Double Standards

I know you've noticed it.

Whenever a Republican is caught in a scandal it seems to be a career wrecker. Whenever a Democrat is caught in a similar scandal, even if that Democrat has done something more heinous than the Republican it never seems to affect their career.

The Democrats have fond memories of being swept into power in the last election. They claimed that a universal lack of support for the war on terror was one of the reasons. They also claimed that the voters disgust with the Republican "culture of corruption" was one of the reasons.

Then they proceeded to place corrupt people in positions of power.

They complained about earmarks. It was a legitimate complaint. The Republican controlled congress before them was addicted to them. They wanted more transparency. That is, they did until they took office.

What happened to that legislation?

It's interesting to look at some of this stuff. When President Clinton was impeached Democrats were fond of saying "it's only about sex", and that it was justified to "lie" about "sex". They actually argued that adultery was nobody's business.

When a Republican is involved in a sex scandal he's demonized by both the right and the left. Not so with a Democrat.

I've actually heard liberals argue that the issue isn't immorality it's hypocrisy. An immoral Democrat isn't a hypocrite because he has no moral standards to violate. An immoral Republican is a hypocrite because he does.

Isn't it better to have high standards that you occasionally fail to meet than to have no standards at all? Apparently not when it comes to politics.

A Democrat that exhibits a moral failing is a man (or woman) that made a mistake. He deserves our sympathy. A Republican that exhibits a moral failing is a monster to be destroyed.

A liberal can malign our nation's troops, accusing them of murder, rape, and various other war crimes. John Kerry did it and got a pass. Jack Murtha did it and got a pass. A conservative can't call them out on it though without being accused of "questioning their patriotism" or "swiftboating" them.

Speaking of the Swiftboat Veterans for Truth, have you noticed that the left loves to claim that they've been discredited, yet not a single charge they made against John Kerry was ever actually refuted? How is it that an attempt to set the record straight is now a derogatory verb?

A liberal is free to make up stories and create a fabricated military record so that he can malign our nation's troops. When this happens, and is proven in court, a conservative had better not bring it up. Look at Rush Limbaugh. He happened to call one of these liberal fabricators "phoney" and the left has turned it around and now accuses Rush of maligning the troops. Never mind that the man was convicted of fraud.

I guess it's possible for a Democrat or a liberal to be a hypocrite after all. Perhaps it's time to attack them on their record of attacking conservatives and Republicans yet never launching similar attacks on those within their own ranks that exhibit the same failings.