Among the myriad of ridiculous name calling in American politics, and one of the most popular labels used this year, flip-flopper is one of the most childish.
What does that even mean? When people use it referring to a politician, it means that they have changed their stance on some issue or another. Some point they had made previously has just been contradicted by a more recent statement, and now they are no longer worthy of our trust.
Or is that really fair? Have you personally ever been presented with information that changed your opinion on a subject? Have you ever learned something that simply made you change your mind? If you haven't, you should donate your brain to science; be sure to let them know that it's in mint condition and it's never been used.
It seems that our minds think that because these people have said one thing and done another, that flip-flopping is on par with hypocrisy, which drives everyone nuts. Still, I think there is a huge difference between, "War is wrong," coupled with "I love war" versus a statement like "I think that we are having no negative impact on the environment" followed by "I do think we are having a negative impact on the environment."
Both statements seem like direct contradictions, but there are drastic differences. The first one begins with a statement that would determine ones actions, followed by actions that contradict the first statement, nicely fulfilling the definition of hypocrisy. The second group of sentences show a person with an opinion, followed by a person who has gained more knowledge on a subject and therefore changed their opinion. There is a clear difference between "flipping" and being a hypocrite.
Currently, Democrats are calling John McCain a flip-flopper for supporting off-shore oil drilling, something he opposed only a matter of weeks ago. Also in the last few weeks, oil reached a record high in price, as did American gasoline. So the situation has changed. Even though his plan won't work and he's really just pandering to what the masses want to hear, it's not because he's a hypocrite.
Senator Obama also has been criticized for declining to use "public funding" for his campaign, after he already told America that he would use it. What you haven't heard, is that there were stipulations when Obama committed to using that system for funding.
Regardless, the situation changed and Obama changed with it. Unless we are supposing that somewhere out there is a perfect person who needs to stand by every statement even when they discover that it was wrong, we should expect our elected officials to change their minds from time to time. If they're too stupid to admit mistakes, they will cause more damage than they will do good.
