During a press briefing on, Thursday October 2, 2007 Dana Perino, the current White House Press Secretary, was asked about whether junta leaders would meet with the U.N. Envoy in efforts to resolve the violent crackdown on the peaceful demonstrations calling for reform in Myanmar (formerly known as Burma). Her reply?

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; and we understand that some of the monasteries have been sealed. Now, obviously, this has, again, a chilling effect on protesters, but we would ask that everyone show restraint and allow those who want to express themselves to be able to do so in Burma.

(emphasis mine)

What she said was not in and of itself bad, most people in the world would want a peaceful resolution to the confrontations occurring in that troubled, resource-rich nation of 50 million people, but the statement uttered from the podium of this particular administration about the actions of throwing people into detention where they can be held for years without representation or charges is dripping with unintentional irony.

Given that this administration has done precisely what it declares as distressing when done by the military junta in Myanmar, thrown people into secret prisons, rendition people to "black sites" to be tortured and disappeared into a legal void, does it even register within the thinking of this administration how such declarations about extra-legal detention might sound?

The position that human rights, rights of people to speak out and call for redress of grievances, to support the ideals of freedom and democratic movements are cornerstones upon which our American endeavor are built upon, the unintended irony caused by this administrations actions in Guantánamo, in its extra-constitutional use of torture and rendition, of disappearing people (some of which are indeed innocent) into a legal void, cast a shadow on the core principles we as a nation have held as part of our founding testament.

While condemnation of the violence being carried out in Myanmar is a sound one, as are calls for mediation, reconciliation and the freeing of the people in that troubled country from the terrible brutality of the present military autocracy are not only valid, but a moral imperative, it is none-the-less a small but illustrative example of how this administration's actions since the attacks of September 11th 2001, have steered our national policy into a moral quagmire as much as it has driven our military into a strategic one in Iraq.

The issue goes beyond just an unintended double-take in the rhetoric coming from a press flak to the media. When bills in Congress which seek to restore habeas corpus, and begin to move our national policy back onto sound footing were voted-down last month by Senate Republicans it is an indication that this is more than just superficial observation.

It is also an indication of the need to elect Democratic Senators and not send back Republican ones who who put partisan power and position above the principles which are at the core of our national founding (one could legitimately argue are central to reason we are a country and not a British colony).

In the meantime, the most important thing right now is to call for an emergency/special meeting at the United Nations, especially by the 15 members of the Security Council which includes China, to help prevent a bloodbath in Burma. We can all agree that a peaceful resolution of the violence in Mynamar is something we fervently hope for and should work towards.