Double Standards and then some

I am not the first person to point out the double standard being applied regards Tibet and Palestine.
Both countries are being occupied by another country. Palestine has been occupied by Israel for 60 years now. Tibet has been occupied by China for 50 years.
Seeing as how the Palestinian occupation has gone on far longer, how is it that Tibet makes then news, but Palestine doesn't?
Could it be because Tibet has a Nobel Peace Prize winner? Well, Yassir Araft also won the Noble Peace Prize. That didn't seem to matter though. He died without being able to achieve peace with Israel.
Could it be that the Dalai Lama looks cool and wears that nice robe all the time? That he talks softly? The Palestinian leaders don't dress "cool", but they have spoken softly and of course quite loudly as well.
Could it be that Tibet is occupied by China, and that "we" are not quite friends with the Chinese? Why that is I have no idea. I mean, every time we shop, we probably buy something made in China. Try going to oh, say, Wal-Mart and not buying a made in China product. It can be done, but it takes some doing. I am not knocking Wal-Mart, they have prices that are affordable for the working people of America. And we all need to get as much "value" for our dollars as possible. That is, or at least was once, called "smart shopping".
China also holds right close to one trillion dollars of US debt. Yes sir, that is $1,000,000,000,000.00 in US Treasury notes. Now, if they were to, oh, say, change them for Euros, well, let's just say that our economy, such as it is, would be sunk. And damn fast too. Maybe we ought to try and stay on the "nice side" of China. Just for the sake of our old economy if for no other reason. Call it "self preservation". I call it being a good global neighbor, but who am I?
Is it just possible that the occupation of Palestine for the last 60 years doesn't get much "play" in the American media because Israel is our "ally"? Could it have anything to do with the lobby of all lobbies, AIPAC? That group (APIAC) does contribute a good deal of money to various political campaigns. Does money buy influence in America? Does a bear poop in the woods? Well, no, the bear poops in its hand and throws it into the woods. But that is another topic for another time. Maybe.
There is more public debate about the Israeli occupation of Palestine in Israel than there is here in America. There is more criticism of the Israeli government in Israel that is ever allowed in America? Why? Can you say AIPAC? Of course you can.
Now about now (if not sooner) some who are reading this (does anyone really read my stuff?) are saying, "OK, this charlie is an anti-Semite!". Sorry folks, I am NOT an anti-Semite. I AM an anti-Zionist though. Those ARE very different things, look it up if you don't believe me.
Not all Jews are Zionists. Not all Zionist are Jews either.
There are many very religious Jews who are anti-Zionist. They tend to get called "self hating Jews" by the Zionists. In America in particular, there are a large number of "Christian Zionists" as well. An example is the Rev. Hagee who has come out in support of good old John McCrazy for president. My personal opinion here, is that the "Christian Zionists" are more radical than the "Christian Fundamentalists" and that isn't easy to do. Some of those two groups do tend to overlap, but they are not necessarily the same thing.
The "Christian Zionists" also have monetary and political clout, not quite at the level of AIPAC, but getting close. Again, does money buy influence in America? Same reply again. America has the best government that money can buy, or so it seems.
Don't forget our "great" main stream media either. They follow the money also. It would seem that in America money DOES buy influence. Which could be a reason that the CEO's of hedge funds who make salaries in the billions, pay less taxes that their secretaries do. And they say that greed isn't good.
Fortunately the situation regards Palestine IS changing. There are a number of books, either out or due to be out soon, that detail the TRUTH about what went down in 1948 in Palestine. This will be a real eye opener for the vast majority of us all, not just Americans. It is way past time for this to happen, but at least it is finally happening. For that we can all be very thankful.
semper fi,
charlie