Why is Asst. Secretary of State Michael Posner apologizing to China?

Rush Limbaugh is railing today about Obama Assistant Secretary of State Michael Posner's human rights confessions on behalf of the U.S. to the Chicoms.  The Associated Press reported on the two-day meeting held last week between China and the U.S.:

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 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.

John Hinderaker at Powerline is justifiability outraged and points out that Posner's remarks were actually worse than those reported by the AP:

What an idiot! China murdered millions of its citizens who opposed the government's Communist policies and allows most of its people little or no freedom. We, on the other hand, enforce our immigration laws. No, wait--actually we don't. That's why Arizona had to take a shot at it. Oh, by the way, Michael Posner, you clueless moron--China actually does enforce its immigration laws.

These dopes are actually proud of themselves for being morally and historically ignorant:

Jon Huntsman, U.S. ambassador to China who was in Washington, told reporters earlier Friday that the rights talks are a useful way to get results on tough issues.

"We're talking about issues that are uncomfortable, quite frankly, but it is a sign of maturity that we can talk about specific cases," Huntsman said.

Is it unfair to say that the Obama administration consists of a bunch of anti-American ignoramuses? If so, why?

UPDATE: Scott thinks I may be unjust to Huntsman, as it isn't clear what "specific cases" he is talking about and his comment may have been unrelated to Posner's apology. Fair enough. But I've reviewed the transcript of Huntsman's remarks and he repeatedly deferred to Posner. Posner, meanwhile, adopted Huntsman's "mature" comment and explicitly put it in the context of his own apologies for the U.S.:

QUESTION: Was there any areas [sic] in which China sort of turned the tables and raised its own complaints or concerns about U.S. practices around the globe or at home? Can you give some examples there -

ASSISTANT SECRETARY POSNER: Sure. You know, I think - again, this goes back to Ambassador Huntsman's comment. Part of a mature relationship is that you have an open discussion where you not only raise the other guy's problems, but you raise your own, and you have a discussion about it. We did plenty of that. We had experts from the U.S. side, for example, yesterday, talking about treatment of Muslim Americans in an immigration context. We had a discussion of racial discrimination. We had a back-and-forth about how each of our societies are dealing with those sorts of questions. ...

QUESTION: Did the recently passed Arizona immigration law come up? And, if so, did they bring it up or did you bring it up?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY POSNER: We brought it up early and often. It was mentioned in the first session, and as a troubling trend in our society and an indication that we have to deal with issues of discrimination or potential discrimination, and that these are issues very much being debated in our own society.

So Posner's comments about Arizona were even worse than was reported by the AP. I would suggest to Ambassador Huntsman that if he wants to disassociate himself from the ignorance and the anti-Americanism of the Obama State Department, he should resign.

Michelle Malkin explains why Posner's actions should come as no surprise:

Question: Who the hell is Michael Posner, and why the hell is he apologizing to China?!

Answer: Michael Posner is the former head agitator at the transnationalist Human Rights First, who represents the textbook State Department mindset of pandering to the worst America-bashers without hesitation or shame. Foggy Bottom isn’t just stuck on stupid. It’s stuck on American self-sabotage.

Longtime readers of this blog will recall that Posner had a significant role in the attempted George Soros-ization of Ground Zero in 2005.

Moreover, Discover The Networks reports:

Michael Posner has been the executive director of Human Rights First since its founding in 1978. HRF describes itself as a group that “works in the United States and abroad to create a secure and humane world by advancing justice, human dignity and respect for the rule of law.” In practice, HRF is an open borders group that opposes all government efforts to control illegal immigration and strengthen American national security. Posner received his B.A. in history from the University of Michigan and his J.D. from UC Berkeley; before coming to HRF, he worked for the law firm of Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal. He has taught at Yale Law School and is a visiting Lecturer at Columbia Law School.

An objective (and naive) observer might attribute the Obama administration's apologetic and sycophant behavior toward China to its desperate need for support in the Iranian and North Korean nuclear standoffs.  Some might even call it "good business" in light of the fact that China holds nearly a trillion dollars of U.S. Treasury debt.  The truth is actually more sinister.  It's a reflection of what President Obama really believes.