugs with guns. But this plague seems to have circumvented even China’s totalitarian reach.

Which – maybe, possibly – is causing “reform”, perhaps even collapse of the central Communist government, to cross peoples’ minds:

Li Wenliang is the doctor thought to be the first person to sound the alarm over the coronavirus. The Chinese government responded by detaining and silencing him for spreading “false rumors.” The authorities’ lockdown on information about the virus undoubtedly increased significantly the magnitude of the epidemic that now plagues China and threatens other countries.
On Friday, Dr. Li died from the virus. According to the Washington Post, within hours of his death millions of Chinese tried to bypass censors to post the hashtag #WeWantFreedomOfSpeech. The censors eventually prevailed, but deleted sentiments are still real sentiments.
The link between the government’s suppression of speech — the lack of freedom — and the public health disaster in China could not be more clear. Li has become the symbol of that link.
This Washington Post editorial tells us that the cononavirus outbreak “is shaking the foundations of a political system built on President Xi Jinping’s assurance that the party knows best for all.” I don’t know if the epidemic actually is shaking the system’s foundations, but it should.
Speaking of Xi, he was scarcely seen in the days following the outbreak. When he finally appeared, after days of speculation as to his whereabouts, it was at an event with Cambodia’s dictator, a stooge of China.
In free nations, leaders can’t get away with going into hiding during times of disaster. Dictators can. However, doing so erodes confidence in their leadership.

Random tangential thought: if the Chinese government is anywhere close to spiralling out of control, I’m happy that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are out of power.

Joe Doakes from Como Park emails:

My Fellow Americans,
I’m pleased to announce a major foreign policy accomplishment.  There will be peace in Iraq for the first time this century.  By this time next year, there will be no American troops in Iraq.
Americans went into Iraq because our intelligence agencies assured us Saddam Hussein as stockpiling nuclear material to use against us.  The invasion was a preemptive strike, but it was self-defense, fully justified by the evidence known at the time.
We stayed in Iraq to repair the damage we had done, to rebuilt roads and bridges and schools, to protect innocent Iraqis from opportunistic neighbors and militant troublemakers.  America is not an imperialist nation.  We don’t conquer territory.  We don’t occupy it longer than we must.
Iraq is now a fully functioning liberal democracy, with an elected parliament and civil liberties assured by its government.  They no longer need us to hold their hand.  The’re ready to take their place on the world stage as a proud nation.  
I’m ordering all US military forces in Iraq to submit plans to withdraw from Iraqi territory no later than December 31st.
Some may say our withdrawal is premature, there are still militants, terrorists, neighbors, troublemakers.  But there always will be.  Iraq’s troubles are not our troubles.  The territorial, religious and cultural causes of conflict go back millennia.  An American president can no more solve them than he can order the seas not to rise. The best he can do is get out of the way so the people involved in the conflict – Shia and Sunni, Kurds and Persians, Christians and Muslims – can solve their own problems.
Therefore, I declare to you: the war is over, and we won.  My strongest congratulations go out to every man and woman who served: you made the world a better place.  I’m proud of you all.
Thank you, may God always bless America, and good night.

Joe Doakes from Como Park emails:

Remember the case of the dog that didn’t bark? How come nobody is asking Democratic candidates for president what they would do about Syria, Trump, and the Kurds?
If everyone in the Washington establishment is correct and withdrawing is such an obvious blunder, then what’s the correct strategy? How many troops, where, for how long?
Tell us your plan: how many American kids will you kill to protect the Kurds?
Joe Doakes

The interesting part, for me, is watching Minnesota Democrats suddenly pretend they ever cared for the Kurds.

Joe Doakes from Como Park emails:

I’d like to see Democrat candidates for President asked to comment on this article.
Free people threatened by an oppressive regime beg for American help to resist.  What should America do?
Liz?  Joe?  Pete?  Anyone?  Anyone?
 Joe Doakes

They’ll do what Saint Barack did; equivocate and hedge and deflect away.

Joe Doakes from Como Park emails:

Illegal immigrants who snuck into Mexico detained at the border, angry because they aren’t allowed to continue to the United States.
Did I mention they’re illegal aliens from Africa?  Desperately trying to get into the most racist nation on Earth, founded on slavery, hoping – no – demanding the opportunity to be oppressed by White Americans.
“Assembly of African Migrants.”  If they ever get here, I’m sure they’ll make good little Democrats.  They’ve already formed a union.
Joe Doakes

When the entire world believes being in America is an entitlement? The Progs have won.

Joe Doakes from Como Park emails:

Trump winning the cold war against China using a variation of the Reagan strategy: make them compete against our economy. 
Liberals don’t understand our economy, so they don’t understand why the strategy worked last time and can’t see it working this time.  Only someone with a lifetime of experience in capitalism can see it. 
So any small business owner or self-employed person gets it.  Whether that’s enough people to carry him to re-election, remains to be seen.

Big Left has done a good job of making sure there are a smaller proportion of people who understand much of anything, anymore.

Joe Doakes from Como Park emails:

President Reagan won the Cold War.  The Soviet Union collapsed.  He did it by ramping up American military spending, knowing the Soviets would have to try to keep up.  They spent themselves into oblivion.
America is finally waking up to the fact it has been engaged in a Cold War with China for years, but we weren’t really fighting, perhaps because some of our leading lights were making a ton of money off China (looking at you, Joe Biden). 
President Trump is fighting the Chinese Cold War using tariffs.  And it’s working.
Earlier this year, China threatened to fight back by dumping US debt, which they claimed would destroy our economy.  It wouldn’t and both sides know it, that’s a bluff and dis-information for Democrats to use to beat Trump for fighting a war they don’t want him to win.  At worst, the US would repudiate the debt, cleaning up our books and leaving China with no leverage and no asset.
Now, President Trump has exercised his power to ban certain companies from doing business with Chinese.
Here’s the quandary for Democrats:  do they acknowledge the war and help the President fight it?  Or do they bring down the President to install their own party which will rule over the rubble of the country they sold out?
Joe Doakes

The answer to Joe’s last question? They go for power. Whatever that means.