CNN Sued by the Chinese
April 24, 2008
Did you hear that some Chinese people are suing CNN for over a billion dollars because CNN “hurt China’s feelings?” I’m not making this up.
The case against the Atlanta-based cable channel, its parent company Turner Broadcasting and Jack Cafferty, the offending commentator, comes after 14 lawyers launched a similar suit in Beijing alleging that Cafferty’s remarks earlier this month violated the dignity and reputation of the Chinese people.
Cafferty said the United States imported Chinese-made “junk with the lead paint on them and the poisoned pet food”.
He added: “They’re basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they’ve been for the last 50 years”.
Perhaps if China didn’t make so much junk, the lawsuit would have some merit. Perhaps if they didn’t have a bunch of communist goons and thugs leading the country, I’d actually have some sympathy for them. Maybe, just maybe, if the Chinese had some dignity and a reasonable reputation for craftsmanship, tolerance, human rights or freedom, I just might feel for them. As they don’t, neither do I.
Here’s a classic line:
“We hope CNN will take this seriously, because what CNN said and did has not only hurt China’s feelings, but also CNN’s own image.”
Perhaps China should man up and not let their feelings get hurt so easily.
