This discussion started in the Google Group [I Love Taiwan] at
http://groups.google.com/group/i_love_taiwan. It is now moved out of the group not only to allow more people to participate, but also because the [I Love Taiwan] group is not intended to be a forum. I invite you to join the discussion by leaving a comment. First, I provide the context of the discussion, which started with Ketty Chen's editorial in the Taipei Times.
Taipei Times - 2009年3月22日
President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) supporters love to compare him to US President Barack Obama. During last year’s presidential campaign, one of Ma’s most famous — now infamous — commercials featured galloping horses with the words “The Power of Change” plastered across the TV screen.
Pan-blue-camp supporters portrayed Ma as having characteristics similar to Obama: charismatic, athletic, youthful — not to mention Harvard-educated. Voters from both countries have high expectations for the presidents to dig their countries out of the economic slump.
But one can only take this comparison at face value, because when one probes deeper, comparing Ma and Obama is like comparing a bitter melon to a honeydew.
Since Ma took office on May 20 last year, he has gone back on almost all of his campaign promises. Even the economic policies that Ma has claimed credit for, such as opening direct flights and negotiating a trade agreement between Taiwan and China, have come at the expense of Taiwan’s sovereignty.
As crime and suicide rates rise, so does the cost of gas, electricity, groceries and everything else.
In addition, Taiwan’s democracy is again under siege, with riot police brutally cracking down on protesters during the visit of China’s envoy to Taiwan.
Despite warnings and criticisms from international human rights organizations such as Freedom House and Amnesty International, a high school student was arrested for simply chanting “Ma Ying-jeou, step down” just last week.
The most recent and appalling episode happened when the information chief of Taiwan’s representative office in Toronto was alleged to be the author of numerous articles, editorials and blog entries depicting Taiwanese as low-class, uneducated, unsophisticated idiots who deserve to be governed by a dictatorship, while advocating a military takeover of Taiwan by China.
When Ma was asked by reporters for comment on the matter, he chose to keep silent — as he has done countless times before when faced with a difficult situation.
Recently, Ma’s cohorts again compared him to Obama by mocking the gray hair that appeared on Obama’s temple since he took office. This was meant to flatter Ma for still having beautiful, jet-black locks 10 months into office.
What Ma’s adulators fail to depict in such comparisons is events such as this: When Obama addressed a group of concerned citizens this week at a town hall meeting in Costa Mesa, California, he said: “I know Washington is all in a tizzy, and everybody is pointing fingers at each other and saying it’s their fault, the Democrats’ fault, the Republicans’ fault. Listen, I’ll take responsibility; I’m the president.”
He went on: “So for everybody in Washington who’s busy scrambling, trying to figure out how to blame somebody else, just go ahead and talk to me, because it’s my job to make sure that we fix these messes, even if I don’t make them.”
Until Ma stops blaming the previous administration and the world environment for his stance that kowtows to China, his inability to manage crises and inability to assume the responsibilities that a president should, the act of comparing Ma to Obama will remain not only erroneous, but also ridiculous.
KETTY CHEN
Norman, Oklahoma
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Jeff H:
well said, Ketty. Another comparison would be this -- Obama made a straight apology for his remark about the special Olympics on the Tonight Show. Ma said he would apologize for his remark about the indigenous tribe (to "treat them as human") at 溪州 ONLY IF it offended them...
But more importantly, Obama has an progressive agenda on energy, education, health care, etc. What are Ma's agenda besides the ill-conceived China policy?
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Tim B:
I commend Ketty for getting her Editorial published in the Taipei Times. Ketty and I have already exchanged emails on this and Luby Liao asked me, via a direct Twitter message, if I was going to respond to her, after I had already responded directly to her. In the mean time Ketty’s editorial was also shared on the FAPA-Forum and I responded with what I am saying here.
On the issue of Obama, I have been publicly silent (at least in front of the Taiwanese) for too long.
Obama is an abomination to this Republic, bent on changing it in ways that we will all regret and the Founding Fathers did not intend. He is damaging America just as much as Ma is damaging Taiwan. He is a socialist and a Marxist. For Ma to be compared to him does not elevate Ma. In fact, it is an appropriate comparison. They are cut from the same cloth. Obama leans toward Marxism while Ma leans more towards Fascism. But they both will be remembered as tyrants, unless we can stop them.
Before I read Ketty’s editorial, I was Twittering (Tweeting on Twitter) that Ma and Obama must have been separated at [ideological] birth. I even posted links to pictures of each of them on Twitter ( http://twitter.com/dadofping ) for comparison. They are both practicing their own versions of “Necessary State Socialism,” just like Kerr reports the KMT doing before 228 (see Formosa Betrayed, Chapter VI, Chen Yi's "Necessary State Socialism"). What was the result of Chen Yi's "Necessary State Socialism"? The destruction of the Formosan economy, followed by 228. That was the result.
What will be the result of Obama’s “Necessary State Socialism”, which was unfortunately initiated by the Bush Administration? Well, I’ll let you fill in that blank.
The good news is that in both Taiwan and the United States, being democracies (actually US is a Republic), the people can change the direction of each country by throwing the bums out (i.e. the ones in Congress and Legislative Yuan first, and then the Presidents). It is time to rally the people and not trust in failed leaders.
May Freedom and Liberty Ring and Rule,
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Ed T:
I am not sure if your charges about Mr. Obama is acurate desription of the person he is. Such charges were circulated vigorously by Conservatives from top to the bottom during the 2008 Presidential election campaign. I have received lots of those negative campaign information through e-mails. My sense is that at this point in time, a criticism such as yours which inevitably is regarded very partisan when all Americans must be united across parylines to support what Mr. Obama has been doing to fix the economic mess he did not create with all his effort to combat economic hurricane which is a key to save the world from even greater catastrophic self-destruction. By the way I voted for Bush and for McCain even though I voted for Obama as independent during the primary election. I chose to be non-partisan from the time I became an American citizen. I am niethier Republican nor Democrat. I am just a loyal Taiwanese American. I wanted to have the voices of ethnic minorities in this country and in the whole world heard, and heard loudly, so that there may be one day the true justice and our comon belief, "Man is created equal" may become a reality. With best wishes to you all.
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Green Sleeves:
One stark difference between Obama and Ma is that Obama started with a humble upbringing while Ma belongs to the privileged class KMT crafted using Taiwnaeses' tax dollars.
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Taiwan_Echo:
Dear Tim,
My opinion about your message:
1) How can a society survive without at least some sort of socialism ? USA has
social security benefit, isn't that some sort of socialism ? Taiwan has one of the
best health care system, isn't that some sort of socialism?
If you agree with this but still argue that Obama is bringing USA toward a
socialism, then probably the definition of socialism needs to be clarified.
2) There's a fundamental differences between Obama's policies vs Ma YJ and
Chen Yi's.
Obama intends to redistribute wealth to benefit the people under HIS administration.
But Ma and Chen redistribute wealth to benefit people IN OTHER COUNTRY that is
not under their control.
The comparison between Ma and Chen Yi is a good catch, because they are
doing the exact same thing to EXPORT Taiwan's resources to China. IMO, that's
why their actions brought or is bringing destruction to the society of Taiwan. It
seems to me that it's not what Obama intends to do.
In that sense, I don't think it's a good argument to say that Obama and Ma
are the same in this direction.
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