Bush in China

There’s no doubt that China’s human rights record is abysmal. But isn’t there more than a little irony in President Bush of all people going to the Olympic Games in Beijing and taking China to task on human rights?

I am sure the President doesn’t get it: that secret prisons, torture of terror suspects, and images of Iraqi prisoners with hoods over their heads and wired to batteries, or being stripped naked and sexually humiliated, doesn’t exactly enhance his moral authority on the issue. You see, this is one of the real costs the United States is paying for eight years of madness. We’ve lost any moral high ground we once held.

Yet, when an American politician (Barack Obama) is welcomed in Europe by enormous, enthusiastic crowds, the Republicans see this as a negative. Being loathed by Europeans is turned into a positive because those Europeans they’re so…so..well, un-American. There was a time when the image of an American leader being revered by foreigners was a source of pride and patriotism. It meant the world held us in high regard, that our values were both desirable and desired, and that we inspired hope in others. Somehow that’s all been turned on its head. Now, to be adored or celebrated abroad is to be Paris Hilton or Britney Spears.

How low can we go? Ask President Bush.