Empire State Building to Honor Communist Revolution

Since when does America support Communism and the bloody revolution surrounding such a change? Today Peng Keyu from the Chinese Consulate and officials from the Empire State Building will honor the 60^th anniversary of Communist China by bathing the building in red lights.¹ The building has a long history of changing the lights for holidays and special occasions ranging from the opening of The Simpson's Movie to Saint Patrick's Day.

The tallest building in Manhattan is going to be a beacon for human rights crimes and the violent advancement of Communism until Thursday, October 1^st. There was a small protest consisting of supporters of the oppressed Tibet and opponents of Communist China's totalitarian government consisting of about 40 people. A few government officials have also spoken out including New York Congressman Anthony Weiner who rightfully stated that the building should not be used as a memorial to a country with "a shameful history on human rights."²

History isn't taught very much anymore, and it's extremely watered down. The brutality of Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward is undernoted in most history teachings. When you starve your own people to the point of making them turn to cannibalism to survive, you lose any right to a monument on American soil, in this author's humble opinion.

We've become so complacent. I don't often get upset or shocked about things of little importance, as the Empire State Building's memorial would seem to be. After all it's just a bunch of red lights. It breaks my heart this time. We've turned so far from our grandparents' national pride, the pride of "the greatest generation." We've accepted almost anything. We're so eager to please other nations we're willing to overlook anything. From the President apologizing to the European nations early in his term to this new celebration of Communism, our attitude toward what we have accomplished and what we have yet to accomplish as Americans saddens me. I'm not even angry anymore.

Somewhere between America's industrial pioneering, liberating France from Hitler's onslaughts and a multitude of other accomplishments, it seems we have lost our pride. We have pride in our football teams, in our favorite celebrities, in our reality shows, but none for the unique democratic republic that has done her best to help her citizens and help those born in her vast borders. We've become simpering conformists who don't even teach our children the democratic process and what separates us from nations like Cuba, China, the USSR, North Korea and other totalitarian governments.

If my words sound harsh, I don't intend them to be. This is as much a self-reflection as it is a national reflection. On the other hand, I am heartened to hear of politicians, (a democrat nonetheless) like Congressman Weiner, who I know nothing about other than he is a supporter of freedom and an opponent of oppression.

I feel saddened for the building itself, the American's who gave their lives for her construction, just as American's have bled for her country. The actions of the officials of the building are a direct reflection on the face that we as a nation are putting on. Please, be aware of the world's history, be an advocate of right, and don't be ashamed to be a proud American.

¹AFP; ²http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,557823,00.html?test=faces