I can’t say anything funny
I can’t say anything funny about this photo.
picture: dunno source, via our lol builder. lol caption: wittypirate
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Total agreement. Bravo.
They did actually do a news article a few weeks bk. They stated that they had found out that the man was killed. However the identity of this brave soul is still unknown and probably will remain in such fashion. True bravery is not doing something and then bragging it comes from giving up your life for a cause and no one even knowing who you were!
One day we’re going to find out that the guy was just crossing the street at the wrong time.
There are many stories about the identity and fate of the “Tank Man” but nobody is certain who he was or what became of him. One thing about him is certain, though. Those of us who followed the story of the Tiananmen Square protest and saw the footage of this lone man facing down a tank squadron will never forget him.
wouldn’t it be an awesomely epic fail if it turned out that the guy this pic was blind?
Heroic Fail.
for shame.
Man, you suck. |D
You can HEAR a tank moron
thank you. an idiot, rite?
he could’ve been cross-eyed and was just trying to make sure the tank wasn’t going straight at him?
Brilliant.
Non-violent resistance = WIN.
lolz, well somebody won, though I’m pretty sure it wasn’t tank man or the Chinese counter-communist movement
hey dude sorry to be a downer but right after this picture was taken he got ran over and died, sorry.
Hey ‘dude’ – you know I sort of hope you honestly believe this because the unpalatable alternative, that you’re just making statements on the basis of what is most likely to cause offense and/or pain to others, is evidence of a degree of de-humanisation I’d rather not be sharing the planet with, sorry.
A quick search of the internet will show that after confronting the tanks, including at one point climbing up in order to speak to the tank commander through the turret hatch, the unknown man in these pictures was apparently dragged away by other members of the public and disappeared into the crowd.
Whether he was one of those subsequently executed by the Chinese government is not known, although widely theorised.
Logan probably knows what this picture is, he was probably just trying to brings some humour onto a lol site.
This may be a lol site but I think the captioner and the “serious” commenters here are completely justified. I don’t think this is a picture that should really be put up on a lolsite to begin with. If you want to I won’t stop you or complain because I do believe in freedom of expression but I think it would be more respectful to leave this as the last caption this picture receives. The man in this picture will never be named and is most certainly dead but he is a great hero. He choose to stand – a simple thing we do every day but so many were unable to do that day the way he did – sacrificed his life (his behavior in China is a guarantee of that) and without a word, told us a story of humanity no words could ever portray. He deserves the utmost respect of the entire world now and always.
shut up
NO U
Let’s play Lord of the Rings and go Lego-less….j/k
Or perhaps you can realize that sometimes we can honor people through humor as well. I am pretty sure he didn’t die so we could all pout and be solemn about it. He died as a sacrifice to freedom, freedom which also means the freedom to laugh as we see fit.
Try not to establish a tyranny of guilt just because you want a moment of silence on a lol site. Make a blog. I honor his sacrifice but I won’t refuse to laugh if there is humor to be found.
Humor is one of the few things that keeps us sane and freedom. Don’t encroach on it.
*free
Exactly, anyone ever hear the phrase:
“I may not agree with what you’re saying but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it”
As soon as you tell us what things are right and wrong to say you become one of them (or just as bad anyway)
in bed.
Hypocrisy. Someone say something offensive.
–
Someone else says, “Whoah! That was offensive and stupid.”
–
Third parties pipe up with, “Hey now, you’re censoring that first guy!”
–
NO! You morons, second dude has just as much right to his opinion as first dude
–
Defending someone’s right to free speech does not mean agreeing with everything they say.
Which is why you are trying to censor us now? Ergo, you’re a moron. Good job as you would be the fourth person trying to censor the third.
Just because somebody says something doesn’t mean we can’t disagree or state an opinion about it. So fellow moron, how are you today?
Nope, I am not censoring anyone, I’m saying you can have your opinion, you can say someone, even me, is full of it, and that isn’t censorship. It’s only censorship if the government does it. If a newspaper won’t carry your letter, not censorship, buy your own damn press. If a website won’t print your post, also not censorship, free web hosting is free. If someone says you are a complete moron for stating your opinion, that IS NOT censorship, that is their opinion.
–
Free speech means the freedom to say offensive things, even to call other people morons or to say that their opinions are idiotic or offensive.
Actually censorship is an action in which you try to force somebody to keep their mouth shut last time I checked. So if I constantly told you that you were stupid in an attempt to shut you up then I would be attempting to censor you.
Doesn’t have to be a governmental entity doing it for censorship to occur.
Force? Eh? What is this ‘force’ you speak of? Censorship is when someone, you know, kills you or throws you in jail for things you say. That is force. You remember that little childhood rhyme, ’sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me?” Yeah, sticks and stones are force. Words are not. Now, if I were saying flat out lies about you, you may have a slander case against me. Not censorship, slander. If I incite others to physical violence against you, then also my speech is not protected, but even so no one would call my speech censorship. It absolutely has to be someone with power over you telling you not to say things for it to be censorship. Me saying you are an idiot (I’m not, by the way, I kinda like you) is not censorship. If something someone says to you hurts you so much that you can’t retort, you need to grow a pair, not whine about censorship.
I don’t recall whining about censorship to be perfectly honest. I did however retort to somebody saying that we should be quiet with our lolz. I don’t remember censorship being brought up until you did. I was actually confused by your initial response on this since nobody was trying to censor anything. We were simply defending our stance on the matter.
So I think we have some wires crossed and I apologize for any particular misunderstanding.
You really think that force has to be employed for censorship to have taken place? If I shout so loudly that I drown you out and don’t give you the chance to speak, that is censorship. If I monopolise the channels of communication and don’t allow you to use them, that is censorship. Censorship takes many, many forms and not all of them involve violence.
Thread FAIL.
I’ll be the first to bring humor into a serious situation and no one stands for the right to disagree like I do. If you knew me, I’d not have to say that. I see choosing not to laugh as a moment of silence; we have the right to speak and we have the right to refuse the silence, but we suspend that right out of respect. Sacrificing your right to laugh at this picture is a tiny gesture to his sacrifice of life because while we don’t KNOW he’s dead, I think we can all be quite certain that the Chinese government would hunt him down until he was and they’ve had enough time to do it. So I completely understand your choice to honor him by using the freedom he stood up for, but I, and the “downers”, choose to honor him by sacrificing it. Both are right when done with respect.
I specifically said I would never try to inhibit your right to laugh “as you see fit” and never said the “laughers” were wrong. I simply said I thought the “serious” commenters were justified and I submitted my opinion as backup for the justification. The “laughers” seem to be the ones trying to silence our opinion. So please, mark your opinion of why laughing is appropriate, but don’t try to tell us we’re wrong and don’t tell us to “shut up” because when you do, you reek of hypocrisy.
Why is he “most certainly dead”? He was pulled away by fellow protestors to avoid getting arrested. Tienanmen Square wasn’t that long ago either.
But I agree, you d-bags just trying to bring stuff down can gtfo, in my opinion. I don’t expect many of the posters on these sites to understand what all went on that day, but it was a very dramatic day for the entire world, not just China. because it showed us how selfish and undeserving we are to have what we have. We fought for it, but we’ve been privileged enough to be able to run our own government as a democracy. Unfortunately, they don’t have the liberty to do it, even when hundreds of people perish in one day in order to make their country a better one.
You don’t think that there were any Chinese soldiers on the sidelines or rushing to catch up with him? You don’t think that some of the soldiers keeping an eye on reporters from the tops of buildings – the same ones that rushed the hotel rooms of all the reporters taking photos and video – kept an eye on him as he was rushed away and sent people after him? It’s a very real possibility and while he wasn’t whisked away by soldiers, I think we can be almost certain that they were waiting for him somewhere. I do hope I’m wrong.
I agree 100%. I like to hold on to the (far-fetched) notion that he’s alive and well and well, living in Taiwan. He is beyond…far beyond what most of us blog-reading potatoes would ever do.
I know this thread is old but… If you look at the recent caption of him, attached is a youtube documentary that clearly states it is impossible to know whether he lived or died but that the people who rushed him back into the crowd were most likely concerned civilians, not police or anything. So there, at least, he didn’t get killed by *those* guys. If that is what you’re thinking.
Get over yourself, you moronic douche. You are at the LOLNEWS WEBSITE for chrissakes.
Well actually…His friend crash tackled him when it became apparent that the tanks were not going to stop. Both he and his friend were subsequently dragged into the crowd by the army and beat to death. Its on footage somewhere
You are incredibly stupid.
Totally incorrect, check before you talk please.
I hope not, for he is EPIC WIN!
You deffinetly believe to much of what the internet shows you. history shows that this man was run over. deffinetly brave and believed in his cause. He never got the chance to talk to the driver and capt due to the fact they werent stoping and were trying to go around him.. the commander finally gave the order and they ran him over.
Cite your source, because all other sources, including pics, vids, and eyewitnesses, say that the tanks stopped, the man climbed up on the lead tank and talked with the commander, with no result, and the man was eventually dragged off by spectators fearing for his live and disappeared into the crowd.
bitter troll remembers watching this when it happened on the magic tv box.
cant say the man lived out the day, bitter troll didnt see that, but he didnt get run down by no tank.
Oh sorry, our mistake. We must’ve been thinking of a different Tiananmen
Square. We do hope you’ll forgive us for continuing to comment on this as though it were the picture we were thinking of.
MBWahahahaha!!!
Actually he was not run over, he is believed to have been arrested and executed later on.
I believe Lolnathan is correct. IIRC Foreign Affairs got hold of some smuggled papers detailing what happened. He was arrested 3 weeks later and executed within a month after that.
HAHAHAHAHAH!!
The fact is, nobody is sure what happened to the “Tank Man.” For every story claiming that he was killed in the suppression of the protest or was arrested and executed, there are as many sotries claiming that he escaped the country and is living under an assumed name or is an internal exile in China. So far, no one has been able to prove the truth of any of the claims.
It doesn’t matter if he died or not, he wasn’t standing there to live or die, he was standing there for the message of freedom. I am sure he himself knew that was more important than his life or theirs.
Rock on, tank guy. Here’s hoping you and your family didn’t get a few of the People’s Bullets applied to your skulls.
Doubt they’d've killed the family; who else would they bill for the bullet?
That was one of the bravest stands I’ve ever seen anyone take. In light of the political atmosphere of the time, he risked annihilation. As Teebird said, he will never be forgotten.
He’s not being brave, he’s being a moron. o.O
It takes a lot to stand up to an oppressive regime, especially one who might just command its tanks to roll you over–after all, there are a bazillion other citizens to oppress, they haven’t time for one rebel.
The man may not have changed his nation that day, but this photo has come to represent what we all (or maybe just some of us?) hope is in us – the strength and conviction to confront something we’re too small to stop. It’s a symbol not to be interpreted literally but figuratively, like the flying of the flag to raise spirits. The flag itself is just a piece of silk; but what it represents is what’s important.
That’s just my two cents, but I’m a liberal hippie-type, so I’m sure it doesn’t count
Well said. One need not be powerful to change the world, one just needs to be able to stand up and say no. Tank man has changed the world, for he changed opinions and beliefs, and perhaps encouraged people to do the same.
This is courage. Foolishness and bravery often go hand in hand, but the stupidity of the act only makes it braver. He didn’t do it because it was “smart”. The smart thing to do would be to go along with the government and leave things as they were. The BRAVE thing was to do whatever it took to change things.
He tried. And he will be remembered, for his foolish courage. I hope there are many more “morons” like him in this world. We need every last one.
Ya, I am reminded of a few foolish and brave morons who challenged a king for the freedom of thirteen insignificant colonies.
Yeah I mean his death would (likely did?) help stamp out the horrible oppressive Chinese government and bring about the fun loving democracy they now enjoy in China..
amirite!?
And to your obtuse 13 colony allegory: English have cannons and long riffles, Colonials have cannons and long riffles, English have to carry people over on long dangerous boat rides, Americans have their fighting force “on the ground” if you will, English have horses, boats, and foot troops, Americans have horses, boats and foot troops. Yeah that’s comparable to the Chinese having tanks and this idiot having a brief case.
Oh what? It’s not? Well I guess thats just the Voice of Reason speaking.
I believe I was speaking of a large force against a small force and what it means to challenge a giant but I suppose you weren’t paying attention while you masturbated over armament facts.
Thanks Capt. Obvious. I was completely unaware that the man didn’t have a cannon. No excuse me while I reiterate the point.
The original colonies were backed into a wall over taxes and thus they took a stand. Yes, they had a better advantage than our poor protester but they were still a bunch of backwater colonies rebelling against an empire. A rebellion that would have failed without outside help from other countries such as France.
Ergo, they were technically doing something foolish as they were pretty sure they were going to die. However, they didn’t. They succeeded. Good for us. This guy is also doing something that would be called foolish and even suicidal.
I wasn’t comparing their success rates or armament. I was comparing the ideal that they stood up for what they believed in despite knowing it was probably suicide. Unfortunately for the protester, it probably was in the end. Fortunately for us, it wasn’t.
Still doesn’t invalidate my statement. Better luck next time.
For anyone who’s ever read To Kill A Mockingbird, “courage is when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.”
Yes, it may be foolish, but it shows people what you stand for. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus (a lawyer in the Deep South in the 30s) agrees to defend a black man accused of raping a white girl. Atticus knows that there is no possible way that he can win his case, but he manages to give such a good case that the jury takes hours to decide. That, I believe, is true courage.
*took
The difference between being brave and being a moron is often whether or not you know what could happen to you if you take a given action.
I suspect he knew.
Thank you, Doctor House.
So by your logic the Firefighters that went up the WTC on 9/11 where also “morons.”
Running into a building where it is likely to fall down, technically yes. You are running into danger where you could end up being killed horribly.
Technically being brave is doing something that logic dictates as being way too risky. Fortunately we have emotions that can overrule our logic and allow us to succeed in situations that are stacked against us. That is why we applaud bravery because it takes a bit of daring sometimes to achieve success.
That’s also the reason they left the other WTC building alone, and let it burn instead of going inside and fight the fire. Ofcourse the difference is, that WTC building was evacuated, and the 2 big WTC buildings weren’t. They risked there own life for a small chance of saving someone else’s, that’s indeed to be called very very brave.
Well there ya go then.
What is your definition of courage (bravery)? Many brave acts ARE moronic (running into a burning building before the fire dept arrives, a teenaged boy throwing himself on top of a toddler to protect the child from the attacks of a vicious dog, etc). That doesn’t make them less brave.
omg super man is alive !!
In total agreement here!
I was in China this summer and I heard that this man is dead…my Chinese friend told me the Chinese government forced CNN to give up that footage, and using it, they discovered who he was and went and killed him. I also heard that the man’s family wants to sue CNN because of it. However, though I’m not sure how much of that story is true, I’m inclined to believe it.
…and yet again CNN does something reprehensible to retain “access.” They make me sick.
Think of it this way. If they hadn’t done it to retain access, then pictures like this in the future could be suppressed.
We know this man’s story as best we can, that is. Should we deny ourselves future stories to honor? I know that sounds cold but think of it this way. CNN provided footage to a governing body. What the governing body did after that is the fault of the governing body, not CNN.
If I buy a knife from you, you are not responsible if I murder somebody with that knife. Had you not sold me the knife, I would have gotten something else, somewhere else.
Let’s not blame CNN for the death of a man. Let’s blame those who actually killed him.
Actually the current belief is that tank guy was whisked away by secret police the day of and was later executed.
You’re confusing that guy with another recent story about a guy whose identity was given up by a major organization and was subsequently arrested. (Not executed as far as we know.)
Stopping communism fail *cough*
I do hope he’s still alive. I do hope he sees this.
I am worried the Chinese Gov’t is gonna try to censor this. If they do, can we unleash Ceiling Cat on ‘em?
Oh my. That would be nuts, a foreign government trying to silence our little site. But really, I think the Chinese government has bigger fish to fry than Pundit Kitchen. Melamine milk, anyone?
I think Wittypirate means the Chinese government will add this site to the list of sites blocked by the Great Firewall. But I think the fact that it is a political site probably took care of that long before we go to this pic.
It is unlikely that the Chinese government would actually try to do anything about this site other than that.
No, it is not blocked. Sometimes it is unavailable, but we do not think it is a site that is much important to anyone.
For Tank Guy, the police did take and kill someone from the crowd for what happened but many people believe it was the wrong guy. It doesn’t really matter though. Freedom for China will be a long time to come because it is not a natural state in the Chinese way of mind – as you say, we are sheeple! We will get there slowly though and Tank Guy will be remembered by his people as he should be.
He’s my hero, too. I’ve never stopped thinking about him.
I’m sure he probably is dead. But I’m equally sure he’s inspired more people than he could possibly have dreamed of.
WHY, because he chose to publicly commit suicide? THAT sure accomplished a lot…
You people saying “OMG he’s my HERO” sound like fools. You have NO idea what it would be like to be in a situation like he was. You cannot fathom it so don’t even try. Go idolize Martin Luther King, Jr. or something.
Regardless of his intentions, he helped highlight the authoritarianism of the Chinese government. He is also a symbol of courage to many, even if the suggestion that he was just trying to commit suicide was true.
It sure did. Just like the Vietnamese Buddhist monk who lit himself on fire. People are still talking about him decades later, saying things like, “OMG he’s my HERO!” You know who they won’t be saying that about? You.
*applause*
You’re right, I can’t. Neither can you. I never said otherwise, that is your interpretation. I’m sorry symbolism doesn’t inspire you.
Gee, I hope your thinking I’m a fool doesn’t keep me up at night! I’m terribly worried!
Connecting the reply to the correct comment: FAIL!
So I take it you don’t appreciate the sacrifices that are represented in the flag either? Or perhaps nothing heroic inspires you.
We aren’t saying that suicide is awesome. We are simply honoring somebody who decided to stand against overwhelming odds for something he felt worth dying for.
Even Gandhi said that those who have not found something worth dying don’t deserve to live. Perhaps we can honor a man for having the strength of his convictions to die for something bigger than himself. Does it really matter that we are inspired or does it matter more that you know that you will never do anything inspirational?
“Something bigger then himself”? Filthy communist!!!
As he applauds a man for standing up against Communism. That’s logical. I hope you were being sarcastic.
Point to you DeathWyrmNexus, nicely said!
ANHERO!
Funny! He may be a hero, but if it were American tanks there, he’d be a terrorist!
Funny! But by definition terroists don’t stand in front of tanks American or otherwise, they prefer strapping bombs to their chests and running towards women and children.
Yes, this, more or less.
I hate it so much when people use “terrorist” to mean “guy who killed a bunch of people.” Terrorism is a particular tactic that involves choosing targets with an eye towards making the civilian population crap themselves with (usually) unreasonable fear.
On the other hand IDONTHAVETHOSELETTERSONMYKEYBOARD is probably right that if that was a Muslim in front of an American tank he’d be *called* a terrorist.
Well yes, but the difference is that if you have someone from a different country in front of an American tank, it is not simply a demonstration. AMERICANS have the right to stand in front of AMERICAN tanks if they feel the tanks should not be there but FOREIGNERS do not have the right to stand in front of AMERICAN tanks.
Funny! That bombing of those women and children from warplanes is not included in your definition of terrorism.
Women and children, if any, are accidently killed because scum terrorists use them as sheilds. They regularly set up bases inside of mosques, hospitials schools, etc. They are to blame for the deaths of their own, hell, they even kill their own on a regular basis. Funny? I don’t think so.
A few weeks ago 90 people were killed by a US strike in Afghanistan. Most, if not all, of them were innocent men, women and children.
The toll of 90 was supported by both UN and friendly Afghan forces.
However US forces claimed the death toll was 36, with most deaths claimed to be of terrorists. It was considered a major success. Two weeks later, the US admitted that it could have been wrong.
I would be interested to see more reported about this incident as I can’t find any reference to it on the internet, I notice you are pretty quick to believe anyone but what the US says about it. Why did they bomb this target? Where there terrorists or Taliban there? US is working to clean out Taliban for the good of the Afghani and for the world, the intention is NOT to kill innocents which IS the intent of the terrorist.
Click my name for article.
I think it’s pretty ridiculous to try to refute the fact that the US and other “alied” forces WILL kill innocent men, women and children when they bomb. There is absolutely no way to be sure there aren’t innocent people in the bomb range. The bombs are quite accurate in their targeting but there’s no way to tell who is there when they’re targeted. It’s a horrible thing and I hate it. The US doesn’t report this stuff which is why you have to go to Australian media to see it. The US doesn’t want us knowing they’re hitting innocents but we’re retarded if we think a lack of reports means it doesn’t happen. It’s a fact of life when you’re bombing populated areas. It’s entirely true that intent is what separates “us” from “them”. We don’t intend to kill innocents, they don’t have a concept of “innocent” most of the time. However, intent doesn’t bring children back to their mothers or remove the burn scars from the faces of children who will never smile again. Regardless of intent, it’s murder.
wait…. the gov’t admitted it could have been wrong? Holy shit, I’m gonna pass out now…
Not if he didn’t have explosives attached. Hopefully an American tank driver would also have stopped.
Pakistani women and children, murdered by US and NATO bombs, did not have explosives attached to them. But they were still labeled terrorists nonetheless.
Pakistani women and children are not murdered by US and NATO bombs, and they are not labeled terrorist, stop spreading your propaganda Osama.
Sorry, you do not have the facts on your side on this one.
You have more facts? Let’s see them. Let’s see where US MURDERS and labels innocent women and children terrorists.
And what about a million of killed Iraqi people killed did all have explosives attached to them too?
The estimated death toll is actually closer to 60 or 70 thousand.
I belive you are right ัะดัั_ััั.
And i belive you wont find a much different description of him in his chinese files.
What do you think happened to the driver of that tank.
I keep wondering if he still lives for not running him over without hesitation.
Yeah, that’s a good question. The driver of the tank tried a couple times to go around him. I wonder if that was his idea or his commanding officer. Gee, a bunch of people could have been killed because of their inherent humanity that day.
Scary eh?
The tank driver was killed immediately for stopping. The Chinese have that much on record, at least.
Touchรฉ.
No, he’d be an idiot. Terrorism is destroying, killing, and spreading terror to promote a specific cause. The only person that would die if those were American tanks would be the guy standing in front of them. Getting smeared across the street doesn’t really spread much terror, just disgust. So, therefore, that guy would not be a terrorist but an idiot trying to be a terrorist. I think what that man did was extremely brave and courageous, but if he is considered a terrorist, he is a pretty poor terrorist.
You stupid bastard. This site is here for funnies and that’s not funny.
I appreciate what he did. I really do, but this isn’t the place.
Once in awhile we can be serious. Sometimes political situations ARE funny, sometimes not.
Why the ad hominem attack? And who died and made you ‘God of what’s appropriate’? Yes, its a site for LOLs, but (assuming this came off a voting page) enough people appreciated the sentiment to override YOUR attitude.
funnny comment due to chinese quality: it takes 4 chinese heavy battle tanks to sqeeze one man.
my grandma always said beware of the yellow threat in the east, maybe she couldn`t imagine the bad quality of chinese products. rofl
While reading some of the comments here, a famous quote came to mind:
“Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” –Benjamin Franklin
Putting your life on the line like that, it is admirable to find it in yorself to do such a feat.
He didn’t notice that they moved the bus stop…
Oh thats funny.
Much as I respect that guy, this is a site for humor. I can think of dozens of images of people doing great things like that, but I don’t go posting them on humorous sites with serious captions.
“If you don’t have something funny to say, don’t say it at all.”
I completely agree with the guy that posted this picture. That guy has brass balls.
I know I’ll get flamed for saying this (not that I care), but… not funny really. There are other sites for sentimental circle jerks.
Or you could take the picture and make a funny caption. Tis what I am going to do. Hell, how often are the commentaries actually funny instead of tragically cliche’ partisan circle jerks?
Wow, great caption! Sounds like something I’d read on PostSecret.com.
I thought that exact same thing.
This is awesome. It’s funny because it’s not. Some people are just whiners.
Isn’t the unsung hero of this photo the tank driver? Granted the man standing there put his life on the line (and most assuredly was executed for it), but the guy behind the tank was a representative of the PEOPLE’s Republic and it was he who stopped/swerved out of the way in complete defiance of the totalitarian facade that he was supposed to embody. His defiance, I believe, let millions of others (if they ever heard of the story) realize that they did not have to unhesitatingly fulfill the impulses of their regime.
Yes, the tank driver who balked is also a hero. I wonder what kind of discipline he faced later. The first one who says “I will not continue to do this” takes great courage.
BTW, your chicken rocks
We need a picture to honor that poor man for he surely was flogged or worse.
Keeled, Deathie.
Agreed. The tank driver who didn’t hit the “student” protester standing in the middle of the road is the real hero. Secondly, who said they had orders to drive over anyone? I think you people have a warped perspective on the Chinese government. If it were American tanks moving in to handle an out of control demonstration at the White House and someone stood in front of a line of American tanks what do you think would happen to that person? A hand shake and a pat on the back or a quick trip to Cuba?
Jepp, nothing beats a bit of waterboarding in Guantanamo Bay…
That’s a good point, but regardless of actual orders or intentions, the gesture was loud and clear.
Well, I’m sure that the media would be all over and the government here, while they are sneaky bastards, wouldn’t have the oppressive backing to be able to cover it up. I would imagine that a few soldiers would have come up and escorted the man out of the way and we would have seen him on 60 Minutes or 20/20 a few days later talking about how he faces some ridiculous charge for what he did. Then the American people would throw a fit about how that is unAmerican and since they’d be right the charges would be dropped. The guy would write a book, go on Oprah and eventually be forgotten.
Any “warped perspective” we have of the Chinese government is all their own doing. Kidnapping children (like the Panchen Lama) for political gain is something they ADMIT to, they just pretend it’s not wrong. “Yeah, we took him…for his own good. We conveniently have someone else we’ve elected to fill his religious role.” The Chinese admit to their oppressiveness, they just try to justify it so it’s not like we have to go far to see the writing not on the wall.
Correction: of course the US govn’t COULD try to cover it up, but the “free press” thing we have going would ensure that at least 20 people would have video (not to mention all the people recording it with their cell phones) and there’s no way they would be able to pull off confiscating all of it without word getting out and all hell breaking loose. They COULD be oppressive and assholey but they won’t because they know it would be bad PR and would backfire in their faces. The Chinese govn’t IS bad PR so they don’t really care.
Yeah, also our “warped views” are shaped by the fact that China actually CENSORS THE INTERNET in their country.
When you google Tienanmen Square here, 18 pages of mostly tank man pics pop up. In China, that picture has been erased, and even students at the college of which mostly their students were the starters of the protests don’t recognize tank man’s symbolic photograph.
….. this is nice and all, but where be the funny? Why no funny, I miss funny. Very misleading given it is an lolz. *tear*
This guy had a set of brass balls. *Claps loudly*
*Clacks loudly* There I fixed it for you.
“Cracks Roudry ” you mean- (he is Chinese)
I coulda sworn EP said only liberals were racist.
Lack of humor – WIN!!!!!
Yes, racist humour
PiMan
(waiting to pounce on anything even vaguely conservative)………
“Be veewwrry quiet ! We’re hunting Conservatives !” Heheheheheh!
I’ll pounce on liberals too, if I disagree with what they are saying.
Ditto
Saw this great documentary on Tank man a while ago on Frontline. You can watch it online here: Tank man
I hope he DOESN’T see this. The thought of such a brave and important person lurking around on the internet abortion that is PK makes me feel a lil sick.
The fact that he might have a stupid thing he does in his spare time makes you ill? I would see a doctor for we all have stupid things we do in our spare time.
DERP
-Sings Avenue Q-
The internet is for porn…
And yet, lurking around the ‘internet abortion that is PK’ somehow DOESN’T make you sick? Do you not see the complete lack of coherence in this statement?
Perhaps if I help MYSELF with the same amount of esteem… but I don’t. So, no.
Erm…if your opinion of the site is so low, why exactly are you here?
comment WIN
homina homina homina
I take it you wont be gracing us with your presence anymore Kaitlin? Such a sad loss.
JEEEEEEZ… Okay, kids… I was making a JOKE. Can we quit chucking serious business around so willy nilly, plox?
Was this photo airbrushed to remove the wheelbarrow that Tank Man must have needed to carry around that enormous pair of brass balls?
sorry guys he was actually run over.. after being told many times to move he stood his ground and was run over slowly……read a blog from the photographer
nope
Sorry guy, but you’re a moron.
“Video footage shows that “anxious onlookers” then pulled the man away and absorbed him into the crowd and the tanks continued on their way.” (wikipedia, sourced from: http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/rebel.html page 2)
“Eyewitness reporter Charlie Cole believes that the man was taken by secret police and was probably just one of the many executed, since the Chinese government was never able to produce him after the photo became public” ( wikipedia, sourced here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4313282.stm The PHOTOGRAPHER (Charlie Cole) has said he believes the gov’t executed Tank Man. Why would they exceute a corpse?)
Aw, you made me cry.
He’s earned his place in history many, many times over.
I hope he sees this too.
the thought just occurred to me… what if tank guy was mentally ill? like what if he thought the tanks were big friendly elephants? eh just a thought. he’s probably the bravest and most awesome guy ever.
I did read somewhere a story that he was tracked down by the goverment, shot and his family charged the cost of the bullet. may have been propoganda or hearsay though.
Most of those stories are, Wulf. There’s an incredible number of false stories surrounding him; and none of them have ever been proven fact. However, I don’t think what happened to him is important… The stand he took is important, not the consequences.
Comment fight! Comment fight!
AMEN AMEN AMEN!!!!!!!!
We could use a couple people like him in America right now.
well how much clearance is under a tank? maybe he was knocked down between the wheels(or whatever you call those belts on a tank) and wasn’t crushed.
PLEASE tell me you’re kidding with that comment! Its well known that he wasn’t run over by the tanks. This is one of the most famous protest pictures of all time. Whether he was later executed or is still alive is in question. That being said, PLEASE tell me that you a) were kidding or b) aren’t capable of voting in American elections.
Why, he did not anything bad? Seemed pretty hopeful to me? Hey Charlie Focktwat, how much clearance is there under a tank?
sheesh no need to bite my head off you irritable bastard…..
The type 59 has a 16.7 inch clearance. Assuming he did get run over, as a skinny Chinese dude, I’m sure he would have made it just fine had he not gotten stuck under one of the tracks.
There’s a video of what happens. He blocks the tank a few times when it tries to go around him and eventually he is rushed away by (what are thought to be) concerned onlookers.
There’s a link to a documentary under the photo… if you watch the photo (or just go read the Wiki), there are various rumors about what happened to Tank Man but NONE OF THEM have been substantiated. He didn’t get run over as so many of the PK trolls have suggested, he was whisked away by other protesters. There’s no proof that the Chinese Government found him… there’s actually more proof that he may have escaped to Hong Kong.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2300254722104314948
*salutes*
We <3 you Tank man. You inspired the fall of the USSR (serious)
I guarantee you that God was with that man.
Which God? The Chinese have a lot of them.
In bed…
with Fred…
God of Naughty Plumbers and Lotus Blossoms
And Venus Butterflies.
He is way more popular than Cecil, God of Awkward First Date Kissing and Living with Parents.
I’ve met a lot of crazy people with brass balls carrying platic bags. Maybe they have those in China.
Well if god wasn’t with that poor fellow back in Tianemen square that fellow is most likely with god now.
how did this inspire the fall of the USSR. China not the USSR
To a lot of (American?) people Europe is a country and Paris is the capital, whereas Copenhagen is in Holland, which is not The Netherlands! So hey, I don’t blame m!
Long live tank man!
Why don’t you ask the kids at Tiananmen Square?
Was fashion the reason why they were there?
Reference WIN.
that is a very brave man.
whoever posted this pic… nice job.
you have a good man to look up to.
Here’s a funny, I over heard a guy at my college looking at this picture with a friend at a poster sale we had. What he said: Man, what’s going on with this guy, what is this???
I almost smacked him on the back of the head, talk about a Fail.
tank man ftw!
He was likely arrested and either put to death or jailed for life, after a quick ‘trial’.
I think of this guy whenever I see protesters talking about the police state we live in. Like they have some idea about what that really means…
If he was caught, then there probably wasn’t even a faux trial.
The things that were done at the Tienanmen protests were horrible, and I can assure you that if he defied the state like this if he was caught he was put to death immediately without a thought to the trial.
Is everyone so young that they don’t remember this? He held the tanks off for hours just holding a bag of flowers. The tanks would try to avoid him and he would jump in front of them again. Finally the order was given even though international t.v. was there and the tanks ran him over. China’s awesome isn’t it?
the tanks didn’t run him over, he went to the other side of the street. This was caught by an american who happened to be filming the tanks at the time and leaked onto the media later on. The government looked for the guy, but no one really knows what happened to him.
In a word? YES. The U.S. high school debate topic for the 1995-1996 school year was on changing foreign policy towards the People’s Republic of China, and I remember reading briefs about Tiananmen Square at that time. I had never heard of the massacre before that, and the PRC was barely on my radar — China made cheap clothes and toys, and that was about all I knew. I was 13 at the time, a young freshman, and I turn 27 next month — and unlike many kids my age, I did actually try to pay attention to the world around me.
I’m just a little bit too young to have watched as the protest was actually happening, perhaps, but there’s no way anyone younger than me remembers it, and even people a few years older might not. If you accept the supposition that the internet is the world of the young, it stands to reason that the majority of the people on here don’t have the same first-hand memories of 1989 that people, say, 35 and older might. (Hell, there are college students now that weren’t BORN during Tiananmen Square!)
Another interesting note? In all that information made into large tomes and made easily available to high school debaters across the country, there was a fair amount about Tiananmen Square, but I don’t remember seeing anything about a long protester standing up to tanks. The government killing students, sure, but the image of Tank Guy was not something with which we were provided. I wonder why that was?
“but there’s no way anyone younger than me remembers it”
Hate to break it to you, but I do, and I am younger than you. Won’t be 27 until the end of the year.
Though I will support you on the point that there are college students today who weren’t BORN before Tiananmen Square. As a matter of fact, in another year or two, most people graduating from College will have been born post-TS.
Maybe not, I was only 3 when the protests took place, but in seventh grade, we read a wonderful novel called The Forbidden City. It is all about a young American by who is doing a documentary on the protesters, but he gets caught in the middle of it and has to escape. It was very moving and got me interested in the events of the time.
someone died for his actions… whether it was him or not is up for debate and will never be known…
more brave than i
I have a poster of this picture, and every time I see it, it makes me want to cry.
kudos for the caption, btw.
Nearly 20 years later, Tank Man still gives me goosebumps.
I like dandelions.
So do I. =]
x
I thought that was Obama D: <— (Knows nothing of teh Americas)
Wouldn’t it be random if this guy was
on wordpress and was randomly
flicking through blogs and BAM there
is his photo on this blog. Just a thought.
x
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank_Man
Bravo, sir.
sorry, but they shot the guy in the picture like 3 secconds after taking it
shoulda ran ‘im over
It was probably the bravest act most of us will ever witness.
Traffic officer Fail lol!!!
This guy died right there, the tanks ran him over. Live on TV!
That is why this picture is so famous. He stood there, the tanks came to a halt then ran him over
In the universe you live in, is the sky still blue?
I know that this event happened a little differently in the Universe the rest of us live in.
Correct, sir.
funny caption FAIL
thoughtful response with an actual intellectual thought as to the huge symbolism for the picture FAIL.
whoever wrote that caption: BRAVO!
Excellent caption. Some things should never be belittled with laughter.
I saw the original video live. He never got whisked away. He was run over.
That’s not true. It’s clearly filmed that he was taken by either anxious onlookers or secret police back towards the crowd. Look up The Tank Man on youtube, watch the video 1/8 that is exactly ten minutes.
Go Tank Guy! You are not forgotten.
ow poor guy.
I was in High School during the protests, and I remember them. I always just assumed that the guy was crushed, because that’s what everyone says. But I never saw it…
… so I went to Wikipedia and found out that the guy was NOT crushed, but was most likely snapped up by the secret police and shot, because China could never produce the man after the shot. I don’t imagine you could actually get by with that in China. But you never know…
Here’s the article. Read up on it, yourself: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank_Man
It was one of the most memorable moments in my life, especially since we followed the rest of the protest in class, too.
Really well done whomever did this, but from everything that I have ever read the young man was executed, I’m sorry.
There are several conflicting stories, and none of them have EVER been proven. Several people think he is alive, many think he is dead, but noone actually knows the entire story.
Whatever did happen to him,he proved that someone could stand up to something like that even in the clear path of death.simply amazing.
Courage incarnate.
This man IS alive. I recently read an interview with him. He is an old man who coming home from shopping incidently passed the tanks and talked to soldiers letting them what assholes they were.
….. ^^ CITATION FOR LIES NEEDED.
None of these stories have ever been proven, whether they say he is alive or dead.
i just thought i might be worth mentioning that the man, if he still lives in china, will likely never see the photo. China has government filtered internet, everything they can see, hear, and read has been edited by the government. Google had to build a search engine specifically designed to pass government inspection. That is censorship, THAT is why many of the Chinese have forgotten.
For us to whine about one persons free speech messing with another’s is ridiculous. No threats are being issued, no one is being intimidated. People are being mocked but no harm is befalling anyone.
Rant done now.
This guy was executed by the chinese military police for obstructing an military intervention at a coup (actually a demonstration against the chinese government’s death penalty policy) very much poeple died that way.
Hey people! Let’s face some facts the guy in the pix had more courage than most of you will admit to, and more than even more will ever know…I have been shot at, had shrapnel come close enough to my head to hear it “SNAP” instead of a whistle. I had a firearm to protect myself… This man only faced down a bunch of tanks armed with the moral outrage of what was right .vs. wrong.
From everything I’ve heard; yes, the Comunist did drag him off and then shot him after “asking him questions” and a “trial”. They then billed his widow for all costs….
Remember this when someone complains about your democratic government, the armed forces sworn to protect you from all threats to your basic life, & liberty, the law system which allows fair trials, I could go on from here, but I’m sure you’ve gotten the idea….
This man died trying to get the same for his country…remember this please
its actually very funny cause in really he was drunk and late for work so you thought he could catch a tank.
I don’t know what his religious beliefs were; but at that moment, God was holding him in the palm of His hand.
RIP, Sir & know you were a hero.
Unfortunatly, the man in the picture was shot execution style in the back of the head. His family was billed for the cost of the bullet.