Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy
Peter Schweizer's book, Do As I Say (Not As I Do): Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy, gets a 3 1/2 out of 5 rating from me. I just finished it in Audiobook on CD format (to listen to while commuting to and from work), and I mostly enjoyed it.
Schweizer takes a look at several liberal "leaders", including Noah Chomsky, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Michael Moore, Ralph Nader, Al Franken, Cornell West, Ted Kennedy, and Barbara Streisand. Schweizer makes a point in the opening of the book to clarify that he does not dispute that conservatives also have a fair number of hypocrites. He asserts however that most conservatives are hypocrites to their own detriment, and usually in their personal lives, not their professional lives (this book was written before the Abramoff scandal broke). For instance, a conservative who espouses moral clarity and fidelity, then gets caught cheating on his wife. He destroys his marriage, and his credibility as a moral leader. Few conservatives espouse one philosophy to the public, but act in a different way in their personal business dealings (and most of this book deals with business dealings, although not all). Schweizer focuses on how many of these liberal "leaders" espouse philosphies in public, yet do the exact opposite in their own business activities, often to their own benefit.
For instance, Schweizer notes that Michael Moore has made claims that the stock market is like gambling, and is for the rich. Moore also made statements that he would never put his money in a risky market. Rather, like good old fashioned Americans, he put his money in savings accounts in banks. Schweizer reveals that contrary to this, Moore not only has owned stock in several companies, some of them include companies that he has "targeted", such as Halliburton.
He also reveals how Nancy Pelosi publicly espouses strong support for labor, including unions. Yet a resort hotel that she and her husband are co-owners of, unions are not allowed. They have vehemently prevented organization of labor at the resort, and the labor at the resort is made up predominantly of immigrants, who have limited options, and therefore can be obtained at low labor rates.
There are several other examples such as these throughout the book, including bits on affirmative action, environmental protection, and free market capitalism. Many of these were very interesting, although occasionally appearing to be nothing more than anecdotal.
Most of the book is obviously biased against liberal ideas, and is far from an objective work. However, Schweizer's closing was very good, and really brought up some good points. He states that while many of these liberals act in the exact same way conservatives do in their hiring and business practices, they are no more racists or bigots bent on environmental destruction than any other business person. If anything, they are opportunists. They take advantage of economic opportunities, and strive for effeciency and profit margin wherever possible. In Schweizer's eyes, there is nothing wrong with this. The problem lies in the hypocrisy of it all: claiming that conservatives who do the same thing are bad, yet these folks are leaders for espousing liberal ideas,despite the fact that they don't even follow these ideals themselves.
