This Is Not A Surprise
Do As I Say (Not As I Do)
by Peter Schweizer
Hypocrisy has proved to be a wonderful weapon for liberals in their war against conservatives. When a pro-family politician gets caught cheating on his wife, or a conservative pundit turns out to have a bad habit or addiction, their enemies use the charge to good effect. Fair enough. But what happens when the spotlights are turned on liberals themselves? Do the supporters of progressive taxes, affirmative action, strict environmental safeguards, and unionized labor practice what they preach? In a word: NO. Do As I Say (Not As I Do): Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy is Hoover Fellow Peter Schweizer's hard-hitting exposé of the contradictions between the public stances and real-life behavior of prominent liberals like Hillary Clinton, Michael Moore, Al Franken, Ted Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi, Ralph Nader, Barbra Streisand, and many more.
by Peter Schweizer
Hypocrisy has proved to be a wonderful weapon for liberals in their war against conservatives. When a pro-family politician gets caught cheating on his wife, or a conservative pundit turns out to have a bad habit or addiction, their enemies use the charge to good effect. Fair enough. But what happens when the spotlights are turned on liberals themselves? Do the supporters of progressive taxes, affirmative action, strict environmental safeguards, and unionized labor practice what they preach? In a word: NO. Do As I Say (Not As I Do): Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy is Hoover Fellow Peter Schweizer's hard-hitting exposé of the contradictions between the public stances and real-life behavior of prominent liberals like Hillary Clinton, Michael Moore, Al Franken, Ted Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi, Ralph Nader, Barbra Streisand, and many more.
posted by BigBubba at 11:00 AM
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12 Comments:
It has been a grand day. All day long Fox has been playing prewar video snips of President Bush talking about Iraqi WMD. That is followed by videos of Senator Rockefeller, Senator Kennedy, Senator Clinton, et al saying essentially the same thing that President Bush said in his clip. How soon we forget (if we are a dimbulb pseudo intellectual progressive liberal demoracists). All in all it has been another day long demoracist wah, wah fest. Most satisfying.
I also went and cast my vote for Texas Proposition Two which will enable our State Constitution to state the obvious - marriage is between a man and a woman. It also strictly prohibits that civil union nonsense. I am hoping that those who are saddened by what is about to happen will consider packing their bags and heading for California or Massachusetts.
As for Ms. Noonan's sense of despondency,
Romans 8:28
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
After some quiet reflection she could then join in with this prayer that is said unknown thousands of times everyday,
I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour. (1 Timothy 2:1-3)
Wow. Great posts by all.
Inter-dependency is great when it's working. But self-reliance trumps it when things are not.
I remember one day, long past, when I first saw the results of my engineering licensing exam that had been posted on a classroom door, and learned that I had passed. With a jubilent heart, I raced to the front of the administration building and performed the long standing ritual of ringing the bell that hung in front of it and proudly declaring at the top of my lungs... "I've got mine" (along with many fellow classmates).
Yes I, and my fellow students, finally had something that we had worked extremely hard for and that no one, not even the administration, could now take away from us. At that moment I felt that I finally had the deed to prosperity sown up, and would be able to stand on my own two feet for the rest of my life. I had earned a potentially well paying and respected role as a member of "the system".
Well, my license has long since expired, and I know longer do much practical engineering work. I've moved beyond thinking that being an important part of the "system" is in any way a deed to prosperity, or even important in the "grand scheme of things".
Me, I'm simply happy now just spending time watching my kids grow up, vicariously living their college struggles, and experiencing a sense of joy watching them successfully participate in the local arts and culture.
Hey, if the wheels are off the track, so be it. We're a capable people. We can build our own trains and lay our own tracks. All we need is to be given the opportunity to do so.
-FJ
Rousseau "Emile" (Book I)
[27:] He who in the civil order wishes to preserve the primacy of the sentiments of nature does not know what he wants. Always in contradiction with himself, always floating between his wishes and his duties, he will be neither a man nor a citizen. He will be good neither for himself nor for others. He will be a man of our day -- a Frenchman, an Englishman, a bourgeois. He will be nothing.
[28:] To be something, to be oneself, and always at one with oneself, one must act as one speaks. One must be decisive about what course to take and must follow that course with vigour and persistence. I am waiting to be shown this prodigy to decide whether he is man or citizen, or how he manages to be both.
[29:] From these necessarily opposite aims come two contrary forms of education -- one is public and common, the other individual and domestic.
[30:] Do you wish to get an idea of public education? Read Plato's Republic. Those who merely judge books by their titles take this for a treatise on politics, but it is the finest treatise on education ever written.
[31:] When people wish to go back to a land of fantasies they cite Plato's institutions. But had Lycurgus put forth his system only in writing, I would have found it to be far more impracticable than Plato's. Plato sought only to purify man's heart, whereas Lycurgus denatured it.
[32:] Public institutions do not and cannot exist, for where there is no longer a homeland there can no longer be citizens. These two words, homeland and citizen, ought to be erased from modern languages. I know very well the reason for this but I do not want to discuss it here; it has nothing to do with my subject.
[33:] I do not consider our ridiculous colleges as public institutions. Nor do I count the education of society, for this education, facing two ways at once, achieves nothing. It is only fit to turn out double men, always seeming to relate everything to others while actually relating nothing to anyone but themselves. These forms of display are common to everybody and deceive no one. They are so much wasted effort.
[34:] From these contradictions arise the one which we experience ceaselessly within ourselves. Drawn this way by nature and that way by men, forced to divide ourselves between divergent impulses, we make a compromise and reach neither goal. Thus buffeted and floating throughout the course of our lives, we end it without having been able to be in harmony with ourselves -- and without having done anything good either for ourselves or for others.
[35:] There remains finally domestic education or the education of nature. But what will a man raised uniquely for himself become for others? If perhaps the proposed double aim could be resolved into one, then by removing man's contradictions we would remove a great obstacle to his happiness. To judge you must see this man full-grown; you must have observed his inclinations, watched his progress, followed his steps. In a word, natural man would have to be known. When you have read this work, I think you will have made some progress in this research.
[36:] What must be done to form this rare man? Without a doubt, very much: it is to prevent anything from being done. When one wishes to go against the wind one can tack; but to keep one's position in a stormy sea one must cast anchor. Beware, young pilot, lest your boat slip its cable or drag its anchor before you know it.
[37:] In the social order where each has his own place a man must be educated for it. If an individual formed for a particular social position happens to leave that position, he is fit for nothing else. His education is only useful when fate agrees with his parents' choice. If not, education harms the student, if only by the prejudices it has given him. In Egypt, where the son was compelled to adopt his father's calling, education had at least a settled aim. But with us, where only the social ranks remain and the men who form them are constantly changing, no one knows if raising one's son for his own class may actually be working against him.
[38:] In the natural order since men are all equal their common vocation is that of man. And whoever is well-raised for that calling cannot badly fulfill anything that relates to it. Whether my pupil is destined for the army, the church, or the law, is of little import. Before his parents chose a vocation for him, nature called him to human life. Life is the trade I want to teach him. Leaving my hands I grant you he will be neither a magistrate, a soldier, nor a priest; he will be first of all a man. All that a man ought to be he will learn as quickly as another. In vain can fortune change his station; he will always be in his right place. " Ocupavi te, fortuna, atque cepi; omnes-que aditus tuos interclusi, ut ad me aspirare non posses."
Machiavelli, "The Prince"...
Alexander never did what he said, Cesare never said what he did.
--Italian Proverb.
Seem's many of our celebrity's and elites have become "tyrants" in their own right as well. Perhaps they lack the rigourous self-discipline and training in virtue necessary for one to be able to consistently "do what one says".
I often reflect upon a question as to which Greek hero of the Iliad was 'best' at accomplishing what he said... Achilles or Odysseus. I once thought it was Achilles [he was after all the son of Thetis and grandson of Nereus (Truth)]. But these days I think I lean towards Odysseus. For although he frequently lied and deceived others, he always accomplished whatever he "willed".
-FJ
Thou nobles savages!!
Quotin' that commie, Rousseau, that apologist for tyrants, Machiavelli!
Stick with the Bible, kids!
prairie dog,
Stick to reading primary sources, son. Sound's like you've been edumachated by too many secondaries.
ps - I like your blog, the little I've seen of it so far. Wonderful style.
-FJ
mr. ducky,
Can I do any of my stuff from "Atlas Shrugged?".
And I'm very happy that you've found financial success in life mr. ducky. I've just always enjoyed my family and the simple life. I guess by the high standards of materialsim, that makes me a "proud failure".
-FJ
Farmer John, I for one appreciate hard charger taxpayers like Mr. Ducky.
Farmer the little Ms. Big Bubbette is not content to stay at home. She is going for some additional medical training. Since I am 100% disabled the V.A. will pay her $830 a month while she is in school. What a country! Thank you Mr. Ducky.
Yes, our Uncle is very generous thanks to mr. ducky and his friends.
Sorry I haven't been around much the last couple of days. I've been trolling a "make fun of Bush" website returning their compliments (dissent.blogspot.com)
I don't think I've made many friends there. I get the reverse FPM, mr. ducky treatment. It was kinda fun at first being the "life of the party" and then getting deliberately ignored by a certain group in the hope I'd go away.
I should be back here next week. I think I've already lost about 10 IQ points.
-FJ
Farmer John, thanks for the tip. I went to the site, for a little Sunday morning amusement, and entered the George Bush caption contest.
I suggest the title, "The Unhinger."
“The Democrats have long been unhinged by this president. They could bear his (Florida-induced) illegitimacy as long as he was weak and seemingly transitional. But when post-9/11 he became a consequential president -- reinventing American foreign policy and dominating the political scene -- they lost it." --Charles Krauthammer
Do you think I will win?
Yes, I went there and saw it. Good job! I've now got a Farmer John wannabe there, posting derogatory Bush comments and claiming to be me. There are apaprently no lengths to which some are prepared to go to discredit others... and our leaders.
-FJ
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