Hypocrisy is Alive and Well and Living in the USA by Maria Grant

Hypocrisy is as old as time. Just ask Shakespeare. But one cannot help but be gobsmacked as we watch today’s hypocrisy rise to disturbing heights. Here are just a few examples. 

Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY). Here is what McConnell said about January 6, 2021: “There is no question that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of that day. The mob was assaulting the Capitol in his name. These criminals were carrying his banners, hanging his flags, and screaming their loyalty to him.” 

On March 6, 2024, McConnell endorsed Trump as the Republican candidate for President. And let us not forget the fact that McConnell blocked Merrick Garland’s appointment to the Supreme Court in the last year of Obama’s presidency by refusing to even bring his nomination to the Senate floor. Then, in Trump’s last year in office, he aggressively pushed through the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett. I lay a large part of the current Supreme Court’s dysfunction squarely at the feet of Mitch McConnell. 

Evangelicals. Evangelicals defend their support for Trump because they say even Jesus was flawed. This is a bridge too far. The Judge in the E. Jean Carroll case said that Trump committed rape. He is well beyond flawed. How many of the 10 Commandments has Trump violated? I count nine. (I am giving him credit for honoring his father and mother, but I did not give him a pass on killing given his muddled and slow response to the beginning of the pandemic and his failure to endorse or promote even the most basic gun control policies.)

Supreme Court. During their confirmation hearings, every modern Supreme Court nominee has opined on the importance of not politicizing the Court. I would argue that today’s Court must be close to being the most political Court in history. How is it even possible that Clarence Thomas, whose wife is an ardent Trump supporter who privately urged Trump’s Chief of Staff to overturn the results of the election and attended the rally that preceded the January 6 riot, does not recuse himself from the question of whether Trump is immune from prosecution? And then there is the issue of the timing of certain Justices choosing their retirement dates based on the political party of the current president. Does that not smack of “political?”

Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL). Last week Gaetz sanctimoniously questioned Hunter Biden. He asked, “Were you on drugs when you were on the Burisma Board?”  Seriously? Matt Gaetz has been accused of using illegal drugs, showing images and videos of nude women he was sleeping with in the Capitol and even on the House floor. He also has been accused of sex-trafficking—taking underage girls across state lines. 

Representative Lauren Bobert (R-CO). She said she was running to represent Colorado to, “support Conservative values.” In the last year, police have been called to her home on more than one occasion over “domestic violence” issues. She was caught vaping and fondling her date at a performance of Beetlejuice which she denied until a video was released. She then apologized. 

Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH). Jim Jordan has turned attacking Democrats into an art form. He relentlessly attacked Hunter Biden for violating a subpoena. Jordan voted against enforcing subpoenas for people like Steve Bannon and Mark Meadows. Former Republican Illinois Representative Adam Kinzinger called Jordan’s hypocrisy “mind-numbing.” Oh, and by the way, Jordan violated his own subpoena.

And yes, I know, Washington and Jefferson and some other Founders had slaves while preaching equality and freedom. FDR had mistresses and occasionally was known to use racial and antisemitic slurs. JFK had affairs. Carter had lust in his heart. Clinton lied about affairs. And Hillary had emails on her private server. So, lies and hypocrisy are not limited to only one party. Maybe this current batch of hypocrisy seems so disgusting and reprehensible and frankly disappointing because this is our time. 

Still, I contend that this abundance of hypocrisy in our time is dangerous. It promotes partisanship and distorts truth. 

Nathaniel Hawthorne once said, “No man for any considerable period can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true.” Amen.

Maria Grant was principal-in-charge of the Federal Human Capital practice of an international consulting firm. While on the Eastern Shore, she focuses on writing, reading, gardening, piano, kayaking, biking, and nature.