Oh there she goes again, blaming the Republicans for our 4000 dead American troops, our 30,000 injured service people and 100,000 lost Iraqi lives. Rachel Maddow would have you believe that just because Bush started the war in Iraq on specious grounds, that there never were any credible evidence of WMD, that there never was an Al Queda/Saddam connection, that we didn't succeed in establishing a beachhead for the success of democracy in the Middle East, that the UN didn't want our help in enforcing the Oil for Food program, that we should blame, not congratulate, Republicans. The Right on the other hand says Obama should have been praising Bush for the genius of putting more troops in Iraq so that the country could be stabilized. After all, it's great to win a war even if you shouldn't have attacked in the first place, correct? Even if you haven't actually succeeded in your born-again objective of nation building with representative government.
But come on, progressives have got to stop denouncing Republicans for hypocrisy. Because we of the American Left are the big hearted people who don't criticize others for what they can not help. We certainly don't condemn someone for inheriting Lou Gehrig's Disease. We would certainly excuse a small child for being born into poverty, since she had no choice in the condition of her birth. We don't hold the driver of a well-maintained Toyota responsible if the brakes fail and cause an accident, since he didn't design the flawed braking system. Why then, would we continue to criticize Republicans for exhibiting their natural, preordained propensity to hypocrisy? In fact, hypocrisy is so widespread among the right, I believe that scientists will soon discover the Republican hypocrisy gene.
Case in point, apparently poor Glenn Beck's Divine Destiny wasn't completely consistent with traditional Christian teachings. One of the principle speakers at the August 28 rally, the infamous anti-Catholic Pastor John Hagee, also preaches the "Nazis had operated on God's behalf to chase the Jews from Europe and shepherd them to Palestine." Hagee also claims that Hurricane Katrina was God's wrath on the city for its gay pride parade, and the "all Muslims have a mandate to kill Christians and Jews."
Glenn Beck has advised his listeners to flee from churches preaching social justice, even though Matthew 5:3 reads “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." He wants us to buy gold from Goldline so that we can stand proud with the temple moneylenders.
Republicans truly can not restrain their propensity to hypocrisy and therefore are not eligible for liberal attack. We should stop bringing up the way Rush Limbaugh celebrated the sanctity of marriage and the Defense of Marriage Act, defending us from gay marriage, with his fourth wedding. Or mentioning the fact that he underscored the point by hiring openly gay Elton John to sing at the wedding. We should be able to easily follow the entertainer's example and ignore Rush's on-air remarks like "Democrats will bend over, grab the ankles, and say, ‘Have your way with me’” to African American and gay voters."
And speaking of DOMA, what better example of the Republican irresistible draw to hypocrisy than Newt Gingrich's serial affairs while married. This outspoken self-righteous man clearly articulated the importance having an attractive, young healthy wife when running for president. His wife, who was fighting cancer at the time, had no trouble understanding why a newer, fresher Mrs. Gingrich was already auditioning in Newt's bed for the position of future First Lady. She was too patriotic to bring up the Newt's concurrent harassment of Bill Clinton for his indiscretions.
One need not dwell on the serially married to find examples of the Republican hypocrisy gene. Ken Mehlman won the 2005 American Association of Political Consultants “Campaign Manager of the Year” award for his management of the Bush/Cheney presidential ticket." Much of the campaign's success was based on demonization of gay people and preventing gay marriage. At that time, Ken hadn't come to terms with his homosexual identity.
One could go on and on: William Bennett, Drug Czar under George H. W. Bush addicted to gambling, Robert Waltrip, a Bush campaign contributor whose funeral company had to settle a lawsuit over bodies being dug up and dumped in the woods. Not to mention such obvious examples as wide stance Larry Craig and n-word Dr. Laura. And Fox News displaying the banner Fair and Balanced while contributing a million dollars to elect Republican governors. With such overwhelming evidence of an inherited propensity to dissimulation, progressives must cease and desist from criticizing Republicans. In the name of Strom Thurmond's black children.
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