A Dangerous Friend

We are restoring relations with Vietnam despite their human rights record in order to make common cause against a common threat--China. Vietnam will eventually pay the price for daring to befriend America.

Oh, China would lean on Vietnam regardless of what Vietnam does in regard to relations with America.

What I'm talking about is the American Left punishing Vietnam.

Think about it. Our Left seems to love looking at our allies and complaining they are not pure--even if they are better than the alternative.

And our Left idealizes American's enemies despite their human rights records--excusing that record as necessary to resist our hostility or even denying that record.

So when America actually befriends an enemy and that enemy befriends us, the Left here will eventually no longer be able to admire a state with a less than perfect record--because being a friend of America is damning and indicative that the country is not "authentically" nationalistic.

As a control group experiment, the Left's continued admiration for outreach to Cuba and Iran demonstrates clearly that neither state is actually a friend of America.