Gateway Pundit has a wonderful piece comparing and contrasting the stands of G. W. Bush and B .H. Obama, regarding the struggle for freedom and democracy in the world today:

“All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: the United States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you.”

President George W. Bush
Second Inaugural Speech
January 20, 2005

President Bush’s made this pledge to political dissidents and freedom activists in 2005, “We will stand with you.” And, the oppressed took him at his word. There was an Orange Revolution in Ukraine, a Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan, and a Cedar Revolution in Lebanon that spring. There were democratic elections in Afghanistan where women were not only allowed to vote but took seats in parliament. There were democratic elections for the first time in the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia released political dissidents. There were Arab democracy conferences in Qatar and women were allowed to vote in Kuwait. Egyptian judges stood up against a regime. Another regime in Libya opened up to the West. And who could forget the Iraqis who walked for miles, braving terrorist death threats, to vote in free democratic elections for the very first time.

President Bush later met with democracy activists from Burma on the twenty year anniversary of the bloody 8888 Protests in Burma. And before he left office in December 2008 President Bush met with dissident bloggers on Human Rights Day.

But those days are over. There’s a new administration in town with a new set of rules and a new set of priorities. Persecuted political dissidents and brave democracy activists do not rank high on the list.

Already this year the Obama Administration has waived sanctions on Syria, considered opening travel to Cuba, announced plans to drop sanctions against the murderous junta in Burma, reportedly approved Sharia Law in the tribal regions of Pakistan in exchange for a bogus peace treaty, praised the Venezuelan “democracy,” discussed holding talks with the Iranian regime, and accepted China’s human rights abuses. That’s quite a record and it hasn’t even been 200 days since they took office.

In February seven former Iranian student prisoners wrote a letter to President Obama and urged him to support the democratic movement of the Iranian people. Their letter went unanswered. It should come as no surprise then that as chaos broke out this weekend in Iran over a very controversial election result the Obama Administration fell silent.

Less than 24 hours after the flawed results were announced by the official media the Obama Administration announced that they would engage with the regime.

Whatever else his flaws, G. W. Bush was a vocal supporter of people around the world, of all faiths and races, who wanted to be free.

B. H. Obama, like most on the left, does not believe that Freedom and Democracy should be “imposed”, or, for that matter, that what we think of as American (or even Western) values are superior in any way to the oppression suffered by people in other nations, in the name of Religion or any particular brand of Politics.

Tags: Bush, Freedom, Obama