Bush, China, and the Whole Deal

So, where did we leave off?

Yes, a post about President Bush attending the 2008 Olympic Games.

To be honest, I do not care if you like or do not like the man. I do not care about his good or bad policies in this matter. And, yes, I am still a supporter of "W" even though the 'polls' and 'popular opinion' say to dislike him. I have never been one to follow the "popular" way just because it makes life easier or it's simply popular.

And, to be honest, I do care that you take great notice of him in this manner. President Bush was wonderful to attend the Olympics in 2008. He is the first and only U.S. President to do so. He also made a statement to China-an open arms approach-an open communication (Isn't that what the Obama camp says he does not do??? Silly Obama camp!).

Let's rewind a little bit. I first became a fan of Governor Bush when I was in high school. My sister had attended the Cal Farley's Boys Ranch Rodeo, held every Labor day weekend in Amarillo. She had a picture. Guess who was there? Yes, my sister! You right! But George W. and his wife were there, in the stands like everyone else. They were in the picture with my sister. This is a big deal because the Panhandle region of Texas has often put to last in regards to all the other regions of State politics. We get overlooked. However, when Bush was governor, he made extra effort to visit the Panhandle and visit those who needed encouragement the most. The kids at Cal Farley's definitely needed that encouragement. They needed that 'father figure' to say he cared. Bush and his wife did not 'have to' come to Cal Farley's, but they did, and they did it year after year, not just once.

So, for Bush to attend the Olympics was something of normal for him to do. Additionally, for him to reach out to China in that manner was an incredible move. In case you have not figured it out, people of and descended from China, Taiwan and Korea (at least those three people groups, in my experience) want to see action and not just talk. Here are some examples. In college, I made extra efforts to know as many foreign students as possible; my campus was small and averaged about 130 foreign students a year. I loved those from Taiwan and China. I decided to become part of a study group where I was the only "white" chick, the rest were Taiwanese and Chinese. They kicked my butt! The goal was not to procrastinate, but to get it over with and do it well. That meant that I had to be the person they expected me to be and I had to deliver on time. In college that was a struggle for me; we can talk about that later. Not only was it a HUGE deal that I asked to be part of the study group, it was a HUGE deal to our friendship. If I did not follow through, that would be the VERY END of our relationship, and I did not want that to happen. You know, in our US culture, we often cancel plans because we do not feel like it or we want to do something else or we have a real emergency or task that has to take precedence. We give someone a second chance usually. We usually, in our friendships, have tolerance for this since we all have to change or cancel plans at some time. But to a Chinese friend, it means more to have cancelled plans. Here is another example. My cousin-in-law is Korean descent. She has made it very clear that she does not like it when you cancel on her. So, I have learned not to make plans with her until Jacob was older (at the time he was 6 months and was very difficult to get down for naps and had lots of reflux issues-and I cancelled plans a lot). She is a VERY busy woman, wife and mom and schedules time to have you over at her house or for play dates. It is very offensive to her to change plans, unless someone is ill. I respect that. I understand that. And, to that, I must change my personal policies, my love for the changeable plans, in order to get to know her better, and make our family work even better.

China has a lot of issues. Speak to any missionary who has been to China and you will know that there are two drastic sides to the socialist, communist China. I remember debating "China and if the US should allow fair trade status" 15 years ago. Bush has a history of knowing China. His father was an ambassador of sorts to China in the 1970's. Before then, the US was not in any open communication with China at all. In a recent interview at the Olympics, Bush shared how he and Laura went to China in the 70's. That really impressed me. He has a view of China 40 years ago and a view of it today. China is a world leader and Bush acknowledges.

So, what do I mean by everything? Bush was criticized for attending as to say he supports the human abuses of China. That is not what his visit showed. It showed his knowledge of culture, past and present, for China. He acknowledges its differences and encourages it to come past those abuses of its people. He made a huge gesture to China that will pay off in the next ten years. Bush said he would be at the Olympics and he kept his word. He said he would be there despite public opinion of him. He went to support our athletes, too. He met with them and praised them. What encouragement! What encouragement to China's leader! Do you think China will be more open to Bush? Yes. Do you think it helps establish greater lines of communication? Undoubtedly!

I am proud of my President for visiting China, for supporting our athletes and reaching out the the world!

In another note, please pray for China! Please pray for the Christians and missionaries in China. If they are found, they could be killed even if their belief was not hindering the China government in any way. And, please pray that China allows Taiwan to be an independent nation, and not threaten to take over Taiwan, as they do every year.