- Vice President Joe Biden started out his 9-day diplomatic tour of China by meeting with Chinese Vice President Xi Jingping in a venue that was open to American and Chinese press. After Chinese officials concluded Biden went on too long at the podium, they started giving reporters and press staff the boot.
Only minutes into Biden's remarks, Chinese officials had begun to direct reporters toward the exits. Most reporters and the vice president's staff objected, saying it was important to cover the entirety of Biden's opening statement, as had been the agreement between officials beforehand...
...Soon the stern shooing turned into forceful shoving. As reporters tried to stand their ground, Chinese officials locked arms and pushed forward in a show of overwhelming force. Soon enough Biden did finish, but reporters had difficulty hearing the entire thing because of the fisticuffs.
Hours later, Biden held another meeting with the chair of the National People's Congress, Wu Bangguo. And again, Chinese officials attempted to force reporters from the room even as Biden was still speaking.
It's unclear whether the officials were booting out both groups or just the American press at both times. At any rate, it's not a good look on them. And then:
- A huge brawl broke out between Georgetown University's Hoyas and the Bayi Military Rockets during what was supposed to be a friendly exhibition game. You know, for diplomacy and whatnot.
There were an estimated half-dozen individual altercations on the court, and eventually some Chinese onlookers joined the fracas, including one wielding a stanchion.
For those at home wondering what the hell a stanchion is, it's one of those posts people attach velvet ropes on, like at the movies or swanky dinner events.
As the brawl spilled beyond the baseline, an unidentified Bayi player pushed Georgetown’s Aaron Bowen through a partition to the ground before repeatedly punching the sophomore guard while sitting on his chest.
Some people would pay good money to see that scene on video.
Apparently the game was jacked up from the start, with lots of altercations, hard fouls and hard feelings:
Wang wrote that the game was tense from the outset and had to be stopped earlier after two players exchanged words. At one point, a Rockets player even berated John Thompson III as the Georgetown coach yelled instructions to his players.
The hard fouls and constant bickering eventually devolved into bedlam when Bayi big man Hu Ke was called for a foul against Georgetown guard Jason Clark. The senior made it clear he did not appreciate the hard foul, sparking the initial exchange of shoves that led players from both benches to run onto the court in defense of their teammates.
Not a good day for Americans on the diplomatic front in China. You have to wonder if it's all just ill will spilling out after the U.S. nearly ran its economic train off the track, to which the Chinese economic machine is hitched up to.
Meanwhile, some folks are bitching about the new custom-made buses the U.S. Secret Service ordered and put into service this week. Apparently, ordering two new buses with permanent security measures from a bunch of French-Canadian commies is an "outrage," while racking up tens of thousands of dollars a month by leasing the buses, and then eating the expenses of retrofitting and stripping the buses is the Patriotic Way™ of doing things.
This is an outrage that the taxpayers of this country would have to foot the bill so that the campaigner in chief can run around in his Canadian bus and act as if he is interested in creating jobs in our country...
Thanks, Ranch Prius. I'm sure you'll ignore the fact that one of your GOP presidential nominees will enjoy this fine piece of Canadi...wait, it was partially built in the U.S.
Geez guys, if you want to be asses about these things, why not lease your own damn bus or take a Greyhound?
