Welcome to America, Mr. Chen

On Saturday evening, Newark-Liberty International Airport received a most distinguished, and unusual, arrival:  Chen Guangcheng, the blind Chinese lawyer and dissident whom the Chinese held under house arrest for seven years.

Back in April, Mr. Chen made a dramatic escape from his home in Shandong Province, managing to get to the American embassy, only to be turned away by Hillary Rodham Clinton’s State Department.  He had been “granted” his “freedom” but was wary of accepting such a gift in a country where the word has no meaning.  At least, that’s the way the Media portrays the incident. If one recalls correctly, he was turned away and had to go into hiding again.  The captors who failed to prevent his escape were executed.

According to the Associated Press, using Hillary’s full prenomens – Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, if you please – who just happened to be in Beijing, “struck a deal that let Chen walk free, only to see him have second thoughts.”  What sort of deal SSHRC “struck” has not been made clear.

Part of the deal sent him to the U.S. to study law, “a goal of his,” at New York University.  Ironically, the Nephew’s girlfriend, with the very Conservative American Nephew in tow, is at this moment in Shanghai.  When he arrived, Chen thanked the U.S. and Chinese governments, as well as the embassies of Switzerland, Canada, and France for his temporary freedom.  The Associated Press line reads exactly as thus:  “Chen, 40, urged the crowd to fight for injustice, and thanked the U.S. and Chinese governments, and also the embassies of Switzerland, Canada, and France.”

You read those the second from the last line correctly; that was the error (if, in fact, it was an error) of the Associated Press, not this blog.  The newspaper article’s word is “injustice.”  The Progressive Media has so abused and confused the words “justice” and “injustice” that they know longer know the difference.

The AP said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland “praised the quiet negotiations that freed him.”

“’We also express our appreciation for the manner in which we were able to resolve this matter and to support Mr. Chen’s desire to study in the U.S. and pursue his goals.’”

The Chinese government news agency, Xinhua, stated that Chen “has applied for study in the United States via normal channels in line with the law.”

Imagine how this will play out in the newspapers later in the summer or early fall when most pundits expect that Hillary Rodham Clinton will replace Joe Biden has Obama’s running mate.  “HRC rescues Chinese dissident from house arrest in China.”

Chen never wanted to leave China; it’s his home.  No home is a home, however, where you live under a roof of fear (Ask any spouse who’s ever had to endure abuse).  To live in fear in your own country is a hardship, one so difficult that freedom-lovers have braved every hardship to arrive on America’s shores.  Chen, however, will not be able to stay here indefinitely, nor would he want to.  He will certainly be sent back as soon as he’s finished his studies.  Sooner, if Obama is re-elected.

Chen and his family are staying with Chen’s personal friend, law professor Jerome Cohen, at New York University, where Chen is expected to study law.  Before Chen left China, he asked his activist supporters to understand his desire to leave front lines of the civil rights struggle in China.  “I am requesting a leave of absence and I hope that they will understand.”

They understand – all too well.