SO, HOW’S THAT “SMART DIPLOMACY” GOING? “Chinese Pianist Plays Propaganda Tune at White House: US humiliated in eyes of Chinese by song used to inspire anti-Americanism.” This seems like quite an expression of contempt toward one’s hosts. It’s certainly quite a slap in the face to Obama, and a demonstration that our State Department remains not ready for primetime. On the other hand, it should remove any shreds of guilt I might otherwise feel when China dissolves into civil war after we default on our bonds. . . .

UPDATE: Reader Aaron Krol counsels caution: “I did a little digging on the story about the Chinese pianist
allegedly playing an anti-American propaganda piece at the White House. It looks like the original source of this story is the Epoch Times, which according to Wikipedia is a Falun Gong outfit. The story may or may not be true, I don’t know, but the source does have an agenda given their persecution by the Chinese government.”

Well, the only pushback I’ve seen is the claim in the NYT that it was unintentional. I’m skeptical about that.