The cowardice of democracies
Robert Menard, co-founder of Reporters Without Borders, says Western democracies and the International Olympic Committee did nothing to help Chinese dissidents because of cowardice and hypocrisy.
“Have you seen a single [Chinese] dissident be freed ? On the contrary, a number of people were arrested before the Olympic Games to prevent them from meeting journalists. Why did this happen? Because of the cowardice of our democracies.”
“The International Olympic Committee…tells us that it defends the Olympic spirit, the Olympic charter, which talks about human dignity. In reality, they don’t care about human dignity! Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee, doesn’t give a damn about human rights, human dignity, about the Olympic spirit.”
This is shameful but, sadly, not unexpected. Our governments trumpet their support for freedom and human rights but, when it’s time for words to be translated into action, they don’t seem to care much about freedom—at home or abroad. Canadian “human rights” kommissions presume to pass judgment on the value and accuracy of books and political commentary, and our political leaders do nothing to stop such incipient fascism.
Cowardice reigns.
[...] GEEZER GILBREATH warns on “The cowardice of democracies” …. [...]
The rhetoric of human rights/dignity certainly increases when the world is about to turn its attention toward such things as the Olympics or even an election. Very easy to get worked up about new found causes that are not in one’s postal code… Watch the buzz build as we journey toward Whistler…