Hurt feelings

Jack Cafferty, of CNN, hurt the feelings of every person in China. As a consequence, a Chinese school teacher and a Chinese beautician have filed suit against CNN to correct the injustice. They seek $1.3 billion, a buck for each person in the country.

According to Yahoo News,

Cafferty said the United States imported Chinese-made “junk with the lead paint on them and the poisoned pet food” and added: “They’re basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they’ve been for the last 50 years.”

I don’t know who Cafferty is and I’ve never heard him, but I find it hard to fault the logic of what he says although it is strongly worded.

The plaintiffs claim CNN “intentionally caused mental harm.” One wonders how many Chinese are even allowed to receive CNN, much less how many can afford the required equipment.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said, “We hope CNN will take this seriously, because what CNN said and did has not only hurt China’s feelings, but also CNN’s own image.” The thing about the freedom of speech is while it certainly does allow you to say what you please, others can also say what they please. There’s no protection for your fragile feelings. Granted the Chinese do not have this same freedom, but this did not happen in China. Suck it up, already.

While CNN’s image may suffer in some circles, this case will get nowhere. For Chinese citizens to feel offended enough to take this action and then be perfectly fine with their government’s actions is just ridiculous. Few Chinese probably realize what their own government is really doing, but that’s their own look-out.

As an aside, I’m uncomfortable with how Chinese government officials often word their statements. For example, the foreign ministry spokesperson said CNN hurt China’s feelings. China is a country and has no feelings. I’m guessing it’s that collectivist dogma leaking out in their phrasing. God forbid the people realize they’re individuals.