American Exceptionalism = H-Y-P-O-C-R-I-S-Y

American Exceptionalism = H-Y-P-O-C-R-I-S-Y

When I was in school, I was told that a hypocrite was someone who told you not do something but did it himself anyway. A hypocrite functioned under the “do as I say NOT as I do” philosophy. Jesus is said to have condemned the Pharisees for being hypocrites. Hypocrites practice hypocrisy. I was taught this was one of the Earth’s lower moral life forms.

From http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07610a.htm
Hypocrisy is the pretension to qualities which one does not possess, or, more cognately to the scope of this article, the putting forward of a false appearance of virtue or religion.

Essentially its malice is identical with that of lying; in both cases there is discordance between what a man has in his mind and the simultaneous manifestation of himself. So far as the morality of the act goes, it is unimportant that this difference between the interior and the exterior be set out in words, as happens in formal lies, or be acted out in one's demeanor, as is true of simulation.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypocrisy
Hypocrisy is the act of pretending to have morals or virtues that one does not truly possess or practice. … A classic example of a hypocritical act is to criticize others for carrying out some action while carrying out the same action oneself.

American Exceptionalism is the philosophy that states no one else can do something EXCEPT America and those we have chosen. American Exceptionalism is hypocrisy because at its core there is a belief that we can do whatever we want and others must be restricted from similar actions. Under the Bush regime, American Exceptionalism has been taken to new lows.

HAVING NUCLEAR WEAPONS
Ever since the days of “duck and cover,” I wondered why it was okay for America to spend billions on a nuclear arsenal that could destroy the Earth many times over while insisting that other countries should have no nuclear weapons. I was told it was because only the U.S. and its allies could be trusted with such dangerous weapons, despite the fact that we are the only country in history to use such weapons in an attack, twice. The two times nuclear weapons have been used it was on essentially civilian targets. This was a deliberate choice. Some of the scientist involved wanted the bombs exploded over a relatively flat area with a population, so they could quantify the destruction of the bombs. Purely military targets in the mountains and hills were rejected because the chances the data would not be a useful.

YELLOW-BELLIED CHICKENHAWKS
This particular group of people preaches about how great it is for our young people to fight in the war. You will not catch them or their children doing the fighting however. It isn’t the fighting man in Iraq that is getting rich, it is those who send them and would never go themselves.

PRODUCING MORE WMDs
The only WMDs found in Iraq were the inert remnants of poison gas. This has been used by some regime shills to justify our invasion and occupation. The U.S. has recently started to produce chemical and biological weapons again, saying they are needed for defensive purposes. Are they needed so we can sell them to the next Saddam that comes down the pike? If we need them for defense, why don’t other countries?

OPPRESSION AT HOME AND ABROAD
Our government in the last five plus years has illegally wiretapped phones, held prisoners without charge for years, has started a preventive (not even preemptive) war, and so on. They have done these things saying they are in the defense of freedom. How can one defend freedom at the same time as restricting freedom?

CASHING IN ON WAR AND PEOPLE’S SUFFERING
This is how Harry Truman dealt with war profiteers. From http://www.thenation.com/doc/20030512/editors:
When he heard rumors of such profiteering, Truman got into his Dodge and, during a Congressional recess, drove 30,000 miles paying unannounced visits to corporate offices and worksites. The Senate committee he chaired launched aggressive investigations into shady wartime business practices and found "waste, inefficiency, mismanagement and profiteering," according to Truman, who argued that such behavior was unpatriotic. Urged on by Truman and others in Congress, President Roosevelt supported broad increases in the corporate income tax, raised the excess-profits tax to 90 percent and charged the Office of War Mobilization with the task of eliminating illegal profits. Truman, who became a national hero for his fight against the profiteers, was tapped to be FDR's running mate in 1944.
He believed the worst offenders had committed treason. The climate of the current administration would bring investigations into the people who would dare to speak out. They say we fighting for democracy and freedom in Iraq. The sad truth is profit is the major motivation.

RACISM IS CONDONED
The Department of Justice’s enforcement of the civil rights code has dramatically decreased under Bush to the point of near extinction. If a designated enemy is seen as being racist, swift and total condemnation follows. Profiling based on race instead of actions is now the new push. Looking Muslim is considered reason enough for the abuses that used to be visited on African Americans. Trouble is how does one look Muslim?

INDISCRIMINATE KILLING
When the invasion of Iraq started, there was period of thirty days called “Shock and Awe.”

From http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/awe
to awe, (transitive verb) To inspire with fear and reverence.

The majority of shells and bombs used on Iraq during these days were not “smart” bombs. They killed babies as well as Republican Guard troops. This indiscriminate killing was designed to bring fear to the entire country. We gave lip service to “winning the hearts and minds” of Iraqis but our intentions were anything but. This attitude has been carried on through the duration, American troops have broken discipline, and the indiscriminate killing continues.

STEALING ELECTIONS
This is the most glaring cases of hypocrisy. The Bush regime talks about exporting democracy to Iraq and Afghanistan, when it does not exist here at home. Additionally, the democracy in Iraq is a façade; candidates during the elections there were not allowed to advocate the withdrawal of American troops, despite nearly 90% of the population favoring just such a move.

YOUNG LIVES WASTED
This is the most tragic of my points. This includes the dead of the war. This includes the injured of the war, many that come home to find their benefits are non-existent. Soldiers recovering in Army hospitals have been asked to pay for their own food. Those mentally affected find their treatment to be lacking if it exists at all. However, the most tragic part of all this is how the Bush regime uses these young people to garner support for their immoral and illegal war. They have equated support for the troops with support for the war. People do not want to appear to be not supporting the troops so they feel compelled to support the war.

A quick summary:

Having nuclear weapons
Yellow-bellied Chickenhawks
Producing more WMDs
Oppression at home and abroad
Cashing in on war and people’s suffering
Racism is condoned
Indiscriminate killing
Stealing elections
Young lives wasted