As the U.S. has always relished, in its own insulated mind, the idea of being holier than thou in terms of appointing itself as le roi of human rights on this all too petite globe called Earth, many a frenemy (e.g. Russia, North Korea and China) has broken their usual smirk in favor of an outright chortle as images of police brutality soar throughout the Black Lives Matter protests following the murder of George Floyd. These images and videos, of course, have only proven the entire point of Americans’ protests: the police have, for far too long, gone unchecked in their power, in their outright gall as they seem to think they can still keep getting away with literal homicide after this kind of scrutiny and uproar, which, this time, even includes the white folks as never before.
The very diabolical, “there ain’t shit you can do about it” look in Derek Chavin’s eyes as he slowly snubbed out a man’s life is a prime indication of just how certain he was that no consequences were going to befall him. And, in the past, that would have undeniably been true. But, thanks to a confluence of racist incidents (not unlike what happened to incite the Rodney King riots) in the short span of a few months, the straw has finally broken the proverbial camel’s back. And that camel is black people. Announcing, once and for all, that life in the U.S. is unsustainable in the manner it’s been permitted to carry on for a person of color (a term that has somehow risen to preeminence despite it not being that far off from the long ago defunct “colored”).
And so there was the looting and the rioting, the burning and the blazing–the general push and pull between the “authorities” and the “resistance.” An age-old battle ever-shifting as the pendulum swings back and forth between “lawlessness” and unchecked power, never seeming to strike a perfect balance between the two extremes.
Meanwhile Russia is “concerned.” Russia is concerned. That should be pretty goddamn alarming to anyone living in the U.S.–that Putin, sprung from the likes of Stalin in mentality, is simpering with his faux concern. Of course, it’s all designed to put none too fine a point on the fact that the U.S. and all it stands for (supposedly “freedom,” but we all know it’s merely capitalist freedom for some to make more money than others) has always been hypocritical on its stances. Playing the part of moral overseer and “guardian” of the planet as a foremost leader in human rights and quality of living standards, the U.S. hasn’t got a goddamn leg to stand on–not even that bottom part of Texas that looks sort of like a peg leg.
A statement from Russia’s foreign ministry at the outset of the latest round of chaos under Donald Trump’s “presidency” called out the very blatant reality that the nation that so closely likes to associate itself with beneficence “has certainly accumulated systemic human rights problems: race, ethnic and religious discrimination, police brutality, bias of justice, crowded prisons and uncontrolled use of firearms and self-defense weapons by individuals, to name a few,” adding, “We are urging the U.S. authorities to take effective measures to improve the current state of affairs, resume good faith efforts to honor international commitments and tailor national legislation to the UN basic principles on the use of force and firearms by law enforcement.” Again, Russia, known for jailing people for being gay, quashing anyone expressing political opposition (most of all when it comes to disbanding protests) and generally stymying any free speech efforts by its residents and artists (oui, that definitely includes Pussy Riot), is telling the U.S. that it has a problem.
So yeah…that the U.S. is getting some very arched brows from the collective countries it’s typically always giving shit to should be a massive wake up call not only to the nation’s government, but to its people, still inherently convinced that America is “the greatest country in the world” (though if that were the case, even Trump wouldn’t have coasted on the campaign slogan “Make America Great Again”–implying it ever was in the first place when everything it was founded on turned out to be pure cockamamie, nothing more than ideals on a piece of paper rather than anything actually practiced). Of course, it’s easy to feign greatness when one only concerns himself with a particular sect of humanity as opposed to all–such selectiveness in who the country benefits being aided by Trump withdrawing the U.S. from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in 2018. How…telling.
But the U.S.’ gradual decline with regard to being viewed as any kind of “example” or “beacon of hope” diminished even before the Obama era–which is the one liberal Americans so love to glorify, particularly in contrast to the present. For the last time anyone truly thought the U.S. was fly occurred when it was doing what it did best: shilling the false promise of materialism and all the happiness it could bring (its last apex, arguably, being in the 80s, when Michael Jackson was still black enough–and not yet unveiled as a pedo–to be admired by young black people). To drive that point home, another spokesperson for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, took it to the next level with her scathing damnation in stating, “It’s time for the U.S. to drop the mentor’s tone and look in the mirror.”
The problem with that is, a lot of plastic surgeons haven’t been working these past few months amid the COVID-19 lockdowns, and America knows it’s not going to be a pretty picture. And certainly not something a little “nip and tuck” is going to resolve on a long-term basis.
