Brunei may not be on everyone's radar with a population of approximately 420,000 but the Sultan of Brunei has imposed strict anti-homosexuality laws among many injustices against his people. During the Olympics, President Obama made it clear to Vladimir Putin that he has, "no patience for countries that try to treat gays or lesbians or transgendered persons in ways that intimidate them or are harmful to them." However, the President has met with and called the Sultan of this small country "friend" in the White House where leaders of far larger and more powerful countries have not yet been invited.
Let me preface this by saying it is the hypocrisy that is the issue first and foremost. In my previous work, I have mentioned similar grievances that I have with Afghanistan. It comes down to motive. There have been far greater injustices throughout the world that the United States did not feel compelled to insert ourselves in so how does the government pick and choose? Well, the answer is apparent. What is in it for us to get involved/not get involved? Oil? An army base? I think Jon Oliver said it best on, Last Week Tonight With John Oliver when he said, "if you are a tiny, wealthy, strategically-located country with oily business underneath you, the whole world is your friend".
I understand that politics is a complicated game but, in the spirit of full disclosure and transparency, isn't it better to just say what these things are really all about? Wouldn't we be more trusting of our politicians? I may not like it but, quite frankly, I don't like this either. I don't like that we condemn one country and not another for the same thing. We pick and choose our "enemies' based on what we can get from them. While it is true that I don't care for that system, I care even less for a system based on lies. If our government expects us to put our trust in them, they need to put their trust in us. We already recognize what is happening. Withholding the facts just leads to people that are constantly leery of their government and the subsequent downfall of a society.