In a recent report by Amnesty International, America ranked at the top of a list of countries that commit human rights abuses.

The report cited police attacks on Occupy Wall Street protestors, water-boarding of prisoners, sentencing minors to life in prison, the passing of the NDAA bill and the assassination of American citizens.

"It was a real tossup between America and North Korea, but with Kim Jong Il dying we figured that North Korea has a chance of starting to respect their citizens," said Amnesty International Spokesman Earl McPherson.  "America, on the other hand, doesn't appear to be trying to change their downward spiral.

"We would have forgiven the police brutality on peaceful protestors and torture of prisoners because that seems to be a cherished American tradition, but it was the Orwellian bills in Congress where they really lost points.

"Censoring the internet, as the misleadingly named Protecting Children From Internet Pornographers Act (PCIP) intends to do, is only a small step away from censoring what the people say in the privacy of their own home.  And allowing the indefinite imprisonment of American citizens for alleged connection to terrorism as allowed by the NDAA violated the very basis of human rights that hasn't been seen in that country since the internment of the Japanese in World War II."

Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX), co-sponsor of the PCIP Act, blasted the report in a recent statement to the press.

“I reject whole-heartedly this liberal, biased attack on the fundamental values of this great country,” said Mr Smith. “America has always stood for freedom and equality, and any allegation of human rights abuse is completely uncalled for. Fortunately, when PCIP passes, we’ll never have to hear these things ever again.”

PHOTO: smit5334, Flickr