Thread by @jinpeili

CCTV FOLLIES 1/16 Motherland in dawn's early light

-Xi presides over meeting
-Xi writes article
-Defending the motherland to the last glistening drop
-CCTV rehearses
-Putin says the "Special Operation" is making positive progress
-US declines due to too much support of Ukraine

Applause echoes inside the cavernous Great Hall.
The man who is first among equals, the man with no close second, (or third, fourth or fifth) glides into the room with the politburo in tow.

It's time to jot down notes and doodle on the margins pretending to pay attention while the anointed one wings it with off-the-cuff remarks.

Wang Huning is listening so intently he gets his ear in a twist.

Eight hard-to-endure minutes of wasted air time later, the loyal viewer gets treated to yet more voiced-over words by the man with no equal, this time in print.
Page by page...
Lots of stirring pics, too.

The second half of the domestic news leads with a story about the spirit of the 20th in action; today's focus is Shandong.
"In the new year, Shandong will fully implement the spirit of the party's 20th congress..." says provincial party secretary Lin Wu.

CCTV lets the pictures speak for themselves.
Success in the ports, success on the city shore, success on the highways and success deep beneath the sea, in a submersible.

The next segment, which fits the Lei Feng slot for "people not able to celebrate Spring Festival at home because they are too busy serving the motherland" focuses on two People's Liberation Army Air Force pilots.

The shiny jian-erling jet, also known as the Mighty Dragon, is the real star, but the cocky pilots put in a good performance as supporting actors. Hard but humble. Ever ready for sacrifice, but a bit full of themselves.

Yang Juncheng will guard every inch of the motherland, including unspecified islands.

Tom Cruise, move over. This guy is the real top gun.

"The pride I feel defending the motherland in my fighter jet is...it's indescribable..."
"I'm ready to make any sacrifice..."

The PLA pilots in action...
The cloud-covered mountains in the background are not unlike the profile of Taiwan as seen from a distance.

Another brave pilot, Wei Xin, returns from a night flight. Protectors of the motherland know no sleep:
"It's to protect our country, to protect the people."

"We are ready to fight at any time, ready to fight the moment war breaks out..."

"We fight at the ready so that others may enjoy peace and stability in the new year..."

"Attention! Two unidentified aircraft spotted!
Man your jets!"

"This is the People's Liberation Army Air Force speaking...
You have entered China's Air Defense Identification Zone!"

"Mission completed, ready for return flight..."
"Okay for return..."

There's nothing like returning to the motherland in the early dawn's light in a fighter jet after completing one's duty.

"...knowing that I've done my part to help guarantee the people's happiness makes me very proud."

"Seeing the lights of the motherland glistening under the wing of my jet, I dedicate my life, my skills and all my ability to protect the sovereignty of the motherland."

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Rehearsals for CCTV Spring fest gala underway...

The "Ukraine situation" opens with the interview of a Russian man next to an airplane at an airport in Russia.
"The Special Military Operation is showing positive progress," he says.

And judging from the Moscow-supplied footage, the man's point seems to be born out...if frequent missile fusillades are a mark of progress.

As any loyal watcher of CCTV already knows, the US is the root cause of the conflict. CNN is banned from the airwaves and routinely ridiculed in China, but in this case, at least, it is respectfully quoted in state media.

But it's not just CNN. The people of America have spoken!

Under the leadership of ANSWER, they have taken to the streets to shake the racist nation!

(Notice the tight framing serves to disguise how small this lovely little gathering actually is)

editor's note:
An editorial penned by Todd Chretien which ran in CounterPunch asserts: "Ask anyone who has worked with ANSWER, and they will tell you that its organizers always double the number of people at their marches. More recently, the multiplication factor has increased."

But this is catnip for CCTV and they gobble it up.
More proof for the pudding.

China is right and the US is wrong.

"The US just keeps on supplying weapons to Ukraine, weakening domestic education, housing and infrastructure."

As if to underscore the last point, CCTV shows footage of US infrastructure and houses destroyed by floods and tornadoes from Alabama to California.
So much natural calamity!
Has the US lost the mandate of heaven?
CCTV seems to think so.

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