One of my great personal frustrations, having covered the filthy world of politics and punditry for years at this point, is that so precious few actors in this arena seem to sincerely believe in anything.
They’ll pay lip service to whatever cause when it’s convenient, only to renege on their professed commitments when it’s not.
Out of necessity, having been burned by misplaced trust far too often, my default assumption is that a politician, journalist or commentator is insincere in any principle they feign adherence to until they prove otherwise — usually, by applying those principles in cases where doing so is disadvantageous to their interests.
The most egregious hypocrisies and betrayals always concern free speech.
When one faction occupies power — or at least is seen to occupy power, politics mostly being kabuki theatre while the true seat of power never changes — it engineers new excuses to censor the other side, which in turn adopts the mantle of free speech as it is censored.