The recent crop of GOP frontrunners drives home the fact that the republican party is full of people that don't live by the rules they dictate to others. Whether the issue is family values, illegal immigration, racism, or abortion, there is a past or present candidate whose private life does not match their public stance. Here are a few prime examples:
Newt Gingrich. Gingrich made it his mission during the Clinton scandal to slam Clinton for his infidelities and to tout family values, all the while cheating on an ill wife. One wonders whether he composed his family values speeches while lying in bed next to his mistress.
Michelle Bachmann. Bachmann spends much of her time moralizing against homosexuality and gay marriage. Her own, husband, however, makes a living by surrounding himself with young gay males in need of therapy and who has many gay tendencies himself. When he comes onscreen, Harvey Fierstein's gaydar is said to go off so loudly, it can be heard on the opposite coast.
Sarah Palin. Palin is a self-described feminist and family-values candidate that applauded Gingrich while slamming his ex-wife in a dazzling, misogynistic display of blame-the-victim. A woman that has spent so much time making cheap sexist jokes at men's expense and claiming that much of the criticism toward her stemmed from sexism ought to have a little more sympathy for a fellow female. Then again, what can we expect from a woman that knowingly posed for a photographer in short shorts and then complained of sexism when the photograph was actually used?
Mitt Romney. Romney has taken a hard-line stance against illegal immigration, yet was caught employing illegal immigrants to do his landscaping. It took Romney more than a year after reports about his illegal hiring practices came to light to finally fire the illegal employees. Mitt's hypocrisy is especially stunning when you consider that with all of his millions, he could certainly afford to pay high enough wages to hire legal immigrants or American citizens to do the job.
Herman Cain. Cain was fond of criticizing the black community. He often stated that black people need to take responsibility for themselves and stop pretending to be vicims by playing the race card. When Cain was caught in allegations that he sexually harassed several women and had a thirteen year adulterous affair, he didn't take responsibility for his own actions. Instead, he pulled out his own race card so fast and so often he had to pay royalties to Al Sharpton.
Rick Santorum - a virulent anti-abortionist who has gone so far as to call abortions for the health of the mother "phony". Back in 1997, he and his pregnant wife chose to take medical steps they knew were likely to kill their fetus, in order to save Karen's life. When Karen's condition worsened, Santorum gave the green light to induce labor, with the understanding that the fetus would not live. In other words, he chose abortion.
After so many hypocritical candidates have been pushed to the forefront of the GOP, I can only assume that it's a requirement in the job description.
