The Oxford English Dictionary tells us that that Reynard the Fox is a famous hypocrite. I couldn't remember Reynard, so I googled him and found this. "Reynard the Fox was medieval Europe's trickster figure, a nasty but charistmatic character who was always in trouble but always able to talk his way out of any retribution." Jacob Grimm, of the Brothers Grimm, believed that Reynard and other “fables of beasts, applied, with a strong national feeling, to corruption growing among strong men who wronged the poor and used religion only as a cloak for violence and fraud.” The Medieval Bestiary, The History of Reynard the Fox Yikes, does any of this sound familiar? Can you think of today's Reynard the Fox? Did you vote for him? Jacob Grimm’s father was a lawyer. Interesting, I think. see Jacob Grimm Unfortunately, I see hypocrisy a lot, it is, alas, part and parcel of the legal profession.
Hypocrisy is defined a “a pretense of having a virtuous character, moral or religious belief or principles, that one does not really possess; a pretense of having some desirable or publicly approved attitude. Dictionary.com There are more nuanced definitions to be found, but you get the gist.
So let’s talk about famous and infamous hypocrites. Well, there's Reynard, and two others that come most readily to my mind are those bloviating jackasses, Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly. You can google or yahoo either one of these orating jerks and find lots of examples of their unique brand of hypocrisy. My Rush Limbaugh favorite is his discourse about drug addicts as the dregs of society until it was revealed that he is in fact a drug addict himself. Below are a few of my favorite Rushisms about drug addicts:
When you strip it all away, Jerry Garcia destroyed his life on drugs. And yet he's being honored, like some godlike figure. Our priorities are out of whack, folks. --Rush Limbaugh radio show (quoted in the L.A. Times, 8/20/95)
There's nothing good about drug use. We know it. It destroys individuals. It destroys families. Drug use destroys societies. Drug use, some might say, is destroying this country. And we have laws against selling drugs, pushing drugs, using drugs, importing drugs. And the laws are good because we know what happens to people in societies and neighborhoods which become consumed by them. And so if people are violating the law by doing drugs, they ought to be accused and they ought to be convicted and they ought to be sent up. * * * What this says to me is that too many whites are getting away with drug use. Too many whites are getting away with drug sales. Too many whites are getting away with trafficking in this stuff. The answer to this disparity is not to start letting people out of jail because we're not putting others in jail who are breaking the law. The answer is to go out and find the ones who are getting away with it, convict them and send them up the river, too. -- Rush Limbaugh show, Oct. 5, 1995
More Quotes A double standard perhaps? Oh, how the mighty do fall!
Bill's shining moment for me is settling the lawsuit while uttering virulent tirades against those who would seek the truth about his “alleged” sexual harassment of a producer. Whee, what a stench The spin stops where?
Hey, and what about "political correctness?" To me, political correctness is code for "feel free to be a hypocrite." I agree with Glenn Beck. Political correctness is ruining our country and will be the downfall of us all. PC Phrases
And finally, let's consider this:
It's perfect!!
I found this over at cracked.com in an article entitled "Banner Ads We'd Like to See." Cracked It was submitted by cracked.com reader evilkumquat.
Have a good weekend, Ever Annoyed
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