"Popular movie star Jackie Chan has decided to stay away from Taiwan for four years to avoid protests over remarks he made calling the island's presidential election in 2004 a big joke, Taiwan media reported yesterday".
Jackie Chan says he's staying away because he wants to avoid a scene at the airport, but the four year time frame is a dead give-away. After all, if people are going to throw eggs at him three years from now they're probably going to throw eggs in five years. He's staying away to protest his side losing the election, which is why he's staying away for four years. Like most people who regarded the election as a "joke", the last year has not been kind to Jackie. The allegation made was that the attempted assassination was an inside job engineered by the DPP to garner a sympathy vote. International forensics experts since have determined that, far from being a faked injury, the president's wound was caused by a shot fired from outside the vehicle. Moreover, a shot ricocheted at a completely unpredictable angle before hitting the president. The likely shooter, who seems to have commited suicide, was an ardent pan-blue supporter. More and more, it looks like people like Jackie Chan who are a joke.
Taiwanese should tell Chan: "Please, don't stop at depriving us of the Celestial Presence for only four years. Could we work a deal for ten? What we are putting together here is the first democracy with a Chinese cultural base in the history of the world. This is not of colossal importance because of the number of people involved - necessarily, it involves a rather small minority among Chinese people in the world. It certainly doesn't require the endorsement of prominent Chinese actors. What is happening here is important because of the power of the idea, not the power of, or the number of, the people doing it. You say it's a joke, but you understand that it's true on some level. Otherwise, why would the leaders of 1.3 billion people be so exercised over the democracy project of 23 million Taiwanese. The idea is powerful because it self evidently works in bringing happiness and prosperity to people. And we don't need you to make it happen."
