CONSERVATIVE POLITICAL COMMENTARY
Pro-Constitution, Anti-Globalist, Anti-Socialist, Anti-Communist, and usually with an attempt at historical and economic context ************************13th Year ----- 2009-2021*****

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Obama vs. Arizona at the UN




President Barack Obama’s continuing efforts to favorably impress the thug dictators of the United Nations recently included a report (found here) to the UN Human Rights Council as part of their Universal Periodic Review.

In a display of Obama’s sizeable ego, the report took credit for vast improvements that have not happened yet, and probably never will, such as the benefits of the Obamacare law.

The President, who seemingly never tires of criticizing America before her enemies, gave Arizona an unfavorable mention as a human rights problem (which it isn’t), and, not to worry, his administration has taken legal action against the disliked law, and a federal judge has issued an injunction against parts of it.

Perhaps he wished to embarrass the state of Arizona into making changes, but he has only succeeded in embarrassing himself, and, by extension, the United States. America has found Obama to be an embarrassment on numerous occasions, this being merely one of the latest.

The very mention of Arizona’s recently-passed immigration law is an act undermining not only the sovereignty of Arizona, but that of America. The logical end of this action would be UN observers in Arizona making sure no one’s rights are violated. That would sit well with some of Obama’s fascist and communist friends.

Governor Jan Brewer, who has courageously stood up for protecting Arizona from illegal aliens, including drug runners, people smugglers, and murderers, which Obama has resolutely refused to do, reacted in a proper and predictable way:
Brewer's office … says the law's mere inclusion is “downright offensive” because “human rights, as guaranteed by the United States and Arizona Constitutions, are expressly protected in SB 1070.” [1]
As Ben Johnson at Western Journalism reports:
On Obama’s command, Attorney General Eric Holder has sued the State of Arizona for passing a law that he criticized without reading, and which merely upholds federal law. (He gave sanctuary cities a pass.) He now threatens an additional lawsuit against Sheriff Joe Arpaio for “racial profiling” when arresting illegal immigrants near the Mexican border. [2]
Johnson goes on to state that Obama has hauled not only Arizona, but also the two-thirds of the American people who support Arizona’s law, before the UN. [3]

Thus we have an act of poor representation and poor leadership of America and the state of Arizona. A President should not criticize internal laws before foreign officials. Period. Was it done for favor with repressive regimes of the world? For political gain with the socialist-Marxist base? Or perhaps mainly to feed his desire for personal admiration?

Brett Schaefer at the Heritage Foundation points out that the 25-page report mentions President Obama over 20 times, and that the report is used for political purposes. [4]

However:
[A]s discussed in a recent Heritage paper, the larger problem isn’t what is in the report; it is why we are participating in this farce in the first place. The Bush Administration rightly distanced the U.S. from the HRC and withheld the U.S. share of funding from it. When President Obama decided to support and engage the council, he extended America’s credibility to a fatally flawed body. He also made it inevitable that the U.S. would participate in the dog-and-pony UPR show that it has proven to be—a process little more than a “mutual praise society” for repressive regimes. [5]
The U.S. would do well to avoid this kind of interaction with this kind of body. There is nothing to be gained by it, and a good deal to be lost. Maybe we can get John Bolton back in a few years.


[1] Ginger Rough, Casey Newton, Mary Jo Pitzl and Alia Beard Rau, “Jan Brewer takes issue with report on immigration law,” Political Insider column, 08/29/2010, The Arizona Republic.

[2] Ben Johnson, Floyd Reports, “Obama Hauls Arizona Before the UN Human Rights Council,” 08/25/2010, posted by Caleb at Western Journalism.


[3] Ibid.

[4] Brett Schaefer, “Arizona Heat: Another Reason to Question U.S. Participation in the Human rights Council,” 08/30/2010. The Foundry blog at Heritage Foundation.

[5] Ibid.

Illustration: Arizona state flag, (Dreamstime.com).

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