Utah State Rep. Craig Frank had this to say in his blog about our new Ambassador to China, Utah Governor Jon Huntsman (sig link):

Huntsman’s ambassadorship not only puts him in an excellent position to address US-China relations, it puts him in an even better position to teach the gospel…in Mandarin.

Clearly, all the Uighurs need to do for Right Wing sermonizers to start promoting their cause is convert to Mormonism.

Its sound as if you are defending both racism and bigotry. Are you?

No. Are you saying that anyone who holds a belief is ignorant? You are trying to understand a complicated aspect of human behavior with one word. What is the word that describes what you are doing?

Is the person who studies the psychology of serial murderers defending serial murder?

While I agree that the callousness you describe is a prequisite for the ability to put on and toss off ideologies as if we were changing clothes, I would put forward that such callousness is not rare, and is infact found in all save Saints and the Buddha.

In fact I would say most of man's enlightenment movements throughout history have held this broad humanist ideal as central, that all men are brothers, etc. etc. Interestingly enough however most movements toward enlightenment usually wind up with an effort to rid the world of the unenlightened through any means necessary.

Man especially when he allows himslf to be blinded by numbers and broad political movements for the greater good has rarely had trouble losing that sense of shared humanity.

Humanity is something that is often profitable in the broad sense of personal wellbeing, but like any other idea, it is held in our head, not our heart, and can be turned on and off when the need arises. I think most humans struggle to be enlightened and to walk with the Saints and the Buddha, but because it is a struggle, most humans fail more often then they succeed.

The guy who cuts you off in traffic is given such ill will by you, despite being as much your brother as those half a world away whose suffering you weep for. How easy is it then to forget the humanity of the others because you see a brighter future ahead for you and for all if only we could all be equal in enlightenment.

thanks for focusing on this conflict and the NYT's article. i found that the article was clearly biased, siding with the Chinese government.

the NYT really has become a depressing rag. i'm glad i don't seriously read it anymore.

the fact that U.S.A. continues to detain Chinese Uighurs since 2003 proves just how demented the War on Terrah truly is.

everything about it provides compounding evidence that the War on Terrah is an inescapable atrocity.

an atrocity that Obama foolishly perpetuates.

1) Not sure about the experience of others, but I have to speculate that they weren't prepared for the number of visitors - site has been sluggish to non-existent today.

2) Is the intended pronunciation "media - ite" or "mediate"?

3) Notably, Glenn Greenwald is the highest ranked columnist without a print presence. One could interpret this as being #1 in terms of a purely online presence.

wrote:

...you are a member of a race and distinguish others as members of a seperate race.

True for everyone, and thus, everyone is a potential racist. Everyone can be greedy, too. But I think some people are willing to leave some of their greed unsatisfied in order to remain racist.

I am not sure what is the purpose of this article, other than an attack on the right based upon a hypothetical which does not exist. Can you just admit that Obama is doing nothing about this and he is in charge? What does this have to do with republicans at all when Obama is in charge of foreign policy? Also, this seems like something for the U.N. to address. Maybe a bunch of college students can move from the Free Tibet movement (which has done nothing but sell t-shirts and make 20 year olds feel important) to this issue.

And what if they were Jews? Glenn would be cheering the Chinese on.

There is no other group of people who manage to violently riot and kill in the name of persecution than the Muslims - worldwide. Wherever there are any other religious groups, atheism or a mixture of Muslims sects, the bloodletting begins.

Glenn Greenwald should give half so much of his interest to the current anti-semetic hate speech that is spreading worldwide. Why don't we see Jews running through the streets murdering people when they are just as justified if not more so? But in part the hatred of Jews spreads because people with a voice such as Glenn are so filled with self loathing they actual justify the blood lies and refuse to defend his own kith and kin. That is the great shame of it.

I don't want to hijack the thread any more than we have already, so I'll close by suggesting -- surprising as this is to me -- that perhaps your views are more deeply rooted in cynicism than mine (which is saying quite a lot!).

Inevitably, national self-interest will inform the foreign policy of all nations, but I cling to the hope that the pursuit of self-interest does not always go hand-in-hand with the callousness disregard for the lives of others to which I allude. YMMV

OK, fine. Lets talk about Sudan. Ever been there, well I have. Just returned from spending a year there not long ago so I'd probably be a more authoritative source on the place than oh, i dunno, 100% of the commentators on Salon?

Lets see, the problem in Southern Sudan and Darfur is the same - Neglect by the government. As for the claims of genocide - Exaggerated. Why? cuz there is oil in Sudan and we in the West want it and the Sudanese government have not been sheepish enough with us. Any questions?

When Rwanda was burning from all the Christian on Christian on Animist genocides going on, where was all the concern then? Oh wait, i forgot, there is no oil in Rwanda so they are irrelevant. Never mind.

Back to Sudan. Like I said the claims of genocide are greatly exaggerated. If you take your average Darfurian (un-educated and dirt poor) and ask him, "Did you witness a genocide carried out by agents of the Sudanese government?" he will reply, "No". If you then promise him asylum in the US or UK, food and lodging, plus a generous monetary stipend if he were witness or a victim of genocide, then ask him the question again? His answer, "Hell Yeah!". I am not saying bad things did not go on. But they have clearly been exaggerated by the west who have ulterior motives.

The big plan by the west is to cut up Sudan into at least 3 separate countries: The country of (oil-rich and western friendly) Darfur, the country of (oil-rich and western friendly)Southern Sudan, and (oil starved and western hated) Northern Sudan.

Get real folks.