Now That Bush Has Left ...

... the Chinese are showing their true colors: A bruttal, centralized regime that extends no rights to anyone outside the circle of power.

Here, Robert Kennedy Jr. and his hypocritical ilk set aside their extreme environmentalist for a moment and fight a proposed wind farm using a public process.

There, troops shoot locals opposed to a wind farm, seal the village, and refuse to allow any people or goods in. From AP:

Thousands of people took part in Tuesday's demonstration in Dongzhou, a village in Guangdong province, international rights groups said. They were anger over plans to construct a wind power plant on local land.

Police fired into the crowd, killing at least two people, the reports said. Villagers have put the number as high as 10.

State media have made no mention of the violence and both provincial and local governments have repeatedly refused to comment. This is typical in China, where the ruling Communist Party controls the media.

Explaining the government's action further, one villager said:

"We are not allowed to buy food outside the village. They asked the nearby villagers not to sell us goods. The government did not give us proper compensation for using our land ... Now they come and shoot us. I don't know what to say."

Even the Chinese government admits there were 70,000 protestsagainst it last year, as anger grows over land takings, wealth disparity and corruption. Who knows how many more demonstrations are unreported, and who knows how violently the Chinese government will react, given its desire to stay in power, and its distain for the people?