The Only Standards Are Double Standards
http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/robert-parry/56242/the-only-standards-are-double-standards
The Only Standards Are Double Standards
by Robert Parry | June 5, 2014 - 7:26am
Sometimes in dealing with the U.S. government and its compliant mainstream media, Im left with the feeling that if it werent for double standards, there would be no standards at all. From President Barack Obama to the editors at the Washington Post and the New York Times, its obvious that whats good for the goose is not good for the gander.
An election in an embattled country is valid and even inspiring if it turns out the way Official Washington wants, as in Ukraine last month; otherwise its a sham and illegitimate, as in Syria this month.
Similarly, people have an inalienable right of self-determination if its Kosovo or South Sudan, but not if its Crimea or the Donbass region of Ukraine. Those referenda for separation from Ukraine must have been rigged though there is no evidence they were. Everything is seen through the eye of the beholder and the beholders in Official Washington are deeply biased.
When it comes to military interventions, U.S. officials such as Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power assert a responsibility to protect transcending national sovereignty if civilians are threatened in Libya or in Syria, but not when the civilians are being slaughtered in Gaza, Odessa, Mariupol or Donetsk. When those killings are being done by U.S. allies, the allies are praised for their restraint.