Thanks to my Facebook friend Hoi Yat Tsoi for alerting me to this. Guyana born Hong Kong resident and blogger Daniel Dumbrill debates with US based journalist and former Vietnam veteran Paul Mooney on what is – and what is not – happening in Xinjiang.
It’s 123 minutes so you may want to watch in two or more sessions. Or maybe, like me, you’ll be so gripped by a discussion which also takes in Tibet and Hong Kong you view the whole thing in one go. Other, of course, than a midway break for ice cream and popcorn.
Which for once is all the introduction I intend to give. Make your own mind up as to who has the clearer grasp of things.
I’m sat listening and watching this and almost an hour in two observations stand out:
Firstly, the body language is speaking volumes. Paul Mooney is taking a very defensive posture with his arms folded, occasionally sitting back in a posture of dismissiveness, and nervously rubbing his arm with his hands.
Secondly, listening to Mooney is like listening to a ‘woke’ activist. Refusing point blank to accept any objective evidence presented which contradicts his favoured and preferred narrative. Offering nothing substantive in terms of objective evidence beyond subjective opinion along the lines of ‘I don’t believe this’, anecdotal examples, and deflection.
Frankly, so far, I’ve encountered more effective levels of debate and discussion at secondary school.
I’ll continue watching and listening to the rest of it but so far Mooney is coming across as a bad faith actor who is all over the place in a desperate attempt to keep control of a narrative which does not have a leg to stand on.
Yes, the body language is revealing as you say.
I think the whole thing worth watching because of Dumbrill’s superior mastery of the facts, yes, but also because of the way he courteously but firmly keeps bringing us back to the bigger picture. He shows great presence of mind even though, as betrayed by his intensity of expression in places, this isn’t easy.
And my biggest reason of all? That this narrative, which as you say ‘doesn’t have a leg to stand’, is nevertheless dominating the airwaves in yet another manifestation of the depressing truth that in the manufacture of opinion and consent, wall to wall corporate media spin trumps such inconsequentialities as facts every time. Still, we do what we can, huh?