Everyone has the capacity to be a hypocrite. We don't do it on purpose, mostly, but it is certainly a very human capacity. I have railed against guns here and elsewhere, demanding activism and change, but have done very little outside that railing except sign some petitions and e-mail my congress. Bit hypocritical. But the rampant, over-the-top raging hypocrisy seen in American politics today is a different beast altogether, especially on the right. Here are some examples:
- they only insist on respect for the President when it is their President. Remember when journalists and others were digging into the possibility that George W. Bush might have blown a little grass, or worse, when his National Guard service was under scrutiny during the 2004 campaign? Do you also remember how republicans in Congress went apeshit over it? They did, including statements on the floor condemning anyone who would dare impugn the reputation of a sitting president and demanding that even if you don't like his policies you must respect the office. Where are they now with the sitting president being compared to Hitler, called a socialist/communist/Marxist (which is funny in and of itself since many of the people making these comparisons seem to think that those are all the same thing), or worse. None of them are speaking out against Drudge or O'Reilly (who ironically enough actually chastised someone for not respecting the office, but that was for interrupting him, not calling him names) or, more shockingly, trying to rein in their own colleagues of whom Paul Broun is the most glaring and extreme example. (Do some digging on this assclown - it will blow your mind. But I digress.)
- they are Pro-Life and Pro-death. They craft legislation to protect the unborn (calm down people, I am not debating abortion, at least not right here) but also continue to support the death penalty. There are definitely ways to reconcile this seeming contradiction - convoluted and questionable ways - but not when you are using the "sanctity of human life" argument for one and ignoring it for the other. Not to mention the inherent hypocrisy on just the pro-death side of the argument: if you choose to kill someone we choose to kill you. What?
- they rant about the "law of the land" when it supports their arguments - 2nd amendment to prevent gun control, filibuster (don't get me started on this one) when they are in the minority - but trample and manipulate those same laws when they don't - gerrymandering congressional districts for voting and to try and change electoral college guidelines.
- they stomp their feet and pound their chests about tradition and values (the very definition of conservatism after all) when it suits them but are more than willing to overthrow those same ideals to get what they want. A very recent example of this came up this week when they threatened to filibuster Hagel's confirmation even though it has never been done, no matter how much they hated the nominee.
- they accuse the democrats of being financially irresponsible but they are the party to hold the American economy hostage - the debt ceiling, the so-called fiscal cliff and sequestration - to forward other goals. Now that's irresponsible.
- they tolerate questionable sexual behavior in their own ranks far more than across the aisle. Anthony Weiner was drummed out of office for tweeting naughty photos (not illegal) but Ken Calvert gets caught by police with a prostitute with his pants down - literally (illegal), but still proudly serves in Congress.
I could go on, but my indignation is getting in my way and I am discouraged by how easy it was to populate this list and how easy it would be to keep going. I had thought of closing with "Does their hypocrisy know no bounds?" but the clear answer is no.
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