For almost two years we have heard over and over about Russia meddling in our political affairs. I would be really upset about this if it weren’t for the fact that the U.S. constantly meddles in the political affairs of foreign countries, Russia included. Americans condemn Vladimir Putin for interfering in our elections to support Donald Trump but they fail to acknowledge that Putin wouldn’t be in power if it weren’t for U.S. meddling in Russian elections. It was, after all, our meddling in the Russian election of 1991 that led to Boris Yeltsin becoming president, and it was Boris Yeltsin who appointed Vladimir Putin as his successor. So why should we be incensed about one and not the other?
Now I’ve discussed this topic before, so why am I bringing it up again? Because we are doing it again – this time, the target of our meddling is Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany who recently criticized Trump. In order to destabilize Mrs. Merkel’s government, Trump is spreading lies about her immigration policy claiming that the admission of 1.4 million refugees from the Middle East has caused crime in Germany to increase 10%. In fact, crime in Germany fell 9.6% last year.
In the past, U.S. meddling in foreign affairs was about economic exploitation. When a foreign leader failed to adhere to economic policies advantageous to the U.S., the U.S. chose “regime change” as its policy toward that country (even when that country’s leader was democratically elected). This time however, it’s different. It’s personal. Trump, whose personal policy is to destroy anyone he doesn’t like, is now on a campaign to bring down Mrs. Merkel’s government.
So once again, the U.S. is meddling in the political affairs of another country; but how many Americans are going to be outraged? Damned few – but they will continue to bitch about Putin’s meddling in our elections. So why is it OK for us to meddle in the political affairs of all other countries, but not OK for other countries (except Israel) to meddle in our political affairs? How hypocritical is that?
At some point in the future, Americans are going to have to look in the mirror and ask, what kind of country are we? On this, and many related topics, we need to change direction soon if we want to salvage any of our once achieved greatness.