Good news. Hu Jia has won the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. Who’s Hu Jia? A Chinese democracy activist, imprisoned before the Olympics. He was accused of “inciting subversion of state power and the socialist system.” In other words, he had given interviews and written articles expressing a desire for freedom. Some of his supporters wanted him to win the Nobel Peace Prize — no cigar. The day a Chinese democrat wins the Nobel Peace Prize — the day the Nobel jurors offend the ChiComs — I’ll kiss your . . . But he did win the Sakharov Prize, which comes from the European Parliament. Good for that body. And hurray for Hu Jia, who sets a prize example, along with his dissident, imprisoned, and tortured peers.
Plus, who knows? Maybe — just maybe — the day will come when I have to pucker up.