GOP hypocrisy reigns supreme

If the firestorm of phony outrage from the conservative media following Hillary Rosen’s comment that Mrs. Romney “never worked a day in her life” is any indication, the presidential campaign (aka silly season) is certainly upon us. If nothing else, the conservative Republican media reached new heights of hypocrisy as it reacted to the comments of a Democrat operative.

For days this was the main topic on conservative talk radio, as hosts cited the comment as an example of how Democrats hate stay-at-home moms. This, of course, is absurd, but then many regular listeners to conservative talk radio will believe almost anything, especially if it is something negative about the president and progressives.

But yet, the same media figures that were so incensed by the Rosen comment were strangely silent when Rush Limbaugh called a Georgetown University law student a slut. The silence from conservative Republican media figures following this outrageous attack on a woman was deafening. The few Republican leaders who dared comment offered only the mildest of rebukes.

What Rosen said was dumb but innocuous and she deserved to be criticized, but her comment was nowhere near as despicable as the comment from Limbaugh.

Following the Rosen comment, President Obama, as he is wont to do, responded by saying that criticism of the spouses of candidates should off-limits. The president is correct, but only if the spouses do not campaign for their husbands. Both Mrs. Romney and Mrs. Obama are on the campaign trail making speeches and often act as surrogates for their husbands, so they should be fair game for criticism.

Over the years there have been many examples of hypocrisy by Democrats, but in the Rosen case it is Republicans who have again demonstrated that when it comes to phony outrage and hypocrisy, they reign supreme.

Victor Darst

West Dundee