The Mafiosi and the Hypocrites
Subang, Selangor, Malaysia, April 14, 2013
Salaroche


Yes, they have Mafia Capitalism in Russia; yes, Don Putino keeps coming down hard on those who criticize him or his goons in public and, yes, somebody should do something about it.

The death of Sergei Magnitsky in a prison cell in 2009 is emblematic of the kind of regime Don Putino has put in place over there and represents a very bad omen for whatever lies in store for opposition activist Alexei Navalny, whose coming trial for alleged embezzlement is rocking Moscow. But the Russians are no longer easily fooled; everyone knows Navalny will be on trial for standing up to Don Putino.

Back in Washington, a gang of hypocrites saw a chance to poke at Don Putino’s gang and published a list of 18 people who, among other things, are now banned from entering the United States. 16 of them are said to be implicated in Magnitsky’s death and the other two are connected to the shooting of a Chechen presidential bodyguard and a journalist.

At first sight, the US action looks justifiable and appears to further the cause of human rights, which are sorely wanting in Russia, but the trouble is that, in so doing, the US takes a moral high road that it no longer can claim to walk. The US can no longer raise the “Holier than thou” banner with impunity. Not after the legacy of the G. W. Bush years.

The Bush administration sent American moral reputation down a sink hole to an irretrievable depth. The irresponsibility for Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, and other such centers of torture has never been brought to justice, nor have the criminal lies that mislead the American public into accepting or acquiescing to the WMD hoax that led to the Iraq War.

Yes, Don Putino is a Mafioso, but Bush, Cheney et al are equally reprehensible, or perhaps even more so, as they are responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, a few thousand Americans, and a few hundred US allied soldiers.
For America to reclaim its position as some sort of standard bearer for human rights, it would have to bring to justice some of the criminal architects of the Iraq war, Condoleeza Rice included, and some of those responsible for torture in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib.

When it comes to promulgating human rights, a sine qua non requirement is that those who aim to spread them should first respect them to the largest possible extent. Unfortunately, as things stand today, the US can no longer claim that position, all of it thanks to the criminal lunacy of the worst president America has ever had.

In pointing its finger at Don Putino, therefore, the US plays the role of the hypocrite, as it should have first pointed its finger many years ago at Don Busho and his gang. There’s some good done in exposing the names of those who perpetrated or facilitated Magnitsky’s death, particularly in the name of the right to free speech. Unfortunately, though, much of the impact of such exposure is lost when the exposer has very poor human rights records as well.

Salaroche