Last Friday, former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, currently under suspension from the DPJ for his lower house vote against the VAT tax hike and other tax and social safety net compromise legislation, joined the ranks of the regular TGIF protest in front of the Prime Minister’s Office complex, picked up a megaphone and told the crowd that he too thought that nuclear power sucks… then apparently went in and gave a piece of his mind to the Chief Cabinet Secretary. Folks, this camel not only peed into the tent, it then walked in, sat down, and dropped a load on the rug.
I’m not really surprised that he did this; he is what he is. I’m also not surprised that the security forces didn’t seize and blindfold him and prop him up against a wall… after all, Japan is a practicing democracy whose citizens have access to due process. I’m also not surprised that the Chief Cabinet Secretary not only let him onto the premises but also let him gave him an earful. And I’m not even surprised that the DPJ made no move to punish this individual for what was at least a violation of the spirit, if not the words, of the terms of his suspension. So perhaps I should not be surprised that the Japanese media did not drop its collective jaw over what happened, or failed to happen, after he exercised his human rights during his suspension from the DPJ. Voting against a DPJ colleague on a non-confidence vote seems to be the only thing that gets you expelled from the DPJ, and the media could care less.
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