On Monday, President Obama made a statement regarding the happenings in Libya. There were some aspects of the speech which sounded rather familiar (emphasis mine).
For over four decades, the Libyan people had lived under the rule of a tyrant who denied them their most basic human rights. Now the celebrations that we've seen in the streets of Libya show that the pursuit of human dignity is far stronger than any dictator.
I want to emphasize that this is not over yet. As the regime collapses, there's still fierce fighting in some areas, and we have reports of regime elements threatening to continue fighting. Although it's clear that Gadafy's rule is over, he still has the opportunity to reduce further bloodshed by explicitly relinquishing power to the people of Libya and calling for those forces that continue to fight to lay down their arms for the sake of Libya.
As we move forward from this pivotal phase, the opposition should continue to take important steps to bring about a transition that is peaceful, inclusive and just. As the leadership of the TNC has made clear, the rights of all Libyans must be respected. True justice will not come from reprisals and violence. It will come from reconciliation and a Libya that allows its citizens to determine their own destiny.
And to think, just three years ago we were given the impression by Obama and his supporters that "regime change" was soooooo 2003. Apparently it's all the rage once more.
-Vice President Joe Biden was in China recently giving a speech at Sichuan University on U.S.-China relations. Now it's one thing to be diplomatic when visiting a country where human rights policies aren't exactly aligned with the United States. But there was one sentence in Biden's speech which left many Americans stupefied.
Your policy has been one which I fully understand -- I’m not second-guessing -- of one child per family.
Uh, say, Mr. Vice President? You do realize how the Chinese government upholds said policy, don't you? Via forced abortion. And as someone who professes to be a Catholic, you're saying you understand that policy?!?! Do I have that right?
Having expressed even more incredulity, Townhall political editor Guy Benson went so far as to seek the official position of the Obama Administration on the issue.
The Obama Administration strongly opposes all aspects of China’s coercive birth limitation policies, including forced abortion and sterilization. The Vice President believes such practices are repugnant. He also pointed out, in China, that the policy is, as a practical matter, unsustainable. He was arguing against the One Child Policy to a Chinese audience.
Fair enough. But I fail to see how the VP's expressing his "understanding" of the policy would indicate he finds the enforcement of it "repugnant."
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My guess would be that we've got a two audiences kind of thing going on, just like Yasser Arafat used to pull. Radical Jew-hating freedom fighter for Arab audiences, reasonable man of negotiation for Westerners. The latter was a cover.
ReplyDeleteSo was Biden lying to the Chinese? Or is he lying to us? I suspect it's the latter. I also suspect that Democrats don't regret abortion at all; they regret things that limit their ability to do what they want, things like babies and the Constitution.
WB: you need some correction on arafat. he was nither the former nor the latter.
ReplyDeletehe was a politician, looking for an advantage whereever he could find one, who's primary cause was his own self-interest.
the pal cause was screwed by him as readily as the peace process.
he died a near billionaire while arabs in the camps struggled. he wasnt their friend, either.