WarrenZevonSongVille
A whole lot of folks in Hong Kong are upset about proposed extradition legislation that could send them to a place that disregards due process and the rule of law.
In fact, so many hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets recently that chief executive Carrie Lam announced a suspension but not a killing of the bill.
Which sent hundreds of thousands of people to the streets again and a few hundred kids into the locked legislature last weekend.
So.
How does this happen?
How does a legislature have the power to enact laws against the will of the people?
Well, there is no need to call in the Supremes, the Russians, or the Republican smear merchants in this case given the 'semi' autonomous nature of the HK Legislature.
Democratic legislator Claudio Mo explained how things work yesterday in response to a question from Democracy Now's Juan Gonzalez:
JUAN GONZĂLEZ: And, Claudia Mo, I’d like to ask you, in terms of the existing so-called democratic structure in Hong Kong, obviously under China’s “one country, two systems” policy, how is the Legislature chosen in Hong Kong, and what is the impact of the People’s Republic of China government over Hong Kong?
CLAUDIA MO: Yes, exactly. That’s a great question to be answered. The young had a particular anger at the Legislature. It mainly stems from the fact that it’s this very Legislature that was going to pass that controversial China extradition bill. Why? Because they’ve got enough Beijing votes in there. And it’s all because of our very twisted and convoluted kind of election system. They make sure that the pro-Beijing votes will occupy at least half of our seats. That’s a total number of 70. They make sure they will have enough votes to pass just anything, any policy, any bill, any funding application from the government. And democrats are always outnumbered. We are outnumbered, not because we are unpopular, but because we just don’t get the seats. We have more votes, but fewer seats. That sums up the Hong Kong legislative election. And the young knew it.
Gosh.
It almost sounds a little like, say, North Carolina...
...North Carolina Republicans won a 10-3 advantage in the U.S. House of Representatives even though the statewide vote was only narrowly in favor of Republican candidates. The justices also upheld maps from Maryland, where Democrats hold a 7-1 majority in the House, which is similarly lopsided compared to their overall support.
In a news conference Thursday morning, Republican Rep. David Lewis of Harnett County — a key architect of the maps and other voting legislation in North Carolina — said “this (Supreme court smackdown) is a complete vindication of our state.”...
Imagine that!
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Subheader?....This.
Image at the top of the page is from SCMP reporter Phila Siu's Twittmachine feed...
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1 comment:
Ha!
Thanks for that Anon-Above.
Does this mean, however, that someone should now make a meal of Mr. Tyler et al.?
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