There's Hypocrisy, And Then There's Hypocrisy

Governor Sanford angered so many people because of the hypocrisy of what he did. Preaching family values while simultaneously committing adultery, outraging the masses over his hypocritical behavior. He had passed no laws based on family values that cost the tax payers any money, and yet the hypocrisy of his actions was enough to bring him down.

But why is the hypocrisy of an affair the only hypocrisy important enough to end a political career? What about all of the other hypocrisy that's out there in the political arena? And there's a lot of it to be had. Why is that hypocritical behavior immune from punishment, or even admonishment? Why do we only appear to care about one kind of hypocrisy?

How about preaching fiscal responsibility while spending money faster than Paris Hilton on crack? Oh, wait a minute, a bunch of people did lose their jobs over that one.

Let's try this one then. How about screaming about deficit spending and how it is ruining the country, and then quadrupling the deficit? Isn't that hypocrisy? And isn't that hypocrisy going unpunished? In fact, aren't we applauding that behavior while asking them to spend even more?

Here's another one. How about preaching for transparency in politics while simultaneously holding a town hall meeting with staged attendees and pre-screened questions. Isn't that hypocrisy? But that one's OK too I guess.

Next we have preaching bi-partisanship and an end to business as usual, while at the same time blaming the opposing party for everything that's wrong and refusing to include them in any discussions. Hypocrisy? You decide.

Then there's decrying the salary of others while simultaneously voting themselves a raise. Not to mention promoting a cap on salaries, while charging an arm and a leg for their own speaking engagements. Hypocrisy?

This ones my favorite, passing a huge bill that will cost Americans thousands of dollars each in order to reduce CO2 emissions, then climbing in their private jet for a little jaunt home. I won't even ask if this is hypocrisy because if you can't see that one you simply don't want to. Al Gore getting paid millions for his speaking engagements on global warming, but getting to those speeches in his private jet. Hypocrisy!

Try this one. Condemning credit card companies for increasing your interest rate, while working to increase your taxes. Hypocrisy? Maybe.

And of course, how could I forget, preaching tolerance of others and then screaming insults at anybody who disagrees with you. Hypocrisy? Oh yeah, you betcha.

These are the hypocritical actions that have popped into my head. So why is a sexual driven hypocrisy more egregious that the rest of them? And what other hypocrisy do you see? I'd love to know your favorite hypocrisy pet peeve.