"When the story of Bill Clinton’s liaison with Monica Lewinsky became public, there was plenty of condemnation, but almost nobody talked about hypocrisy: lying, yes; moral turpitude, by all means; but not hypocrisy. That is because hypocrisy is essentially an aristocratic failing. It extols “the best” even if the best is generally unattainable.
This indeed is one reason that hypocrisy, among all the vices, is regarded with particular disdain and horror by egalitarians. A hypocrite publicly upholds noble values and standards of behavior even though he knows he may sometimes fall short of the conduct they require. He does this because he recognizes that those values are worthy of support and commendation even if he cannot always embody them."- Roger Kimball, judging Elliot Spitzer (negatively) while writing for Pajamas Media
"This is the problem these guys get into: they're so morally rigid and puritanical in real life (and on some level, so responsible for this priggish world we now live in) that when they get caught committing victimless crimes, everyone thinks they should be punished for sheer hypocrisy."-Feminist writer, Nora Ephron, defending Elliott Spitzer (naturally) in The Huffington Post (naturally)
I always like the "victimless crime" line - I wonder if anyone's used it on Spitzer's wife and three teenage daughters yet? (Just "trying to help") Or the people he busted,...for prostitution? Or the people that voted for him, based on his law-and-order approach, and upright manner?
And - just asking - why isn't Nora Ephron still married to Carl Bernstein any longer? Wasn't there some talk of an affair, back there, somewhere? My, how soon we forget,...or how convenient:
"Situational ethics is individualistic,...The problem is that it gives people an excuse for not obeying the rules when it suits them. If someone wants to do something badly enough, they are likely to be able to justify it to themselves,...whereas humanity is a practical species full of selfishness and other flaws."
Politics: It serves a purpose, people.
