Liberals are as hypocritical as conservatives. Not shocked.
And calling anyone a hypocrite isn't likely to persuade them to your way of thinking, nor even engender them to want to associate or work with you even if they do agree.
"Hypocrite" is just another version of "bigot". It is used far too often by the small minded to shut down discussion (poisoning of the well) or as a generic epithet lobbed at anyone who disagrees.
The truth is, anyone can be hypocritical. But that easy label is applied to "liberals" or "conservatives" really only by those who accept sound-bite descriptions of either political philosophy. When all of liberalism is reduced to "individual rights" or when all of conservative philosophy is reduced to "limited government", it is easy to paint adherents of either as being "hypocrites" or--less inflammatorily--"inconsistent."
Of course, to l/Libertarians or other objectivists who place very high value on self-consistency within political/social views, inconsistency is among the gravest of sins. Right up there with violating NAP. But most of us are not nearly so attached to the "hobgoblin of little minds". Strict constitutionalists, for example, will note elements of the US Constitution that are democratic while other elements are very much anti-democratic, some are downright statist, while some elements are libertarian.
For strict constitutionalists, as well as for thoughtful liberals and conservatives, consistency (especially as defined by libertarians) is not nearly as important as what they believe works.
For the less thoughtful views are just held because they are comfortable. Votes are cast because it is "our team" or how dad voted, or because the other team is the devil. If these folks are hypocrites, they are too ignorant to recognize it.
But bottom line, most hold the views they do for emotional reasons, not intellectual reasons. Purely intellectual arguments won't persuade them. And throwing around bombs like "hypocrite" will have no more positive effect on the left than calling someone a "bigot" will on the right.
Rather than denouncing "liberals" as hypocrites, we ought to be learning from their successes and emulating their (lawful) tactics for our own political success. One thing is for sure, the hypocritical liberals have been a lot more successful in advancing their agenda than have the cerebral, superior, objectivists.
Charles
