Hypocrisy

Two politicians, one national, one local. Both revealed this week (not for the first time, of course) as hypocrites. First, our President: according to press reports today, I. Lewis Libby, Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff, now under indictment for having revealed the name of an undercover CIA agent as part of an apparently orchestrated plan to discredit criticisms of the Administration's justification for invading Iraq, has revealed that President George W. Bush personally authorized the release of classified intelligence to reporters as part of that campaign. See coverage at http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0407/dailyUpdate.html

President Bush has said repeatedly that he would fire anybody on the White House staff who leaked classified information to the press. Guess he didn't include himself. And do you suppose his phone is wiretapped, as all of our phones can be, secretly, if the Administration chooses to?

On the state level, Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, now running for Governor, may be remembered as the state official who both was Bush's campaign manager in Ohio during the 2004 election as well as being charged with overseeing the election. And who has required that Ohio counties purchase Diebold voting machines, despite widespread accounts of irregularities with those machines (and you may also recall that Walden O'Dell, president of Diebold said he was "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president" in 2003). It was revealed at the beginning of the week that Blackwell purchased stock in Diebold. And it was revealed today that Blackwell also purchased stock in International Gaming Technology, which manufactures slot machines.

http://www.columbusdispatch.com/?story=dispatch/2006/04/07/20060407-A1-05.html

There's a ballot initiative in Ohio that will be voted on in November to allow slot machines at Ohio race tracks. Blackwell says he's opposed to allow slot machines at race tracks. Guess he's covering his bets.

And the same story reveals that Blackwell--a staunch and vocal opponent of abortion--also owns stock in Barr Pharmaceuticals, the company that manufactures the 'morning-after' abortion pill. Profits always trump ethics, I guess.

The hypocrites remain with us. And are blatant in their hypocrisy. Apparently, the general public doesn't mind very much. After all, neither involves hot button social issues that really matter, such as sex education or gay people's lives.