Eye of Modok

Usually I only have to endure macro indignities at the hands of George W. Bush - things like people eyeballing me suspiciously on the street, the occasional you-ought-to-be-ashamed-of-yourself lecture or, worse yet, flag-waving patriotic expatriate American apologists. Of course, if someone hates me, the person, for my country’s policies, even if I were an avid W supporter, their opinion wouldn’t count for much, unless I somehow happened to be wearing a t-shirt or ball cap with the American flag emblazoned upon it or some other overtly pro-American attention-getter at the time, which, given the penchant for Bush supporters to wave flags in everyone’s faces, might render such behavior more understandable.

I am generally quite vocal in my denunciation of politicians, pretty much worldwide, and my opinion is that the only option is for us all to form our own private communities, create our own alternative economy and essentially pull ourselves off the grid while the big bloated governments run themselves to the ground as the reality of dwindling tax revenues sinks in. (I’m working on it!) All those who support the Welfare State, feel free to hang on to the end. So, I harbor no ill will personally toward Bush, despite his apocalyptic leanings, for playing out his role on the world stage. I just do my best to stay out of his way. That’s part of the reason I live in China. Well, he came all the way to China and today he managed to cause me quite a few minor inconveniences.

It all started when I rode my bike up the usual street to get the CITIC building and found my way cut off by a bunch of cops. I saw a few resourceful people acting on my first impulse, which was to try to sneak in through a side lot. No luck. When I asked a group of six cops if they could just let me slip around the corner and mind my own business, I wasn’t surprised when they refused. So, I went around the big block and came up on the front entrance of the building, only to be stopped and asked to show my ID card to get in. I got the card when I first started working here but had never used it once. Looking at the long lines of people trying to get in who couldn’t I was glad I had it on me. Upstairs to the 25th floor to look down out the window at the St. Regis Hotel and I could certainly understand the precautions - a perfect line of sight.

There were around 20 black cars filled the lot, ranging from big beefy police cars to souped-up SUVs and, of course, a stretch limo. I was quite impressed with the sheer scope of how many people it took to protect that one man on a short trip, to say nothing of how many others were involved in organizing it. Just think of Air Farce One and the expense of flying here. For a moment, I got a sense of the answer to the usually rhetorical question, “Who the hell does he think he is?” There was a flurry of activity near the door, a bunch of people in black poured out the front door and then the whole cavalcade took off. If someone in my building had been up to nefarious activity, they would have been hard pressed to find an opportune moment.

When I came downstairs, my bike wasn’t in the temporary parking spot any more and it took me about 10 minutes to find it. Thanks, George!