This past week, the news cycle has been fast and furious. If you’ve blinked, then you’ve missed something. Not necessarily the stories, but the truth. The actors have said one thing, and then have done another. They’ve stood on principle - or so they’ve said - then stood on someone else’s. Of course, I’m sick of it, but this appears to be the American Way.

I continue to wonder how people in this country continue to express their pride in a country that reverses all they say they believe in: truth, justice, fairness and honor. Then we see episode after episode of just the opposite. I’ll start with the Palestinian bid for statehood - autonomy - in the United Nations. America says it stands for independent, democratic nations, but vowed to block Palestine’s efforts at that independence.

Just last weekend on the morning talk shows, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu said, “It’s because of them…I said to President Abbas, ‘Look, we’re in the same city, we’re in the same building, for God’s sake, the U.N. Let’s just sit down and begin to talk peace’.” That’s the snow job I’m talking about! If that was the case, then why is it that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned Sunday that Israel is becoming increasingly isolated in the Middle East - as he traveled to the Middle East? He also said Israeli leaders must restart negotiations with the Palestinians and work to restore relations with Egypt and Turkey. Did Netanyahu lie? I’d say so…but the U.S. still stands by Israel…the liar?

Or Amanda Knox…help me out here. An American travels to another country, and gets caught up in a murder…and Americans become enthralled with the titillating details and back her. With all kinds of reasonable doubt surrounding her conviction, I’d say America should support her - or any other American for that matter - but of course, it doesn’t. Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis has all kinds of reasonable doubt in his case and the morning news misses him - until three days prior to his execution date. He gets executed; she gets off - in another country, no less! Guess what? She’s white, he’s black…funny how that happens.

On another contradiction, Republicans are vying for leadership of this country. Candidates for their party’s nomination are jockeying for position. They’re clamoring for yet another “savior” in a guy who said he doesn’t want to run, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, while the last “great white hope” they chose, turned out to be an unstellar performer and undercover racist. Like our last president from Texas, he would’ve been a denier of truth, too.

You see, Texas Governor Rick Perry was outed by the Washington Post. Some time in the not too distant past, when Perry took friends, fellow legislators or campaign donors to his hunting camp, they passed the word “Niggerhead” painted on a rock. As the Washington Post reported Saturday, “Niggerhead” stood for the long-ago name of the Perry family’s hunting camp. Niggerhead, huh? And he says he wants to represent all the American people. That would include me…a Black American man. Imagine that?

Perry told the Post that the name had been blotted out with paint as soon as his father purchased the property, the rock turned over to hide the traces of it. But the newspaper found multiple sources and some photographic evidence to contradict that claim. I’m not surprised. It ought to have been easy to find those people, because Republicans are some of the biggest liars I’ve come across in my 30-odd years of manhood.

This may have been a tactic to further cripple Perry’s chances at the nomination and sweep Chris Christie (R) in, but if so, why would you give someone ammunition like this to shoot holes in your future ambitions? Or maybe, it’s just who you truly are.

Sort of like the all-American Hank Williams, Jr. Every Black boy I grew up with embraced the Monday Night Football theme that opened one of America’s great pastimes. We thought Williams - a good ol’ boy - liked us. Then we find that ESPN is not ready to let Hank Williams Jr. open last night’s game after his incendiary comment about President Obama on Fox News (oh, them again).

The country singer criticized the president’s recent “golf summit” with Republican House Speaker John Boehner. The singer told Fox & Friends that the meeting “would be like Hitler playing golf with [Israeli leader] Benjamin Netanyahu.” Which one do you think he’s calling Hitler?

Williams’ voice is famously used to open Monday Night Football, asking viewers “are you ready for some football?” ESPN released this statement separating itself from Williams: “We are extremely disappointed with his comments, and as a result we have decided to pull the open from tonight’s telecast.” Now, if that’s not uniting America…

Williams explained during the Fox News telecast that he made the comparison because the president was “the enemy.” The enemy? Williams supports warhawk Republicans and Obama assassinates an American citizen, Anwar al-Awlaki, against all that is right and humane, and you call him your enemy? Obama just did your bidding, Williams…

And on another note, our country wants us to support capitalism and patronize American corporations. Our country touts the First Amendment, but when we protest those corporations that do wrong to and by the American people, the private corporations are paying the public police agencies to quell protestors. In Minneapolis, St. Paul, during the 2008 RNC convention, they negotiated a special insurance provision with the Republican host committee so that the first $10 million in liabilities for lawsuits arising from the police crackdown would be covered by the host committee. The same thing happened in Denver for the Democratic convention.

But more to the point, it becomes clearer day-by-day-by-day that America is the land of contradiction. It says it wants to be a “shining light on the hill”, but acts like the dirtiest, darkest hole in the galaxy. It continues to depict itself as a bastion of truth, but keeps lying to us. Though it’s depicted as truth, justice and honor, it’s simply a contradiction… “the American Way.”

BlackCommentator.com Columnist, Perry Redd, is the former Executive Director of the workers rights advocacy, Sincere Seven, and author of the on-line commentary, “The Other Side of the Tracks.” He is the host of the internet-based talk radio show, Socially Speaking in Washington, DC. Click here to contact Mr. Redd.