God-given rights

From the Financial Times:

"Mr Mubarak insists that reforms are under way and lashed out at coverage of the protests.

"If they [journalists] think that what they are doing is an expression of their freedom, they should remember who gave them this chance, and who is insisting on its continuity," he told the state newspaper, al-Gomhuria."

"We gave you these rights! How dare you use them against us?" It smacks of American exceptionalism: "we invented human rights! How dare you hold us to our own standards?"

No wonder these two governments get along so well.