Now, admittedly this was nearly 20 years ago but when working for a community organizing project we were part of a message board I am convinced the Obamas were crucial in organizing. To be part of it, I spent a week in DC training at the end of which came the second anniversary of the tragedy at the Square and I was literally empowered to comment in huge letters on the Chinese embassy, "Killing Yoke."

In the intervening years, China has changed and to a certain extent has joined the community of nations. As Ms. Snow points out, dredging up the name Tiananmen would have little effect now but Obama's mentioning the Dali Llama, that strikes the right note no matter how under reported.

As an aside, I find the Foxiness of David Gergen's commentaries for CNN in recent times to be a great disappointment as I once admired him as the reasoning voice of Conservatism, back when he worked at PBS.

PS Fallow did a good analysis on the China trip, it's just that the Japan visit deserves more discussion. Sorry so flip.

Would the 41 vomiting still be so funny if it was caused by poison?

Funny was BO telling the Japanese, "yeah, we stole Hawaii but it's a good thing for me that you blew it with Pearl Harbour because I'd be your leader right now instead. And those bombs we dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, make you guys experts on nukes, yuk yuk".

He had to bow to make up for those insults.

I was appalled by an article in the NYTimes that was so one-sided and conservative that I could scarcely believe I was reading the Times. It was the article about Obama charging Obama with groveling, and with not attempting to speak to Chinese dissidents and students, or the Chinese press. Anyone with even an ordinary U.S. citizen's understanding of China (me, for instance) should realize that China would not allow ordinary citizens, dissidents, or the press near Obama. Wasn't the governments handling of Chinese dissidents during Olympics evidence enough? Doesn't the American press realize that young people in China don't know about Tianamen Square? What's going on here when even the Times--which I'll admit is liberal and that's why I like it--publishes an article like that one? Reading the comments related to that article made it clear that Obama detractors and haters loved that article. It played right into the hands of people like Rush and Glenn.

Listening to this segment I couldn't help but think that I, a worker bee at ABC News --having only seen only ABC's coverage, which wasn't negative-- had gotten a more accurate view than those reading the New York Times and the Washington Post.

right on the mark! We seriously need more excellent journalists like James Fallows. All this China replacing USA fantasy in the States could lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy of Sino-Western conflict. Now that worries me.

All in all he's just another Barack on The Wall.