This is what I have to wake up to?

One government with a recent record of silencing its whistleblowers and making them disappear evicts foreign media and bars its own citizens from that work. (Unless, of course, one of those citizens writes up some glowing pro-establishment PR for an organization whose journalist itself was expelled. Apparently, that's acceptable.)

Another government holds press conferences in which media on either side of the divide attack each other and those at the mic, and not a one comes out looking anything but contentious, tedious, or if shorter words are best, plain old crap-tastic. (A reminder that the first government, for all its efforts at a PR offensive, is disdainful of other Asians [still there, 微软], even though there are too many at that card game.)

Maybe this is an uneducated view, but what I see is one side that's given up freedoms (in this case, of speech) for unity under a regime that will not be appeased by the complicity of its own citizens, a regime that's reached the point where it's imposing its will on the speech of those outside its borders; and another that's abusing the freedom it has in favor of, not diversity, but division (or dividends - like I said, still there, 微软), and weakening itself as it does so. But maybe one side found something worth fighting for, and the other's too bloated and blinded by its all hail consumption to decide to fight back.

That's not cheery at all at a time like this, silly me. By all means, continue celebrating life in sunshiny self-destruct mode while those in positions of respect sing their followers to sleep.

(A question raised by other sources that I think bears repeating - what proportion of those in positions of respect have received COVID-19 tests in their comfortable isolation, in comparison to those who deserve respect and have to face the threat on a regular basis?)