It's the Hypocrisy, Stupid!
One of the things that pushes me to the breaking point these days is the just the rampant political hypocrisy that seems to just defy belief. The Alabama governor who cheats on his wife and yet claims the “sanctity of marriage” is why he’s against marriage equality. The Oklahoma State senator busted for hiring a 17 year old boy for sex while voting against transgender and gay rights. Of course, these are mostly Republican politicians. Right? And note I did say most, but certainly not all. It happens on the Democratic side as well. Did I think Anthony Weiner was an idiot for sexting? Yes, the first, second, and third time he got caught. Apparently the stupid is strong with him. But he’s not a hypocrite. The Democrats aren’t the one beating the Bible yelling about “family values” and using it was a weapon against other people. To be honest, I have no interest in anyone else’s sex life. Who you sleep with, regardless of your marital status, is up to you. But you don’t get to use the Bible as a weapon or spout “sanctity of marriage” and “family values” and then get busted for having a little something on the side without me calling it like it is: Hypocrisy.
And it’s not just about sex. It’s basically everything these days. How many times did we hear the Republicans complain about Obama’s golf trips or vacations? And yet not one peep about the almost weekly trips to Mar-A-Lago. How many times did we hear the Republicans complain about the costs of Michelle Obama trips overseas with her daughters and Mom? And yet nothing about the costs of the Trump children jetting around the world requiring Secret Service protection. If the Obamas were making money off his trips to Hawaii then the fury from the right would be overwhelming. I can’t even begin to imagine the nuclear meltdown from the right if Hillary had become President and hired Chelsea into any kind of position at all. Or if she had lied on her clearance form about meeting with Russians. Or if Obama or Hillary had anyone remotely close to their campaign who had ties to the Russians or we registered (or should have been registered) as foreign agents.
On progressive blogs, there’s an acronym for this all too common occurrence. IOKIYAR. It’s OK If You Are Republican. Saying one thing and doing another has become just a fact of life for most Republicans. Basically they are living out the saying: Don’t Do What I Do, Do What I Say. Which basically means they don’t have to follow the rules. They are above the rules. Talk about elitism!
Now none of this is particularly earth shattering. Nor sadly new really. It’s been going on for a while now. But it seems to have increased exponentially with the emergence of our current President. So many Republicans have abandoned their principles in exchange for money or power. Or both. It would be easy to laugh about all of this if it weren’t so sad.