Posner said in addition to talks on freedom of religion and expression, labor rights and rule of law, officials also discussed Chinese complaints about problems with U.S. human rights, which have included crime, poverty, homelessness and racial discrimination.
He said U.S. officials did not whitewash the American record and in fact raised on its own a new immigration law in Arizona that requires police to ask about a person's immigration status if there is suspicion the person is in the country illegally.
Are you kidding me? In other words, the Obama administration apologized for a law that allows police officers to enforce federal immigration law -- to control our own borders and defend the sovereignty of our own country -- after a suspect has already been detained for other reasons. (Perhaps someone in the administration should actually read the bill . . . starting with the Attorney General.)
Admittedly, it's hard to assess China's treatment of illegal immigrants -- because no one is clamoring to come to a country where Christians are persecuted and tortured, and forced (late term) abortions occur. And even as the Chinese complain about American poverty and homelessness, one might delicately point out that it's far preferable to be poor here than over there. Overall, when it comes to illegal immigration, the biggest problem China has is people trying to get out, not in. So if rational people vote with their feet, it would seem that the United States has much less for which to apologize.
The idea that the Obama administration would preemptively apologize for America's human rights record -- compared to China's -- is outrageous, and shameful. Do these people even live in the same country as the rest of us?
Join the conversation as a VIP Member