There was a time, in years past, when calling someone a hypocrite was taken as an insult to a person’s integrity, or more specifically their lack thereof. That is no longer the case. Today’s political Left, Democrats in particular, now seemingly take pride in their ability to shift positions at will. They do so in all sincerity, with a straight face while facing no repercussions in either the media or at the polls. As Grouch Marx once said regarding politicians: “Sincerity is the key to success. Once you can fake that you’ve got it made.” Democrats have perfected this into an art form.

Today, as evident by the treatment of Elon Musk’s recent disclosures at Twitter, we have seen the entire Left do a complete 180 regarding Free speech government secrecy and collusions with big business.

Many people who may have been around back in the 60s and 70s, may be confused on this whole Elon Musk/Twitter kerfuffle.  If you are unclear on this, join the crowd. During those years the Left told us that big government and big business were not to be trusted and freedom of speech was an ingrained strength of the nation. Mario Savio, a leader in the so-called Free Speech Movement on the Berkeley campus, was an icon of the urban leftist radicals. Free speech was valued at that time by, so much so that battles, between demonstrators and police, were fought over the subject on the Berkeley campus.

Another hero to the Left in that era was Daniel Ellsberg, a former employee at the Pentagon. His release of the famous expose of government actions regarding Vietnam, which became popularly known as the “Pentagon Papers,” enshrined him as a hero to those who felt exposing government duplicity was an honorable calling. Ellsberg was charged for his actions, but the criminal case was dismissed, primarily due to FBI malfeasance. His exposé marked a high point for the political Left of the day.

At the same time, Nixon became the epitome of the evil that the government represented. His team's crime: Stealing information and then suppressing the facts concerning that crime.  These actions were exposed by two men, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein collectively termed “Woodstein” by Ben Bradlee, the editor-in-chief of the Washington Post.

Whistleblowers Woodward, Bernstein, Ellsberg, were heroes of the time. Others like Abbie Hoffman and Saul Alinsky became cult icons of the Left. They were good honest fair-minded people out to defend our rights, especially our right to information that the government was concealing from us, at least that was what the Left told us at the time. Any such dishonesty, nondisclosure and secrets on the part of the government were unacceptable.

But today? Those who were part of that '60s movement, or educated by those who were, have now become leaders of the country. Obama modeled his early career after Alinsky, Hillary wrote a thesis on him.

But what happened? What changes have we seen in such people, the ones who proclaimed to stand for integrity and an open governance since those turbulent days?

They have in fact done a compete 180 having turned themselves into a Nixon on steroids like clone of secrecy, vengeance, and retribution. They have kept information from the public. They have used the FBI, CIA, and IRS as well as highly partisan congressional “investigations,”  to punish and go after their enemies. They have turned fair law into “lawfare.” 

They told Facebook, Twitter, and Google what information was to be held from the American people. Those in charge within the high-tech Industry dutifully obeyed state orders and coordinated their efforts with the FBI. The Left was now revealing its true beliefs: the people have no right to such information, but only to the information approved by the government authorities who they now control. All was well, according to the powers that be, those deplorables were being held in check.

Now along comes Elon Musk to blow the lid off the whole thing. The Twitter files are today's Pentagon Papers. But how does the Left of today respond? Is Musk a hero? Of course not, for he has exposed the ugly truth of government deceptions and collusions with the Left.

When conservatives screamed regarding the Hunter Biden lap top scandal declaring that there was a “vast Left-wing conspiracy,” the Left, recalling Alinsky rule Number Five, laughed and ridiculed the accusation. The wagons were circled, there were cries of Russian misinformation, a letter was written by 50 unimpeachable men, all former members of the intelligence fraternity. They would never lie to us, we were told. The New York Times led the nonexistent parade with their obedient silence. Elon Musk, now hated by the Left, exposed the truth. What was once honored is now condemned.

Musk followed the trail blazed by President Trump. Both men stood up, throwing open the curtains of deception and deceit, exposing the treachery on the part of those in Washington who either actually hold power, or the Romney-Murkowski supplicants, who grovel before them.

For standing up in favor of open government and full exposure, both Musk and Trump have or will pay a price. Trump has paid his price ten times over through the investigations, impeachments, hearings, and the expected future trials. The wheels of vengeance move slowly though, so Musk has not yet to fully face the music that will be coming.

Earlier this week Musk received an ‘invitation’ from European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, who has asked the billionaire to testify personally in the EU legislature and for "a frank exchange in public" regarding concerns over “hate speech.” Likely this is another salvo of actions to be taken by various authorities regarding Musk and Twitter.  Previously Tesla was investigated over self-driving cars. Last month President Biden called for another investigation of Musk.

The six-year war against President Trump continues, while the war against Musk is just beginning. The crimes of both men are similar in that they involve the exposure of federal authorities, as well as the continued abuses of that authority. Such men as Trump and Musk, are no longer revered as were Ellsberg and “Woodstein.” Both men now face the wrath of those who once idolized those icons of the Left.

There was a time, long ago, when the leaders of today spoke of a need for integrity in government.  Legendary football player, coach, and NFL Hall of Famer Wes Fesler eloquently stated: “Hypocrisy is the audacity to preach integrity from a den of corruption.” The leaders of today now preach at us, the ones they call the deplorables, from that den of corruption, doing so with a self-righteous pride in themselves.

Image: Twitter