Thread: Hypocrisy As Policy

Hypocrisy As Policy

Herbert London — May 23, 2013





Rarely in the history of this republic has hypocrisy been a public policy position. As Rochfoucaud noted hypocrisy is the tribute vice pays virtue. But suppose virtue has nothing to do with it. Suppose hypocrisy becomes a way to deceive and deflect criticism.
Two recent examples prove this point.
Recently President Obama argued that there was confusion surrounding the events in Benghazi that led to the death of four Americans including the ambassador. He contends that every effort would have been made to save Americans if we knew the extent of their parlous state.
However, we did know something about conditions in Libya since a request was made for reinforcements in the embassy months before the actual attack.
The president also indicated he was aware of the terrorist nature of the assault and acknowledged it as a terrorist orchestrated event. Yet when the U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice spoke about the matter with the approval of the White House, she referred to it as an incident inspired by a film (aka trailer) dealing with the Prophet Mohammed. In fact, this was the standard line from the White House for several weeks until this position was thoroughly discredited.
President Obama said every effort will be made to get to the bottom of this incident. Yet the memos describing the events in Benghazi were altered. Former CIA director Petraeus expressed frustration at the new, scrubbed talking points, noting that they had been stripped of much of the content his agency had provided.
Secretary of State Clinton, during her testimony said “what difference does it make.” Presumably the testimony will not bring those Americans back to life. But it makes a difference for those who believe in the truth and the manner in which government conducts its affairs. Igor Stravinsky once noted that “the old original sin was one of knowledge, the new original sin is one of nonacknowledgement.” Alas the new sin surrounds us.
In a similar vein, President Obama claims to be outraged over revelations the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) used its coercive power to penalize conservative and tea party groups. The president went on to say an investigation was underway to ferret out those responsible for these actions at this “independent agency.”
What the president failed to note is that the IRS is not an independent agency. It is under the control of the same president who claims to be outraged by its practices. This is a little like a baseball manager saying he is outraged by the fact his players are using corked bats to gain a hitting advantage even though it is against baseball rules. Doesn’t he have to assume responsibility for this violation?
Already there are calls from Secretary of State John Kerry to “move on” from Benghazi. More recently, Democratic leaders said now that the president has acknowledged the unfair practices at the IRS, it is time to put that matter to bed. However, many Americans cannot move on until outstanding matters on both fronts are addressed.
Hypocrisy will not disappear from public life with both parties often culpable, but rarely do we find ourselves in a position where hypocrisy is the policy. The truth is a casualty of casuistry and double-talk is the language of politics. Now we see that through this shell game lives can be lost and institutions can be damaged.
Politics may not be bean ball, but it should be more than sophistry. At the moment, however, that does not appear to be the case.

Guest columns do not necessarily reflect the views of Accuracy in Media or its staff.

http://www.aim.org/guest-column/hypo...9b38-224224701


Flim Flam administration at work!!!

February 21, 2014 Hypocrisy, thy name is John Kerry


By Ethel C. Fenig
Fleeing his failed diplomatic Middle East efforts, noted nonscientist Secretary of State John Kerry flitted off to Indonesia where he exuded hot air bloviating about (hu)man caused climate change as a weapon of mass destruction as noted here earlier.
However, by Kerry's reasoning, the ongoing slaughter in Syria is nothing compared to Kerry's own contribution to manmade climate change/worse than any weapon of mass destruction, blah, blah, blah. How so? John Kerry is not a flappy bird moving from place to place under his own power. So how does he get around? Why, by planes. Big ones. As Jim Geraghty of National Review Online helpfully pointed out, Kerry's whirlwind travels from continent to continent to continent plus intracontinental short hops accelerate the very climate change he decries.

In case you're wondering, flying first class from Washington to Seoul to Beijing to Jakarta to Abu Dhabi and then back to Washington runs up roughly 12.16 metric tons of carbon dioxide, according to CarbonFootprint.com, which uses data from the EPA and Department of Energy.
The average American generates about 19 tons of carbon dioxide in a year.
So in one week, just from flying from meeting to meeting, Kerry generated about two-thirds the carbon output of the average American in one year.

Geraghty's solution?

Clearly, he should cut down on the air travel and set an example for the rest of us. After all, we shouldn't "allow any room for those who think that the costs associated with doing the right thing outweigh the benefits."

Great idea. So to further help John Kerry reduce his deadly carbon dioxide emissions, here are a few suggestions.
In the interests of avoiding climate change and contributing to WMDs, not to mention doing something about that Democratic bugaboo of income and housing inequality, Kerry should convince his one per cent wife Theresa Heinz-Kerry to convert and sell her four carbon dioxide emitting mansions into public housing for minimum wage workers while he sells his Beacon Hill abode in Boston. They can then take up residence in a simple 2000 square foot apartment suitable for all the entertaining necessary for his job.

Fox Chapel, Pennsylvania

Ketchum, Idaho ski getaway/vacation home

Washington, D.C -- Georgetown area

Nantucket, Massachusetts waterfront retreat on Brant Point

Boston, Massachusetts -- Beacon Hill home

Or perhaps Kerry will be willing to sacrifice his $7,000,000 yacht -- which he docked in neighboring Rhode Island to avoid his home state's $500,000 luxury tax which he voted for before moving against it.
Yachts that size also generate weapons of mass destruction, ie, carbon dioxide, powerful enough to destroy Arctic ice by oh, 2020 or so, he predicted a few years ago. (Arctic ice is thriving, thank you very much.)

Ironically, God and/or Mother Nature (calm down!) -caused climate change forces disrupted Kerry's jaunt to Indonesia.

The speech came against the backdrop of the eruption of the Mount Kelud volcano that disrupted air travel in the region and forced the cancellation of Kerry's planned meeting today with President SusiloBambangYudhoyono

About 200 years ago another explosive volcanic eruption, also in Indonesia, resulted in a vast worldwide natural climate change.

The most destructive explosion on earth in the past 10,000 years was the eruption of an obscure volcano in Indonesia called Mount Tambora. More than 13,000 feet high, Tambora blew up in 1815 and blasted 12 cubic miles of gases, dust, and rock into the atmosphere and onto the island of Sumbawa and the surrounding area. Rivers of incandescent ash poured down the mountain's flanks and burned grasslands and forests. The ground shook, sending tsunamis racing across the Java Sea. An estimated 10,000 of the island's inhabitants died instantly.
It's the eruption's far-flung consequences, however, that have most intrigued scholars and scientists. They have studied how debris from the volcano shrouded and chilled parts of the planet for many months, contributing to crop failure and famine in North America and epidemics in Europe. Climate experts believe that Tambora was partly responsible for the unseasonable chill that afflicted much of the Northern Hemisphere in 1816, known as the "year without a summer." Tamboran gloom may have even played a part in the creation of one of the 19th century's most enduring fictional characters, Dr. Frankenstein's monster.
The eruption of Tambora was ten times more powerful than that of Krakatau, which is 900 miles away. But Krakatau is more widely known, partly because it erupted in 1883, after the invention of the telegraph, which spread the news quickly. Word of Tambora traveled no faster than a sailing ship, limiting its notoriety. In my 40 years of geological work I had never heard of Tambora until a couple of years ago when I started researching a book on enormous natural disasters.

Indonesia, Indonesia... Oh, that's where President Barack Hussein Obama (D) spent several of his formative years while his struggling single mother did her anthropological research financed with a U.S. government grant while married to an upper level Indonesian civil servant.
Hypocrisy and irony. John Kerry, go flap your wings and fly to your yacht.

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