Liberal Hypocrisy

I admit it. At one time in my younger days I was a liberal. I was a strong advocate of free speech and thought everyone should be able to express his or her opinion even if it went against what I advocated. Most liberals were like that at that time. However, I changed as I got older and got into the work force. I became that dreaded word: a conservative. I continue to be a strong advocate for equal opportunity – not special privileges for a few – and strongly believe in freedom of speech. Unfortunately, liberals have changed too – but not in a good way.

Did you ever notice how liberals have become hypocrites in that they say one thing and then do another? Or how the standards they impose on others they don’t impose on themselves.

For example, the Clintons, Gores, and Obamas are strong advocates for public schools and all have opposed the voucher program where middle class and poor folks can send their children to private or charter schools. Well, the Clintons, Gores, and Obamas sent their kids to a private school: the Sidwell Friends School where tuition costs over $35,000 a year. So public education is good for you and me but not for liberals.

Then there is the issue of conservation and concern for the climate. Here is where liberals truly excel. There are many Hollywood liberals who drive a Prius and then arrive to their destination in a private jet. Or the infamous Al Gore who talks about “carbon footprints” and then lives in a 20 room mansion that uses more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year. Or Michael Moore. In his recent divorce proceedings it was revealed that he is worth millions of dollars and owns nine properties one of which is a 10,000 square foot mansion on Torch Lake in Michigan. So, it is important for the average person to maintain a small carbon footprint as long as the liberals can live as lavishly as they like.

Then there is the issue of free speech. Liberals really outdo themselves here. Liberals can rant and rave about conservatives calling them vile names such as they did with Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh. However, if anyone says anything critical about them out come the PC police to silence them. For example, Domino’s Pizza was subject to a boycott because the founder was a religious Catholic and said things about abortion and Chick-fil-A because of the founder’s Christian religious beliefs. I guess freedom of speech only applies to liberal causes.

Or take the issue of concealed carry permits and handguns. Barbara Boxer, Diane Feinstein, and Chuck Schumer don’t want the average individual to be able to carry a handgun. However, Boxer and Feinstein have concealed carry permits handed out by California, a state in which such permits are difficult to obtain. Schumer is reported to have such a permit and he has armed security around him.

Next comes the issue of gay marriage. Liberals are all for gay marriage and will say and do anything to a conservative who voices opposition. However, liberals are promoters of Islam rights even though in Islamic countries gays are punished and even put to death.

Liberals such as Diane Sawyer, John Edwards, etc. will criticize any conservative politician who takes money from Robert Murdoch and yet are silent when liberal politicians take money from George Soros. Why a dual standard?

Liberals are infamous for saying the wealthy should pay their “fair share,” whatever that means. However, when that is put into practice it is different. Do you recall the issue of John Kerry, a resident of MA, registering his mega yacht in RI to avoid the $435,000 sales tax and $70,000 annual excise tax MA imposes? Or Warren Buffett’s strong comments about companies who buy foreign companies to shift taxes to countries that have taxes lower than the US. This is called a tax inversion and liberal politician’s rail against it – except when a liberal like Buffett does it. And yet Buffett is doing that through Burger King buying a Canadian company and then moving to Canada. By Buffett’s clever maneuver he is saving millions of dollars in taxes. And then there are the Hollywood elite and others who complain the estate tax is not high enough. Today farmers and some business owners can’t pass down their farms and businesses to their children because of estate taxes. And yet these are the same folks who set up “charitable foundations” and then put their children and other relatives in charge to run these foundations at incredibly high salaries. Plus, these people then syphon off huge sums for travel and other purposes.

For example, take a look at the Bill and Hillary Clinton Foundation. In 2012, the most recent year with data available, the Clinton Foundation disclosed assets of $226 million, with $51.5 million in contributions and grants received. The salaries and benefits of all the staff at the foundation are an eye-popping $220,218,840—well above the total grants for the lifetime of the foundation. Travel expenses paid by the Clinton Foundation far exceed the total of grants outside the top three grants made, and for the years 2003-2011 totaled $55,628,306. Chelsea Clinton now helps run the foundation leaving a lucrative job at NBC. By way of info, NBC paid Chelsea Clinton $600,000 a year for whatever she did there or as Vanity Fair reported $26,724 per minute she appeared on the network. Another example, of do as I say and not as I do. All you have to do is set up a charitable foundation and get a tax deduction, and then pass on to your children and relatives income in the form of salaries rather than paying an estate tax.

There are many more examples. But, as you can see liberalism has become a synonym for hypocrisy.

Conservative Commentary by Jim Pirretti - Click HERE For More From Jim