Stunning Hypocrisy, part II

Rob O'Neill on why people get so annoyed by American hypocrisy:

They [The US] claim to be better, the best in fact, so, not unreasonably, we expect better of them.

And when they behave like anyone else, we get disappointed. And vaguely nervous, because if America can go from being (rightly looked upon as) a beacon of freedom to a country which engages in arbitrary detention, torture and even extra-judicial execution in two short years, where does that leave the rest of us?