Originally posted by: prontospyder
Originally posted by: j@cko
Originally posted by: Spencer278
Why was he in a convertable I thought every figured out after JFK that important people should have some thing over their head at all times.
and what surprised me was that he wasn't even wearing bullet proof vest...:Q
Apparently, Chen loved participating in these type of rallies. Plus, there's no history of violence against the president in Taiwan's history so security was low. The day was hot so I guess he and the VP didn't feel a need for a bullet proof vest.
The politics in Taiwan are... different.
These guys wear gaudy colored vests, wave huge banners, hold hands, yell like maniacs, dance around and do all kinds of foolish stuff that make Howard Dean's maniacle laughter look like nothing at all. There was a media "stunt" last week where one of the parties candidate, VP candidate, and wives were physically kissing the ground to show their love for Taiwan. A few weeks ago the ruling party had a huge "everyone in Taiwan should hold hands at once" thing. Media coverage for this kind of stuff is huge over there.
I don't think getting shot the day before the elections is out of the question as a "stunt".
Both the president and vice president were shot. Both were just grazing wounds. The bullet that hit the president was recovered. It ended up in his coat pocket. The president was hit in the abdomen and the VP hit in the leg. There was a huge crowd, and no one saw the gunman or heard the shots.
I'm told that they were taken to a hospital in Tainan city. On the way to the hospital, they passed two other hospitals. One of those hospitals in one of the largest on the island. The hospital they ended up going to is owned by a party supporter. The media was having a field day with this on Friday night.
If it was set up, then the shooter was amazing! Really, kudos to him. As others point out, there's a lot of risk being taken around that kidney area with the huge arteries. That, and it appears that the bullet went through the front windscreen of the convertible jeep as the president was standing in the back. It was an amazing shot not to hit the guy sitting in the front passenger seat, and then to just graze the president. Would any of you take that risk???
If it wasn't set up, then the shooter is a moron. Aim for the center of mass... duh!
BTW, the election results as of midnight tonight (Saturday over there) was that the guy who got shot has been re-elected. The vote is really, really close, though. They won by about 30,000 votes... on an island with a population of about 22 or 23 million (total, not just voting age). Fractions of a percent! It's like the Florida thing in Taiwan! My friends over there wonder if there'll be riots.
I'm leaving for Taiwan on Wednesday. It should be fun.