Links and comments at Heritage: The State Department has recently ended its long-running series of
Background Notes, which were analytical, objective histories of other
countries. In their place, new “Fact Sheets” now tout Obama’s policies
and actions toward each nation. No more historical context, no
recounting of complex and long-standing issues in the country. Just cut
to the chase—that is, the time when the current Administration came to
power.
And this: 4,100-word Bush document, chock full of facts and figures helpful in
analyzing the country and its importance to the U.S., never once
mentions the name of any U.S. President. The 300-word section on
U.S.–Brazil relations takes up about 7 percent of the document.
Conversely, fully 70 percent (830 words) of the new 1,200 word Brazil Fact Sheet,
which is focused exclusively on U.S. relations with Brazil, discusses
President Obama either directly by name (twice!) or in the context of
the plethora of programs his Administration has launched with Brazil,
including a shared “commitment to combat discrimination based on race,
gender, ethnicity, or lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)
status; to advance gender equality; a bilateral instrument that targets
racism; support for HIV/AIDS prevention, promotion of clean energy
technologies in Brazil, and mitigation of climate change.”
Remember when he was inserting himself into the biographies of past presidents?
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