Democrats spent last Friday proclaiming how their 2020 presidential nominee would restore American moral exceptionalism: advancing human rights as a primary foreign policy concern.
Cuba’s regime ruined that narrative on Sunday with an aggressive roundup of gay activists. Their crime? Marching without a license. Cuba’s communist regime had banned the parade, and the activists courageously decided to march anyway. Democrats, however, don’t seem to have noticed the roundup, as not one has commented on the events in Cuba.
The silence is understandable. To comment would be to draw attention to the incompatibility of Democratic rhetoric on human rights and the absurdity of Democratic policy. It goes far deeper than Cuba, but hypocrisy is the watchword.
Especially since President Barack Obama’s trip to Cuba, senior Democrats have been eager to excuse an enemy regime in Cuba; they have also been eager to condemn a geo-strategic partner in Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro. Yes, Bolsonaro has said foul things about gays and women, but at least he hasn’t thrown them in prison.
Democrats condemn President Trump for pressuring Iran, while simultaneously attacking Saudi Arabia over its murder of one man. Yes, Saudi Arabia’s human rights situation is very poor. Iran’s is equally so, and Iran is an enemy whereas Saudi Arabia is a flawed but critical ally. Many Democrats don’t seem to get this. Instead, they prefer to purge Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, and insulate the Iranian hardliners: Remember, the nuclear deal caused the Islamic Revolutionary Guards’ coffers to fill, while doing very little for Iran’s people.
The basic point is that Democrats now seem fixated on the appearance of human rights rather than on serving those interests alongside America’s. The trend began under Obama, as testified by the debacles of Syria and MH-17. But Cuba has just shown it continues: homosexuals get dragged off the street for merely marching and Democrats get to show their rhetoric isn’t all that serious.
Trump’s foreign policy is far from perfect. But at least he doesn’t pretend he’s anything but a realist.
