CCTV FOLLIES 2.29 THE MARXIST EMPEROR?

Today's evening news a concoction of imperial fairy tales -Tribute to Xi as sage and wannabe Marxist Emperor -Czar Putin -Xi lets 100 digital blossoms bloom! --Xi quotes helpfully highlighted in red

Once upon a time in a digital kingdom far away….

Today’s news opens with Xi, of course, of course, but you don’t get to see the impassive imperial mug right away, and in the masked shots that follow you hardly get to see it at all. But what matters is the pomp, power and grandeur, right?

The evening news is an imperial pronunciamento, a work of polished propaganda, an illustrated skit propping up a ruthless party led by a plump bureaucrat and skilled political insider who now rules as a ruler without rival. And it’s artfully done.

As the galaxy brain that keeps China humming, and centrally located in the universal scheme of things, Xi most generously bestows his unparalleled intellect, his living-in-a-cave earthy vision of China and the collective wisdom of a very long line of emperors, of which he is clearly implied to be one, to the fore during the nightly news.

After all, what else is the news for?

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Central Committee, presided over a meeting that no…