Peter Schweizer. Do As I Say (Not As I Do). New York: Doubleday. 2005

Two reactions: Delight in exposing hypocrisy and Sadness at realizing hypocrisy is the human condition. Schweizer starts by recounting the much publicized faults of the Right--Limbaugh on perscription drugs, Book-of-Virtues-Bennett's gambling, Dr. Laura's youthful picture posing, etc.-- but quickly moves on to explore the lives of Left VIPs. Chapter by chapter, he follows the money to see if the personal practices of people like Al Franken actually match their public pronouncements.

If his research is accurate, there is a lot of blatant hypocrisy out there. "Stockless" Moore has a foundation which had Haliburton stock. Ted Kennedy inherited a tax-protected fortune of oil money. Striesand blocked environmental activism on her land. Moore and Striesand make movies in Canada to avoid high-priced union labor and taxes. The author even finds that, when it comes to their own business, they hire non-diverse staffs.

I'm just sad. So Santa isn't real?!? It seems like the deeper I go into adulthood, the more I'm aquainted with humanity, the more slimey and dark it is. It seems like Everyone knows that it's just a game, just talk. Pull another one over on the masses, and laugh all the way to the bank.
This book is easy to read and entertaining, if you go for that kind of thing. It seems to be based on factual research. In the end, Schweizer finds this:

Conservatives who abandon their principles and engage in hypocrisy usually end up harming themselves and their families. But as we have seen, liberals who do the same usually benefit. (p.215)

God help us.