The False Witness of Hypocrisy

Washington Blade Online: "Current city councilmembers who were interviewed since the story broke have expressed shock at the fact that the mayor used city computers to talk to guys online. And yet all of this time, no one in all of these circles of power and activism have thought it was somehow wrong that James West was lying to the public through his political agenda? It never struck anyone as immoral that a closeted homosexual was an attack-dog against gay rights? Since when isn't political hypocrisy relevant? It never crossed anyone's mind that James West was using his political might to hurt unknown thousands of gays across the state simply to cover up his own duplicity?"

I think this editorial piece brings into relief a salient point about hypocrisy. It is harmful. Lies always are. When a politician uses the private lives of others as a human shield for his own damaged self-image, it is just as wrong as when a politician uses the finances of the government to fund his private life-style choices. In fact, it is most probably worse.