J.J. McCullough wrote

> Tarred by Child-camp Scandal, Trump Exiting UN Human Rights Body Reeks
of
> Self-incrimination
> Netanyahu praised move as moral statement against hypocrisy but an
America
> accused of gross violations is in no position to lecture the world on
> human rights
>
>
> https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium-trump-exiting-un-human-rights-
> body-looks-like-self-incrimination-1.6198631
>
>
> The Trump administration�s decision this week to withdraw from the
United
> Nations Human Rights Council was received with such little fanfare that
> it�s fair to ask, like the proverbial tree that falls in a forest with
no
> one hearing, whether it really happened. While Prime Minister Benjamin
> Netanyahu hailed the move as a �courageous step� against the �hypocrisy�
> of the council, which in 12 years of existence has condemned Israel more
> often than the rest of the world combined, the rest of the international
> community reacted with a collective shrug. In most world capitals,
> America's move was seen as further proof of the Trump administration�s
> ongoing detachment from multilateral agreements and organizations, as
well
> as yet another sign of its overall disdain for human rights issues.
> After all, Trump has already announced his abandonment of UNESCO, the
> Paris Agreement on global warming and the Iran nuclear deal. He has
> ditched the Trans Pacific Partnership, is bent on changing the North
> America Free Trade Agreement and has hobbled, if not sabotaged,
> negotiations with Europe over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment
> Partnership. Trump trashes the European Union regularly, casts doubt
over
> the viability of NATO and has recently started to unilaterally impose
> import tariffs, threatening to spark a global trade war. It's a small
> wonder Washington�s decision to snub the UNHRC, a prejudiced but largely
> toothless body, hardly resonated.
>>> Trump scarred the caged kids � and America � for life | Bradley
Burston
> Israel chose to ignore the moderating influence the U.S. has had on
UNHRC
> since former U.S. President Barack Obama decided to join the body in
2009.
> It described the new U.S. move as a moral blow against the blatant anti-
> Israel slant of the international body. Under Trump, however, the U.S.
has
> lost its crown as a defender of decency and democracy. The U.S.
president,
> after all, doesn�t hide his disdain for countries that cherish human
> rights, such as Canada and Germany, or his admiration for strongmen
> authoritarian leaders such as Russian President Vladimir Putin or the
> Philippines� Rodrigo Duterte. A U.S. president who gushes about meeting
a
> mass murderer such as Kim Jong Un, proudly hangs their joint photos on
> White House walls and praises the �great fervor� of North Koreans for
> their despotic leader cannot claim a bully pulpit from which to lecture
> the world on its bad behavior. For most of the world, the U.S.
abandonment
> of the UNHRC was simply another manifestation of Trump�s �America First�
> policies and one-sided support for Israel.
>
>
>
>
> When it comes to public relations, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki
Haley's
> announcement of the decision to withdraw from what she described as �a
> cesspool of political bias� came at the worst possible time. It was
> relegated to the back pages of newspapers and, given the circumstances,
> cast as a largely cynical move. After all, Haley and U.S. Secretary of
> State Mike Pompeo heaped fire and brimstone on the UNHRC at the exact
same
> time that protests against the Trump administration�s policy of
separating
> children from their immigrant parents at the U.S.-Mexico border reached
> fever pitch. The U.S. government stood accused of child abuse and
> wholesale violation of human rights, not by the 47 members of the UNHRC
�
> which usually include countries notorious for their serial abuse of
human
> rights � but by an overwhelming body of American public opinion,
including
> senior members of the president�s own GOP and, however faintly, Trump�s
> own wife and daughter.
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>
>
> The child separation saga is a direct outgrowth of Trump�s inflammatory
> incitement against illegal immigrants, which marked his election
campaign
> from day one � whether it was directed at alleged rapists and drug
dealers
> from Mexico or terrorists-in-waiting from Muslim countries. One of his
> first moves in office was the January 25 executive order for �zero
> tolerance� for illegal immigrants, including their criminal prosecution.
> Although experts largely dismissed Trump�s claims of rampant criminality
> among illegal immigrants and Obama�s own policies of mass deportations
> were criticized by Democrats and human rights groups, Trump was
> determined, in this as in many other areas � including the Iran nuclear
> deal � that he would be the anti-Obama. Whatever his predecessor could
do,
> Trump could do tougher, and mainly meaner.
> The separation policy, which went public a full seven months after its
> first implementation with an explosive April 20 New York Times expos�,
was
> a ticking time bomb for the administration from its inception. The
heart-
> wrenching photos of children forcibly taken from their parents, locked
up
> in what seemed to everyone but the administration as cages, galvanized
the
> media, then engrossed human rights activists and religious institutions,
> and finally ensnared the politicians themselves. Getty Images
photographer
> John Moore�s picture of a crying Honduran girl went viral on social
media
> before gracing front pages, including the New York Daily News, which
> attached the searing headline �Callous. Soulless. Craven. Trump.� The
> subsequent Pro Publica recording of wailing children being held by
Customs
> and Border Police in Texas overwhelmed even the coldest of hearts. The
> waves of protest turned into a tsunami.
> The viral image of a two-year-old Honduran asylum seeker crying as her
> mother is searched and detained near the U.S.-Mexico border, McAllen,
> Texas, June 12, 2018.
> The viral image of a two-year-old Honduran asylum seeker crying as her
> mother is searched and detained near the U.S.-Mexico border, McAllen,
> Texas, June 12, 2018.JOHN MOORE/AFP
> The distraught and eternally self-contradicting reactions of Trump and
his
> disciples poured even more fuel on the fire. The separation of children
> was, concurrently, non-existent, exaggerated, necessary, meant to deter,
a
> continuation of Obama policies and/or mandated by law. Trump said his
> hands were tied and that Congress was the address while simultaneously
> indicating that the separated children were being held hostage in order
to
> force Democrats to fund his wall on America�s southern border. He
finally
> and at least seemingly caved on Wednesday night, signing an executive
> order that replaced family separations with indefinite lock-up.
Tellingly,
> Trump ensured that the boil would continue to fester by leaving the fate
> of the 2,342 children already being held unresolved.
>
> The successful protests proved the prowess of the free media, which
> continues to thrive despite � and perhaps because of � Trump�s incessant
> attacks. It showed that there are red lines that cannot be crossed, for
> the time being at least, even for otherwise pro-Trump groups, such as
the
> Jewish Orthodox Union. It fed off the intensely emotional opposition to
> Trump among liberals and other groups, but also highlighted the
rhetorical
> slippery slope of the resistance, which led many to preposterous
> comparisons between Trump's policies and those of the Nazis.
> But the separation also showed just how far Trump�s enablers and
> apologists are willing to go to defend their leader, and just how low
they
> are willing to sink to justify his impulses and whims. Leading the list
of
> ignobles was Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who cited scripture to
> justify the inhumane separation, and Homeland Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen
�
> recently received warmly in Jerusalem by Netanyahu, who tripped all over
> herself on an hourly base. But most of all by that Pravda on the Hudson
> known as Fox News; Laura Ingraham, who compared the children�s holding
> pens to summer camps; Ann Coulter, who said they were professional
actors
> and prime time star Tucker Carlson, who cited the protests as proof that
> Trump�s detractors loved illegal immigrants more than their own people.
> Trump�s abrupt reversal, motivated mainly by unanimous cries of SOS from
> GOP legislators who fear electoral backlash come the November 6
> Congressional elections, was widely portrayed as an embarrassing slap in
> the face, but news of his imminent fall from grace may be premature.
The
> U.S. economy is still showing signs of greater than anticipated
strength.
> His approval ratings are creeping upwards, and Republicans continue to
> overwhelmingly support their leader. And although polls show that a
solid
> two-third majority of the American public opposed child separation,
> Republicans backed it by a 55-percent-to-35-percent majority.
> Trump may catch some flak from his never-surrender right-wing flank for
> succumbing to liberal scum, but his base will largely forgive him. He
> tried his best, they�ll reason. As he told a mass rally in Minnesota
hours
> after rescinding the child separation policy, it�s all the fault of the
> media, Democrats, Hillary Clinton, as well as � and this will sound very
> familiar to anyone who follows Netanyahu � those evil �elites.�
>
> Nonetheless, Trump�s internal strength stands in inverse proportion to
his
> standing in international public opinion, which took another strong hit
as
> a result of the child separation scandal. Western leaders, smarting from
> Trump's disparaging attitude, openly condemned Trump�s policies and
> described them as a violation of human rights and their own moral
values.
> An exception, of course, was Netanyahu�s Israel, which wouldn�t dream of
> attacking a president who has religiously refrained from criticizing its
> own policies. In this regard, and in this context, the U.S. withdrawal
> from the UNHRC wasn�t so much a diplomatic achievement for Jerusalem as
it
> was an act of mutual self-incrimination. For most of the world, which
> detests Trump, it was a case of �tell me who your friends are, and I�ll
> tell you who you are.�
>