U.S. 'Thumbs Its Nose' at Rights, Amnesty Says - New York Times

Now well get to hear all the wingnuts tell us what a lefty fringe group Amnesty International is. Then they'll tell us how even if we are violating people's basic human rights they deserve it anyway.

Lots of good stuff in this article:

Defending its human rights record as "leading the way," the White House dismissed the accusations as ridiculous and unfounded.

Are we honeslty at such a low point in journalism in this country where a statement as ridiculous as that can go unchalleneged by mainstream media?

When the U.S. government calls upon foreign leaders to bring to justice those who commit or authorize human rights violations in their own countries, why should those foreign leaders listen?" Dr. Schulz said. "And if the U.S. government does not abide by the same standards of justice, what shred of moral authority will we retain to pressure other governments to diminish abuses?

Exactly. But then what use do we have for moral authority when we can just bully people into doing what we want?

"It's not because the United States is the worst human rights abuser in the world but because it's the most influential," said Kenneth Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, via phone from New York. "United States disregard for international human rights standards is damaging those standards," he said, referring to some governments with poor human rights records "citing the U.S. record to justify their own."

Another good point for all those who say, "Well, we're not as bad as ... whoever." Who the fucks cares, we're supposed to be leading the way, not just saying we're leading the way, or leading the way to poor human rights records.