Null and Void

Former Liberian dictator Charles Taylor has vanished while in Nigeria. He is, as an NPR report asserted this evening, the first former African leader to be indicted by an international tribunal for his violations of human rights. As the Washington Post story says, President Bush may refuse to meet with Nigerian president Olesegun Obasanjo Wednesday if answers about the disappearance are not forthcoming. Let's hope that Bush declines the meeting and not just for the obvious reason that pressure should be put on Nigeria.

For Oa, it brings to mind that James Taranto last week cited Daily Kos blogger SusanG for this statement regarding Saddam Hussein (first item):

Progressives were screaming into the void about Hussein's human rights violations, his gassing of the Kurds, his terrorizing of political opponents long, long, long before it conveniently bubbled up into the consciousness of the neocon right.

To be fair, a quick search of the Kos site shows me that they have from time to time mentioned Charles Taylor but only as a brief scenic stop on the highway that leads to the destination of bashing Bush. I'm surprised that the progressives aren't screaming into the void right now about the execrable Taylor's flight. And, of course, I won't be surprised that, if Bush declines to meet with Obasanjo, the main point at the Krazy Kos Kavalkade will be to tsk-tsk that Bush is a johnny-come-lately to the human rights party. Of course, I could be wrong. Maybe the Kos Kids will be pressing the progressive fight for human rights and spotlighting the Taylor story like nobody's business for the next 12 hours or so. But I seriously doubt it.