V for Shenanigans

In college, the TTU RUF went to see the opening night of V for Vendetta. 

**Spoiler alert**

At the end of the movie, the protagonist has built up so much support that the thousands  turn out in support.

Flash mob!!!

Facing off against them is the UK ground forces.

Yes, the future British army issues off-the-rack paintball masks.  Budget cuts, what can you do?

Despite the dystopian start of the movie, the soldiers are unable to pull the trigger on the brave, unarmed civilians.  Everyone walks out of the theater feeling happy.

Except me.  I felt insulted.  Because I am an armchair historian, and the showdown depicted isn't a theoretical future conflict.  Oh, no, it has happened over and over again throughout history.  And guess what?  The soldiers always pull the trigger.

Yesterday marked the 24^th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Starting in April, thousands and thousands of pro-democracy protesters occupied the square for a month and a half.  Estimates are that by the end, one million people were in the square.

The photo above was circulated around the world.  The entire Western world was rooting for them.  But then, something happened.

The cameras went away.

Once the Chinese government had suppressed international media access, the soldiers arrived.  300,000 of them.

Now, I make no secret that I hate hippies.  "Student protester" automatically makes me think, "Get a job."  But there's a difference between the gutsy protesters of Tiananmen Square and the Occupiers of Wall Street.  Zuccotti Park was covered in trash at the end.

Tiananmen Square was covered in bodies.

Over a thousand demonstrators were gunned down over the course of two days.  More would be hunted down in the days to follow.

No one knows what happened to the man who stared down the tank.

This blog post will not be available in China.  Not that anyone actually reads this, least of all in China, but the inclusion of the picture above will make it filtered out by the Chinese government's search filters.  The cameras left in 1989, and they're still not allowed.  

The US State Department issued the following statement:

"We renew our call for the Chinese government to end harassment of those who participated in the protests and fully account for those killed, detained or missing."

The Chinese replied:

Foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said the US should "stop interfering in China's internal affairs"

There’s no doubt that a demand by a US government agency to explain Tianamen is just as offensive as an equivalent Chinese agency taking the US to task for the Trail of Tears.  Or the Philippines.  Or Hoover's bonus army.  The US State Department has no business decrying another country's internal decisions and just needs to shut up.

But, the people of the world do need to remember.