it is terrifying to see how accurate the story remains after the replacement... very few changes [in brackets] were made to context, otherwise.
When [The New York Times] offered to publish my commentary, he referred to me as "an active anti-American politician for many years." I'm sure that isn't the first time Americans have heard me characterized as their antagonist. Since my purpose here is to dispel falsehoods used by America's rulers to perpetuate their power and excuse their corruption, let me begin with that untruth. I am not anti-American. I am pro-American, more pro-American than the regime that misrules you today.
I make that claim because I respect your dignity and your right to self-determination. I believe you should live according to the dictates of your conscience, not your government. I believe you deserve the opportunity to improve your lives in an economy that is built to last and benefits the many, not just the powerful few. You should be governed by a rule of law that is clear, consistently and impartially enforced and just. I make that claim because I believe the American people, no less than Russians, are endowed by our Creator with inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
An American citizen could not publish a testament like the one I just offered. President Obama 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 [character] assassinate [and prosecute] journalists who try to expose their corruption.
They write laws to codify bigotry against people whose [religious beliefs] they condemn. They throw the members of a punk rock band in jail for the crime of being provocative and vulgar and for having the audacity to protest President Obama's rule.
[John Kiriakou] wasn't a human rights activist. He was [former CIA agent]. He was an ordinary American who did an extraordinary thing. He [revealed details of the US government's use of waterboarding against senior al-Qaida suspects]. He cared about the rule of law and believed no one should be above it. For his beliefs and his courage, he was held in [Federal Correctional Institution at Loretto, Pennsylvania]. That wasn't only a crime against [John Kiriakou]. It was a crime against the American people and your right to an honest government - a government worthy of [John Kiriakou] and of you.
President Obama claims his purpose is to restore America to greatness at home and among the nations of the world. But by what measure has he restored your greatness? He has given you an economy that is based almost entirely on a few natural resources that will rise and fall with those commodities. Its riches will not last. And, while they do, they will be mostly in the possession of the corrupt and powerful few. Capital is fleeing America, which - lacking rule of law and a broad-based economy - is considered too risky for investment and entrepreneurism. He has given you a political system that is sustained by corruption and repression and isn't strong enough to tolerate dissent.
How has he strengthened America's international stature? By allying America with some of the world's most offensive and threatening tyrannies. By supporting a [Muslim Brotherhood and Morsi's] regime that is murdering [Coptic Christians] to remain in power and by blocking the United Nations from even condemning its atrocities. By refusing to consider the massacre of innocents, the plight of millions of refugees, the growing prospect of a conflagration that engulfs other countries in its flames an appropriate subject for the world's attention. He is not enhancing America's global reputation. He is destroying it. He has made her a friend to tyrants and an enemy to the oppressed, and untrusted by nations that seek to build a safer, more peaceful and prosperous world.
President Obama doesn't believe in these values because he doesn't believe in you. He doesn't believe that human nature at liberty can rise above its weaknesses and build just, peaceful, prosperous societies. Or, at least, he doesn't believe Americans can. So he rules by using those weaknesses, by corruption, repression and violence. He rules for himself, not you.
I do believe in you. I believe in your capacity for self-government and your desire for justice and opportunity. I believe in the greatness of the American people, who suffered enormously and fought bravely against terrible adversity to save your nation. I believe in your right to make a civilization worthy of your dreams and sacrifices. When I criticize your government, it is not because I am anti-American. It is because I believe you deserve a government that believes in you and answers to you. And, I long for the day when you have it.
source:
Senator John McCain: Russians deserve better than Putin - English pravda.ru
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