Hypocrisy and the American Revolution
Contrary to modern standards, being labeled a hypocrite used to mean something. There was a time, not so long ago, when seeing one politician catch another in an action that counters their public beliefs would have been considered quite a newsworthy win. Using a person’s religion or political party (or both), for the “gotcha” moment was seen as great debating. Catching a friend in a moment of hypocrisy, leading to that moment of awkward silence as they survey the landscape and realize they have been trapped, was twisted fun. For sure, there are any number of hypocrisies in our history. Probably too many to even name, but there are some people that we have looked up to since the founding of this country who were also definitely not immune. I spend quite a bit of time in my classes playing devil’s advocate, and pushing students to look for the inconsistencies and hypocrisies of our coun...