Daily Lobo column
When I was in junior high, there was this little punk jerk named Ivan.
He thrived on pushing people, testing their weaknesses and then exploiting them. He would steal a kid’s backpack for no reason. Then he’d refuse to give it back unless the kid asked politely, saying, “please.” If they’d say please, he’d then make them beg for it. If they’d beg, he’d make them get on their knees.
God help the kid who cried to the authorities or tried to take their stuff back by force. Ivan was a street kid who knew how to street fight. One day, though, Ivan came to harass me, and that’s when I learned the secret of dealing with bullies.
Now the United States is trapped in a standoff with a bully named China. Does anybody remember the Soviet Union? Remember how, back in the good old days of the Cold War and the jibber-jabber about communism, we focused all of our energy and resources at defeating the Evil Empire? If we failed to cauterize the festering Red wound, then some day, we were told, all freedom-loving people would be doomed to toil under communism forever. Our nation spent trillions of dollars to stem the Soviet tide.
Eventually we spent them into extinction and won the Cold War. Except that, while we were worried about the innocuous pimple on the forehead that was the U.S.S.R., there was a brain tumor silently festering in the skull. While we made the world safe for democracy, the Chinese quietly went about their business, just as they have for thousands of years.
China has grown into the Ivan of the world. We are faced with the rather unsavory matter of one of our spy aircrafts colliding with a Chinese owned and operated jet fighter over international waters. The Chinese say that it was our fault because our elephant failed to avoid their humming bird. Everyone is entitled to their point of view, but this should be viewed as more than just posturing. It’s Ivan-ism.
The new president of the United States is being tested. Whether you or I like George Bush, the problem is that we are being tested, too. Bush has to come up with a plan of action. We react to it, and the Chinese watch the Time/CNN poll numbers roll in. They know he lost the election on numbers and are trying to weaken him early.
Bush’s actions not only are going to determine how this crisis is resolved, they are going to determine the course of American foreign policy regarding bullies and bad attitudes for at least the next four years. If we appear weak, the Chinese will exploit it. They will know how far Bush is willing to go and how far the American people will support him. If we balk, they will push us just a little harder next time, and there will be a next time, probably in Korea.
They knew where they stood when Bill Clinton was in the Oval Office — at the White House Gate, with a bag of cash in hand. They have a good idea that a different approach is required with Bush. So they have the president’s backpack and they are asking him to say he’s sorry. Bush is refusing to do so.
That’s good. If he apologizes for doing something that is not wrong, the Chinese will push us further. Worse off, they will believe that Bush will give in, even if he’s in the right. If they keep pushing him, the president ought to treat them like bullies.
When Ivan took my book bag, I asked for it back. He said I had to ask nicely. I told him I just had. He then said that I had to beg for it. I instantly kicked him so hard that I probably killed his grandmother. I took my bag back, offered him a hand up, which he impolitely refused, and that was that. We peacefully coexisted from that day on.
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While I’m not advocating bombing or even attacking China, I’m saying that action is the only thing that bullies understand. We need to make it sit up and take notice that this kind of behavior is unacceptable. In the process, we need to let China and the world know how real democracy works. Bush is our president. We need to stand behind him in as united a front as we can muster.
A government is only as strong as the support of the people.
Questions? Comments? Write to Brad at physhead@lobo.net.
