Gov. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) designated July as “Victims of Communism Remembrance Month.”
Last week, the governor hosted a proclamation ceremony featuring “Nebraskans familiar with communist oppression” — including former State Senator Lydia Brash, whose family fled Ukraine to escape Soviet rule.
Ricketts’ press release stated:
An estimated 100 million people died from political purges, religious persecutions, mass starvations, and other crimes against humanity carried out by communist regimes such as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and the People’s Republic of China.
In his remarks, Governor Ricketts reminded Nebraskans of the hundreds of millions of people who continue to live under communist regimes that curtail freedoms and lack respect for human rights. The Chinese Communist Party, in particular, is holding ethnic Uyghurs in internment camps, violating the religious freedom of the Chinese people, and quashing political dissent in Hong Kong and elsewhere.
Last month, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) signed three bills mandating that students learn about the evils of communism.
“The bill… expands our previous efforts in civics to add a requirement for the high school government class that students receive instruction on the evils of communism and totalitarian etiologies,” DeSantis commented. “We have a number of people in Florida, particularly southern Florida, who’ve escaped totalitarian regimes, who’ve escaped communist dictatorships to be able to come to America.”
“We want all students to understand the difference, why would somebody flee across shark-infested waters, say, leaving from Cuba to come to southern Florida?” DeSantis continued. “Why would somebody leave a place like Vietnam? Why would people leave these countries and risk their life to be able to come here? It’s important that students understand that.”
On social media, Ricketts pointed out that the Chinese Communist Party is presently celebrating its 100th anniversary.
https://twitter.com/GovRicketts/status/1410781601127141385
Indeed, Chinese President Xi Jinping recently donned a Mao-style suit and delivered a speech touting China’s plans for military mobilization:
We must accelerate the modernization of national defense and the armed forces. A strong country must have a strong military, as only then can it guarantee the security of the nation… The people’s military has made indelible achievements on behalf of the Party and the people. It is a strong pillar for safeguarding our socialist country and preserving national dignity, and a powerful force for protecting peace in our region and beyond.
On the journey ahead, we must fully implement the Party’s thinking on strengthening the military in the new era as well as our military strategy for the new era, maintain the Party’s absolute leadership over the people’s armed forces, and follow a Chinese path to military development. We will take comprehensive measures to enhance the political loyalty of the armed forces, to strengthen them through reform and technology and the training of competent personnel, and to run them in accordance with the law.
In a Wall Street Journal op-ed published last year, former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe told readers that “resisting Beijing’s attempt to reshape and dominate the world is the challenge of our generation.” Ratcliffe also revealed that “China has even conducted human testing on members of the People’s Liberation Army in hope of developing soldiers with biologically enhanced capabilities.”
