Unless you're a pan-blue politician, that is

Just yesterday I posted something about People First Party (PFP) legislator Thomas Lee's (Lee Tong-hao) unbelievable statement encouraging the public to "shoot President Chen dead." According to a Chinese-language article in this morning's Taiwan Daily, Lee bowed 6 times in another so-called apology for going beyond the normal limits of "freedom of speech." (Think "crying 'fire' in a crowded theater.")

Is Lee just trying to cover his ass? Let's take a closer look at what he said in this apology. Here's my synopsis of the article:

Lee said he was making a formal apology to Taiwan society for the third time. He also said that the President and the Executive Branch of government should respect the Legislature, and that what he said the day before was just a way of emphasizing that feeling. However, he admitted that he had failed to say anything about that when he talked about "killing the president."

You would probably think that even pan-blue politicians might be able to learn something from their own past mistakes and those of others like Lee, but that's apparently not the case. Today's Taiwan Daily also reports that Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang, or KMT) legislator Kwan Yuk-noan (Hanyu pinyin: Guan Wo-nuan) suggested that it would be better if President Chen Shui-bian would just "commit suicide." Kwan also refused to apologize for this comment when reporters asked him if he would do so. I suppose that he thinks that the president's suicide would relieve the pan-blues of all their self-induced troubles, right?

Wrong.

First of all, it ain't gonna happen. Chen Shui-bian doesn't cry on TV like Lien Chan or repeatedly get down on his knees like James Soong. Chen doesn't disrespect the law the way Lien and Soong do. Chen didn't abuse his authority when summoned to testify at the Hualien Prosecutors' Office in January and didn't ask for any special privileges when doing so.

The pan-blues: so many contradictions, so little time.

A traitor in their midst
Speaking of contradictions, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Shen Fu-hsiung has made some astounding statements himself. According to an article in this morning's Taipei Times, he "issued four statements to explain why the DPP should abandon the 'love Taiwan' campaign theme":

Shen said since most Taiwanese, up to 90 percent of them according to various polls, said they love Taiwan, those who "don't love Taiwan" are not a strong enough force in society to jeopardize the country.

As for the definition of whether a person loves Taiwan, Shen said it is unfair to determine the degree of a party's or an individual's love for Taiwan by their China policies, the degree of their Chinese nostalgia or the time they arrived in Taiwan -- the Hoklo Taiwanese's arrival dates back to two centuries ago while the Mainlanders' arrival was only five decades ago.

"There is no objective and scientific method to gauge the magnitude of a person's love for Taiwan. That someone claims to love Taiwan very much doesn't necessarily mean he or she loves Taiwan more than other compatriots," Shen said.

He concluded that if the DPP agrees with him, it should stop using the "love Taiwan" theme as an election gimmick.

If there is no way to gauge how much someone loves Taiwan (as he says in his third statement), then his first statement has no meaning (and vice-versa). Someone who "loves Taiwan" -- or even merely "gives a fuck" -- might display some reservations about their dealings with a country that interferes with Taiwan's international relations and participation in organizations such as the World Health Organization. They might be hesitant to identify with a country that has at least 496 missiles aimed in Taiwan's direction and constantly threatens bloodshed. Someone who "loves Taiwan" might be willing to stand up for Taiwan -- or at the very least let others do so.

Shen Fu-hsiung has shown his "true colors," and it's time to kick him out of the DPP. He's either a sell-out or was a "spy" all along.