Shih Ming-teh just passed away, what do you think of him?

Politics Taiwan Politics
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Quite of few of them around from those Formosa Incident Days.

Just wait until we do a retrospective thread on his fellow political prisoner Annette Lu!

Guy

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He totally would have voted for Trump. :slightly_smiling_face:

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She is pretty batty but I have a soft spot for her
Su Zhen Chang worked in my office building but I feel he doesn’t like foreign immigrants very much from his policies. Pity.

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This is a very helpful image to let youngsters better understand how folks on the green side of the political spectrum in Taiwan felt as Shih cavorted with New Party, PFP, and finally KMT types. :slightly_smiling_face:

Guy

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Except that Shih went from Green to Blue, but King was always an independent.

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Yes no doubt an “independent” civil rights activist would later support a xenophobic white nationalist like DJT.

Everything makes perfect sense now! Just like it did not with Shih.

Guy

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image
image640×640 33 KB

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It gives dual meaning to the promised land. :clown_face: (I’m a great fan of MLK, Jr. and don’t think we should necessarily judge him too harshly by the mores of today).

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“icloud.com” . . . :thinking:

Guy

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Are you using the phone made with slave labor? :sweat_smile:

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Other links are available. His full quote is here.

There must surely be a TDS equivalent of Godwin’s Law.

FWIW, completely agree with @hansioux’s take on Shih. He was a flawed human being and a product of his time. I found him to be an unlikable character, but I’m pretty sure Taiwan would have been worse off today without him.

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I absolutely remember that statement from back then.

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More from Linda Arrigo, this time speaking on Formosa Files, on Shih’s legacy immediately following his death. This is really impressive. If you only check out one link today, make it this!

Linda was married to the late Shih Ming-teh from 1978 to 1995. In this chat she gives him much high praise, calling him essentially “the spirit of the revolution.” But, she says he was turned by flattery, money and women… to the point that he became a different person than the “willing to die for Taiwan” political prisoner and democracy activist he once was.

Guy

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34

Sounds like 90 percent of lobbyists and politicians. It takes a special breed to stand apart.

Quoting Big Daddy Jesse Unruh:

"If you can’t take their money, drink their liquor, f*** their women, and then come in here the next day and vote against them, you don’t belong here.

New Biography of Jesse Unruh - The Thicket at State Legislatures (typepad.com)