I don't think anyone is arguing that many nations, including democracies like the U.S., are infallible and haven't done awful things in the past (and probably are doing some awful things now and probably will in the future), but I can tell you that I would much rather live in a world where the U.S. and countries with similar democratic values and at least some measure of accountability have the tools needed to stand up to dictatorships and authoritarianism. We can see how bad those societies are not just for the people that live under them (ex. however flawed the American political system, I appreciate being able to have a real choice when I vote instead of a phony election), but for how they try to force their will on the rest of the world (Russia in Ukraine being the most obvious example). I hate that we need weapons and force to protect our values, I really do, but I just don't see any real alternative to being able and willing to fight when necessary.
Not every case will fit the parent’s criteria but it’s important to understand how the US’ realpolitik has affected the world. We (the US) are not always the white knight.
The U.S. makes mistakes in terms of doing the wrong thing. But because it’s a democracy, it is capable of recognizing those mistakes and attempting to make amends. For example the internment of people of Japanese descent during world war 2, it was terrible for the folks rounded up and put into camps. It took 40 years, but we acknowledged it was wrong.
“In 1988, Congress passed, and President Reagan signed, Public Law 100-383 – the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 – that acknowledged the injustice of "internment," apologized for it, and provided a $20,000 cash payment to each person who was incarcerated.”
If you are in a dictatorship, that acknowledgement of a past wrong is absolutely impossible. That’s why democracy is so important. George Takei makes this point much more eloquently that I ever could, and it’s why he believes so strongly in democracy.
Yes, that was the whole point, he explicitly went around apologizing for Stalin and a lot of the stuff he did.. Rehabilitation of Volga germans, freeing political prisoners, partial? abolition of prison labor, shaming/removing Stalin's lieutenants, etc.
>There was no apology for Holodomor
There wasn't any apology for that, not that I'm aware of.
I think they are commenting on atlassianshrugged's tacit assumption that american foreign policy and military power is always used in support of democracy against totalitarianism, with a sarcastic reference to a socialist democracy that the CIA helped overthrow and replace with a military Junta.