Google Backs Down in China -- USA Next?

Just as I've been singing Google's praises for standing up for freedom and democracy, I learn that it backed down in China and caved into the Chinese government's demands that it filter its search results to prevent Chinese web surfers from finding subversive information on, for example, Tibetan independence or the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.

It's all driven by the almighty dollar, of course, and with the competition (e.g. Microsoft and Yahoo) having already caved in to the Chinese, it makes good business sense for Google to do the same.

But it bodes ill for Google's principled stand against our own government. Do the honchos at Google really think that the BFEE can't bring enough subtle and not-so-subtle economic pressure to affect Google's bottom line? Once that happens, I'm predicting they'll bend over and spread 'em faster than a ten-dollar hooker.

Too bad, too, since we need more people and organizations willing to stand up and stick a finger in the all-seeing eye of the BFEE's New World Order.