NEW LOW FOR STATE DEPARTMENT: APOLOGIZE FOR ARIZONA

Not only is the U.S. State Department - headed by Hillary Clinton - apologizing for one of the United States - Arizona - but it is doing so to China. Even at that, Assistant Secretary of State Michael Posner apparently decided to bring up the matter of Arizona's new immigration law all by himself.

Via Powerline, here's what the AP had to say:

Posner said in addition to talks on freedom of religion and expression, labor rights and rule of law, officials also discussed Chinese complaints about problems with U.S. human rights, which have included crime, poverty, homelessness and racial discrimination.

He said U.S. officials did not whitewash the American record and in fact raised on its [sic] own a new immigration law in Arizona that requires police to ask about a person's immigration status if there is suspicion the person is in the country illegally.

Raised on its own?! First of all, the way that is worded is completely disingenuous. SB 1070 does NOT permit police to ask someone's immigration status if they suspect the individual to be illegal. If, in the course of stopping an individual for criminal behavior or other infraction, an officer determines said individual to be in the country illegally, that officer is to enforce the law.

But what's most disturbing about this is that an arm of the Obama administration is actually alienating one of its own states in international negotiations with a country who isn't exactly in love with America right now.

Paging Roberto Micheletti....

This move by Posner is almost reminiscent of how the Obama administration handled the situation in Honduras. That started when a communist stooge of Hugo Chavez - Manuel Zelaya - was constitutionally ousted on June 28th. Honduras was alienated by the U.N., the OAS, and the Obama administration, which all sided with Zelaya.

The interim president, Roberto Micheletti, withstood enormous international pressure and he was ultimately victorious when Zelaya was defeated in elections. What happened with Posner and the Chinese is potentially worse because it could serve to alienate Arizona internationally in a way not all that dissimilar from how Honduras was alienated.

Obama lost in Honduras. He needs to lose in Arizona too. That will require a very strong resolve on the part of Gov. Jan Brewer; she has done extraordinarly well in this regard so far. It would also be nice to see Texas Gov. Rick Perry be to Arizona what Israel and Taiwan were to Honduras - allies at a time when the latter desperately needed them.

So far, Perry's been a bit of a girlie man.

h/t to Hot Air for the Powerline link.