Dishonesty and Hypocrisy

 

I’ve been following the Republican presidential primaries fairly consistently and I am appalled at what I’m seeing. It hurts me to watch these candidates, but I watch them anyway because politics is like crack to me. Right now I would like to focus on Gingrich and Santorum. I would like to highlight just a couple of things about these candidates that bother me: hypocrisy and dishonesty.

One thing that I cannot stand is dishonesty, especially if it’s by political figures. During one of the debates, I noticed an instance where a GOP candidate intentionally lied in response to a question. In South Carolina, CNN’s John King asked Newt Gingrich about his second ex-wife’s claim that he asked for an open marriage. Gingrich replied by saying that the allegations are false. He then attacked ABC News reporting on it: "Every personal friend I have who knew us in that period says the story was false. We offered several of them to ABC to prove it was false. They weren't interested, because they would like to attack any Republican." Newt lied on national television. After Gingrich’s answer, his campaign told King differently, stating that no witnesses were ever offered to ABC. This says a lot about his character if his own campaign’s correction is true. What if he really did ask for an open marriage? I know family values is not really Newt’s strong suit, considering his multiple marriages and extramarital affairs, but lying to the public about it while also attacking ABC for something they didn’t even do is a very low blow. I have never liked Gingrich, but any respect I have reserved for him is being drained every time I see him speak.

Hypocrisy is another thing that strikes a nerve in me when politicians are guilty of it. Rick Santorum is infamous for his condemnation of homosexuality, claiming that it isn’t “good for society” and comparing it to polygamy and bestiality. Ridiculous, right? Well, in Iowa, Santorum suddenly had a spark of sympathy for homosexuals. When asked about his position on Iran, Santorum criticized the Iranian government by calling it a “mullahcracy” that “tramples on the rights of women [and] tramples on the rights of gays.” Since when did Santorum of all people start caring about gay people? This is the same man who believes that the legalization of gay marriage would lead to the legalization of polygamy, pedophilia, and bestiality. This is the same man who said that same-sex couples with children would be robbing those children of they need and deserve. I don’t believe Santorum has sympathy for the wellbeing of Iranian homosexuals, since he doesn’t seem to care for American homosexuals. Because of this, he is a hypocrite.

There are many other things that bother me about the current GOP candidates, but there is just too much for one post. Maybe I will revisit this subject in later posts. However, I think there is one thing we can all agree on: Obama has to be one of the luckiest incumbents on the planet with this selection of opponents.