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THE US MUST STOP POINTING FINGERS AND ADMIT: WE ARE THE BAD GUYS  
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Rev. Graylan Scott Hagler
January 22, 2026
Common Dreams
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_ Our humanity demands that we cease with claiming the evil in others
without recognizing it in ourselves. _

A protester stood his ground as federal officers moved to push
protesters from the intersection of Lyndale Ave. N. and 25th Ave. in
Minneapolis. , (Photo by Jeff Wheeler/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

 

Every single moving mouth and face I see in the media seems to be
obligated to stress the barbarity and illegitimacy of the Maduro
government to establish some acceptable moral clarity even before they
can carry on with any analysis of the current political situation, or
the current political conditions in the world. Likewise, each
personality seems obligated to make similar statements as a
prerequisite to speak on the Iranian regime and the religionists
controlling the country. Each is evil they must claim, and that they
expressively disagree and denounce them in all shape and form. Each is
beyond the specter of acceptable civilization, they must state. Each
has no inkling of morality, but is simply obsessed with power and
control.

This was the same in any discussion of Hamas
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required to denounce the various regimes and point out their flaws
without spelling out the historical influences that helped to create
the regimes and set them into motion. Anyone who has ever spoken up
for peace and credible reflection knows what it’s like to be baited
or accused of being an apologist for the bad guy. But this is not
necessary and distracts from full and meaningful analysis.

I am not going to seek acceptability by engaging in some litmus test
of morality regurgitating a litany of flaws and how I don’t agree. I
believe that there is a collective of people so tired of the moral
denunciations that they are able to look past my refusal to criticize
and denounce and hear what I am trying to say.

The reflections of the flaws of other places and countries is namely a
reflection of us and on us...

I am reminded, from my experiences with my work in the drug and
alcohol recovery community in Roxbury, Massachusetts and the very
poignant but grassroots logic and moral challenge that often flowed
from that recovery community. People would remind us that when we were
so busy pointing fingers at others that there were four fingers
pointing back at us. This means that when we point out the
deficiencies, the cruelty, the lying, the racism
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is not all in them, but it also resides in us. We are not exempt and
we are not free from all the dismissive political distances that we
try to create.

The hypocrisy is when people go through all of the denunciations of
the other over legitimacy and brutality, over legalities and
dictatorship, and fail in acknowledging this mirror that reflects back
on this country first and foremost.

There is some Nicolas Maduro
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Ali Hosseini Khamenei in us. Vladimir Putin
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that Hamas is in us and has always been part of who we are. We find
that Palestinian dismissal resides in so many of us as it does in
Benjamin Netanyahu
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objections and realize in so many instances there is a mirror that
projects a reflection onto ourselves, and we discover them is in us.

I am astounded that given all of the vigorous and vehement
denunciations and dismissal of Iran, Venezuela
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Hamas there are still four fingers pointing back at us. If we look
closely enough, we find all of the criticisms and flaws that we
recognize in the other and our strong objections are mirrored in this
government and in this historical moment in this country.

Murders do not just happen with the brutality of other governments but
happens in Minneapolis with the killing of Renee Good. That murder
happened not too far from where George Floyd
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point out the roundup [[link removed]] of
people in other countries we must remind ourselves of the undocumented
immigrants and US citizens that the Trump administration
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More than 328,000 have been disappeared in the illegal and
unconstitutional sweeps carried out by the administration. 327,000
have been deported. At least 22 have died in ICE custody. Most of the
facilities are operated by private corporations that have raked in
huge profits like the GEO Group.

Just as this administration is obsessed with crushing Tren de Aragua,
a notorious gang with reaches from Venezuela into the US, the
parallels are frightening with the US reaching into Venezuela creating
a vassal state, stealing oil [[link removed]]
and other resources, claiming that they have a right to do so, and
arrogantly stating that they are running the government. There are
four fingers pointing back at us.

The sheer arrogance of demanding that Greenland
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the hard way or the easy way points to the rogue status of the US.
There are many other examples of racism, hatred, cruelty, brutality,
the looting of other countries, the demanding of rare earths, and in
general street racketeering but on a broader scale. The expression of
this current moment with the US government is that it is expressed in
theft, fear, bullying, and simple old street protection and
racketeering. There are four fingers pointing at this government and
this country.

The Fellowship of Reconciliation-USA, the oldest peace and justice
nonviolent organization in the country, embraces this hard truth. They
are us, and we urge that we move away from the paradigm of the other
and, almost in confession, that leads to contrition that what the
country claims as the other is us, and four fingers are pointing back
upon us. Our humanity demands that we cease with claiming the evil in
others without recognizing it in ourselves.

The hypocrisy is when people go through all of the denunciations of
the other over legitimacy and brutality, over legalities and
dictatorship, and fail in acknowledging this mirror that reflects back
on this country first and foremost. Our claims of deep immorality,
where objections are strongly expressed, belong to us. If we are going
to denounce any place to gain credibility in our analysis or
criticisms, then the talking heads and the experts need to state that
this is us in all of the shapes and forms of political repression and
immorality. They are us, and our denunciations begin at home—stating
that we are strongly opposed to what is happening in the US, and that
we do not agree with the images and political agenda in the US just
like we do not agree with what is happening abroad. The reflections of
the flaws of other places and countries is namely a reflection of us
and on us, and four fingers are pointing back at us.

 

_Rev. Graylan Scott Hagler is an advisor with FOR-USA and the founder
and president of Faith Strategies USA. Until retiring from his
position in 2022 Hagler was Senior Minister at Plymouth Congregational
United Church of Christ in Washington, D.C._

 

_Founded in 1997, Common Dreams is a reader-supported, independent
news outlet created as a new model for media. We are a nonprofit
501(c)(3) organization committed to delivering free, accessible
journalism that keeps millions of readers informed, engaged, and
motivated._

_We are optimists. We believe meaningful change is possible—but only
when well-informed, well-intentioned, and determined people demand it.
Together, we believe we can achieve our common dreams._

 

* U.S. imperialism
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* Racism
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* ICE
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* George Floyd
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* Renee Nicole Good
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