demagogue on 8/7/2008 at 22:05
All social change begins with hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is the driving force behind so much progress we've made in the last century. Once the "lying bastards" say it and take it to heart, very soon they'll have to mean it -- the US Declaration of Independence, the Soviets & The Helsinki Accords, Britain and the Indian Gov't Acts, or for that matter their historical policy to most of their colonial possessions ...
Fortunately, the words actually did mean something in all these cases in the end. Words and ideas are important. They have power. That's why it's important to enshrine the right ones.
Who doesn't wish the Muslim world were just a little more hypocritical by at least acknowledging women deserve equal rights as men, or that China should ratify the ICCPR on human rights, however cynical their motivations?
