The Won throws Dali Lama, Tibet, under the bus

OBAMA BREAKS PRECEDENT BY NOT MEETING DALAI LAMA

 

 

I can't help but wonder how this is going over in Boulder, with the huge community of (mostly Jewish) Buddhists there.

 

WASHINGTON (al Reuters) – President Barack Obama will not meet the Dalai Lama during his five-day trip to the U.S. capital beginning on Monday, the first time in 18 years the exiled Tibetan leader has visited Washington without seeing the president.

.... The decision to break precedent and delay any meeting was conveyed to the Dalai Lama last month when Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett and State Department Undersecretary Maria Otero traveled to Dharamsala, India, to explain the administration's approach on Tibet.

You can say what you want about George W. Bush, and people do. In fact, a staggering 55% of folks are still blaming him for the disaster-in-process known by nostalgists as The American Economy.

But in retrospect you have to admire theformer president's moral compass and his courage -- both amply displayed two years ago this month:

 

 

BUSH: CHINA SHOULD GREET DALAI LAMA

 

 

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America honors Tibetan spiritual leader with Congressional Gold Medal... 

 

MSNBC.com  / The Associated Press

~Wed., Oct . 17, 2007

 

WASHINGTON - President Bush, raising Beijing’s ire, presented the Dalai Lama on Wednesday with the U.S. Congress’ highest civilian honor and urged Chinese leaders to welcome the monk to Beijing.

The exiled spiritual head of Tibet’s Buddhists by his side, Bush praised a man he called a “universal symbol of peace and tolerance, a shepherd of the faithful and a keeper of the flame for his people.”

“Americans cannot look to the plight of the religiously oppressed and close our eyes or turn away,” Bush said at the U.S. Capitol building, where he personally handed the Dalai Lama the prestigious Congressional Gold Medal.

The Dalai Lama, chuckling as he stumbled over his remarks in English, said the award will bring “tremendous joy and encouragement to the Tibetan people” and he thanked Bush for his “firm stand on religious freedom and democracy.”

[....]

China reviles the 72-year-old monk as a Tibetan separatist and vehemently protested the elaborate public ceremony. But at a news conference earlier in the day, Bush said he did not think his attendance at the ceremony would damage U.S. relations with China.

“I support religious freedom; he supports religious freedom. ... I want to honor this man,” Bush told reporters at the White House. “I have consistently told the Chinese that religious freedom is in their nation’s interest.”

 

 

WASHINGTON - October 02: President Barack Obama and his wife... (Getty Images)