The Cynic Still Roams

By Brian Campbell, The Star-Ledger (Opinion)

January 13, 2010

The story is told of Diogenes the Cynic, who wandered around ancient Greece in daytime hours, carrying a lantern. When asked what he was doing, he would respond, "I am looking for a human being.”

He searched for honest men; all he found were scoundrels.

I imagine a modern day Diogenes doing the same thing in Washington; in the Halls of Congress; along the mahogany bars and lace-covered tables; in the social clubs and “look-at-me” fundraising events. Except the modern day Diogenes would go one step further; he would set out to look for sincerity; to locate a man or woman free of hypocrisy.

I thought of this while following the Harry Reid situation. Here’s a recap:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, one of the nation’s leading Democrats, makes a racist comment (Obama will win because he "light-skinned" and "lacks a negro dialect, unless he wants one"), which is forgiven and forgotten by his party the minute it is published; a party that has destroyed the lives of those who have uttered similarly insensitive remarks. In 2007, they forced Reid’s Republican predecessor to resign in disgrace for saying racially sensitive remarks. Not this time. Harry Reid is one of their own; they will not chastise him too harshly. Instead, they will embrace the man and ignore his insensitive words. Civil rights groups, which sadly lost their politically neutral stance many years ago, back him unconditionally and then go on the offensive to those that call the remarks insensitive. I believe the hypocrisy and political double standard was summed up best by Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Lee, who came to Reid’s aid by hinting that Republicans are the ones who are racist because they disagree with Democrats on policy.

Said Lee: “Senator Reid’s record provides a stark contrast to actions of Republicans to block legislation that would benefit poor and minority communities — most recently reflected in Republican opposition to the health bill now under consideration.”

Don't get me wrong. I don't believe entire lives should be ruined by a few insensitive words; it's just that the hypocrisy and double standard in this is jaw clenching. And Democrats aren't the only ones.

Nevada Senator John Ensign, a Republican, once stoutly defended marriage as the “cornerstone in which our society was founded,” and voted to remove Bill Clinton from office, saying he has no “credibility” left. Ensign then went on to have an affair with the wife of his close friend and political aide, with ‘severance’ payments being made between his parents and the woman.

Republican Governor Mark Stanford, who publicly chastised fellow Republican Robert Livingston for his infidelities and also voted to impeach Clinton, had a year-long affair and travel partnership with a woman from Argentina, all paid for by the tax dollars he spoke so passionately about conserving.

From Nancy Pelosi, with her gazillion dollar winery and billionaire life (and ability to somehow chastise the rich), to Nobel Peace Prize winner and environmental legend Al Gore, with his 20-room mansion using twice the amount of energy in one month than the average American uses in one year, the hypocrisy from our public “servants” is the primary reason why the vast majority of Americans hold a terribly dim view of government. We demand sincerity but only get its polar opposite.

Hypocrisy is the act of persistently pretending to hold beliefs. In other words, it is more important what you say and how you say it than what you actually do. Just ask President Obama, who received the Nobel Peace Prize for his eloquence during his first few weeks in office. The politically motivated members of the Nobel committee ignored those that have toiled for peace and human rights for much of their lives. They did things, which evidently did not carry the same weight as Obama, who just said things. A few weeks later, Obama would increase troops in Afghanistan, while the many Nobel finalists who were shunned continued their missions of improving the lives of others.

Over two thousand years have gone by, and Diogenes the Cynic is still roaming the halls of government, finding nothing but hypocrites.