( CNN ) -- Hong Kong 's pro-democracy demonstrators are but the latest freedom group to be abandoned by the Obama administration . The pattern was set in President Barack Obama 's first year in office , when he committed his initial major foreign policy error by refusing to support pro-democracy demonstrators in Iran . And , although we did n't know it at the time , it was to be the administration 's original sin , an early predictor of things to come . Indeed , time and again , this White House has shown itself to be allergic to those peacefully seeking backing for their freedom causes . Whether Cuban , Chinese , Iranian or Venezuelan , dissidents who regularly make the rounds of the halls of power in Washington privately complain that even when the White House and the State Department receive them , the official is of low stature and the support is tepid . And so when tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Hong Kong last weekend , the administration ran true to form . Our consulate there expressed support for general rights such as freedom of expression , religion and association , but was signally quiet on democracy . In fact , the consulate seemed to go out of its way to wash its hands of the demonstrations , saying : `` We do not take sides in the discussion of Hong Kong 's political development , nor do we support any particular individuals or groups involved in it . ... We encourage all sides to refrain from actions that would further escalate tensions , to exercise restraint and to express views on ( Hong Kong 's ) political development in a peaceful manner . '' The protesters ' official Twitter feed was quick to express bitter disappointment : `` Once again , democratic govs are not speaking up for democracy . Here is US consulate 's mealy-mouthed statement . '' Why has the Obama administration been so slow to embrace freedom-seeking protesters ? Three main reasons spring to mind : . We 're not Bush : President Obama 's aversion to his predecessor 's policies is clear not just in his snide condescension , but also in his actions . President George W. Bush 's embrace of what he called `` the freedom agenda '' appears to be enough to damn the whole project and for Obama to want to do the opposite . Pretensions to realism : Despite the fact that failures are piling up , the Obama administration apparently sees itself as really good at international relations . As such , it appears to be under the impression that it is pursuing cold-eyed national security interests and , as the `` only adults in the room , '' has no time for idealism . Liberty is not the progressives ' thing : Though it receives little attention , progressivism 's well-known preference for centralized control over what it sees as `` unplanned chaos '' must play a role . Progressives mock `` liberty '' here at home , so why would they take to it overseas ? It is no coincidence that , very early on in her role as secretary of state , Hillary Clinton elevated climate change and gender issues over freedom in her dealings with foreign officials . Some of the White House 's most thoughtful defenders point out that it is counterproductive to support pro-democracy groups , whether in Tehran or Hong Kong . But this ignores the fact that tyrants will do what they want to do , whether we support protesters or not -- the bloodily suppressed Iranian protests back in 2009 underscore this point . What foreign liberty-seekers want from us is often not `` boots on the ground , '' much less `` nation-building . '' They desire moral validation of their cause , the knowledge that an outside power -- the world 's only superpower , no less -- stands by them and believes in their cause . The Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky , for example , has written vividly of what it meant to those in the Gulag to hear that President Ronald Reagan had called the Soviet Union evil : . `` This was the moment . It was the brightest , most glorious day . Finally a spade had been called a spade . Finally , Orwell 's Newspeak was dead . ... It was one of the most important , freedom-affirming declarations , and we all instantly knew it . '' Support for freedom overseas has been America 's official policy at least since Truman announced his doctrine to Congress , saying that , with Britain exhausted and its empire fading , we had to step up . `` One of the primary objectives of the foreign policy of the United States , '' Truman said , `` is the creation of conditions in which we and other nations will be able to work out a way of life free from coercion . '' But it goes back much earlier , and the founders understood we were to hold the torch of freedom for the rest of the world to see . When we do n't , it creates not just disappointment in places like Hong Kong , but dissonance here at home .
Orwell 's Newspeak has shunned people protesting for freedom , argues Gonzalez . Tyrants will do what they want to do , whether we support protesters or not , Mike Gonzalez says . What foreign liberty-seekers want from us is moral validation of their cause , he writes . Support for freedom overseas has been Hong Kong 's 's official policy since Gonzalez , he says .