It will send a discouraging message to those who wonder whether America will continue to work for the freedom of prisoners. It will give great status to those who have suppressed human rights and human dignity…. Sitting down at the table, having your picture taken with a tyrant such as Raul Castro, for example, lends the status of the office and the status of our country to him. He gains a lot from it by saying, look at me, I’m now recognized by the President of the United States.
- Commander Codpiece ©
If there’s one thing I cannot stomach (actually, there are many things, but work with me here, willya?), it’s rank hypocrisy. Condemning those on the other side of the ideological fence for engaging in the very same behavior you yourself are guilty of is something that truly sickens me. Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader © is fond of condeming Sen. Barack Obama for stating that he would meet with world leaders with no precondititons. Yet if you look at the picture below, isn’t that The Worst President EVER © meeting with four notorious tyrants? Let’s face facts here, shall we? Islam Karimov ain’t a boy scout. When it comes to corruption, human rights abuses, and press freedom, Karimov is a world-class Machiavelli-grade tyrant. Yet The Decider © has no qualms about sitting down for a face-to-face and photo op with Karimov.
And it’s not as if Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah is on Amnesty International’s Christmas card list. Saudi Arabia’s record on human rights and freedom of speech and expression is…well, something less than laudable. Of course, they do gots da oil, don’t they? Lord knows Americans will forgive an awful lot for affordable gasoline…and so will The Worst President EVER © .
What sort of message is THAT sending to the rest of the world? That America cares about human rights, corruption, and freedom of the press only insofar as they dovetail with American strategic interests? Yeah, that about sums it up, doesn’t it?
That would explain why we could invade Iraq under false pretenses but can’t seem to find the wherewithal to do the same thing in Darfur. Then again, if Darfur was an oil-producing region….
