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Entry: The Joys of Hypocrisy Link: http://www.takimag.com/site/article/the_joys_of_hypocrisy#344 Post contents: Taki wrote: "In stepped Nixon, and in one short visit housebroke the Chinese dragon for good." Well. Taki, I agree with a lot of what you wrote here, and I agree that Nixon has been unfairly maligned beyond the malignancies which he so richly deserves. (Nixon has been unfairly maligned, yes; however, there really was a lot to malign in Nixon.) However, Taki, if you believe that China has been "housebroken", then I think that particular phrase of yours was inspired by pink elephants. You are not the first, and you will not be the last American who has fallen prey to the over 200 year old American illusion of China as a "Great Power", or the ancillary American illusion of any hope for China to become "housebroken" at all. Personally, although I agree with George Kennan (who was the TRULY greatest American statesman of the Cold War) that the wisest policy of America and Britain and Europe toward China would be just to keep the peace and mostly leave China alone - still, a part of me thinks that it might have been better for the world if Russia HAD nuked China in 1969 and brought China to heel just like America did to Japan. ....China is NOT "housebroken" at all, and furthermore, Nixon did relatively little to open China up to the world, because by 1972, China had no choice except to open up more or else perish suicidally, and the people around the then senile Mao all knew it at the time. However, all that said, thank you, Taki, for an overdue reminder of the authentic virtues of Richard Nixon, who, although he was a criminal and a vulgarian, stood head and shoulders above all US Presidents who came after him. Sent at: 2008 07 09