INSANITY is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results. That is the United States for you.
Days after China rained missiles in the sea around Taiwan following the reckless visit to the island by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, five irresponsible US lawmakers decided to do the same on Monday.
Promoting democracy like Pelosi? Or peril for Taipei? Proxy wars are never as costly to the US as it is going to be for Taiwan. Just look at the 175 days of peril Ukraine is suffering in fighting the war against Russia on behalf of the US and Europe.
Let's summon some common sense. Which nation will allow another to park its missiles close to its border? Not the US. We saw Washington go bellicose when Russia did just that in Cuba.
The US was ready to hit the nuclear button. And so was Russia. It's a miracle we survived a nuclear holocaust.
Make no mistake. Russia should not have invaded Ukraine. But who pushed Moscow into it? It was the US and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation on their peril-ridden mission to turn the whole world into an America or a Europe.
This isn't just a Malaysian or an Asian take. Many American and European thinkers have gone public with the same view. More recently, the notorious John Bolton, a former US national security adviser, admitted to being involved in some regime changes.
But the West's regime change missions aren't as new as Bolton's compelled confession. It's older. But that is the stuff for another Leader.
Be that as it may, is America or Europe a free society? A brutally honest assessment must arrive at an unequivocal "no". Look at the US on how it "others" Americans of colour. Even its lawmakers are not spared.
The press there isn't as free as it is made out to be. Most times, the media there is a gallery of "advertorials" sponsored by lobbyists. Fox News is one in a sea of dreadful examples. Europe is no better. There is just no public space for the "other".
Even for something as harmless as an attire. There, it appears, taking off clothes is okay, but not putting them on, albeit certain types of attire.
The European press isn't something to write home about either. From serious newspapers like The Economist to those given to tabloid journalism, all have become echo chambers of a dominant view. We saw this in the West's invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, illegal though they both were. Now we are witnessing the very same crass journalism in the invasion of Ukraine. Russia can never be right. The West always is.
Let's be clear. We are not saying China is always right. This Leader has said so when it wasn't. Is Washington trying to make Taiwan more democratic? By Pelosi's own assessment, the island is already one of the freest societies in the world.
Or, is Washington trying to make it more secure? The US needs to get real. Taiwan is just 100km from China and close to 13,000 km from the US. That is a help too far for Taipei. Besides, China is a mighty military power and a nuclear one to boot.
Beijing exhibited this in all its fury twice within a space of days. The US is pushing China to do one of two things: pummel Taiwan or start a nuclear war. Neither is in anybody's interest.