Disabling Treaties

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA has the highest standard in the world of caring for and protecting the rights of people with disabilities, mental and physical. Everyone has seen wheel chair accessible ramps leading into public buildings, preferred parking spaces for physically challenged citizens, special departments in public schools, and much more. Former president George H.W. Bush, himself now confined to a wheel chair,, considered it desirable to encourage such high standards for the entire world by engaging all other countries in a United Nations treaty guaranteeing such standards. He helped negotiate the treaty, and every other nation in the world signed on. Former Vice President Bob dole rolled his wheel chair down the isle of the U.S. Senate in 2012, in support of the agreement. All that was required was approval by the U.S. Senate, and the signature of President Barack Obama. Astonishingly, the treaty was voted down by Senate Republicans. Among all the tragically, disastrously wrong headed positions taken by America's far right, which include denial of climate change, support for neo-liberal supply side economics, and resistance to to formally enacted equal right for the LGBT community and other minorities, is the irrational notion that all international agreements and treaty is entered into by the United States represent a surrender a surrender of sovereignty by America to the world community, and some imaginary "world government". Since Trump became president, he has removed the U.S. from the nuclear weapons agreement with Iran, from the Paris climate change accords, from the trans pacific Trade partnership, and from NAFTA. he has replaced them with - nothing. This he has done with the full support of the conservative community. "Make America great again" in the era of Trump apparently means "make America alone". Ever since the disastrous wars of American aggression began with George Bush's 1991 attack of Iraq,, the United States has lost much of the global respect it had gained since helping defeat NAZI Germany and imperial Japan in World War Two. Now, this trend intensifies as the United States withdraws from the global community, forfeiting its leadership role. To abandon agreements to fight climate change and eliminate nuclear weapons is the behavior of a seriously misguided nation. To promulgated an international agreement, which all other nations sign, to improve the treatment of disabled people, and then abandon the very agreement the U.S. proposed and encouraged others to agree to, is beyond pathological.