Representative Al Green Fights His Own Vietnam War
Green has issued a press release bringing notice to the fact that he's against the Vietnamese government opening a consulate here in Houston.
"The Vietnamese government has come under great scrutiny in recent years due to allegations of severe human rights violations. The advocacy organization Human Rights Watch noted earlier this year that the country 'was characterized by the harshest crackdown on peaceful dissent in 20 years' in 2007," his office's official statement says.
We don't know why Green is picking on the Vietnamese. Or maybe he has no problem with some of the other countries that have consulates here (We asked his spokesman, Daniel Mauer, but he said he'd have to get back to us):
The People's Republic of China? Maybe Green enjoys the occasional Falun Gong demonstration on Montrose Boulevard.
Saudi Arabia? We know they have oil; we know they also have human-rights violations out the ass.
Other countries with consulates here include Pakistan, Egypt, Rwanda, Syria and that communistic stronghold of Hugo Chavez, Venezuela.
We assume he's calling for these places to be thrown out of town, too. Assuming there are large voting blocs of Egyptians, Rwandans, etc., in his district.
Update: Mauer says he's talked to Green and such protests "will be taken on a case-by-case basis as they are brought to our attention. In all cases we abhor human-rights violations."
So maybe Green will get the news on Egypt and the rest one of these days.
-- Richard Connelly
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