A group of protestors, numbering somewhere between 2,000 and 5,000, and described as Chinese-Americans, decided to protest [1] CNN’s Hollywood office yesterday, protesting CNN’s commentator Jack Cafferty, who made a comment on CNN’s [2] The Situation Room, back on April 9 — almost two weeks ago. Among his comments that day, Cafferty apparently called China’s goods “junk” and its leaders a “bunch of goons and thugs.”

In protesting, the group sang Chinese songs, then broke into chants. The crowd would chant, according to several media reports, “Cafferty. Fire.” Very odd. I would think they’d opt for something like, “Fire Cafferty!”, but then again, the mentality of protestors demanding the firing of someone at a media outlet who was a columnist or commentator was never one I understood. But, Lake Wang, 39, told the [3] Los Angeles Times he understands the concept of free speech — at least how it works for him and the group of protestors.

“We understand free speech,” Wang was quoted by the [3] Los Angeles Times as saying. “But what if Cafferty said this about other racial groups? I think he would be fired. I think he’s jealous of China.”

I simply don’t understand Wang’s comment. He said he “understands” free speech, but then turns around and says, “what if (Jack) Cafferty said this about other racial groups? I think he would be fired. I think he’s jealous of China.”

First, Cafferty didn’t talk about or against a “racial” group. He spoke against, if you want to draw it out to the nth degree, a nationality, but not a racial group. The last time I checked, Chinese people were still considered part of the race known as “oriental” — or has something changed?

Second, Wang “thinks” Jack Cafferty is “jealous” of China. Wow!

I’m taking a minute to think here. What would Jack Cafferty, or the U.S., have to be jealous about in terms of China? Let’s see. We could ship food, pet food, or toys that were made in the U.S., supposedly inspected by government inspectors, and all of which supposedly met government safety requirements, and the items could all be tainted.

We could paint figures of [4] Mao Zedong, and instead of painting them with safe paint, they could be painted with lead-based paint. Wouldn’t it be cool for the little children of China to chew of Chairman Mao’s head and get a mouthful of lead paint? Instead of having leaders in 20 years who are sold on Chinese Communistic rule, they will be retarded idiots sold on Retarded Communistic rule. Wait, there’s not much difference either way, is there? I bet the latter would be a little more drastic, though.

What if we shipped pet food, or even dogs, to China, which had been given low-to-moderate doses of poisonous substances. I wonder if the people who get sick from eating the canine delicacies in China — or those who die from eating the tainted meat from the poisoned dogs — would agree that those who didn’t get sick or die are “jealous.”

Let’s get real. It’s nice that Wang feels some sort of compassion about his ancestral homeland, or perhaps his native homeland, but it’s a far cry to say the U.S., or for that matter, that Jack Cafferty, is “jealous” of China.

At CNN’s Atlanta headquarters, another two dozen (24) people, most of whom waved Chinese flags, demonstrated, calling for Cafferty’s firing. The waving of another nation’s flags in the U.S., on U.S. soil, was last seen en masse, by mostly illegal immigrants from Mexico who demanded that they not be treated as the criminals they are, saying they have “the right” to be in the United States — regardless of immigration laws. Pfft. 

So, what prompted all the commotion about Jack Cafferty? It seems he was speaking about the U.S. trade deficit with China on April 9, at which time he said:

“We continue to import their junk with the lead paint on them and the poisoned pet food and export, you know, jobs to places where you can pay workers a dollar a month to turn out the stuff that we’re buying from Wal-Mart.”

“So I think our relationship with China has certainly changed. I think they’re basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they’ve been for the last 50 years.”

I see nothing inaccurate about his comments. In January 2007, China shot down — after three failed attempts — one of its old weather satellites. A few months ago, on February 20, 2008, the U.S. did the same sort of thing: [5] we shot down a dead satellite that was hurling toward Earth, but we did it in one shot.

The U.S. manufacturing community — including the meat producing segment which has had far too many recalls for far too many millions of pounds of meat over the past several years — is the safest manufacturing community in the world, albeit a dwindling community due to outsourcing. In fact, every U.S. company that outsources ought pay taxes to the U.S. taxpayers for their lack of faith and confidence in American workers, although these same companies built new factories in foreign countries, give little oversight in the production end, and then send junk to the homes of U.S. consumers.

As a child in the 1960s, I remember all the anti-Chinese comments. But it never ceased to amaze me that although the U.S. hated China, my toy rifles were stamped: “Made in China.” Not much has changed, it seems. Back in 2001, when the U.S. Army decided to issue black berets — the former trademark headgear for the U.S. Army Rangers — a contract was awarded to a company in China to produce the new berets. After months of bitter arguments, public and military and service member outrage, former Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said the U.S. Army was ordered to [6] reclaim all 618,000 Chinese-made berets which had been issued at that point. “The Army chief of staff has determined the U.S. troops shall not wear berets made in China or berets made with Chinese content,” Wolfowitz said in May 2001.

The entire flap about U.S. military garb and headgear being made in China quickly reminded me of a similar flap, also in 2001. Read more in an [7] official apology to China.

U.S. consumers expect when they buy Chinese-made goods, that the items will likely not last for a long period of time. When I was a youngster, the things that were bought for me, toys, typewriters, clothing, and other items, were almost all made in the United States by U.S. citizens. Back then, though, when you bought something, whether it was an alarm clock, a toy truck (can anyone say steel Tonka trucks?), baking pans, coffee pots, or whatever else, there was no thought that it would need to be replaced within the next two-to-five years. In fact, when I enlisted in the U.S. Army in early 1982, my grandmother still had her wind-up alarm clock she bought in the 1950s, complete with its glow-in-the-dark numbers. We won’t discuss the [8] issues surrounding the Radium Dial Co., Luminous Processes, or Westclox Big Ben. What people from my generation, and those before me, remember is that the clocks could be dropped, tossed, dropped, and kicked, yet still work the next morning. Try that today!

Like many corporations today, CNN was quick to issue an apology to the protestors, saying Cafferty’s remarks were toward China’s government, not its people, something that’s evident in the comments themselves. It seems the Chinese jingoistic attitudes, much like those of many Americans following the attacks of September 11, overflowed.

China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Jiang Yu, is quoted as saying CNN’s statement lacked sincerity, and instead, “turned its attack on the Chinese government to try to sow division between the Chinese government and the people.” From independent media reports that make it out of China, not much is needed, as there is already plenty of division between the Chinese government and its people.

Bear in mind, too, that China has been under scrutiny from many governments, as well as media outlets around the world, as it prepares to host the Olympics this August. Criticism of its human rights record, or should it be called its wrongs against humanity — and civil unrest in Tibet — have received widespread coverage. As a result, Chinese leaders have accused Western media of smearing the country, a tactic that goes back to Chairman Mao himself. The only difference is that it seems people are not being rounded up in masses this time.

According to at least two media reports, a variety of verbal assaults on foreign media representatives have taken place in China, which has already raised concerns about media controls during the Olympics. China has taken aim at CNN over various issues, including coverage of the unrest in Tibet and protests along the Olympics torch route. Then again, supposed activists have sent death threats to Western reporters, as well. I’m not sure what the “activists” are supporting, but one thing you can bet on: it isn’t freedom or common societal decency, let alone free speech or freedom of the press.

CNN and Jack Cafferty need to stand tall in the face of the Chinese protests. Let facts demonstrate the truth, not fear of protest of loss of viewers who may be “insulted.”

If China is insulted, the U.S. can begin producing all its own goods here at home. We don’t need to import anything from China. In fact, doing so would help put Americans back to work, but also rebuild the American economy, something that’s suffering, in part, because of the Chinese reliance this country has for goods. Pull the carpet and all the straw men fall.