China fails its COVID test

Russia isn't the only authoritarian state having a lousy year.

Kent Brockman was wrong.

At the start of 2022, it was trendy to believe that Russia had regained its military might, and in stark contrast to Western countries obsessed with drag queen story hour and stuff, the Russians were led by manly men who knew how to fight.

Also, while America was paralyzed by government gridlock and infighting, and its infrastructure crumbled to dust, China was building high speed trains and other technological wonders under the steady guidance of technocrats who didn’t have to worry about anyone standing in their way while they worked for the common good. One much-maligned New York Times columnist even mused about wishing his country could be “China for a day” to actually get shit done.

Eric Feigl-Ding @DrEricDing

Residents in #Shanghai screaming from high rise apartments after 7 straight days of the city lockdown. The narrator worries that there will be major problems. (in Shanghainese dialect—he predicts people can’t hold out much longer—he implies tragedy).

Whelp, we know how the vaunted tough-guy Russian armed forces have fared against a much smaller, weaker-on-paper opponent. And now it looks like China’s fight against COVID-19 is crumbling: