03-19-2003, 03:58 PM
I am also disgusted by the post, but I think I'll help clarify a small point.
>> "Does the writer mean Mao, ZeDong, the famous Chinese communist leader?"
Yes. Mao Tse-Tung is an alternative english translation of Chairman Mao's name. You're also right to see the words "bloodthirsty tyrant" as an alarm for propoganda at work. IIRC Chinese troops did help fight with the opposing sides of Vietnam and Korean Wars. There was also the clash between Nationalist and Communist parties before all that where the US supported the Nationalist party.. In my opinion, as my own knowledge fails me to be sure, the US was choosing the tyrant that favored them politically--on the principle what's good for the US is good for them. The US picked one side, China picked the other. People and Ideas clashed, and it wasn't a pretty picture. Of the folk I've talked to about living through Mao's reign in China, they've said he was a mixed bag. Admittedly, he did a lot of good and bad. The "what if?" speculation of rewriting history is a bit of a moot point now. He's gone, so are a lot of his generation, and the new leadership is a few important steps different. The rest is for those of us interested in the historical past.
-Drasca
>> "Does the writer mean Mao, ZeDong, the famous Chinese communist leader?"
Yes. Mao Tse-Tung is an alternative english translation of Chairman Mao's name. You're also right to see the words "bloodthirsty tyrant" as an alarm for propoganda at work. IIRC Chinese troops did help fight with the opposing sides of Vietnam and Korean Wars. There was also the clash between Nationalist and Communist parties before all that where the US supported the Nationalist party.. In my opinion, as my own knowledge fails me to be sure, the US was choosing the tyrant that favored them politically--on the principle what's good for the US is good for them. The US picked one side, China picked the other. People and Ideas clashed, and it wasn't a pretty picture. Of the folk I've talked to about living through Mao's reign in China, they've said he was a mixed bag. Admittedly, he did a lot of good and bad. The "what if?" speculation of rewriting history is a bit of a moot point now. He's gone, so are a lot of his generation, and the new leadership is a few important steps different. The rest is for those of us interested in the historical past.
-Drasca