[Imc-beirut] What the Hell is wrong with the US?

Fri Dec 19 06:30:54 PST 2008

What the Hell is wrong with the US?
http://chicago.indymedia.org/newswire/display/85134/index.php
and
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2008/12/383854.shtml
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What the Hell is wrong with the US?

The US Government has just refused to sign a United Nations declaration 
calling for member states to oppose "violations of human rights and 
fundamental freedoms based on sexual orientation or gender identity" on 
the basis of the Universal Human Rights chart which is signed by all 
countries. The US is the *only* country in the West that holds on to 
this shameful refusal.

More than sixty countries have already signed the declaration.

The international statement also calls for strong legislative measures 
to oppose all forms of discrimination and abuses that occur because of 
sexual orientation and gender identity. It says, "We urge States to take 
all the necessary measures, in particular legislative or administrative, 
to ensure that sexual orientation or gender identity may under no 
circumstances be the basis for criminal penalties, in particular 
executions, arrests; or detention."

The UN statement also recognizes that other forms of oppression based on 
sexual orientation or gender identity are also violations of Human 
Rights, including "the practice of torture and other cruel, inhuman, and 
degrading treatment or punishment, arbitrary arrest or detention, and 
deprivation of economic, social, and cultural rights, including the 
right to health."

Even the sexually backward Republic of Cyprus signed the statement; why 
should the US Government - or how *could* it - justify its alliance with 
the most reactionary regimes on the planet when it comes to sexual 
identity and gender politics? Why is the US refusing to decriminalize 
gay, lesbian and bisexual desire and the multitude of transsexual and 
gender identities - or even refusing to accept the simple standard that 
is common in all Western countries for decades now, that gender-based 
discrimination of all forms is a violation of Human Rights?

But what are we saying here? The US refusal to sign to sign the 
international declaration is perfectly in line with all its other policies:
<> The US has directly caused the death of about two million people in 
the Middle East in recent years, and it continues along the same path;

<> It continues to arm and fund the zionist genocidal extermination of 
the Palestinian people;

<> It still holds Iraq and Afghanistan under brutal occupation;

<> It continues to arm and fund the military occupation and ethnic 
cleansing of Cyprus and repeated invasions of Kurdistan by the armed 
forces of Turkey;

<> The US armed and funded the recent invasion of Lebanon in which 
wholesale massacres of civilians took place by the armed forces of Israel;

<> It continues to bomb Pakistan on an almost daily and weekly basis and 
has done so throughout this entire year in an undeclared war against the 
people that's characterized by entire villages being wiped out through 
missile strikes launched from the air by remote controlled robot 
aircraft flying over  the area navigated from an office in Florida;

<> The US has a strategic alliance with the most reactionary regimes in 
the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait where women are worth 
less than donkeys;

<> The US has an ideological alliance with the dictatorship of clerics 
in Iran - both countries declare "we have no suffering gays here";

<> Elements of the US Government and its shadow operatives created, 
funded and armed the world's most infamous political and religious 
reactionary and murderous global movement and dressed it up as "moslem 
fundamentalism" which they use and manipulate for their own gain,

<> Elements of the US Government and its shadow operatives caused the 
world's most infamous act of terrorism on September 11 and blamed it on 
their other child, "moslem fundamentalism", initiating a global crusade 
against Islam and the Arab people that has evolved into a world war 
whose authors envision it as "endless";

<> In the US one of every hundred adults is behind bars - in jail, or 
prison. One percent of all adults!

      There are about 2.5 million prisoners within the US, and more than 
4 million more on various levels of probation, home arrest, people in 
the community chained with electronic perimeter alarms or other 
Court-ordered movement restrictions, etc., totaling the number of people 
who are considered to be "in the system" to more than 7 million.

      Among Black men aged between 20 and 34, ten percent are behind 
bars. Read this again: 10% of all young adult men in the US are in jail 
or prison.

      A large number of prisoners are there for non-violent offences 
such as possession of an illegal substance, or driving while 
intoxicated, held together for years in the same cells with child 
murderers, rapists and robbers.

      In the meantime, war criminals who are responsible for the 
slaughter of large numbers of innocent civilians and for torturing 
chained, bound and gagged prisoners go unpunished - or promoted to 
higher ranks. While the US bankers and politicians who create and profit 
from war and economic mayhem are celebrated, honored and made richer.

<> Within the US there are more than one million homeless people. Many 
among them suffer from drug addiction, mental illness or physical 
disabilities. About a third of them are families with children, all of 
whom live on the streets.

      Among them there are hundreds of thousands of people whom the 
Government lists as "chronically homeless" - meaning they've been 
homeless for more than a year, or became repeatedly homeless four or 
more times within one year.

      In every major city in the US every morning crews collect the dead 
bodies of homeless people who died in the night due to cold, overdose, 
or by violence - increasingly, there's violence against homeless people 
carried out by roving bands of young studs from "good homes" in the 
suburbs who go to the cities specifically for that purpose: to beat up 
on the homeless for fun.

And we wonder why the US Government refused to sign a Human Rights 
statement on discrimination due to "sexual preference and gender 
identity"? Hah!

It will sign it of course, in time, because it's easier to keep up good 
impressions with lies than to provoke the world constantly with open 
arrogance. A US signature will help to conceal a little better the 
horror of what the Domestic and Foreign policies of the US Empire really 
are.

Here is what everything hinges on: "We reaffirm the principle of 
universality of human rights, as enshrined in the Universal Declaration 
of Human Rights ...which proclaims that 'all human beings are born free 
and equal in dignity and rights' ". How much more simple can it get?

But those who spend trillions to create and maintain a world of 
inequality and injustice where instability, death and torture produce 
profits and power know exactly what they're doing.

The important thing is that those of us who oppose them must  also get 
to know exactly what we're doing. We need a Liberation Movement that can 
be more aware, more efficient, more organized and ultimately able to 
overrun the opponents' formations of Corporate and State power and 
facilitate their  replacement with a system that's rooted in Peace and 
Justice on all levels and by all definitions.

But there's the catch:
to do that, we need to know exactly what we're doing.

Petros Evdokas
from the Belly of the Beast
http://petros-evdokas.cyprus-org.net/Another-sort-of-Introduction.html
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More Readings
Please see the news item below, and links to other related items at the 
end of the page.
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US balks at backing condemnation of anti-gay laws
By DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer
December 19, 2008

UNITED NATIONS – Alone among major Western nations, the United States 
has refused to sign a declaration presented Thursday at the United 
Nations calling for worldwide decriminalization of homosexuality.

In all, 66 of the U.N.'s 192 member countries signed the nonbinding 
declaration — which backers called a historic step to push the General 
Assembly to deal more forthrightly with any-gay discrimination. More 
than 70 U.N. members outlaw homosexuality, and in several of them 
homosexual acts can be punished by execution.

Co-sponsored by France and the Netherlands, the declaration was signed 
by all 27 European Union members, as well as Japan, Australia, Mexico 
and three dozen other countries. There was broad opposition from Muslim 
nations, and the United States refused to sign, indicating that some 
parts of the declaration raised legal questions that needed further review.

"It's disappointing," said Rama Yade, France's human rights minister, of 
the U.S. position — which she described as in contradiction with 
America's long tradition as a defender of human rights.

According to some of the declaration's backers, U.S. officials expressed 
concern in private talks that some parts of the declaration might be 
problematic in committing the federal government on matters that fall 
under state jurisdiction. In numerous states, landlords and private 
employers are allowed to discriminate on the basis of sexual 
orientation; on the federal level, gays are not allowed to serve openly 
in the military.

Carolyn Vadino, a spokeswoman for the U.S. mission to the U.N., stressed 
that the United States — despite its unwillingness to sign — condemned 
any human rights violations related to sexual orientation.

Gay rights activists nonetheless were angered by the U.S. position.

"It's an appalling stance — to not join with other countries that are 
standing up and calling for decriminalization of homosexuality," said 
Paula Ettelbrick, executive director of the International Gay and 
Lesbian Human Rights Commission.

She expressed hope that the U.S. position might change after 
President-elect Barack Obama takes office in January.

Also denouncing the U.S. stance was Richard Grenell, who until two 
months ago had been the chief spokesman for the U.S. mission to the U.N.

"It is ridiculous to suggest that there are legal reasons why we can't 
support this resolution — common sense says we should be the leader in 
making sure other governments are granting more freedoms for their 
people, not less," said Grenell, who described himself as a gay 
Republican. "The U.S. lack of support on this issue only dims our once 
bright beacon of hope and freedom for those who are persecuted and 
oppressed."

More than 50 countries opposed to the declaration, including members of 
the Organization of the Islamic Conference, issued a joint statement 
Thursday criticizing the initiative as an unwarranted attempt to give 
special prominence to gays and lesbians. The statement suggested that 
protecting sexual orientation could lead to "the social normalization 
and possibly the legalization of deplorable acts" such as pedophilia and 
incest.

The declaration also has been opposed by the Vatican, a stance which 
prompted a protest in Rome earlier this month.

A Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the Roman Catholic 
Church opposed the death penalty and other harsh repression of gays and 
lesbians, but he expressed concern that the declaration would be used as 
pressure against those who believe marriage rights should not be 
extended to gays.

A new Vatican statement, issued Thursday, endorsed the call to end 
criminal penalties against gays, but said that overall the declaration 
"gives rise to uncertainty in the law and challenges existing human norms."

The European nations backing the declaration waged their campaign in 
conjunction with the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of 
Human Rights.

The Dutch foreign affairs minister, Maxime Verhagen, said countries that 
endorsed that 1948 document had no right to carve out exceptions based 
on religion or culture that allowed discrimination against gays.

"Human rights apply to all people in all places at all times," he said. 
"I will not accept any excuse."

He acknowledged that the new declaration had only symbolic import, but 
said it marked the first time such a large number of nations had raised 
the cause of gay rights in the context of General Assembly proceedings.

"This statement aims to make debate commonplace," he said. "It is not 
meant to be a source of division, but to eliminate the taboo that 
surrounds the issue."

Although the declaration's backers were pleased that nations on six 
continents had signed it, there were only two from Asia and four from 
Africa.

The text of the UN declaration:
http://dantoujours.blogspot.com/2008/12/un-gay-decriminalization-document.html

Another report from the French Press Agency (AFP)
"Coalition asks UN to decriminalize homosexuality"
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gwpMZ2XygyJue2TZuNTuX0lU9rHA

"1 in 100 U.S. Adults Behind Bars, New Study Says"
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/us/28cnd-prison.html

"Prisons, Jails & Probation - Overview"
http://drugwarfacts.org/cms/?q=node/62

"New High In U.S. Prison Numbers"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/02/28/ST2008022803016.html

US homeless population:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/30/us/30homeless.html?hp

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