Washington Babylon — November 30, 2009, 2:53 pm

Obama’s “Freedom Agenda”

We recently witnessed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton telling Chinese leaders that their country’s human rights record was of little concern to the United States. Now over the weekend we’ve had the Obama administration effectively embrace the military coup in Honduras, in opposition to every country in Latin America (other than two American-sponsored Banana Republics).

Meanwhile, Teodoro Obiang, the dictator of oil-rich Equatorial Guinea since 1979, has announced that he won a weekend balloting for president with 96.7 percent of the vote. That’s actually down from the 97.1 percent of the vote that he won during the last election in 2002. At this rate, Obiang will lose an absolute majority in the year 2828, which the Obama administration will no doubt cite as progress.

It’s increasingly hard to tell how Obama’s foreign policy differs in substance from that of George W. Bush. If the latter hadn’t already copyrighted the Orwellian term “Freedom Agenda” for his foreign policy, Obama could use it for his own.

Share
Single Page

More from Ken Silverstein:

From the June 2012 issue

The government’s man

How to read the r??©sum??© of a terrorist expert

Washington Babylon September 29, 2010, 11:37 am

Signing Out

Get access to 163 years of
Harper’s for only $19.97

United States Canada

CATEGORIES

THE CURRENT ISSUE

June 2013

How to Make Your Own AR-15

= Subscribers only.
Sign in here.
Subscribe here.

Long Division

= Subscribers only.
Sign in here.
Subscribe here.

The Separating Sickness

= Subscribers only.
Sign in here.
Subscribe here.

view Table Content

FEATURED ON HARPERS.ORG

[Editor's Note]
Why the AR-15 rifle is here to stay,
the conspiracy theories of Room 237,
and more

Lucas Mann on hope and change in a minor-league-baseball city

[Perspective]
The firearm as emblem of personal sovereignty
“Let’s review our recent national paroxysm about guns, shall we?”
Illustration by Jeremy Traum
[Report]
How to Make Your Own AR-15

= Subscribers only.
Sign in here.
Subscribe here.

“Even if federal gun-control advocates got everything they wanted, they couldn’t prevent America’s most popular rifle from being made, sold, and used. Understanding why this is true requires an examination of how the firearm is made.”
Illustration by Jeremy Traum
[Publisher's Note]
In Boston, An Exercise in Intimidation

= Subscribers only.
Sign in here.
Subscribe here.

In the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing, why did so few people protest the decision to lock down parts of the city?
Photo by Sally Vargas/ Talk Radio News Service
[Six Questions]
Class A: Baseball in the Middle of Everywhere

= Subscribers only.
Sign in here.
Subscribe here.

Lucas Mann on hope and change in a minor-league-baseball city
“This one constant in the face of job loss, population loss — all of this erratic change — infused the stands with a sense of continual possibility.”

Minimum number of baboons forced to smoke crack in a 1989 study testing the efficacy of cigarettes as a drug delivery device:

3

A reduction in distrust toward atheists was documented among pious Canadians who are reminded of the Vancouver police.

A Missouri cinema apologized for hiring an actor dressed in body armor and carrying a fake rifle to appear at a screening of Iron Man 3.

Subscribe to the Weekly Review newsletter. Don’t worry, we won’t sell your email address!

HARPER’S FINEST

The Water of My Land

By (Photographer)

Winner of the 2012 Olivier Rebbot Award for best photographic reporting from abroad in magazines or books

Subscribe Today