In keeping with the America denigrating tone set by president Obama, the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Susan Rice, told participants of the United Nations Human Rights Council that the U.S. has “not been perfect ourselves” on human rights issues.
Rice was discussing the pending membership of the United States on the U.N. Human Rights Council which has such human rights loving states as China, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, Jordon, Nicaragua, Egypt, and Pakistan as members. With members of such high standards, it is no wonder that Ambassador Rice felt the need to apologize for the U.S.A.
In his New York Times piece for May 10, preeminent human rights activist Vaclav Havel called the U.N. Human Rights Council shameful and its election process “a farce.”
He goes on to lament the obvious fact that human rights is less a concern for the council than is mere politics.
Like the citizens of Azerbaijan, China, Cuba, Russia and Saudi Arabia, I know what it is like to live in a country where the state controls public discourse, suppresses opposition and severely curtails freedom of expression. It is thus doubly dismaying for me to see the willingness of democracies in Latin America and Asia to sit by and watch the council further lose its credibility and respect.
This simple fact of the matter is that this U.N. group is a joke filled with some of the worst abusers of human rights in the world. Yet, Obama’s Ambassador felt it incumbent upon herself to grovel at the feet of these abusers of their own people and apologize for the United States of America.
Obama’s “We Suck” tour of the world continues.
We haven't been perfect
bk Thursday, May 14th at 7:07AM EDT (link)just better than 98% of the countries in the world
so thats what 4 or 5 head of us
djemi Thursday, May 14th at 8:15AM EDT (link)who?
“If I can’t shoot rabbits,then I can’t shoot fascist”
“With age, comes Wisdom, but only if you are paying Attention, son” my ‘Old Man’
RS Help files (h/t JLenardDetroit) Grassroots in Michigan
Moes Strategy
Actually, make that 100%
Next93 Thursday, May 14th at 8:20AM EDT (link)I don’t know of *any* nation that has a better record than we do.
We’re certainly better than 100% of the members of that couincil.
Constitutional limits on the powers of the federal government:
It’s not just the law, it’s a good idea!
I figured there might be a couple of little places
bk Thursday, May 14th at 8:56AM EDT (link)like Luxembourg or Lichtenstein or Monaco or somewhere.
Certainly nowhere in South America, Africa, or Asia.
There's a reason they do it better...
mikefisk Thursday, May 14th at 10:15AM EDT (link)Trying to minimize snark here, but there is an advantage for those tiny countries… and that is that it’s really easy to treat everyone the same when nearly everyone looks the same.
The fact that there’s as much diversity as there is in the United States without any endemic issues is a testament to our record. Most other countries, if in our demographic situation, would probably be in full-bore subjugation mode on at least a few groups, to say nothing of places like Iran or Pakistan (where I think the reaction would, sadly, start with “g” and rhyme with “denocide”.)
“Once within the maw of Leviathan, degree of digestion is irrelevant.” - Michael Fisk
7.88, -1.97
You mean like when Pat Leahy from 96.5% white Vermont
bk Thursday, May 14th at 10:36AM EDT (link)lectures companies and others about the importance of quotas?
Diversity goals *can* be problematical
Next93 Thursday, May 14th at 11:55AM EDT (link)I usedto work for a CA-based company with two major facilities in the midwest. The headquarters people were always carping about how the Chippewa Falls (WI) facility simply couldn’t seem to meet the company’s diversity goals. The factory manager finally pointed out that the facility was already employing nearly half of the approximately 30 African-Americans in town; most of the rest weren’t even in the workforce (too young or too old).
Constitutional limits on the powers of the federal government:
It’s not just the law, it’s a good idea!
Was the solution to close the plant and move it to a more diverse town?
bk Thursday, May 14th at 12:07PM EDT (link)Is abortion legal in those tiny states? - nt
Mike gamecock DeVine Thursday, May 14th at 3:02PM EDT (link)Mike DeVine’s Examiner.com, Charlotte Observer and The Minority Report columns
“One man with courage makes a majority.” - Andrew Jackson
and Cindy Crawford has a mole on her face <font color="DodgerBlue">--nt--</font>
6eorge Jetson Thursday, May 14th at 5:50PM EDT (link)Hold off on that Mammogram for 10 years
Obama Goal
itdiehard Thursday, May 14th at 7:15AM EDT (link)Is to create a USA with the following philosophy to create a USA “where the state controls public discourse, suppresses opposition and severely curtails freedom of expression.” I could state it better than Mr Havel.
Dirty Laundry
OneCleverCookie Thursday, May 14th at 7:59AM EDT (link)This administration’s goal is to shame any and all previous administrations in the eyes of the world for the express purpose of setting itself up as the morale beacon against everyone the proceeded Barak Obama.
I contend that Barak Obama is a dangerous narcissist that has proven to betray anyone that challenges his persona.
“Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.”
Winston Churchill
Susan Rice should apologize to the Saudis...
6eorge Jetson Thursday, May 14th at 8:11AM EDT (link)for being a woman
Hold off on that Mammogram for 10 years
LOL!!!!! NT
Rod_Patrick Thursday, May 14th at 5:33PM EDT (link)What exactly have we done, Susan Rice, to not have a perfect human rights record?
tankertodd Thursday, May 14th at 9:33AM EDT (link)I’m sure all these countries would love to hear Rice and Obama list how America has failed to uphold human rights. It would be from their lips to their propaganda.
As far as the apology tour, I think it’s fine. This will be a great teaching point to all the Americans who somehow think that all we have to do is Apologize and things will go their way. No need to think about what other countries’ interests are: simply apologize and good things will come our way. Like at NATO for Afghanistan.
———————————
The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race - Chief Justice Roberts
I've got an answer, but it's not the same as Rice's
Joshua Persons Thursday, May 14th at 11:54AM EDT (link)Roe v Wade.
Formerly jpers36
NARF
You're serious?
leftylurker Thursday, May 14th at 2:20PM EDT (link)You can’t think of *any* areas where the US has been less than perfect on human rights issues?
Agree that some have overstated their case
civil_truth Thursday, May 14th at 2:55PM EDT (link)We aren’t perfect and we shouldn’t try to pretend we are.
However, the real issue is the Apology Tour and what our goal is.
If the purpose of an admission of “less than perfect” is to defuse the hypocrisy charge so as to clear the air so that everyone can get down to business, then no big deal, Especially if we do this just once.
On the other hand, if this admission results in the U.S. adopting a moral equivalence between ourselves and these other nations that paralyzes us from taking initiative on human rights, then this is destructive.
I will hold my fire on this one until I see where this is headed. Reflex criticism without thinking is not any better when we do this than when the left did this during Bush’s era.
And Rightly So!
name three since 1980 - nt
Mike gamecock DeVine Thursday, May 14th at 3:00PM EDT (link)Mike DeVine’s Examiner.com, Charlotte Observer and The Minority Report columns
“One man with courage makes a majority.” - Andrew Jackson
kowalskism - the three may NOT include inhuman acts by rogues
Mike gamecock DeVine Thursday, May 14th at 3:04PM EDT (link)I am speaking of three inhumane policies.
Mike DeVine’s Examiner.com, Charlotte Observer and The Minority Report columns
“One man with courage makes a majority.” - Andrew Jackson
so far leftylurker has named none - waiting...-nt
Mike gamecock DeVine Thursday, May 14th at 3:04PM EDT (link)Mike DeVine’s Examiner.com, Charlotte Observer and The Minority Report columns
“One man with courage makes a majority.” - Andrew Jackson
GC can name some US human rights lapses, mostly of omission
Mike gamecock DeVine Thursday, May 14th at 3:15PM EDT (link)I can honestly say that I have a hard time finding acts of commission since 1980. I can say that the Dems’ abandonment of South Vietnam in 1975 was egregious.
You will note that the above and all of those that follow would not be deemed human rights violations by the Drive-by media, dem party and the left.
Roe v Wade - was the act of a rogue court.
The Boland amendment of the dems in the 80s opposing aid to the Nicaraguan contras.
Abortion policies under Clinton and Obama.
Abandonment of Iraqis by Bush41 at end of Gulf War.
more later re ObamaDems since Jan 20
Mike DeVine’s Examiner.com, Charlotte Observer and The Minority Report columns
“One man with courage makes a majority.” - Andrew Jackson
banning DDT nt
Common_Cents Thursday, May 14th at 5:00PM EDT (link)“Never interrupt your enemy when he’s making a mistake.” Napoleon - Well, unless he is ruining your country! Common Cents
A cult of personality arises when a country’s leader uses mass media to create a heroic public image, often through unquestioning flattery and praise.[1] Cults of personality are often found in dictatorships.
good one - another would be all those years of hawking condoms
Mike gamecock DeVine Thursday, May 14th at 5:05PM EDT (link)as the answer to AIDS in Africa
Mike DeVine’s Examiner.com, Charlotte Observer and The Minority Report columns
“One man with courage makes a majority.” - Andrew Jackson
Careful...FWGuy will come back
blooch Thursday, May 14th at 5:22PM EDT (link)with a 30 paragraph cut-and-paste screed to argue that banning DDT was one of our greatest human rights triumphs.
“I have to admit that Karl Marx (1818-1883) was a smart man. He was, in many ways, a psychologist.”–drealoth
FWG must be kermit the frog or big bird then. nt
Common_Cents Thursday, May 14th at 6:15PM EDT (link)“Never interrupt your enemy when he’s making a mistake.” Napoleon - Well, unless he is ruining your country! Common Cents
A cult of personality arises when a country’s leader uses mass media to create a heroic public image, often through unquestioning flattery and praise.[1] Cults of personality are often found in dictatorships.
Sorry, was walking my daughter
leftylurker Thursday, May 14th at 5:00PM EDT (link)3 since 1980? Can I use examples where the US supported human rights abuses through proxy? I’ll restrict that to examples where there is clear agency, i.e., the actions were supported explicitly by the US Government, or that the US Government had actual or constructive knowledge that their agents were committing abuses.
Now, the problem with this is that we're not going to agree on a standard
leftylurker Thursday, May 14th at 5:03PM EDT (link)What body has the authority to determine whether something is a human rights abuse by the way?
for our purposes, today, you and I are the standard setters! - nt
Mike gamecock DeVine Thursday, May 14th at 5:05PM EDT (link)Mike DeVine’s Examiner.com, Charlotte Observer and The Minority Report columns
“One man with courage makes a majority.” - Andrew Jackson
Ok, yes, I would accept rendition as a possible example
Mike gamecock DeVine Thursday, May 14th at 5:04PM EDT (link)however, even on that, I would have to know the details, given that I would consider not taking steps to prevent mass terrorist slaughter as an egregious human rights violation.
Mike DeVine’s Examiner.com, Charlotte Observer and The Minority Report columns
“One man with courage makes a majority.” - Andrew Jackson
I was thinking about graduates from the School of the Americas
leftylurker Thursday, May 14th at 5:09PM EDT (link)They did some unambiguously evil things, and the US knew that they were, since they had been training people for almost 40 years by the time the El Salvador incidents occurred.
Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE my country. I love it enough to face the facts though. I agree with civil truth though. We have no business apologizing to Saudi Arabia, to name one country.
It was actually an incident in Saudi Arabia that broke through my critical race theory undergraduate training. I read about how a school full of girls burnt to death, while the firemen, KEPT THEM INSIDE the burning building, untill female relatives could rescue them.
After that I had had enough with moral relativism.
agreed - nt
Mike gamecock DeVine Thursday, May 14th at 5:18PM EDT (link)Mike DeVine’s Examiner.com, Charlotte Observer and The Minority Report columns
“One man with courage makes a majority.” - Andrew Jackson
I remember reading of that girl's school incident
civil_truth Thursday, May 14th at 5:27PM EDT (link)…and recognized that this reflected a slavery to the sacred texts on the altar of which the firemen (and the religious authorities who mandated this) sarificed their their compassion - and indeed, their humanity,
And this also echoed with my past struggles with the tyranny of abusive fundamentalism and the aftermath that continues to ripple to this day.
And I do recall my immediate reaction to 9-11 was to realize that I had unmistakably and undeniably seen genuine evil.
And Rightly So!
I just did ...
Joshua Persons Thursday, May 21st at 10:12AM EDT (link)Sorry my reply is a week late, but I figured I should correct leftylurker’s reading of my post. I specifically and seriously stated an area “where the US has been less than perfect on human rights issues”. My one-item list was not intended to be exhaustive, but rather illustrative of a point. Unless LL intended to reply to tankertodd — in which case I understand the incredulity.
Formerly jpers36
NARF
I'm certain that the Dalai Lama told a white lie at some point, as well
aesthete Friday, May 15th at 1:51PM EDT (link)As civil_truth stated, I will hold fire on this one until it is more clear what the statement was intended to do. After all, technically speaking, the statement is a correct (if obvious) one, and if there is a reasonable rationale behind it, I can deal with it being made.
That said, given what we know of the Obama Administration so far, I think that it wouldn’t be unreasonable to believe that the statement is simply a continuation of the domestic theme that he has been expanding of the “historic presidency”, where all was wrong in the world until the Good Lord Obama deigned to ascend to the lowly office of president, or that this statement was simply a strawman constructed to make him look more enlightened than his rightist opponents. If so, I take serious issue with the idea that statement. Objectively speaking, we have had a human rights record that is, far and away, superior to that of the rest of the world, especially when you adjust for such factors as the incredible diversity of our population and our status as world leader. Moreover, I must ask, who are we apologizing to? Apart from the former tribal nations of the Americas and possibly Canada, there really isn’t any nation-state that I can think of whose treatment at our hands was so bad as to merit an apology, and it’s somewhat tardy to apologize to them, anyways.
As a side note, I think that it’s interesting that Canada is never included in the nations that we need to apologize to. Is it because it shares a common Anglo culture, and therefore, doesn’t merit the same respect given to “nations of color”?
Guilt is a rope that wears thin.
-Ayn Rand
“I am a freeman in a free state!”
-Last words of Dumnorix, chieftan of the Aedui, 54 BC