Let Them Come to Hong Kong

This article originally appeared on California Political Review

President John F. Kennedy’s speech in Berlin on August 13, 1961, is most remembered for his “Ich bin ein Berliner” phrase, but he delivered equally memorable – and powerful – words leading up to that. He was delineating the differences between the communist and democratic world: “There are some who say that communism is the wave of the future. Let them come to Berlin. And there are some who say in Europe and elsewhere we can work with the Communists. Let them come to Berlin. And there are even a few who say that it is true that communism is an evil system, but it permits us to make economic progress. Lass’ sie nach Berlin kommen. Let them come to Berlin!”

Powerful words – elegantly crafted as usual by Ted Sorenson and elegantly delivered as usual by Kennedy. The estimated 1 million people in the crowd were waving thousands of American flags, then as now the worldwide symbol of freedom – unless you are deep into the leftist fever swamps. Fast forward 58 years and move 5,400 miles to the east and you come to Hong Kong and the latest example of the power of our 243 year grand old flag.

Unless you’ve lived in a cave – or are a typical flag-phobic American liberal – you know that hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong residents have been demonstrating for weeks demanding more freedom from their socialist masters in Beijing. Their adopted symbol of freedom is – gasp – that horrid piece of cloth with red, white and blue stars and stripes on it. Who knew there were so many white nationalists, Nazis and racists in Hong Kong?

Many of the demonstrators have been arrested, many have been beaten, all risk arrest and long prison terms. The powerful allure of freedom – of America and its flag – makes it all worthwhile to our freedom-loving soul brothers on that prosperous archipelago.

The Democrat candidates for president, their mouthpieces in the press and the far-left hive of “hate all things American all the time” groupies have been completely silent on these protests. Colin Kaepernick has apparently been too busy labeling cops as “pigs” and the flag “a symbol of racism and oppression” to notice. Megan Rapinoe, the pink-haired, self-aggrandizing attention whore whose claim to fame is that she kicked a ball into a net the size of a double garage, has been too occupied insulting America’s national house and its flag to comment.

If the demonstrators were burning American flags you may be sure it would be nightly news, with Trump being blamed. Every one of the 73 Democrats running for president would be tut-tutting about how Trump has damaged America around the world. But several hundred thousand pro-American demonstrators is not a story to the Left or the media, pardon the redundancy, and certainly not worth the time of the occupants of the Democrat presidential clown car to comment on.

But if Kaepernick and Rapinoe want to learn what real oppression is – let them come to Hong Kong. If Pocahontas, Spartacus, Kamala “Heels Up” Harris, Slow Joe or any of the other Democrat candidates want to understand why their plans to remake America into a socialist paradise are idiocy – let them come to Hong Kong.

And if any of the above or any of the folks suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome – including members of my family – want to see first hand how Donald Trump has made America great again, in the eyes of people who are in fact oppressed, and know the truth about our country and the horrid alternatives – let them come to Hong Kong.

Bill Saracino is a member of the Editorial Board of CA Political Review.