Pat Robertson kowtows to Beijing

Like many of us who have been watching and reading about the Red China/Olympic/Tibet protests, Pat Robertson is appalled. But, Robertson has a slightly different take from what you would guess would be the reaction of your typical Christian/conservative. Robertson is appalled at the actions of the protesters!

Wow! Where is that "word of knowledge" when it's needed?

On his "700 Club" TV show recently, Robertson said: "I'm just appalled at this. This isn't the time to make some political statement. … The Olympics [go] all the way back to Greece. For these protesters to take this opportunity to slam China is just wrong."

Huh?! It seems to me that the absolute, exactly perfect time to protest Red China's subjugation of Tibet and murder of monks in that nation is when Red China is subjugating Tibet and murdering monks in that nation! And when did subjugating and murdering people become "politics"? And what kind of moral dyslexia is it that causes Robertson to confuse the slammer with the slammee? It's Red China who has slammed Tibet and those dead monks, whereas the protesters are – well, just that – protesters. You know, they hang signs and banners. They haven't murdered anybody.

Robertson, who has several potentially lucrative business interests in China, says changes there during the past 20 years "are nothing short of fantastic. … It's just been astounding what's happening – the opening of China, the market economy that's taking place. The way to deal with China is to continue to encourage them to enter into the free market of the world."

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Communist countries always, eventually, turn to "free markets" to finance their brutal Communist state. Even Lenin did this early on when Communist economics was about to destroy the country. But, has Red China changed when it comes to its policy of murdering, jailing and persecuting those who oppose the Communist Chinese state? Not at all.

Robertson says: "We've got to keep in mind that those people (the Red Chinese) do have long-range missiles that can reach the United States and hurt us. And if the army gets precedence over there, the next thing you know somebody with an itchy finger might obliterate San Francisco."

So, Robertson seriously thinks the anti-China protesters here could cause a missile attack on San Francisco? Yep, that's what he said, and he was neither smiling nor nudging his co-host with his elbow. As for China's military, it already has "precedence" in that country. No "ifs" about it. The country is a Communist military dictatorship.

Robertson says issues like human rights and Tibet should be addressed "in private." He adds, forcefully: "And I urge the president of the United States to go forward as planned, attend the Olympics, show our support for China and welcome them into the family of nations. That's what's got to be done." Robertson says that "more than anything" what must be done in Red China is to push for "open markets, for interchange, for business."

Really? Such a bread-alone approach is more important than, say, religious liberty, than stopping, for example, the persecution and murder of Christians in China? I guess so, for Robertson.

Pat Robertson's attack on "the protesters" and his defense of Beijing is not the first time he has shamelessly flacked for the Communist Chinese.

• In 2001, Robertson said, briefly, almost under his breath, that he was against Red China's forced-abortion, one-child-per-family, but he nonetheless attempted to justify it. In a CNN interview (April 16, 2001), he said: "Well, you know, I don't agree with it. But, at the same time, they've got 1.2 billion people, and they don't know what to do. If every family over there was allowed to have three or four children, the population would be completely unsustainable. ... And the leadership is like on a teeter-totter board, they can fall off if the population gets too restive. So, I think right now they are doing what they have to do. … The Chinese government has by law restricted the birth rate to one child per family. Given their situation, intelligent family planning reflects an obvious necessity."
• Also in 2001, when a Red Chinese fighter plane rammed one of our spy planes, Robertson pooh-poohed this blatant act of aggression. He said: "What we ought to do is say this was a wind draft, and blame it on the wind – say it's an unfortunate thing. Find some fig leaf that both sides can put on and get on with life. It is too important to both countries to continue some sort of comity to blow it up on the basis of one plane."

  On his "700 Club" program (April 20, 2001), speaking about the plane incident, Robertson said the first thing to do is to let China know "we are their friend and not a hostile power. ... We have to let them know we are not hostile." Amazing, no? They ram our plane, almost killing the crew, and Robertson says we must assure them that we are not hostile!

In his most recent "700 Club" remarks criticizing the pro-Tibet protesters, Robertson said, regarding his trips to Red China and how he was received, "Every time I've been there, it's been warmer and warmer and warmer and more friendly. …"

But, of course, the Chinese roll out the red carpet for Robertson. He's one of their most important "useful idiots."

Pat Robertson has come a long way since UPI quoted him as saying to the Georgia State Republican Convention, on May 27, 1987: "I dream of a time when the policy of the United States is not containment, but eradication, of communism from every nation on the face of the earth." But, as I say, he's now got a lot of potentially lucrative business interests in Red China.

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John Lofton is editor of TheAmericanView.com and a "recovering Republican."