This from Tony Blair, quoted in the WashPost today.
"I confess I have always believed that it is absurd to say in international law that a state can do whatever it wants with its own citizens. Surely if we believe in human dignity and human rights, that extends to whatever country a person happens to be in."
He was talking about reasons for invading Iraq, but if you accept that what Blair said is true in respect of Iraq(and I know that many from both right and left do, they have said so)then you must also accept that, say, European belief in "human dignity and human rights" should have an effect on how the US conducts itself. Now apply that to various rightwing rants about how the Supreme Court was wrong to ban executing minors on the strength of foreign opinion. Then apply it to Guantanamo Bay.
What's good for the goose, is good for the gander.
2 comments:
Cernig,
ummm.... dammit... um... You inspired a follow-up/rip-off on my blog with this one...
Maybe I just haven't had my requisite 8 cups of coffee yet and that's why I haven't figured out an answer... argh.
Hark
Hey C-
I queried my fellow jiu jitsu neo-cons and I think they found a good way out of the trap-
big-wannabe says "The logic holds as long as you buy in to the moral relativist idea that islamafascist totalitarian thugs are morally equivalent to the greatest purveyor of freedom and justice in the history of the world. Since they are not morally equivalent the logic is inherently flawed."
Which, I think, gets me about 30% of the way out. And Ronin pulls me ALL THE WAY out with this:
"re: the SCOTUS decision we have an established rule of law that protects the rights of our citizens. minor shadings within that framework are not the same as the lack of existence of such a thing. apples and bullets." Which, I think, demonstrates the lack of moral equivalence big-wannabe mentioned, as it pertains directly to this subject... Freedom! ahhhhh....
Still, this might get me out of the trap but it is sort of a Gordian Knot brute force escape.
Cheers!
Hark
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