Common Hypocrisy

A Hollywood Republican ^ | 05/16/11 | Tim Ross

[MrTim29]

I recently received a barrage of Facebook posts from my Leftist friends regarding Jon Stewart of the “The Daily Show” and his rant on the so-called hypocrisy of Sean Hannity and Fox News over the rapper Common’s invitation to the White House. Democrats accusing Republicans of hypocrisy… how ironic.

My first reaction to the story was that my friends don’t understand the definition of hypocrisy. Quite simply, hypocrisy is the act of stating beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually personally hold or possess. In other words, it is saying one thing and doing the opposite.

So, when Hannity and Fox News was critical of the White House for inviting a rapper whose contribution to American culture include rap lyrics that support cop killers, call for the killing of cops, call for the killing of a U.S. President, and are otherwise racist and sexist, what did Hannity and Fox News do in contradiction to make themselves hypocrites? Nada. Nothing. Zilch. Zip.

Jon Stewart mentioned many things he felt were hypocritical, but they weren’t…. they were more ironic. For example, Fox News ran a series of interviews with its pundits highlighting Common’s cop killer lyrics in his music, followed by a happy birthday message to Ice-T, who also had cop killer lyrics in his music. That is not saying one thing and doing the other… that’s just ironic.

Stewart’s closest and best example is some footage he shows of President George W. Bush honoring Johnny Cash at the National Arts & Humanities Awards in 2002. But this missed rising to the level of hypocrisy as well because it wasn’t comparable. First, the footage Stewart showed was from CSPAN and not Fox News. Second, the event took place at the Constitution Hall, not the White House. Third, Common’s controversial lyrics are a call to action (I got the black strap to make the cops run, when we roll together with a strapped gun, we're going to be rocking them to sleep”), whereas Johnny Cash’s controversial lyrics were of a fictional story (I shot a man in Reno, just to see him die). And lastly, there was no commentary from Fox News or Sean Hannity regarding the 2002 event to use as a comparison. File this one in the false analogy section.

To borrow from George Orwell, “It needed also a sort of athleticism of mind, an ability at one moment to make the most delicate use of logic and at the next to be unconscious of the crudest logical errors.”

Hypocrisy is not irony. Hypocrisy is not a false analogy. People are free to espouse their opinions. It’s when their opinions are contradictory to their actions that hypocrisy is born. Here are some real life examples:

• Democrats give passionate speeches on raising and paying taxes because it is America’s “patriotic duty;” however, so many Democrats fail to pay their own taxes or find ways to reduce their taxes: A. Timothy Geithner failed to pay $35,000 in self-employment taxes he owed B. Tom Daschle failed to pay more than $100,000 in back taxes C. Charles Rangel failed to report $75,000 in rental income D. John Kerry purchased a $7 million yacht and moored it in Rhode Island instead of Massachusetts so that he could avoid paying $437,500 in sales tax and an annual excise tax of about $70,000

• Obama promised to use public funding in the general election if the Republican candidate would do the same. McCain used public funding, but when Obama realized that he could raise more than triple the public stipend, he reneged on the deal.

• Defending his Libya policy, President Obama declared, “Some nations may be able to turn a blind eye to atrocities in other countries. The United States of America is different.” Yet, he has turned a blind eye to all the atrocities happening in Ivory Coast, Syria and North Korea.

• The Left spoke of the immorality of waterboarding the “principal architect of the 9/11 attacks,” Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, yet champion the morality of murdering head of al-Queda, Osama bin Laden.

• The Left often compared President Bush or Governor Walker to Hitler, but comparing Obama to Hitler is “controversial” and deserves harsh criticism.

• The Left lambasted “war monger” President Bush for invading Iraq even with Congressional authority, they then cheered on Nobel Peace Prize winning President Obama as he fired over 100 missiles into Libya without Congressional authority and is complicit in the active pursuit to assassinate it’s leader, Muammar Gaddafi.

• Obama voted with several other Democrats against raising the debt ceiling when he was a Senator during Bush’s presidency, but now as President himself facing the same issue, he is asking Republicans to vote to raise the debt ceiling.

• Obamacare mandates that everyone in the country have health insurance or be subject to a fine and even imprisonment. Health insurers and companies that provide health insurance to its employees must meet certain federal mandates, yet Obama has provided over 1,300 different waivers (including several unions and at least four different states) that would exclude the entities from the requirements.

• In 2007, Obama said that the U.S. should begin pulling out one to two combat brigades each month, with all troops out by the end of 2008. After being elected, he said he would have all troops out of Iraq by August 31, 2010. After two and a half years as Commander in Chief, there are still approximately 50,000 American soldiers in Iraq with yet a new promise to bring them home by the end of 2011.

• Obama singed an executive order barring officials of his administration from lobbying their former colleagues “for as long as I am president.” He also barred former lobbyists from working for agencies they had lobbied within the past two years; however, within two weeks of signing his own executive order, he appointed more than 17 lobbyists to his administration.

• In 2008, Obama stated, “I will finally end the abuse of no-bid contracts once and for all… The days of sweetheart deals for Halliburton will be over when I’m in the White House.” And even after becoming President, he continued the same rhetoric that he would “end unnecessary no-bid and cost-plus contracts.” And that “In some cases, contracts are awarded without competition… And that’s completely unacceptable.” Shortly thereafter, it was revealed that KBR, a former subsidiary of Halliburton, was awarded a no-bid contract worth $568 million and that Checchi & Company Consulting, a Washington-based firmed owned by Democratic donor Vincent Checchi, was awarded a no-bid contract of more than $24 million to train lawyers and judges in Afghanistan.

• The Left feigned “outrage” when energy executives met in secret with Vice President Dick Cheney and the public questioned their influence on the President’s energy plan. The Bush administration claimed “Presidential Communication Privilege,” and never released the names. However, where are all the Leftists now that President Obama has done the exact same thing with Obamacare. Fourteen different executives involved with the drug, medical, and hospital industries, went to the White House to advise Obama on the health care reform bill. When asked for the names, the Secret Service cited “Presidential Communication Privilege” for their decision not to disclose this list.

• Obama claims that this is the most transparent administration in history; however, his administration has censored nearly 200 pages of internal emails about their efforts to make government more transparent.

• In 2005 Obama criticized Bush for making recess appointments, particularly when Bush bypassed the Senate when he appointed John Bolton as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations; however, Obama appointed a controversial pro-labor radical, Craig Becker, to the National Labor Relations Board as a recess appointment.

• Those on the Left have pushed for major bans on smoking, yet work tirelessly to pass smoking illegal drugs.

• Democrats are critical of abortion-seeking women from getting mandatory ultrasounds prior to their procedure, yet endorse bills that would force every single person to be an organ donor. Is it your body or not?!

• Those in the Democrat Party, a political party with a long sad racist history voted year after year for candidates like Robert “KKK” Byrd and even have major KKK leaders running as Democrat candidates in current elections, like John Paul Rogers running for Mayor in Wales, Florida, call Republicans racists.

• Former Democrat Rep. Paul Kanjorski wrote an op-ed in the NYT, “We all lose an element of freedom when security considerations distance public officials from the people. Therefore, it is incumbent on all Americans to create an atmosphere of civility and respect in which political discourse can flow freely, without fear of violent confrontation.” Kinda hypocritical for a guy who said just a couple months prior, “That [Rick] Scott down there that’s running for governor of Florida. Instead of running for governor of Florida, they ought to have him and shoot him. Put him against the wall and shoot him.”

• Democrats promote and force “green initiatives” on the People, however, they fly in large private jets all across the country (Pelosi), live in mansions that require the same amount of electricity to power an entire city block (Kerry), and enjoy keeping their gas guzzling limos running while they give speeches because they don’t like the weather outside and want to be comfortable when they get back in their luxury mobiles (Gore).

• Obama went to El Paso, TX last week and gave a speech on immigration that complained about “politicians” blocking comprehensive immigration bills; however, his own administration has used the legal system to block Arizona’s immigration bills and in 2007 he voted for amendments that killed a bipartisan Kyl-Kennedy immigration bill.

One last bit about the real hypocrisy surrounding the White House poet slam.

Obama, in the past, has lamented those U.S. states that banned interracial marriage at the time of his birth. Also, when he was asked in 2007 about the difference between interracial marriage and gay marriage, he said, “…we've got to make sure that everybody is equal under the law.” Clearly, he is an advocate of interracial marriage.

And not to be left out of the conversation, Jon Stewart was critical of Bob Jones University on his show in 2000 because it banned interracial dating and he recently aired a skit in which an interracial couple began to “make a baby” on his desk as the segment ended and they went to commercial. Seemingly, he approves of interracial relationships.

However, absent from Stewart’s hypocritical piece was the fact that Common and Jill Scott, another poet invited to the same White House event, are both openly against interracial relationships. Jill Scott has said, “These harsh truths lead to what we really feel when we see a seemingly together brother with a Caucasian woman and their children. That feeling is betrayed.” And Common has said, “I disagree with [mixed race relationships]. It’s a lack of self-love. It’s a problem.” Yet, all this is overlooked. Talk about hypocrisy.

So where’s their outrage? Why is Stewart feigning outrage at his notion that Hannity and Fox News are hypocritical when he clearly – and hypocritically – omits the elephant in the room… the blatant hypocrisy of Barack Obama, the product of an interracial relationship, inviting those opposed to interracial relationships to the White House?

I don’t know either. I just know it’s ironic.

[Maverick68]

b

[La Lydia]

Hypocrisy is the homage vice pays to virtue. -- Francois de La Rochefoucauld

[Dilbert San Diego]

All of these are good points.

But, since the liberals in the MSM control the message, what is broadcast, and how things are presented, the good points here will never see the light of day.

Where is the conservative Jon Stewart? Such a person, if he existed, would lampoon the Obama administration in the manner in which Stewart and other lampooned Bush. But since there is no conservative Jon Stewart, such satire/lampooning will never see the light of day on broadcast TV.

I think one big irony is that Jon Stewart showcases alleged hypocrisy by Republicans and Fox News. But, they don’t talk about the acceptability of a president hosting rap “musicians”. They don’t talk about the violent and obscene lyrics of rap. Instead, they just criticize anyone who dares say anything about inviting rappers to the White House.

I guess the implication is that to be a good liberal, you have to accept that rap is mainstream now. We have to be “tolerant”.

[240B]

The author missed a big one. Aside from the fact that the Confederacy and the KKK were both Democrat organizations and Lincoln was a Republican. And it was the Democrats that opposed civil rights in the 60s and it was Republicans who pushed it through. Putting that aside for now.

The Left/Democrats proudly and openly call themselves ‘National Socialists’ and yet constantly refer to Republicans, who oppose Socialism as Nazis.

Nazi is an acronym which means exactly ‘National Socialist’.

The Dems are actually counting on the ignorance of Liberals. Liberals don’t seem to realize that Nazi is, in fact, them. They just think stupidly that it is something bad, therefore, it must be right-wing.

Nazis were as Left-wing socialist as you can get. They were the Democrat Party of Germany in the 30s. In fact, many of Obama’s economic/corporate actions since taking power mirror those of Hitler. That is not an accusation, it is simply a fact.

And yet still, ask any ignorant Leftist and they will swear on their mother’s eyes that Nazis, Confederates, and the KKK were all Republicans. And no amount of facts or reality will ever change their minds.

[BufordP]

Nicely done!