Politicians and Hypocrisy

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That pungent smell in Washington DC is a little more foul than usual. That's because another sleazy politician has been caught with his pants down. Worse, he's doing the hypocrisy song and dance as he trips over his trousers. If you didn't hear about this, have a seat, relax, and read. This'll fill your quota of soap operas for a month. Tim Murphy, a Republican Congressman from the 18th district of Pennsylvania (that's near, and including some suburbs of, Pittsburgh), is resigning this month. Why, you may ask? Well, it seems that this staunch pro-life Roman Catholic congressman.... Asked his mistress to get an abortion. Let that sink in for a moment. Another moment. Here's a guy who wants to mandate the laws in this country to prohibit everyone from getting an abortion, but he's the first one in line at the pro-choice rally when he's the one about to become a daddy at the age of 65 with someone other than his wife. Now, understand, I'm fairly conservative, and I don't like the notion of abortion as post-pregnancy birth control (which is why 95% of abortions happen in America). I also think that a lot of pro-lifers shoot themselves and their cause in the foot, figuratively speaking, with things like this (and the refusal to support things like adoption and medical care for the babies they said "need" to come in this world). Not to mention the religious aspect of this. Does this guy think God was joking about "you will not commit adultery"? Can he go to his church, which has long held a pro-life stance to the point where women who've had abortions are denied forgiveness and restoration to "good standing" with the church (give more, ladies, and you'll find your sins magically forgiven...they have child molesting priests to keep on the payroll, y'know), and say, "Ha, just kidding, I knew she wasn't really pregnant"? (The woman turned out to have just missed a monthly cycle and was not pregnant.) How can "good Catholics" who "play by the rules" of God and their church look at this guy and say, "Yeah, he's one of us"? So Murphy was caught in his sins (remember, no "crime" has been committed here in the eyes of the legal system) and will soon be out of a job. According to Wikipedia, a political organization in Pennsylvania named Murphy one of the "smartest legislators in Pennsylvania" when he served as a state senator in the early 2000s. I think they need to ask for their certificate back from him. Sadly, however, we'll probably just have this hypocrite replaced with a different one. An appropriate song, from the dean of country music songwriters, Harlan Howard: