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: , , , , ,




Labels: , ,