So I'm going through the Inbox and see this:

China Flexes its Muscles – by Gordon G. Chang

The article, which was published in the Wall Street Journal, is another one of those comments on the whole Kitty Hawk carrier group story where China did not allow a group of U.S. warships to stop in Hong Kong for shore leave. The Panda Punchers were up in arms, considering this to be an act of war.

I ignored the story since ultimately I do not know why Beijing decided to do it. There was a lot of talk, but it was all speculation, and also not so much fun. I'm also not a military affairs kind of guy.

So why do we want to hear what Gordon Chang has to say? This is an ex-corporate lawyer who knows China pretty well, but he also wrote The Coming Collapse of China, one of the Panda Punchers' bibles, in 2001. Let me repeat that: he wrote a book predicting the imminent downfall of China in 2001. Shouldn't there be some sort of penalty for that?

To me, this is akin to those guys who walk around Times Square preaching the end of times, day after day. After awhile, they sort of lose credibility. Well, to be honest, those guys are not so credible to begin with, but you get my point.

Why is this guy in the Wall Street Journal, and why is an ex-corporate lawyer writing about military issues? Well, he is also apparently very well connected to the Right Wing machine, which includes lots of Murdoch publications, a regular gig in Commentary, and testimony in front of (cue the Wagner opera) the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Committee.

I guess it helps to have friends in high/weird places.