I know that the headline is not a shocker to anyone here, but sometimes I am still amazed at how un-self-aware our government can be. The specific incident I am writing about is with regards to what is happening in the Ukraine. I will elaborate below the fold.
In the event you haven't been following things in the Ukraine, there are massive protests in Kiev and other cities. Massive to the tune of hundreds of thousands of people showing up in the central squares of Kiev, and thousands occupying the squares and government buildings.
The protests are over the decision of the President of Ukraine backing out of signing a deal that would had formalized relations between it and the European Union, one that would have ultimately lead to Ukraine joining the EU. The decision to back out of the deal came because of massive pressure from Russia. Russia has always felt it has a prerogative to influence policy in Ukraine even after the fall of the USSR in 1991.
If I had to choose a dog in this hunt, I would side with the pro-EU protesters. It is understandable that they would want to have more access to European goods and travel but there is more at stake. Joining the EU requires Ukraine to modernize and democratize their political system. It also protects Ukraine from the overburdening influence that Russia exerts over its policies.
So after the protests showed no signs of subsiding, and most likely at the direction of the Kremlin in Moscow, security forces moved in to clear the squares and building of the protesters. The protesters stood their ground and so far the security forces have backed off..
Now for the hypocrisy part. The EU has been urging President Yanukovych to practice restraint (reasonable and not hypocrisy), but the US had to also get all worked up about things:
US Secretary of State John Kerry condemned the authorities' move on the protests.
"The United States expresses its disgust with the decision of Ukrainian authorities to meet the peaceful protest in Kiev's Maidan Square with riot police, bulldozers, and batons, rather than with respect for democratic rights and human dignity," he said.
"This response is neither acceptable nor does it befit a democracy."
So the US feels it can lecture another country on how to deal with mass protests? I am just curious. Where was John Kerry and the rest of the administration when authoritarian governments all around this country were sending in their shock troops in riot gear in the middle of the night, using the same techniques as in Ukraine, to dislodge and end the Occupy Wall Street encampments? Where was the "respect for democratic rights and human dignity" when people were beaten, arrested, their property destroyed here in the good 'ol US?
To John Kerry and any other US official who feels a right to lecture other countries on democracy and human dignity, shut your fucking hypocritical mouths until you practice the same beliefs in your own country.