Biden Takes Obama’s Apology Tour to the Next Level

Obama seemed to believe confessing America’s sins would encourage other countries to do the same. They didn’t. But that hasn’t stopped President Biden from taking Obama’s confessional to the next level — from confessing to atoning. By Aaron Kliegman Barack Obama spent the first few months of his presidency apologizing for what he viewed as America’s past sins. In France, he said America “has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive” toward Europe. In Latin America, he said America at times “sought to dictate our terms” to the region, adding the US will “acknowledge past errors.” In Turkey, he said America “is still working through some of our own darker periods in our history,” namely slavery, segregation, and past treatment of Native Americans. (Yes, the same Turkey that jails journalists, crushes dissent, and denies the extent of its slaughter of up to 1.5 million Armenians during World War I.) And of course, when asked in Europe whether he believed in American exceptionalism, Obama said he did — in the same way that “the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks in Greek exceptionalism.” In other words, “No.” Obama seemed to believe confessing America’s sins would encourage other countries to do the same. They didn’t. He also seemed to believe drawing a moral equivalence between America and its adversaries would foster greater cooperation. It didn’t. But that hasn’t stopped President Biden from taking Obama’s confessional to the next level — from confessing to atoning. Indeed, earlier this month, Biden’s top diplomat, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, invited officials from the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate “systemic racism” in the US. He said the move will help “confront the scourge of racism, racial discrimination, and xenophobia.” Blinken’s announcement came after the UN’s human rights chief released a report calling on countries to address their histories of racism, slavery, and colonialism through “a wide range of reparations measures." The Human Rights Council then formed a panel of experts with a three-year mandate to investigate “systemic racism against Africans and people of African descent” by law enforcement. The effort, championed by Blinken, is largely aimed at the US for police killings of black Americans. This is the same Human Rights Council, mind you, that defends dictatorships. The same Human Rights Council that spends most of its time obsessively targeting Israel. The same Human Rights Council whose membership includes such enemies of human rights as China, Cuba, Russia, Pakistan, Somalia, and Venezuela. Blinken is playing right into the hands of these authoritarian regimes, which always try to detract from their own repression at home by exploiting America’s racial divisions. In 2014, for example, following the death of Michael Brown and the subsequent riots in Ferguson, MO, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin said the US couldn’t criticize how he handled dissidents in Russia given “the problem in Ferguson.” Just this March, China’s foreign minister lectured Blinken in person about America’s racial problems and democratic failings. China, meanwhile, is currently committing genocide against the Uyghurs inside its own borders. Yet it seems Blinken is eager for more lectures on America’s “failings” — this time from the UN. He’s hardly alone. In April, Biden’s ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said that white supremacy is “weaved” into America’s “founding documents and principles.” A few days later, Thomas-Greenfield added, “If we are going to be a voice around the globe for raising issues of human rights, we cannot whitewash our own issues in our own country.” State Department spokesman Ned Price retweeted Thomas-Greenfield’s comments, writing, “We must continue to reflect upon the inequities here at home and recommit ourselves to fighting for justice and human rights.” The Biden administration’s message to the world is clear: The US can’t talk about justice, equality, or human rights until it gets its own house in order. Blinken said this month that “great nations such as ours do not hide from our shortcomings.” That’s correct, but the US doesn’t hide from its shortcomings. Students learn all about slavery and Jim Crow. We’re in the middle of a national, public discussion about race and policing. And the man who killed George Floyd was roundly condemned and sent to prison for a long time. When are the thugs enforcing Chinese and Russian autocracy going to jail for the countless atrocities they’ve committed? Don’t hold your breath. The US isn’t perfect, but the UN Human Rights Council and its members are hardly the ones to be giving advice on how to protect human rights. If anything, they should be listening to the US. But that didn’t stop President Biden from saying the conviction of Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd allowed the world to see “the systemic racism that is a stain on our nation’s soul.” For some reason, the president and his team just can’t help but smear their country. This is a problem, especially as the US enters Cold War II against China. Think about it: If the Biden administration doesn’t have the will to defend America’s own basic decency, how can we expect it to have the will to prevail in a contest with China for global supremacy? 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