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• Friday, March 2, 2007 07:09 AM

  Hypocrisy

  Thomas Jefferson believed that all men are created equal, yet he kept slaves. He had a large farm to run, and share-cropping hadn't been invented yet.

  Al Gore believes that global warming is a threat to our entire species, yet has energy bills in the tens of thousands of dollars. Tipper can't entertain their friends in an earth-covered yurt, nor bicycle to her Junior League meetings.

  GWB believes he has a divine mission to spread democracy to backward nations, yet he can't find a better tool for the job than shock and awe on the one hand, and the triumph of reasons of state over habeas corpus on the other. You can't make an omelette without breaking some eggs.

  Hypocrisy is a universal human trait; we're all creatures of present circumstance regardless of how fervently we imagine better ones, or how hard we work to create them. We shouldn't be ashamed of this, but we should be aware of it, and we should try to avoid lying about it. When we lie, others will point out our lies for us. This isn't an act of aggression only, in fact, we might be wiser to consider it part of a self-correction process, a way of insuring that reason and imagination don't get ahead of themselves.

  There's nothing wrong with Al Gore's grand dream, or with GWB's, for that matter. What's needed from both of them -- and from us -- is a little humility, at least if we're to have a chance of realizing such dreams in the long run.

  —William Timberman Read William Timberman's other letters
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