Tuesday, November 09, 2004

The Hypocrisy Index

I was out on my run this AM, headed over a hill and watched another person in some nondescript, brownish, four door sedan (not unlike the nifty GM K Car) speed past a red light and almost clip me in the cross walk. And I was pissed. Flipped off the person and continued on up the hill. The person in the vehicle - svelt brunette in a business suit - took the time to roll down her window and toss the bird back at me. As I burned off some anger sprinting up the remainder of the hill, I hit on an idea.

And this is it...drum roll please....THE HYPOCRICY INDEX. Here in, all comments linked to this particular post are dedicated to the identification of hypocricy. That is, if you come across a nice example of one or more hypocrites executing some kind of behavior or writing words that convince/prove his/her/their hypocricy, please post it to this thread.

Here are the guidelines - note, I say guidelines becuase bloggers are notorious for following their own rules:

1) Here is the definition of hypocricy that I am using when I type the word -
  1. The practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold or possess; falseness.
  2. An act or instance of such falseness.
Or

  1. an expression of agreement that is not supported by real conviction [syn: lip service]
  2. insincerity by virtue of pretending to have qualities or beliefs that you do not really have

2) You should clearly describe the behavior that obviates the hypocricy. Present links to said evidence when you can. This guideline is here to stop people from simply calling people names for the fun of it, which in turn could debase the whole discourse (something we don't want to do).

3) Anyone posting to the Hypocricy Index will be held to the highest degree of Integrity. I define it myself becuase I have yet to find a truly encompasing definition. I have posted this long ago on this Blog, but it bears repeating here.

Integrity:

The wisdom to know what is right to do

combined with the courage to act and the will to do so

and the valor to admit when wrong

- windspike Oct. 99.

I am curious to see what the world comes up with. I'll get us started with the first couple.

Hypocricy 1 - People who profess a love for the outdoors and then toss their still burning cigarette butts out the window as they speed down the road. Evidence - I am sure you all have seen this happen while driving behind one or more vehicles

Hypocricy 2 - people who claim to be "uniters" who then, in turn, take divisive actions that aim directly at dividing.

Now, I don't actually have evidence for the latter, beyond the latest vote in the latest election. People on the right are quick to point out that just over half the country selected this country, but fail to notice that almost half the country did not. Not only is this a record turn out in voters and a president winning a popular vote, but likewise, this is a record number of votes against! Hence, a country divided.

Carry on my wayward bloggers.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Boston Globe

Walking the walk on family valuesBy William V. D'Antonio | October 31, 2004

PRESIDENT Bush and Vice President Cheney make reference to "Massachusetts liberals" as if they were referring to people with some kind of disease. I decided it was time to do some research on these people, and here is what I found.

The state with the lowest divorce rate in the nation is Massachusetts. At latest count it had a divorce rate of 2.4 per 1,000 population, while the rate for Texas was 4.1.

But don't take the US government's word for it. Take a look at the findings from the George Barna Research Group. George Barna, a born-again Christian whose company is in Ventura, Calif., found that Massachusetts does indeed have the lowest divorce rate among all 50 states. More disturbing was the finding that born-again Christians have among the highest divorce rates. more ...The above found in IQ and Politics.

Anonymous said...

Saturday, November 06, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-JournalJANE ANN MORRISON: Step right up and test your knowledge of Election 2004

Q: Did a measure to ban brothels in Churchill County pass or fail?The brothel ban failed overwhelmingly. So much for voters who say moral values are their top priority. Churchill County voters went for President Bush by a ratio of almost 3-to-1 and supported legalized prostitution by an almost 2-to-1 ratio. Rural voters apparently like a moral values president, but practicality wins out when it comes to the tax-paying brothels.

--

This may not be as much of a contradiction as it seems. The rights of individuals is also a moral value. The Constitution prohibits selling yourself into bondage, which makes it difficult for poor people to raise large capital when their only mortgageable asset is their body. Under the old system of apprenticeships valuable skills could be acquired in return for permitting the employer to recoup. Benjamin Franklin was an apprentice. People sell their bodies every day. It's called work. Only the term is different.

Anonymous said...

No Voter Left Uninformed - President of Talibania''I think a case could be made that ignorance played at least as big a role in the election's outcome as values. A recent survey by the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland found that nearly 70 percent of President Bush's supporters believe the U.S. has come up with ''clear evidence'' that Saddam Hussein was working closely with Al Qaeda. A third of the president's supporters believe weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq. And more than a third believe that a substantial majority of world opinion supported the U.S.-led invasion.

''This is scary. How do you make a rational political pitch to people who have put that part of their brain on hold? No wonder Bush won.

''The survey, and an accompanying report, showed that there's a fair amount of cluelessness in the ranks of the values crowd. The report said, ''It is clear that supporters of the president are more likely to have misperceptions than those who oppose him.'' ''

Voting Without the Facts By BOB HERBERT
New York Times [Registration required]: November 8, 2004

C said...

good for you, you got your counters and ads, hope i directed you ok, it looks like it!