Obama’s recent remarks about Egypt are here.
He maintains that “all governments must maintain power through consent, not coercion.” The word “must” means, I suppose, “should.” How often, how long, and how deeply has the U.S. government used coercion to maintain power? How often has the U.S. government used wealth redistribution, payoffs, propaganda, and emotional appeals to manufacture a phony and heavily government-influenced consent? When will the preacher live up to what he preaches?
In another problematic statement that contains a heavy dose of hypocrisy, Obama says “The people of Egypt have rights that are universal. That includes the right to peaceful assembly and association, the right to free speech, and the ability to determine their own destiny. These are human rights. And the United States will stand up for them everywhere.” If a collection of Americans chose to assemble, speak, and determine their own destiny, whether political, economic, religious, or along some other dimensions, one can be entirely assured that the U.S. government would put them down without mercy and abrogate their rights with a high degree of force. This happens every day. Coming from Obama or from any official of the U.S., these proclamations of rights are the rankest sort of hypocrisy. They are sounded and expressed only at such times when that kind of rhetoric serves the purposes of the political speechmakers. Such a time is now, when Obama must come up with something to say about Egypt that hedges against whatever happens next, so that the U.S. government can later on say that it was on the right side or the side of right.
9:51 am on January 29, 2011
