I don’t get into politics very often, but something I just found drew me in. I feel like I have to explain the definition of hypocrisy again, since it continues to be misapplied by just about everyone who uses it. Hypocrisy has become the new “literally,” having shifted from a word with a solid black-and-white definition to a cultural meme with no clear limitations as to its meaning. Case in point, Rachel Maddow, in this link from The Accursed Huffington Post that showed up unannounced on my iGoogle news feed. She “called out” (in Huffington Post-terms) the delightfully named Republican Representative Aaron “Culture” Schock for voting against a bill, then “turning around and” celebrating one of the bill’s pork provisions with his constituents later. The relevant quote:
“If you vote against the omnibus bill,” she said at the end of the exchange, “if you complain about the omnibus bill, if you tout your vote against the omnibus bill, it is hypocrisy to then go to your district and go to a ribbon cutting ceremony for something that is funded by the omnibus bill that you voted against.” (Rachel Maddow, quoted on MSNBC’s Meet The Press by The Huffington Post’s Sam Stein)
No, actually, it isn’t. At all. But I could see how you could think it was. What did “Culture” Schock complain about? The omnibus bill, not his personal pork-barrel project. If he had campaigned against that particular project, and then turned around and took credit for it, that would make him a true hypocrite. But he didn’t. He got his personal project into this bill he hated (but figured might pass), then celebrated his personal victory with the people he serves.
Is it hypocritical to vote against a bill when you like 5% of it? Of course not. Is it hypocritical to celebrate that 5% when it passes, especially when you had a hand in that 5%? Of double course not.
Now, if he originally campaigned as a “true conservative spending-cutter,” then we’re onto some hypocrisy. He’s probably, at the end of the day, a hypocrite. Most politicians are. But Rachel doesn’t mention that. She’s looking for an easy verbal clothesline, and uses the word “hypocrisy” in the middle of it to give it some zest. Looks like somebody needs to find a more nuanced vocabulary.
