• Mullen on Blinken's reaction to Biden calling Xi a dictator: 'Wincing i

    From useapen@21:1/5 to All on Mon Nov 20 08:58:32 2023
    XPost: dictator.asia, alt.politics.democrats, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh
    XPost: talk.politics.guns, alt.dementia

    Former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen said that Secretary of
    State Antony Blinken’s reaction to President Biden calling Chinese
    President Xi Jinping a dictator was “accurate,” adding that the president should not be calling Xi any names.

    “I think the wincing is accurate, and I actually think we need to stay
    away from name-calling at that level. It doesn’t help in any way. One of
    the things I’ve learned across the globe is people like to be treated with respect. And you need to do that, particularly at that level,” Mullen said
    on ABC’s “This Week.”

    Biden once again called Xi a “dictator” last week after meeting with the Chinese leader for hours, in which he said they made agreements on
    resuming military-to-military communication and dealing with the influx of fentanyl into the U.S. A video circulating on social media showed Blinken reacting to the remarks, where he appears to wince at Biden’s off-the-cuff response to a question as he was exiting a press conference.

    “Look, he is,” Biden said when asked if he would still refer to Xi as a dictator. “He’s a dictator in the sense that he’s a guy who runs a country
    that is a communist country that is based on a form of government totally different than ours.”

    China pushed back on Biden calling Xi a dictator last week, with Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning telling reporters Thursday it
    “strongly opposes” the comments. Biden previously called Xi a dictator in
    June, when the Chinese president got upset after finding out that a
    Chinese spy balloon had been shot down without his knowing about it.

    The meeting came as tensions between China and the U.S. have been rising
    for months. Biden said that he was “blunt” with Xi on some of the more
    fraught issues between the two countries while still boasting about other
    areas of cooperation with Xi.

    Mullen praised Biden for the meeting in California last week but warned
    that the relationship between the two countries could still be “difficult”
    in the future.

    “Well, I think it really is important because we shouldn’t underestimate
    how bad the relationship has been, how difficult it is not just now, but I think in the future,” he said.

    “So I think it’s a — the meeting was a big deal, and in particular, as
    we’ve talked about how bad the military-to-military communications issue
    was, now that it’s reestablished, to me, that’s a big accomplishment,” he added.

    https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/4317423-mullen-on-blinkens- reaction-to-biden-calling-xi-a-dictator-wincing-is-accurate/

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From ltlee1@21:1/5 to useapen on Mon Nov 20 06:38:06 2023
    On Monday, November 20, 2023 at 8:58:36 AM UTC, useapen wrote:
    Former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen said that Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s reaction to President Biden calling Chinese President Xi Jinping a dictator was “accurate,” adding that the president
    should not be calling Xi any names.

    “I think the wincing is accurate, and I actually think we need to stay away from name-calling at that level. It doesn’t help in any way. One of the things I’ve learned across the globe is people like to be treated with respect. And you need to do that, particularly at that level,” Mullen said on ABC’s “This Week.”

    Biden once again called Xi a “dictator” last week after meeting with the Chinese leader for hours, in which he said they made agreements on
    resuming military-to-military communication and dealing with the influx of fentanyl into the U.S. A video circulating on social media showed Blinken reacting to the remarks, where he appears to wince at Biden’s off-the-cuff response to a question as he was exiting a press conference.

    “Look, he is,” Biden said when asked if he would still refer to Xi as a dictator. “He’s a dictator in the sense that he’s a guy who runs a country
    that is a communist country that is based on a form of government totally different than ours.”

    China pushed back on Biden calling Xi a dictator last week, with Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning telling reporters Thursday it “strongly opposes” the comments. Biden previously called Xi a dictator in
    June, when the Chinese president got upset after finding out that a
    Chinese spy balloon had been shot down without his knowing about it.

    The meeting came as tensions between China and the U.S. have been rising
    for months. Biden said that he was “blunt” with Xi on some of the more fraught issues between the two countries while still boasting about other areas of cooperation with Xi.

    Mullen praised Biden for the meeting in California last week but warned
    that the relationship between the two countries could still be “difficult”
    in the future.

    “Well, I think it really is important because we shouldn’t underestimate how bad the relationship has been, how difficult it is not just now, but I think in the future,” he said.

    “So I think it’s a — the meeting was a big deal, and in particular, as we’ve talked about how bad the military-to-military communications issue was, now that it’s reestablished, to me, that’s a big accomplishment,” he
    added.

    https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/4317423-mullen-on-blinkens- reaction-to-biden-calling-xi-a-dictator-wincing-is-accurate/

    Terms like dictator is anachronistic.
    While groups officials could still meaningfully invoke to term when talk about their superior. It is totally meaningless when applies to the president of a state,
    let alone a large state like the US or China.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From ltlee1@21:1/5 to All on Wed Nov 22 06:32:51 2023
    On Monday, November 20, 2023 at 2:38:08 PM UTC, ltlee1 wrote:
    On Monday, November 20, 2023 at 8:58:36 AM UTC, useapen wrote:
    Former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen said that Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s reaction to President Biden calling Chinese President Xi Jinping a dictator was “accurate,” adding that the president
    should not be calling Xi any names.

    “I think the wincing is accurate, and I actually think we need to stay away from name-calling at that level. It doesn’t help in any way. One of the things I’ve learned across the globe is people like to be treated with
    respect. And you need to do that, particularly at that level,” Mullen said
    on ABC’s “This Week.”

    Biden once again called Xi a “dictator” last week after meeting with the
    Chinese leader for hours, in which he said they made agreements on resuming military-to-military communication and dealing with the influx of fentanyl into the U.S. A video circulating on social media showed Blinken reacting to the remarks, where he appears to wince at Biden’s off-the-cuff
    response to a question as he was exiting a press conference.

    “Look, he is,” Biden said when asked if he would still refer to Xi as a
    dictator. “He’s a dictator in the sense that he’s a guy who runs a country
    that is a communist country that is based on a form of government totally different than ours.”

    China pushed back on Biden calling Xi a dictator last week, with Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning telling reporters Thursday it “strongly opposes” the comments. Biden previously called Xi a dictator in
    June, when the Chinese president got upset after finding out that a Chinese spy balloon had been shot down without his knowing about it.

    The meeting came as tensions between China and the U.S. have been rising for months. Biden said that he was “blunt” with Xi on some of the more fraught issues between the two countries while still boasting about other areas of cooperation with Xi.

    Mullen praised Biden for the meeting in California last week but warned that the relationship between the two countries could still be “difficult”
    in the future.

    “Well, I think it really is important because we shouldn’t underestimate
    how bad the relationship has been, how difficult it is not just now, but I think in the future,” he said.

    “So I think it’s a — the meeting was a big deal, and in particular, as
    we’ve talked about how bad the military-to-military communications issue was, now that it’s reestablished, to me, that’s a big accomplishment,” he
    added.

    https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/4317423-mullen-on-blinkens- reaction-to-biden-calling-xi-a-dictator-wincing-is-accurate/
    Terms like dictator is anachronistic.
    While groups officials could still meaningfully invoke to term when talk about
    their superior. It is totally meaningless when applies to the president of a state,
    let alone a large state like the US or China.

    Michael Lewis had published his book "The Fifth Risk: Undoing Democracy" about 5
    years. Lewis, howver, did not made clear what are the fifth risk and how it was undoing
    democracy.

    My Take/Reformulation from Lewis book: The five risks are

    1. Technical capability Risk
    2. Communicative (information supply and demand) capability Risk
    3. Regulatory capture Risk
    4. Public Choice Risk (uninformed citizens)
    5. Trump (or any uninformed and unwise president elected by rationally irrational and uninformed voters)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)