During one of Obama’s speeches he passionately suggested that if someone doesn’t like ‘a particular policy – or a particular president’ to do something about it, like ‘win an election’ but no matter the case, he pleaded that you shouldn’t ‘break it’.
I understand this video was not originally intended for what happened in Ukraine or in the Maidan revolution, but, if President Obama want’s to defend principles here in the US of civil obedience, then how could he defend civil unrest in Ukraine and other countries? Wouldn’t Obama’s support of the forceful overthrow of other governments mean he supports that here in the US as well? Or is it a double-standard which is plain to see for anyone, especially when you watch this video and apply it to Ukraine.
Why is it OK for people in other countries, especially those backed by the US government to attempt revolutions and violence against their governments and how can the United States defend this practice while aggressively hunting down any militant opposition here? What if people in the US felt that their frustration has reached a critical point and that their elected officials were too corrupt to help them? Could we draw our vision and support from Syrian rebels, or Ukrainian Maidan protesters? The more likely answer is that, going back to Obama’s frustration here at home with the opposition, the proper way to engage a civil society and government is to petition for votes, win elections, create debates and progress your values in the marketplace of ideas. Which makes Obama against anything which undermines a government or it’s leadership. That is, unless the country at hand has a strategic importance which can be exploited during a massive run of unrest.
Which brings me to my final point. US credibility is seriously undermined and tarnished on the world stage. The invasion of Iraq under the supervision of faulty pretexts, the pro-longed war in Afghanistan, the support of radicals, jihadists, and fascists around the world, and many other violations of trust in the world structure has taken away any moral premise on which the US can defend it’s actions and also shun others for theirs. The recent example with Crimea is another episode of waning US soft power. This, is quantified, each and every time our president, be it a republican or democrat allows senators and heads of state to visit revolutionaries abroad and assist in overthrowing governments and then turn around to the US people and educate us on proper behavior and loving your government no matter how bad things get.
It is already a sad reality that the term ‘exporting democracy’ has become synonymous with ‘exporting regime change’.
Then there’s John Kerry
Luckily we at least have some pure reasoning from Secretary of State John Kerry who finally broke the deadlock and explained why the US has lost it’s reputation in the world when it comes to invasions.
Recent Comments