Bear-ly Making it in the Panda World

Of Pandas and Politics


A giant panda cools off at the National Zoo...


...and now she goes looking for some bamboo.

Pity the poor panda. Scientists couldn't figure out if the giant panda was a bear or a raccoon. There is a 'lesser panda' or 'red panda' that is decidedly un-bearlike, but I digress. The controversy came to light in the later seventies when Henry Kissinger had a tummy-ach and disappeared for a while. Next thing you know the USA and Red China were talking diplomacy and the Chinese sent the National Zoo a pair of pandas as part of the deal.

We, for our part, sort of ignored the 'cultural revolution' and started doing business with the Chinese. Today we ignore all sorts of human rights concerns and use our relationship with the Chinese like a giant 'payday loan' operation. Guy Sorman [click to read] in City Journal is clear about the dangers of this situation. Our economic servitude to the Chinese may prevent us from joining in one of the greatest struggles for liberty today.

Back to the giant pandas... I asked the keeper if the bear-raccoon controversy had been resolved. She said: "oh yes, we've got better DNA research now. They're bears!"

Now it is time for Americans to realize that there are some key components of our cultural DNA that link us to the Chinese freedom fighters: most important being love of liberty and intolerance of oppressors.