February 28, 2022- The just-concluded Conservative Political Action Conference featured several speakers with a similar message: The Far Left is a dictatorial entity. Many on the Left, citing the fear that so many of their opposite numbers seem to have of former President Trump, claim that the Right is the autocratic force.

Both are correct, insofar as each side practices intolerance and outright anathema towards those with whom they disagree. The calls for the imprisonment of people who express an opposing point of view have increased dramatically, since 2016, and all the more since the onset of the COVID pandemic. I have heard calls for the executions of various figures on the Left, and there are the rabbit-hole dwellers who say that this has already happened! Conversely, there are thousands of comments on posts, each day, wondering when the participants in all aspects of the January 6th events will be punished.

So, we have each group calling out the other for hypocrisy. I have a slightly different take on the matter. For decades, society has subconsciously pushed the idea that the way to get out of a bind is to distract, to engage in false equivalency, to muddy the waters. People my age have made a fine art out of looking under rocks to find fault with those whom they themselves wrong-as if the actual victims brought it on themselves. Those in subsequent generations have astutely taken note.

Since the last Perfect Being ascended in 1892, and the last Perfect Exemplar, in 1921, it stands to reason that anyone can be taken to task, for one thing or another. I have experienced plenty of table turning, over the years, and probably have done the same to others, at one time or another. Yet, I think there is a subtle difference between hypocrisy and inconsistency of conduct. A true hypocrite builds a brand, career or reputation around consistently throwing stones at others, while knowingly doing the exact same thing to which (s)he objects in others. Occasional inconsistency, or even past behaviours which one has overcome, do not constitute hypocrisy, IF one owns the faux pas and is actively making amends.

We are all works in progress.