The Foreigner in Formosa

Lien Chan Rises From The Political Grave, Drives Stake Through The Heart Of His Own Son's Electoral Campaign

We always hurt the ones we love:

How dessicated corpse Lien Chan took son Sean's 10-point gap in the polls...and widened it to an unbridgeable 20-point chasm

While most pundits thought [KMT politician Alex] Tsai originated several negative campaign tactics that are thought to have been a top factor in [Sean] Lien’s loss [in Taipei's mayoral race], a Lien campaign official yesterday said that the strategy originated with Lien’s father, former vice president and former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰).

The official, who wished to remain anonymous, said that surveys conducted for internal use only suggested that Sean Lien would lose to Ko by just 10 percent.

“We expected we would lose the election; we just did not expect to lose by this wide a margin,” the official said.

Elsewhere in the news:

KMT officials are falling over themselves resigning in response to the party's losses in Taiwan's recent local elections.

Even President Ma Ying-jeou is not immune, with his position as Kuomingtang chairman looking less and less secure by the minute.

If Ma steps down as KMT chairman, may I nominate Chairman Emeritus Lien Chan for a second stab at the job?

Oh, pleasepleaseplease Santa - I don't want much, and I've been awfully good...

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POSTSCRIPT: Whut? You mean the Lien family had ulterior motives in having Sean Lien run for the mayorship of Taipei?

Sean Lien’s defeat is not merely a setback for his personal political career: It also severely tarnishes his father’s position and political stature in Taiwan — and in Beijing as well.

Likewise, the special privileges awarded by Chinese [Communist Party] authorities to Lien family businesses could be revoked or reduced in due time.

But, but - the China Post assured us that Sean Lien wasn't in it for the money. He was only seeking to become mayor out of a deep sense of altruism and commitment to public service for the people of Taipei. They gave us their WORD!

This is my shocked face.

"And We'd Have Won Those Elections Too, If It Weren't For You Meddling Kids!"

Loserdom runs in the family: Taiwanese electorate overwhelmingly reject Sean Lien in Taipei mayor's race

Elsewhere, a great many other KMT candidates also went down to thorough defeat

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It's difficult to feel much sympathy for the KMT, given their open disdain for large swathes of the voting public. When the KMT's Honorary Chairman Lien Chan dismissed Taiwanese who lived under Japanese colonialism as "bastards", that had consequences. When the KMT had students beaten for protesting the Kuomingtang's plan for Taiwan's economic anschluss under Peking's suzerainty, the party lost votes, too.

And, to add insult to injury, the KMT couldn't resist insulting members of the student Sunflower Movement by refering to them as young people with "bad morals".

Not a wise thing to say about a political faction that brought out 500,000 students to Taipei streets earlier this year. And that doubtless enjoys support from other adults and students who didn't openly participate.

Evidently, the KMT believed its own bullshit - that since the Sunflower Movement's street protests eventually fizzled (as most street protests usually do), that the students' political concerns had disappeared as well.

Kuomingtang reports of the Sunflower Movement's demise were greatly exaggerated, then. And their campaign slogan, "Vote KMT - Because we're BETTER than you low-life sons-of-bitches," apparently wasn't the big vote-getter that the Party's political warfare geniuses thought it would be.

Erudite Confucian-Educated Gentleman Lien Chan Curses Like A Drunken Sailor In Public Speech, Corrupting The Morals Of Innocent Taiwanese Youth

No doubt, we can all count on the China Post to condemn Lien's astonishing breech of Confucian propriety and traditional ethics.

Ah, no. I guess not. 

Massive Water Diversion Projects In China

Environmental despoilation on a grand scale.

Vladimir Putin Sends Warships To Defend Australia From Vast Fascist Ukrainian Fleet

At least, that's the way the independent Russian media is likely to portray it...

This Looks Like A Job For Gavin Menzies!

Turkey's President Erdogan claims Muslims discovered America in 1178 A.D.

Senile, Foul-Mouthed KMT "Aristocrat" Lien Chan Hurls Obscenities At Doctor Who Saved His Son's Life

Lien Chan, the two-time loser for the Taiwanese presidency, finds it unbearable that independent candidate Dr. Ko Wen-je is trouncing his baby boy Sean Lien in polls leading up to the election for Taipei mayor:

"He [Ko Wen-je] calls himself a commoner and us the privileged few, but I call him a ‘bastard.’

Taiwan's Kuomingtang. Keepin' it classy since February 28, 1947.