Hypocrisy

It takes a very arrogant person to publicly demonstrate hypocrisy and not even blink.  Unfortunately for us, President Obama has done just that.

President Obama was quick to speak out on behalf of the protestors in Egypt, calling on (some would say demanding) President Mubarak to withdraw the military and restore access to social networking sites saying that it is their right to peacefully protest their government.

Before I go any further I want to say that I don’t support either side because I don’t know enough about the situation.  I’m sure each side has legitimate arguments to support their position.  I’m not going to comment on who is right or who is wrong in Egypt.  I want to focus on our President’s response.

Let’s consider his use of the word “peacefully”.  When the Tea Party here in the U.S. held a rally in Washington D.C. the President and his party have called them dangerous, violent, un-American, and crazy.  Yet, when the Egyptian protesters attack the police, storm building, and set some on fire our President says they have the right to “peacefully protest” and the Egyptian government should withdraw the military.  Tell me President Obama, if 50,000 Tea Party members stormed the Capitol and set it on fire would you use ever resource available, including the military, to stop them?  I think so.  Here is our first case of hypocrisy – truly peaceful demonstrations in D.C. where people chant “Read the Bill” are called dangerous and violent but actual dangerous and violent demonstrations in Cairo where people chant “Martyr” and burn buildings are called peaceful.

Now consider who President Obama supports and who he doesn’t.  Back in 2009 when the Iranian people protested an obviously rigged election President Obama didn’t say a word.  In 2009 we had the best chance to support a change in Iran since the Islamic Revolution 30 years prior in 1979. It was during that protest turned revolution that our people were held hostage for 444 days.  Some say that Iran’s current President, Ahmadinejad, was one of the hostage takers.  Not a word from our President.  Here is our second case of hypocrisy – Egypt is an ally and a stabilizing force in the region and our President sides with the protesters while Iran is openly hostile towards us, is actively seeking nuclear weapons, has vowed to wipe Israel off the map (remember they consider Israel the Little Satan and the U.S. the Great Satan, if they want to wipe Israel off the map; how do you think they feel about us?) and our President, by not saying anything, sides with the Iranian government.

Lastly, consider President Obama’s call for Egypt to restore access to social networking sites while he and his administration support a bill (Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act – PCNAA) that would give the President the authority to shutdown down parts of the Internet (i.e. access providers, search engines, social networking sites) here in the U.S. in the event of a “cyber-emergency”.  Here is our third case of hypocrisy – we are telling Egypt’s President to allow his citizens access to the Internet that could be(and has been) used to organize their protests while our President supports a bill that would give him the power to deny our citizens access to the Internet during a vaguely defined cyber-emergency.

I wonder if the government would block access to websites used by “dangerous” and “violent” groups such as the Tea Party during a terrorist attack, a national disaster, or a just a close election to prevent misinformation and panic under the guise of a cyber-emergency.  I’m sure not; that is what countries like China do (for fun – go to Google.com and Baidu.com and search for “Tiananmen Square”, on each and compare the results).  Then again President Obama and his administration seem enamored with China…

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