The Dalai Lama got a pat on the back from Speaker Pelosi but otherwise the left in America has shown quite the disinterest in Tibet. Maybe in Berkeley, CA, Cambridge, MA and Seattle, WA they are looking at support for Tibet as passe`. "That was sooo 1998". Maybe the liberal just isn't one to multi-task. What with all of the despising of W Bush, General Betray Us Petraeus, Cheney and Halliburton, who has time to condemn China? The little pet project of the 90s is over.  
Each decade the liberal likes to demonstrate how concerned enlightened and intelligent Americans can be by raising awareness of overseas turmoil specifically concerning people of color. The 80's saw Apartheid, the 90's Tibet (no room for Rwanda back then) and now it's Darfur. While all of the three named crises have substantial violent problems today, the left has moved on, bored of the topic and looking for others. They showed promise for about a cup of coffee concerning Hispanic, Asian and other immigrants in the U.S. illegally but that became an issue that converted some to the right. Hmm, that's not what they need.


After all, how can anyone concentrate on Tibet or Darfur with American tanks in Afghanistan and Iraq shooting the babies and elderly for Haliburton. MoveOn.org and Code Pink came out with staggering figures of Iraqi dead. 100,000 dead in the first eleven seconds of fighting and after five years of fighting the number is still estimated to be the unacceptable figure of..100,000. Self loathing Americans, usually found on the left have not supported any U.S. military action since pre- atom bombs in World War II. What Bush needed, Bush got. A calming in Iraq and a crisis in Tibet. Perhaps the problem is that the violence which has already claimed the lives of over 100 Tibetans came on the week of the 5th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Then again, maybe the world needs another little known culture possessing people of color in an exotic area where Time Magazine and CNN's Christian Amanpour can convince the Tads and Margos to wail and mourn from their gated communities with their little Prius in the driveways and "Obama for Messiah" signs on the lawns to once again raise awareness through wine tastings and silent auctions.