Saturday, June 13, 2009

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch ...

... we have this reminder that President Lee Myung-bak knows all about rioting in the streets and undermining the lawful government:

The Hankyoreh reports.
DP Lawmaker Song Young-kil reveals a picture that shows then Seoul Mayor Lee Myung-bak holding up a candle at a demonstration held in 2005. The demonstration was held in protest of then President Roh Moo-hyun’s education policies.
This confirms my skepticism about Jon Huer's claim of a fascist-like atmosphere under Noh that threatened chaos and repression, one step away from an anti-democratic abandonment of social order and discipline. If Lee had been photographed at a rally supporting Noh's educational policies, it would be different, but consider that we see here the Mayor of Seoul participating in a peaceful candlelight vigil against Noh's policies. Were he and his fellow agents of Kim Jong-il harassed by water cannons, beaten with clubs, sprayed with tear gas, knocked down by police shields? It doesn't appear so. If anyone seems to be trying to stir up a chaotic eruption, a mad stampede of overwrought rhetoric, it's Jon Huer and the other Lee Myung-bak supporters who panicked at the sight of schoolgirls and young families with candles. (Yeah, but how do you know those candles weren't loaded? Huh?) Maybe he'd be happier in a country like this one, which does a better job of policing social order and discipline.