United States of Hypocrisy
We can't lead the world if we can't hold ourselves accountable.
In the military you have two types of leaders.
First you have the leader who will lead the charge out of the foxhole, encouraging their fellow soldiers along the way. Someone who leads by example.
Second is the leader who orders everyone out of the foxhole while staying hidden inside. Someone unwilling to take any risks of their own and only exiting once the smoke has cleared to see the results.
Soldiers respect the first type of leader. They will follow that person to the end of the Earth. They would die for that leader.
The second type is the person no one wants to serve. The person who cares only about themselves.
America has become a nation resembling the latter.
We tell the world how to act while never following our own rules.
Our politicians preach all kinds of nice sounding rhetoric while not holding themselves to the same standards.
The International Criminal Court
Despite America being one of the countries that worked on the Rome Statute which created the International Criminal Court, once it was finished the US was one of only seven nations not to sign on.
The others were:
China
Iraq
Israel
Libya
Qatar
Yemen
That was the company we kept in staying out of the very court we helped to create. A court designed to go after people committing human rights atrocities.
Why didn’t the US join the ICC?
America was concerned the ICC would come after American military members for war crimes. The exact issue the court was created to address.
When the court was initially formed, the US passed legislation called the Armed Service Members Protection Act which heavily limits how much the US can help or interact with the ICC.
The ICC has in fact opened investigations against the US for potential war crimes in Afghanistan. The crimes being investigated are that prisoners were tortured while detained by the US military.
Dozens of these former prisoners have come forward to testify about their brutal treatment. Another claim is that two prisoners were beaten to death by US interrogators while chained to the ceiling in a standing position.
The US response, under President Trump, was to condemn and sanction the court while claiming the US committed no crimes.
Why does all of this matter right now?
The ICC has issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin for war crimes. Specifically for the abduction of children from Ukraine that were then transported to Russia.
US senators have pushed Biden to aid the court in every possible way in the court’s efforts against Putin.
And there is the hypocrisy.
We as a nation chose not to acknowledge the court.
We as a nation didn’t want the court to investigate our own potential crimes.
Then, the moment it suits our agenda, the calls to work with the court get numerous and loud.
America needs to take this opportunity to join the International Criminal Court. We need to show the world that we believe in holding all who commit human rights violations accountable, including ourselves.
The US can use this moment to set an example. Or we can use this moment to continue our hypocrisy.
War and human rights aren’t our nation’s only failings.
Trade, climate change, international relations. All of these are reasons why America’s standing in the world is not what it once was.
This is a time for us to take a hard look in the mirror and force ourselves to face our own failings.
Political Hypocrisy
American hypocrisy isn’t only limited to global affairs.
Our politicians and our government routinely say one thing and then do another. Yet none of them pays the price.
The examples are numerous, but here are a couple of recent ones.
Republicans condemned the “Defund the Police” slogans while touting how important law enforcement is for our nation.
Now, several Republican politicians, Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Andy Biggs to only name a few, have suggested defunding the FBI, ATF, even the Department of Education and the Department of Justice.
Whether they’re for or against defunding law enforcement entirely depends on how it suits their current narrative, not on any factual information or declared positions.
Then there was Adam Kinzinger(D) who, upon finding out that Republicans were looking into candidates that could self fund their campaigns in order to not have to rely on donations, said:
“I have come to believe we need campaign finance reform. We cannot become an oligarchy.”
Here’s the problem with that statement.
Kinzinger voted against HR 1, a campaign finance reform bill.This bill would have stopped big donors from hiding through dark money transfers.
It also would have boosted small individual donations by creating a 6 x 1 federal match, therefore giving more power back to the people.
So why did Kinzinger not back the bill?
45% of the donations to his last campaign were from large contributors.
28% were from PACs.
Only 11% were small contributors.
0% was from self funding.
Adam Kinzinger’s interests on this matter are entirely about himself and his own campaign, not actual reform for the people.
https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/adam-kinzinger/summary?cid=N00030667
There are countless numbers of other examples, from both sides of the political spectrum.
The result - American citizens do not respect Congress.
The congressional approval rating is an abysmal 18%. Only 18% feel the leaders of our nation are doing a good job.
It is time for our politicians to become the leaders we deserve to have.
It is time to call out the hypocrisy from our officials, even if they are a member of your party, even if you voted for them.
It is time to hold America accountable.
