Saturday, November 11, 2017

What real American leadership looks like


From Daily Kos:

Donald Trump went to China and became the first U.S. president in 25 years to accept the Chinese demand not to take questions from reporters. He also praised China for exactly the trade and economic practices he campaigned against back in the U.S. In general, he made himself look like a quivering toady. 

By contrast, in 1995, over the objections of some at the National Security Agency and the State Department, and facing concerns that her presence would legitimize China’s human rights abuses, Hillary Clinton went to China to speak at the United Nations Fourth World Congress on Women and said this:

If there is one message that echoes forth from this conference, let it be that human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights once and for all. Let us not forget that among those rights are the right to speak freely---and the right to be heard.

Women must enjoy the rights to participate fully in the social and political lives of their countries if we want freedom and democracy to thrive and endure. It is indefensible that many women in nongovernmental organizations who wished to participate in this conference have not been able to attend---or have been prohibited from fully taking part.

Let me be clear. Freedom means the right of people to assemble, organize, and debate openly. It means respecting the views of those who may disagree with the views of their governments. It means not taking citizens away from their loved ones and jailing them, mistreating them, or denying them their freedom or dignity because of the peaceful expression of their ideas and opinions...

Labels: , , , , ,

6 Comments:

At 10:39 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/21/us/politics/hillary-clinton-presidential-campaign-charity.html

"The Clinton Foundation has accepted tens of millions of dollars from countries that the State Department — before, during and after Mrs. Clinton’s time as secretary — criticized for their records on sex discrimination and other human-rights issues. The countries include Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Brunei and Algeria."

 
At 2:19 PM, Blogger Rob Anderson said...

So what? The Clinton Foundation gets high ratings for its work and how much of its contributions are actually spent on projects, not on administration.

From Fortune magazine:

The watchdog groups that oversee foundations like the Clintons’ charity don’t necessarily have the resources to audit every individual program they run. But the available data indicates that the Clinton Foundation is a top-tier institution in the philanthropic world, according to CharityWatch president Daniel Borochoff, who also says the foreign fundraising criticisms made about the organization could be applied to any number of international charities. “We can only judge organizations based on their own financial disclosures, corporate governance, and level of transparency,” Borochoff told Fortune in an interview. “And by those accounts, the Clinton Foundation has a strong record. They reveal much more information about themselves than many other charities.”

 
At 9:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"So what? The Clinton Foundation gets high ratings for its work and how much of its contributions are actually spent on projects, not on administration. "

Rob, that's probably why the House of Saud invested in them. The Royal Family has a tradition of supporting scrappy, incorruptible underdogs - the Clinton Foundation, Osama bin Laden, and others - who, when given small contributions, get big results.

 
At 3:36 PM, Blogger Rob Anderson said...

I agree that Saudi Arabia is a vile regime, but its contribution to the Clinton Foundation doesn't mean that the foundation isn't doing good work around the world. Osama bin Laden was kicked out of Saudi Arabia, by the way. He was too much of a religious crackpot even for the Saudis.

 
At 8:37 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

He wasn't kicked out, you credulous oaf. He was sent to Afganistan to fight the Russkies. You know, the folks that hacked the election? Ever since then, the Russians have hated Hillary because she's a strong ally of our good friends the House of Saud.

 
At 3:38 PM, Blogger Rob Anderson said...

Bullshit. See Lawrence Wright's account of the Saudi/bin Laden relationship in The Looming Tower.

 

Post a Comment

<< Home