Monday, May 11, 2009

Hypocrisy 101


When we're tots on the playground, we learn pretty quickly that we can't righteously tattle on a friend who's just hit us if we pinched the other kid first. It's one of life's first lessons. Basic intelligence. Common sense. And yet...

Wanda Sykes, President Obama, and the media have the audacity to be appalled at Rush Limbaugh's comment that he "hopes this administration fails." Speaking at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, Wanda was so offended by the conservative radio host's words, she went so far as to call them treason. The audience must have laughed long and hard at that one... Aaah, Sykes is funny!

If Wanda is declaring that strong verbiage against an administration is "treason" (let's toss aside the First Amendment for a second), then Bill Maher and Keith Olbermann are in some serious trouble...

When Bill Maher, a liberal commentator, called America "cowardly" after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and implied that the terrorists flying the planes that hit the World Trade Center were brave, his comments were considered so treasonous that he was promptly awarded the L.A. Press Club's highest honor, the President's Award for, "championing free speech"...just six days after sponsors had pulled advertising, causing ABC to cancel his show.

(Mr. Limbaugh, get your tux ready: unbiased logic states that the L.A. Press Club will be awarding you next... Right?) Hmm...

And what does Wanda think about Keith Olbermann's treasonous demand that President Bush resign because, according to Olbermann, Bush discarded the wishes of all those who "didn't vote for him," and was "too partisan." (Are you catching on to the irony and hypocrisy yet?)

Mean words hurt. Personal attacks are ugly. But let's be real. President Bush was the butt of jokes and the target of bitter liberal-commentator rants for years. And without any censure from the media. If Obama is now finding himself the butt of jokes and conservative-commentator rants, it is clearly ridiculous to be surprised, indignant, or offended. (Wanda, seriously...seriously.)

As Bill Maher himself said: "the patriotic thing to do is to critique [one's] country." (Let's not forget this guy is an award-winner for free speech - he knows what he's talking about...well, so says the media, anyway.) And Keith Olbermann declared it is completely expected that a public (Limbaugh included) should call for a president's resignation the moment a president becomes too, um...partisan. Therefore, Wanda, according to Maher and Olbermann's own logic, Limbaugh is simply a patriot acting in a normal fashion... Why all the hoopla?

Media, I'm going to have to give you a ten-minute TIME OUT for blatant hypocrisy in flying off the handle over Mr. Limbaugh's comments. I'm actually a little embarrassed for you, so let's just leave it at that...

2 comments:

  1. I am appalled at the comments made by Wanda Sykes. On boards across the web I read posts by many individuals who claim conservatives or Republicans are mean spirited, hateful, racist, bigoted etc hate mongers. They refuse to see their own behavior. They refuse to see the utter vileness of comments such as these, laugh at them and find them somehow acceptable, rather than the hypocritical, vicious, and mean spirited attacks they are. There are vicious people in every group, and there are those who must believe they are not only right, but righteous. Sadly, too many are blind to their own bad apples and choose to believe every member of their group is pure as the driven snow.

    I truly wish we could all, at the very least, respectfully agree to disagree, and stop the personal attacks. It is one thing to attack another persons position or ideology and another to attack one's character and personal life struggles. Addiction is a disease which kills millions every year. It is not something to laugh about or use to put another down. It is a miracle when an active addict can come back from the brink of social and actual death. The struggle for life every addict fights every day of sobriety is tough. Those who manage it should be applauded and cheered, held as a role model for other addicts to demonstrate that one can overcome and win out, can rebuild a life.

    I won't even get into the truly unspeakable vileness of calling anyone who simply opposes a Presidents policies treasonous.

    ReplyDelete
  2. thank you...well said.

    the hypocrisy is stunning... it makes me speechless

    ReplyDelete