More Reason to Dislike the U.N.?

Words fail:

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reaffirmed his predecessor's line on cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad on Wednesday, saying free speech should respect religious sensitivities.

"The Secretary-General strongly believes that freedom of expression should be exercised responsibly and in a way that respects all religious beliefs," his spokeswoman Marie Okabe told reporters.

[. . . ]

In a statement two years ago at the height of the cartoon uproar, the spokesman for then secretary-general Kofi Annan said Annan "believes that the freedom of the press should always be exercised in a way that fully respects the religious beliefs and tenets of all religions."

Guess I'm just spoiled by the Ol' Bill of Rights. Of course, the U.N. leadership is in the unenviable position of having to appease as large a majority of their member nations as possible. That being said, saying that there should be limits on freedom of expression is antithetical to expanding the basic human rights of all mankind. Yeah, that's a lofty sentiment, but being able to say "[insert deity name here] is a giant poopyhead" without fear of repercussions from the government is kinda nice. My rights, as guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution, are not never negotiable, not ever. Guess the U.N. doesn't feel quite the same way.