“President Putin and his associates do not believe in these values. They don’t respect your dignity or accept your authority over them. They punish dissent and imprison opponents. They rig your elections. They control your media. They harass, threaten, and banish organizations that defend your right to self-governance. To perpetuate their power they foster rampant corruption in your courts and your economy and terrorize and even assassinate journalists who try to expose their corruption.”
I read this paragraph and thought McCain had described the current American government. It’s very sad when our own government is as bad, or worse than the Russian government and McCain doesn’t see the irony in his projection.
McCain is desperate to distract from the America he has helped to create.
NSA spying on the people - exceptionalism
Federal agencies deliberately working to smother “dangerous” political thought - exceptionalism
An ever growing bureaucratic fungal mat smothering entrepreneurship and crushing all will to strive or achieve - exceptionalism
Cradle to grave indoctrination of the communist party line in schools and ever growing social agencies - exceptionalism
Elected officials getting fabulously wealthy by legislating financial advantages for themselves - exceptionalism
Companies and unions buying influence with elected officials who legislate financial advantages for all 3 - Exceptionalism
Pedophile congressmen getting away with sleeping with underage prostitutes - exceptionalism
30 million + illegal aliens overrunning the country unchecked for someone elses political and financial gain - exceptionalism
Billions in foreign aid to nations that hate us - exceptionalism
Billions spent on pipe dream green energy scams that produce no energy and drive up costs - exceptionalism
Elected officials openly contemptuous toward the people who elected them - exceptionalism
Hitch hiking to the space station in Soyuz capsules from the 1960s because we don’t have a ride of our own - exceptionalism
Elected “Representatives” who exempt themselves from the laws they pass for their “constituents” - exceptionalism.
I understand your point, but I think at this stage it’s a tad hyperbolic.
Perhaps you’d like to post examples of:
Punished dissent. (Idiotic IRS decisions don’t count).
Imprisoned opponents.
Controlled media. (Our media isn’t controlled, it supports Obama willingly.)
They harass, threaten, and banish organizations that defend your right to self-governance. (IRS bit applies here, but denial of tax-exempt status isn’t really banning.)
Rampant corruption in your courts and your economy (Fair enough, but the court bit, like the media “control” is self-imposed, not forced on them.)
Terrorize and even assassinate journalists who try to expose their corruption.
For the most part, in this country opponents of the regime aren’t oppressed, they’re ignored.
> “President Putin and his associates do not believe in these values. They don’t respect your dignity or accept your authority over them. They punish dissent and imprison opponents. They rig your elections. They control your media. They harass, threaten, and banish organizations that defend your right to self-governance. To perpetuate their power they foster rampant corruption in your courts and your economy and terrorize and even assassinate journalists who try to expose their corruption.”
I read this paragraph and thought McCain had described the current American government. It’s very sad when our own government is as bad, or worse than the Russian government and McCain doesn’t see the irony in his projection.
Talk about calling the kettle black! Truly unbelievable (well totally believable given McCain’s recent mindless devotion to Emporer Palpatine Obama)