An interesting quote from this Reuters article caught my eye. The piece dealt with a proposal in Congress to allow Vietnam to join the World Trade Organization.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert urged Congress on Thursday to pass a deal that would allow Vietnam to join the World Trade Organization, saying the "greater good" outweighed human rights concerns.
Hastert told reporters on a three-day visit to Vietnam that some members would put religious and human rights constraints on any trade bill.
"But in the long run for the greater good it is important for us to pass this legislation," said Hastert, an Illinois Republican who led a delegation of House members to Hanoi to meet government leaders.
For all the GOP's self-righteous, messianic yammering about 'freedom and liberty,' this incident demonstrates that when push comes to shove, trade will always trump those virtues. Informed observers knew that Republicans would never consider human rights to be a 'greater good'; Speaker Hastert was just gauche enough to admit it explicitly.
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