OPINION:
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It’s one thing to maintain diplomatic ties with enemies so as to cooperate on matters of mutual interest and importance, such as economic opportunities or regional peace or human rights. It’s another thing entirely to kiss their feet.
And California Gov. Gavin Newsom did much more of the second than the first with his meeting with communist dictator Xi JinPing.
Can you say gold mine of communist propaganda? The state-run media in China certainly can.
“I’m here,” Newsom said, in brief remarks at the outset of his weeklong tour of China, The Associated Press wrote, “in expectation … of turning the page, of renewing our friendship and reengaging on foundational and fundamental issues that will determine our collective faith in the future.”
Collective faith — what a phrase. Communism is all about collectivism and government as God; individualism — America’s trademark trait — is all about deriving rights and liberties from a heavenly Creator, which comes with a hefty requirement for faith. The two aren’t compatible, in other words.
Communists and collectivists are incompatible with the God-given liberties that Americans so cherish.
Newsom gave the communists the idea they have a friend in him, though.
After he visited Shenzhen and test drove an autonomous SUV produced by China’s number one electric vehicle manufacturer, BYD, Newsom blithely remarked, “I want two,” CNN reported, citing Chinese media.
The lingering takeaway within CCP-run media is this: “Newsom’s praise of BYD’s Yangwang U8 can be seen as a positive signal that at the level of the state governments, some people are willing to focus on practical cooperation, instead of the zero-sum geopolitical games, and to adopt an open or even positive attitude toward Chinese companies and to have mutually beneficial cooperation with them,” China’s state-run Global Times wrote.
Now imagine that “positive attitude” of China emanating from the White House — from the president of the United States — from the executive office that’s supposed to pledge allegiance to the Constitution, not the communists trying to take over the world.
Yikes.
It’s bad enough Joe Biden isn’t mentally fit to fight the forces of communist evil coming from China; it’s bad enough the present president has some curious and concerning familial financial profiteering ties to communists. Think of what a fit guy like Newsom who’s already gone to China to fawn over Xi could do in terms of damaging America First — America At All — if he were elected to the White House. Again: yikes.
The whispers are that Newsom is making a run for the White House in 2024. His visit to China has made those whispers a shout.
But setting the CCP on notice of his willingness to bend over backwards and work with them, as he did, makes Newsom ineligible for the office of the presidency. He’s sent a message that he’s not solid on constitutional principles; that his brand of political pragmatism is more about making concessions, yes, even with communists, than about standing tall for America and against poisonous collectivism; and that so long as the money flows — to him, to his — then most all other issues might be easily overlooked, worked out or even deceptively spun for best pro-commie effect.
If Newsom wants to sell out California that way, so be it — he’s the governor, he’s the pick of the leftists who dominate the voting booths in the state.
But bringing that kind of concession-to-communists to the White House is a no-go. A nation based on God-given liberties with a foundation of individualism that keeps government in the role of humble servant to the people cannot peacefully co-exist with an unbridled communist China.
Some things really are zero-sum. With China’s recent and ongoing push for dominance on the world stage, America’s next president must always keep that in mind.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter and podcast by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “Lockdown: The Socialist Plan To Take Away Your Freedom,” is available by clicking HERE or clicking HERE or CLICKING HERE.
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