Perhaps the biggest story to come out of the Beijing Olympic Winter Games thus far is that of Eileen Gu, the “American” skier who has decided to compete for China.
Of course, American is in quotation marks because it’s perhaps more accurate to say that, in spirit, Gu is not so much an American skier as a skier born in America, or at least in San Francisco. The 18-year-old is certainly noncommittal herself, having told Red Bull’s Bulletin recently, “When I’m in America, I’m American. When I’m in China, I’m Chinese.” Apparently, Gu, whose father is American and mother a Chinese immigrant, identifies as nationality fluid.
But since not everyone believes (not yet, anyway) the internationalist fancy that nationality is a spectrum, Wu’s decision has evoked some expected criticism, with many calling her a traitor.
Yet Beijing doesn’t call Gu — who goes by “Gu Ailing” in China — anything but an opportunity. It’s not clear how or if Beijing’s poaching of the athlete is “legal,” however. While an Independent writer claims the skier renounced her American citizenship, recreation-oriented website Viacasinos writes that “Gu’s case is more complex because she made the switch when she was 15[,] and according to the State Department, a minor cannot legally renounce citizenship until they [sic] are 16. It remains unclear if she has ever formally renounced her American citizenship, or if China is aware of her citizenship status.”
“Neither Gu nor the State Department will comment,” the site continues.
Yet there are ways to attain limited dual citizenship in China according to DualCitizenship.com (and autocratic regimes aren’t constrained by laws, anyway), and it seems likely regardless “that China will fall all over itself to pull a promising American into its Olympics team and will make as many exceptions as possible to assure her participation,” wrote Breitbart Wednesday.
“Indeed, the Chinese have been grooming her since 2019 when representatives of the communist government began trying to convince her to abandon the U.S.A,” the site continues.
What’s more, Gu is a far bigger name in China — where she’s called “the snow princess” — and may make far more money there than she is/does here. So perhaps she has been bought. Regardless, it would be ironic if the best female skier representing a country known for shoddy products, and for stealing U.S. creations, was also made in America.
Unfortunately, she was made ungrateful in America, too. Commentator Will Cain touched on this Thursday evening while appearing on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight.
First addressing Gu’s attitude, Cain said that it’s ungrateful for her to “turn her back on the country that not only just raised her, but turned her into a world-class skier with the training and facilities that only the United States of America can provide. For her to then turn her back on that in exchange for money is shameful.”
Then Cain went deeper, however, saying that this “is about something much bigger than Eileen Gu.” There are “very few American companies that wouldn’t and haven’t already done the same thing as Eileen Gu,” he explained. “They’ve already turned their back on the United States of America in exchange for Chinese riches and that’s why she’s a symbol. You want to look at something to be really upset about — it’s not the ungrateful child of America; it’s the corrupt and weak corporations of America” (video below).
Yet it goes much further than even Cain’s comments indicate.
Yes, it is appropriate to score Gu, despite her tender age, and to stigmatize her if possible. This shouldn’t be done out of hatred or because she necessarily has ill will — for her part, she claims she wants to “inspire” Chinese girls — but because social pressure is necessary for enforcing proper social laws, such as the imperative of national loyalty. (This pressure, wrongly directed, can also be used to impose destructive social laws; e.g., “wokeness.”) Also remember, however, that the disloyal aren’t born. They’re made.
The Manchurian Candidate, alluded to in my title, is a 1962 film about an American soldier captured during the Korean War and then programmed (brainwashed) by the Chinese to become an unwitting tool of Cold War-era Marxists. Gu has been similarly programmed — but by enemies much closer to home.
Gu and millions of others are the result of decades of moral decay; cultural degradation; and mind rape with Howard Zinn (pseudo)history, other academic swill, and anti-American entertainment. These people are “citizens of the world,” philanderers of nations, just as the globalists trained them to be. They are the spoiled fruits of balkanization, multiculturalism, and hyphenated-faux-Americanism, just as the immigrationists intended. They’ve been told America is just “an idea” (and often that it’s a bad one) — and an idea can’t compete with an actual nation.
This is precisely, too, why Gu won’t be properly stigmatized: She’s applauded as brave by her millions of demoralized brethren. She’s sponsored by “American” companies such as Victoria’s Secret, Cadillac, Tiffany’s, Visa, Therabody, and Oakley (yet it’s Spotify and Joe Rogan being boycotted). And when she talked about competing for China, “U.S. Freeski & Snowboard head coach Mike Jankowski says the coaching staff immediately went hands-off and told Gu that she was perfectly free to join the communist regime’s team,” Breitbart also informs.
“‘We have a ton of respect for her decision and supported her 100 percent. To be able to honor her heritage in that way is really cool,’ Jankowski said, according to ESPN.” Yeah, well, who needs to be American when you can be cool, right?
In truth, the Gu guys ‘n’ gals are not cool but lukewarm, at best, about America. What Gu is not is ill-meaning — and this reflects our nation-destroyers’ real triumph. They’ve created millions of smiling sheep who, programmed and perky, pave America’s road to Hell with only the best of intentions.
