In the run-up to the Olympics, the Washington Post runs a pretty candid interview with President Bush, who for maybe the first time ever, sounds like a reasonable human being. Though he’s attending the opening ceremonies, he’s fully aware of the issues, and explained to the reporter, “it’s really hard to tell” whether the country has made any movement on improving its ghastly human rights record. Bush says he presses the issue of religious freedom with China’s president, Hu Jintao.
“My main objective in my discussions on religious freedom is to remind
this new generation of leadership that religion is not to be feared but
to be welcomed in society…” Oh, I think he listens, absolutely. I think he’s interested. . . . He absorbs, he takes in, he listens.”