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President Clinton has made a few feeble swipes at addressing this issue [school violence], but one can only gape at the unintentionally comic spectacle of this man chastising the gun-lobby and America's love of violent movies while he rains bombs on Yugoslavia, where at least twenty noncombatants have already died for every innocent student at Columbine High. It is like listening to a man with a crack-pipe in his hand lecture children about the evils of drugs.

Stephen King#12

CriticismPoliticsHypocrisyViolence

About this quote

What does it mean?
The author criticizes a politician for hypocrisy regarding violence and gun control.
In plain terms
He compares the politician's words to a drug user lecturing others.
What can you take from it?
Hypocrisy undermines moral arguments.

Where it applies

  • political debate
  • criticism
  • social issues

Putting it to work

  • check for hypocrisy
  • evaluate arguments

Questions to consider

  • Who acts without preaching?
  • Is hypocrisy common in politics?

Another view

Politics often involves complex trade-offs.

More from Stephen King

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  2. If I know anything, I know scary. And giving this president and this out-of-control Congress two more years to screw up our future is downright terrifying. Tha…

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  3. It takes a son of a bitch to change a habit.

    Permalink to quote #10

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