Discrimination Chutzpah

Having gone against the international grain on such matters as the Kyoto Protocol and the International Criminal Court (ICC), it is no surprise that the United States chose not to sign a United Nations declaration on the decriminalization of homosexuality; but surprise is not a precondition for chutzpah. Presumably the decision by our Ambassador to the United Nations was a reflection of the policy of the Bush Administration, just as the Kyoto and ICC decisions were. Ironically, as Laura Trevelyan observed in her report for BBC NEWS, the policy of the United States has to honor the decisions of its own Judiciary Branch:

Even though the US Supreme Court has ruled that states cannot make homosexuality a crime, diplomats claimed the declaration was not compatible with the division between between state and federal law.

Thus, the Bush Administration was effectively making its point through a loophole that may not actually be a valid one. Trevelyan also observed that, once again, the Administration has distinguished itself within the community of nations:

The US was the only major Western nation not to sign the declaration.

Taken together, these seem to constitute sufficient grounds for giving the entire Administration (rather than just Bush himself) a Chutzpah of the Week Award.