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| 2009-10-06 |
| You Can't Say That At the UN, the Obama administration backs limits on free speech. The Obama administration has marked its first foray into the UN human rights establishment by backing calls for limits on freedom of expression. The newly-minted American policy was rolled out at the latest session of the UN Human Rights Council, which ended in Geneva on Friday. American diplomats were there for the first time as full Council members and intent on making friends. Making friends with the wrong people. We already have inroads to freedom of speech here. It's called Hate Speech. Very bad move, Obumble. President Obama chose to join the Council despite the fact that the Organization of the Islamic Conference holds the balance of power and human rights abusers are among its lead actors, including China, Cuba, and Saudi Arabia. Islamic states quickly interpreted the president's penchant for "engagement" as meaning fundamental rights were now up for grabs.Few would have predicted, however, that the shift would begin with America's most treasured freedom. If ya don't have the cojones to fight em, join em. For more than a decade, a UN resolution on the freedom of expression was shepherded through the Council, and the now defunct Commission on Human Rights which it replaced, by Canada. Over the years, Canada tried mightily to garner consensus on certain minimum standards, but the "reformed" Council changed the distribution of seats on the UN's lead human rights body. In 2008, against the backdrop of the publication of images of Mohammed in a Danish newspaper, Cuba and various Islamic countries destroyed the consensus and rammed through an amendment which introduced a limit on any speech they claimed was an "abuse . . . [that] constitutes an act of racial or religious discrimination." With Islam that constitutes almost anything. The Obama administration decided that a revamped freedom of expression resolution, extracted from Canadian hands, would be an ideal emblem for its new engagement policy. So it cosponsored a resolution on the subject with none other than Egypt--a country characterized by an absence of freedom of expression. As that late 20th Century Philsosopher, Gomer Pyle, said, "Surprise, surprise, surprise". Privately, other Western governments were taken aback and watched the weeks of negotiations with dismay as it became clear that American negotiators wanted consensus at all costs. In introducing the resolution on Thursday, October 1--adopted by consensus the following day--the ranking U.S. diplomat, Chargé d'Affaires Douglas Griffiths, crowed: "The United States is very pleased to present this joint project with Egypt. This initiative is a manifestation of the Obama administration's commitment to If it was genuine mutual respect and tolerance fine. It aint. Stupid, stupid, stupid. His Egyptian counterpart, Ambassador Hisham Badr, was equally pleased--for all the wrong reasons. He praised the development by telling the Council that "freedom of expression . . . has been sometimes misused," insisting on limits consistent with the "true nature of this right" and demanding that "the media must . . . conduct . . . itself in a professional and ethical manner." Ethical meaning "Do what we say! No critiscism!" The new resolution, championed by the Obama administration, has a number of disturbing elements. It emphasizes that "the exercise of the right to freedom of expression carries with it special duties and responsibilities . . ." which include taking action against anything meeting the description of "negative racial and religious stereotyping." It also purports to "recognize . . . the moral and social responsibilities of the media" and supports "the media's elaboration of voluntary codes of professional ethical conduct" in relation to "combating racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance." |
| Posted by:Deacon Blues |
| #4 Add this to the new FTC regulations on blogs and you can see the shadow of government takeover of all communication. Censorship thy name is Obamanation! |
| Posted by: AlanC 2009-10-06 16:19 |
| #3 The price of joining the In Crowd. Privately, other Western governments were taken aback and watched the weeks of negotiations with dismay as it became clear that American negotiators wanted consensus at all costs. Y'all wanted him, now you have him. Enjoy! |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2009-10-06 15:00 |
| #2 1 I get the impression this guy thinks of himself as a man of the world first and an American second or third or fourth. He seems to have more respect for the traditions of Fidel Castro and the Soddy King than he does for those of Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. Benjamin and Thomas who? |
| Posted by: Barak The O 2009-10-06 13:03 |
| #1 I get the impression this guy thinks of himself as a man of the world first and an American second or third or fourth. He seems to have more respect for the traditions of Fidel Castro and the Soddy King than he does for those of Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2009-10-06 12:54 |