Say Anything Blog

Despite the fact that America had nothing to do with the coup, despite the fact that the White House took specific action to try and stop the coup, Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez still blamed America for the coup.

And that even after Obama engaged in an unprecedented level of friendliness and diplomacy with Chavez at a South American summit.

The same thing has happened in Iran.  Despite Obama’s unwillingness to swiftly condemn even the beating and murder of protesters in Iran’s streets, despite his refusal to outright reject the results of Iran’s sham election, the Iranian has still sought to blame America for what is happening in their country.

So why is America still the bad guy even after Obama’s attempts at open-armed diplomacy and reticence in criticizing these regimes?  Because it doesn’t really matter what America does.  It has never really mattered.  For tyrants and dictators in places like Venezuela and Iran, America is the bad guy not because we’re actually the bad guy but because they need us to be the bad guy.

Tyrants throughout history have always needed a great common enemy to serve as a crutch for their regimes.  Hitler had the Jews, who he blamed for Germany’s economic suffering and social strife.  Stalin had endless stories about how capitalist saboteurs were wrecking his 5 year plans.  And for a couple of generations of dictators throughout the world, America has served as the great enemy.  The “Great Satan.”  The “Yanquis.”

It’s not usually the truth (I’ll not pretend as though America’s record on foreign policy is without blemish) but it is good politics.  After all, why should any of these despots take credit for what’s happening in their countries when it’s so much easier to manipulate their subjects into hating some great, mostly anonymous other?

That’s getting more difficult to do in the information age, but the first things most of these regimes do - from Chavez to the Mullahs in Iran - is start controlling the media.