You remember the Vietnam "Conflict" right? The United States supported South Vietnam and Jane Fonda, aka Hanoi Jane, vocally supported the Communist North.
Unwilling to decisively use its massive force, the United States withdrew from the divisive conflict, leaving the Communists to rule both the North and South. Thousands of American servicemen returned home to face contempt, and to deal with the physical and psychological scars resulting from having done their best to serve their country.
Jane Fonda also returned home to the country she had so viciously attacked. She eventually married Ted Turner, one of American's richest men, who also happens to be in the news and propaganda business.
Perhaps this is a good time to look back on the legacy of Vietnam. Jane's side won, but how are they doing?
According to Thi Lam, writing for Salon Magazine, the current Vietnam is characterized by "rampant corruption, self-serving bureaucracies, and huge money-losing state enterprises." Urban crime and violence is on the increase, but the real counter-revolution is in the countryside. This is interesting, because rural dwellers have traditionally provided support for the Communist regime.
In February hundreds of peasants from a village outside of Hanoi, Kim No, engaged in open warfare with security forces. Local Communist party officials had apparently sold off land to a South Korean group planning to develop a golf course. But the sales proceeds never trickled down to the villagers; apparently the officials just pocketed the money.
More recently, violent protests have raged in Thai Binh, another province near Hanoi and a cradle of the Communist revolution. Farmers in these areas apparently have to pay eight types of taxes to the central government and six other taxes to local officials. Last August 3,000 farmers showed how they felt about that system by arresting local party officials and burning their homes.
The average annual per capita income in places like Thai Binh is $50. (Yes, that's right -- fifty dollars per YEAR.) In former Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City, it's a whopping $1,000.
You helped sow the seeds Jane -- maybe you should go back and take a look at the crop. And take your husband with you.
READ MORE ABOUT IT
Read more about today's Outrage in the Salon Magazine story.
Quote of the Day!
Treason doth never prosper, what's the reason? For if it prosper, none dare call it Treason.
-- Sir John Harrington, "The Letters and Epigrams of Sir John Harington," 1618
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