Welcome to the deliciously rich and absurdly contradictory world of American politics. Our protagonist? None other than US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. In a recent fit of what I can only call momentary amnesia, Yellen urged China to up its climate change spending game. Quite the pot-calling-the-kettle-black scenario if you ask me.

Now, let’s back it up a bit, shall we? Picture this: Yellen, standing tall, her voice echoing with the gravitas one expects of a Treasury Secretary. She boldly proclaims to China, “Spend more on climate change, you must!” (or something akin to that in less Yoda-esque terms). The irony? It’s as rich as a triple-layer chocolate cake and just as hard to swallow.

Chinese factory putting smoke in the air
“Stop this pollution; you will!!” Yoda-Yellen making more demands. SOFREP’s imagination of a typical Chinese factory.

Remember, we’re talking about a representative of a country with a carbon footprint that could squash most other nations flat, like an overeager sumo wrestler. And yet, Yellen seems as content as a rat in a New York subway to skip over America’s own shortcomings and point the finger at China.

The audacity of it…reminds me of the US trying to gain moral high ground with Russia.

But then again, what can we expect from our political pundits? Short-sightedness seems to be a prerequisite for the job these days.

After all, why tackle difficult home-grown issues when you can conveniently deflect attention onto someone else? It’s the American political playbook, older than a vintage bottle of bourbon and twice as intoxicating but I prefer the bourbon hangover to the political one.

The fact is, China isn’t exactly a naive, wide-eyed lamb in the sphere of international climate politics. They’ve made a game of playing the West’s climate guilt like a finely tuned violin, all while conveniently neglecting their own coal-fired kettle that’s happily boiling away. Yellen’s sudden plea reeks of the desperation of a gambler doubling down on a losing hand.

So here we are, folks. In the grand circus of American politics, where Treasury Secretaries forget their own backyard mess and demand cleanliness from others. A world where short-sighted political pundits are as common as seagulls at a beach picnic and twice as noisy.