For the modern GOP, hypocrisy isn’t a bug, it’s a feature.

It’s a minimum operating requirement.

Tempus Vero: Time for Truth

Monday, February 26, 2024: The United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) is considering arguments today from conservatives who, essentially, want to deny social media companies the right to manage their own platforms, by their own standards and values.*

Specifically, the states of Florida and Texas have passed laws that, to varying degrees, compel social media companies to share whatever content is posted on their site, and these laws are what SCOTUS is reviewing today.

If you find yourself involuntarily scratching your head right now, wondering: “Hmm, didn’t something like this get settled, by SCOTUS, for the conservative side, not long ago…?” please don’t be alarmed.

You’re absolutely correct. And, that twitch you may be developing is called “cognitive dissonance.” (Be glad for this, as not everyone has this particular Spidey-sense.)

After pondering a moment more, you may realize: “Wait a minute, didn’t SCOTUS say that baker, and that website developer, and anyone else for that matter, can’t be forced to work in a way that violates their own values?” Correct again.

And then, inevitably for us cognitive dissonance-capable folks, you find yourself here: “So conservatives believe, and SCOTUS agrees, that we cannot compel businesses to work in a way that violates their values, BUT, conservatives also want SCOTUS to compel social media companies to share anything that anyone wants to post there?” Correct again.

“Wait, including not just claims and information that violate the business’s values, but information that is demonstrably false, too…?!” Yes, indeed, you’ve got it now. Hypocrisy of the highest order.

The modern GOP and the “conservatives” who support them cannot function without hypocrisy, but they don’t suffer any cognitive dissonance, so they’re immune from any argument or logic to try and dissuade them.**

Fortunately, there’s only one thing needed to prove conservative hypocrisy these days: patience. Just wait, because if they don’t give themselves away in their own internal “logic,” or with the next thing that comes out of their mouths, give them some time: They will. They have to, it’s built-in, automatic. It’s inevitable.***

What remains to be seen, with today’s conservatives saturated in contradictions they’re immune from, is whether or not the Supreme Court of the United States is any different.

• * Conservatives are often in the process of denying some right, from someone, somewhere, in this country; almost always a right they demand for themselves. Its hypocrisy of the highest order.
• ** I’d list more examples here, but it makes my head hurt. Okay, off the top of my achy head: 1. Cancel culture is bad, except when they do it (see Kevin McCarthy, Liz Cheney, oh, and the “Hang Mike Pence” game, coming soon). 2. Freedom of religion is good, but only for certain religions (see Trump’s Muslim ban). 3. Life is sacred (from the moment of fertilization if you live in Alabama right now), but gun violence, the leading cause of death of American children? Health care? Immigrants? Homelessness? Police killing unarmed suspects? And on and on…
• *** Seriously, it’s not even a fun game to catch conservatives in hypocrisy anymore. A child can do it.