Exceptionally Exceptional
by digby
Joan Walsh notes the keening and rending of garments over Obama’s comment that the US has sometimes been arrogant. (They’re probably going to start burning Dixie Chicks CDs again, just out of nostalgia.) She writes:
All weekend long, Fox’s Sean Hannity and others were blaring “Obama Attacks America” and airing the truncated Obama quote. Karl Rove complained darkly: “There are ways to make the point he made without running down America.” Hosting for Limbaugh, an overwrought Mark Steyn claimed the U.S. is “hanging upside down in the bondage dungeon being flogged and humiliated by the rest of the planet” in the wake of Obama’s visit, according to Media Matters. On “Morning Joe,” Nicolle Wallace claimed “at his core he does not seem to believe in American exceptionalism, the way more Republicans define it” (although Obama actually said on the trip he believes in American exceptionalism).
Oh fergawdsake. American exceptionalism has always been a crock, but I never knew it actually meant America was perfect. Great. Let’s start calling our leaders living Gods and install the president’s new dog as the House delegate for the District of Columbia while we’re at it.
As far as I can tell, the only thing exceptional about America these days is our very special propensity to evade responsibility for anything we do. The president can’t even sweeten criticism of the loathed cheese-eaters with a little humility without being accused of being a traitor.
But not every country is so myopic. For instance, in Peru, they seem to think it’s important to look in the rear view mirror and yes, play the blame game, even if it’s politically complicated:
A special tribunal convicted former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori of murder and kidnapping on Tuesday and sentenced him to 25 years in prison, saying he authorized a government death squad during the Shining Path insurgency.
The 70-year-old former leader, who remains popular for rescuing Peru from the brink of economic and political collapse in the early 1990s, was convicted of what the court called “crimes against humanity,” including 25 murders by a military hit squad.
Presiding judge Cesar San Martin told a hushed courtroom there was no question Fujimori authorized the creation of the Colina unit, which the court said killed at least 50 people during its 15 months as the state crushed the fanatical Shining Path rebels.
Fujimori, who proclaimed his innocence in a roar when the 15-month trial began, apparently anticipated a guilty verdict.
He barely looked up as it was read, sitting alone taking notes during the three-hour proceedings at the Lima police base where he has been held and tried since being extradited from Chile in late 2007.
[…]
Although none of the trial’s 80 witnesses directly accused Fujimori of ordering killings, kidnappings or disappearances, the court said he bore responsibility by allowing the creation of an illegal killing apparatus.
The court said Fujimori’s disgraced intelligence chief and close collaborator, Vladimiro Montesinos, was directly in charge of the Colina unit.
And it noted that Fujimori freed jailed Colina members with a blanket 1995 amnesty for soldiers while state security agencies engaged in a “very complete and extensive” cover-up of the group’s deeds.
[…]
Despite being the first democratically elected former president to be tried for rights violations in his own country, Fujimori remains remarkably popular and his successors have maintained his market-friendly policies. Peru had Latin America’s strongest economic growth from 2002-2008, averaging 6.7 percent.
[…]
Human rights advocates called the verdict historic.
“After years of evading justice, Fujimori is finally being held to account for some of his crimes,” said Maria McFarland, senior Americas researcher at Human Rights Watch, who was in the courtroom.
“The Peruvian court has shown the world that even former heads of state cannot expect to get away with serious crimes,” she said in a statement issued by her organization.
In neighboring Chile, dictator Augusto Pinochet avoided trial for health reasons until his death at 91.
Peruvians generally agreed with Tuesday’s verdict.
A poll released Monday showed 64 percent believe he is guilty in the human rights case while 72 percent think he is guilty of corruption.
The survey of 462 Lima residents by Catholic University last month has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.6 percentage points, the same as the November poll on his popularity.
It’s interesting, no? The people all believe he committed these crimes yet he remains popular because of his economic policies. And the legal system operates independently of all of that, pursuing the case on the merits. How novel.
Of course Peruvians aren’t as “exceptional” as Americans so they can’t be expected to have the disrespect for the rule of law which allows our own war criminals to roam free. Indeed, our leaders apparently can’t even criticize the United States in any way. China is very “exceptional” that way too.