So the United States government now opposes breastfeeding, as is documented in this New York Times story. (SneakySnu has a diary about it here.) Faced with a resolution encouraging breastfeeding at the World Health Assembly, our side dug in and fought it, even threatening the measure’s sponsor, Ecuador, with trade sanctions and the withdrawal of military aid. It worked. Ecuador backed down, and other countries — “most of them poor nations in Africa and Latin America,” according to the article — wouldn’t step up because they, too, feared retaliation.
And then this happened:
In the end, the Americans’ efforts were mostly unsuccessful. It was the Russians who ultimately stepped in to introduce the measure — and the Americans did not threaten them.
And this:
A Russian delegate said the decision to introduce the breast-feeding resolution was a matter of principle.
“We’re not trying to be a hero here, but we feel that it is wrong when a big country tries to push around some very small countries, especially on an issue that is really important for the rest of the world,” said the delegate, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
How did this administration take something as basic, as natural, as healthy, as plain ol’ normal as breastfeeding and turn it into an issue where sources request anonymity because they fear retaliation … and also make the election-interfering, dissident-murdering Russian government the heroes of the tale?
How are these idiots even able to put on their pants in the morning?