Virtues of Tiananmen

Last night in 1989:

at Peking University, they met & whispered.

Today, historic defiance.

In May, they starved.

In June, murdered by state:
Tiananmen Square.

“They are virtue signaling.”

Right, yes! The pointless, 

not-at-all-innate-to-how-civilizations-are-built,

violently punishable
exercise of upholding the most basic human values
during our fleeting stay on this planet we collectively inhabit.

“How does this affect anything in the ‘Middle East’?”

he asks while checking TurboTax.

It’s almost like the relentless agitation of norms, processes, business-as-usual 

- and the people who uphold them -

can mimic spines,

reach critical mass,

haunt the strawmen.

“I know what America is. America is a thing you can move very easily, move it in the right direction. They won't get in our way.”

“They asked me before the election if I'd honor [the Oslo Accords] … I said I would, but … I'm going to interpret the accords in such a way that would allow me to put an end to this galloping forward to the '67 borders.”

“This is part of our strategy – to isolate the Palestinians in Gaza from the Palestinians in the West Bank.”

-guess. fascists are fascists are fascists.

400 stripped, amputated,
buried alive in mass grave.

42,500 dead,

14,000 children.

Pesky students!