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August 16, 2006
Obama's gas guzzling hypocrisy
Let's look at the definition of hypocrisy for a moment.
"The practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold or possess"
A Republican screaming at the top of his lungs that he believes in the Constitution while using his position to undermine it is horrifying example of it. Time again to protect their religious "freedoms" they will turn around and take those freedoms from others. That's hypocrisy. But over the last couple a years a Republican version has slipped into our collective consciousness. I've heard it a couple of million time from insane right wingers losing an argument. The desperation of this version is pretty sickening and I saw it being used on the Hybrid Car Blog today and on many right wing hate sites yesterday related to the Obama story. And it makes me angry.
Basically Obama gave a speech about how we need to adopt greater fuel efficiency standards to decrease our dependence on foreign oil. Then he was whisked away in a motorcade of American made gas guzzlers. The visual is what the radical right wing America haters love to scream about. You can't possibly believe that because you are contradicting yourself with your behavior. In their minds it's the exact same sort of thing they are always getting called to task on.
Which begs the question, is holding a belief and being able the follow through on that belief a requirement not to be a hypocrite? I'm a strong believer and supporter of mass transit, but I live in a place without any. Does that make my belief any less valid, because I can't take advantage of the better choice? If you ask the radical right wing extremists, then their answer is absolutely. You can't believe in something you can't actively do. I'm sure if Obama showed up in a fleet of Toyota Hybrid Highlanders, that their attack angle would be that he was un-American for him to be driving "foreign" cars.
See to the hypocrite there is never a high enough standard that can be reached to please them. The fact that the American automakers offer nothing along the lines of what is required for Obama's needs are irrelevant to them. They need desperately to score political points on an issue where they have no credible stance. Now if some evidence could be given that Obama was resisting some good faith effort by automakers to provide him with fuel efficient vehicles and he declined to use them, then he would be a hypocrite. But until that time, this is nothing more than a cheap partisan attack that is now being parroted by yet another media outlet that should know better.
Read more over at Hybrid Car Blog.
Posted by Jamison at August 16, 2006 12:59 PM
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Comments
Do these people have nothing better to do and complain about?
Posted by: Royal at August 16, 2006 2:58 PM
Keep in mind this also:
Anybody make armor for a hybrid?
Those aren't off-the-shelf limos that senators ride around in. Especially high-profile ones. The Secret Service (who supplies the cars and the drivers) knows what it's doing.
Perhaps the guy in charge of the Secret Service (that would be the Chief Executive) might suggest they take fuel savings into account?
Posted by: reno at August 16, 2006 3:21 PM