Paul Wilczynski's Observations

Genocide should always be news

The Revealer comments on a statement from Richard Cizik, vice-president of the National Association of Evangelicals, in which he scolds the Bush administration for failing to follow up on its declaration that the Sudanese civil war constitutes genocide.

...There's been a slow-but-steady drumbeat of below-the-fold stories about evangelicals crossing traditional left/right lines, particularly with regard to environmentalism and international human rights. The Revealer has been skeptical -- many of these stories reflect the lazy desire of reporters to get a "Used to go this way, now it goes that way" story. They don't ask hard questions, and, worse, sometimes give good spin to efforts that more political than they at first appear.

But the Save Darfur Coalition seems like the real deal. And when Rich Cizik, a long-time veteran of Christian conservative politics and a man known as honest broker, declares that the Bush administration is falling down on the job, that's news. Because genocide should always be news; and because American responses to international atrocities are determined by domestic politics. Cizik's announcement should be heard as a seismic rumble. Christian conservative activists are growing more and more frustrated with the Bush-led G.O.P., not just on issues such as abortion, where Bush strikes them as too liberal, but on issues that cross party lines. Like, you know, stopping the murder of half a million people. ...

posted by Paul Wilczynski @ 10:34 AM