hypocrisy, thy name is bushco

Shattered Glass Houses

by digby

MS. PERINO: Well, unfortunately, intimidation and force can chill peaceful demonstrations. And reports about very innocent people being thrown into detention, where they could be held for years without any representation or charges, is distressing.

Another compelling moral argument brought to you by the people who run Guantánamo.

H/T to PS

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digby 10/01/2007 12:35:00 PM Comments (32) | Trackback (0)

i'm seeing a pattern here

Without Irony

Rice:

MOSCOW -

The Russian government under Vladimir Putin has amassed so much central authority that the power-grab may undermine Moscow's commitment to democracy, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Saturday.

"In any country, if you don't have countervailing institutions, the power of any one president is problematic for democratic development," Rice told reporters after meeting with human-rights activists.

"I think there is too much concentration of power in the Kremlin. I have told the Russians that. Everybody has doubts about the full independence of the judiciary. There are clearly questions about the independence of the electronic media and there are, I think, questions about the strength of the Duma," said Rice, referring to the Russian parliament.

-Atrios 12:42

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Another compelling moral argument brought to you by the people who think the unitary executive is good for democracy.

and another

Rice: Russia's Military Moves 'a Problem'

In an interview with ABC News, Secretary of State of Condoleezza Rice expressed concern about Russia’s increasing military assertiveness.

“I think the rapid growth in Russian military spending definitely bears watching,” Rice said. “And frankly, some of the efforts - for instance, Bear flights in areas that we haven’t seen for a while - are really not helpful to security.”[..]

Russia’s military spending has increased dramatically under President Putin. U.S. intelligence estimates that Russia now spends as much on its military as China, which has also raised alarms with its build-up.

“Russia is once again indisputably the number two military power in the world, second only to the United States,” a senior U.S. official said.

Russia arms sales have also increased dramatically under Putin. And when it comes to arms, the list of Russian customers reads like a who’s who of U.S. adversaries, including Iran, Syria, Venezuela and Burma.

Rice said she raised this issue directly in talks over the weekend with Russian leaders in Moscow.

“The Russians, of course, say that there’s nothing illegal about these arms sales,” Rice said. “I [told them] not everything that is legal in the narrowest sense is good for the international system.

Another compelling moral argument brought to you by those who run a $623 billion/year defense department.

and by the way, america is the biggest sellers of arms to other countries in the world