So Many Republican Hypocrites, So Little Time

October 19, 2007 | SEND TO A FRIEND | GET EARLY NOTICE OF THE HOTW

Condoleezza Rice

Welcome back to the BuzzFlash GOP Hypocrite of the Week.

Okay, when is Vladimir Putin like George W. Bush?

Answer, when Condoleezza Rice is describing the former head of the KGB.

Last week, our esteemed Secretary of State was in Russia and was very upset with what she found. But it is, to say the least, hypocritical to condemn Vladimir Putin for engaging in the same kind of power grab that his former soul mate has been conducting in the U.S.

According to the BBC, Rice is critical of the fact that Putin has assumed too much executive authority. Indeed, Rice specifically said, "I think that there is too much concentration of power in the Kremlin. Everybody has doubts about the full independence of the judiciary."

Would the statement be any less accurate if you replaced Kremlin with the White House?

She called for Putin to recognize "the rights of individuals to liberty.… the right to assembly, the right to not have to deal with the arbitrary power of the state." The last phrase is particularly ironic and hypocritical, don't you think?

Tatyana Lokshina, one of the activists who met with Rice, told the BBC that there had been "a very serious setback in Russia as far as human rights are concerned."

Ah yes, sounds like a line from a BuzzFlash editorial about Bush.

Maybe we should have a Secretary of State for domestic affairs. That way, we could have someone visit Washington, D.C., and meet with civil libertarians in the United States who are distressed by the same issues as their counterparts in Russia.

Until then, Ms. Rice -- who championed the "universal values" of "freedom" while in Russia -- more than deserves this week's dubious honor of being named the BuzzFlash GOP Hypocrite of the Week.

Until next week, remember our motto: So many Republican hypocrites, so little time.

Catch up with you soon.