Now that Egypt has rid itself of Hosni Mubarak, perhaps the United States can finally admit that it has a bad habit of supporting dictatorships. Consider the following people, these noted abusers of human rights, all of whom we have backed at one time or another:
Fidel CastroSaddam Hussein
Augusto Pinochet
Mohammad RezÄ ShÄ h Pahlavi, Shah of Iran
Manuel Noriega
The United States has promoted its image as a freedom- and peace-loving nation, all the while supporting these and other regimes. Before the advent of the Internet, we could get away with that, but evidence of our misdeeds continues to escalate to all parts of the globe.
It is just a matter of time before the truth about matters such as our government's culpability in 9/11, the lack of any justifiable reason for going to war in Afghanistan and Iraq and our involvement in global drug trafficking reaches a critical point internationally.
We face the wrath of the rest of the world, not only for what we have done wrong, but even more so for the hypocrisy we have displayed. This is likely why President Obama appeared so indecisive as to whom to support in the Egyptian controversy.
We need a program that works: A 12-Step Program for Hypocrisy. Such a program, as currently used, helps millions of those with addictions to alcohol, narcotics, gambling and other ills to find a way to control them. A modified version of the initial steps of the program would go like this:
Admit that one cannot control one's addiction or compulsion.
President Obama should simply say the following, "The United States does not practice what it preaches. We support dictatorships even though we don't always support free elections at home. We provoke wars and kill innocent people while we insist that we are a shining example to others. We must stop this compulsion and we need help to do that."
Recognize a higher power that can give strength.
Participants in the program can refer to whatever or whoever they want as their higher power. Obama could call our higher power our constitutional values of presumed innocence for all, right to counsel, due process and use additional tenets of war only as a last resort.
Turn will and lives over to a higher power.
If we followed these values, we would never endorse a leader who abused human rights. We would never rush to judgment to start a war out of convenience. We would also look in our own back yard and stop the war on drugs, which criminalizes many who suffer from medical problems.
To prevent us from losing our way or backsliding
back into our addictions, we should remember those who gave their lives
to bring our hypocrisy to our attention. Their legacies could serve as a sponsorship (a part of the 12-step
program) for our nation. For example...
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