I hate the word “hypocrisy.”  It’s the rhetorical equivalent of “I know you are but what am I,” in the sense that you are not really denying that you’ve made mistakes but you’re accusing someone else of making mistakes too.
Pot, meet kettle, in other words.
But sometimes, nothing else quite captures the mood or meaning of a situation.  And so, here goes:
Progressives are being incredibly hypocritical in praising the Catholic Bishops for coming out against Paul Ryan’s budget plan.  They practically ooze with accolades for a principled attack on what the church sees as an ‘anti-life’ budget that will cut critical services to needy populations.
In blog after blog, and article after article, we have progressives giving a journalistic pat on the back to the bishops and using their opposition to the budget as a cudgel against the GOP.  It’s as if they’re saying “see, the good men of the church stand with liberals-meaning-Democrats-meaning-President Obama-meaning-victory in 2012!”
If only they were so enamored of the church when it comes out publicly against abortion.  When good Catholic men and women make the case that abortion is the greatest moral evil facing us today, progressives snicker.  
I also happen to remember the way the church was criticized for opposing the birth control a mandate a few weeks back.  One blogger wrote "So a group of old white guys aka, Catholic bishops, are having a major snit over whether they have to provide contraception to their workers of all faiths."  
Essentially, the bishops have to be quiet about women's plumbing, but if they attack a conservative budget, they can sing to the heavens.
That, my friends, is rank hypocrisy.
It’s also hypocritical when the powers that be attack the Vatican for going after nuns who fail to speak out against abortion.  Those same critics are thrilled, however, when nuns get on the stump for Obamacare.  I guess it's only okay to be political when it's the other guy's elephant being gored.
I have this suggestion for my friends on the Left:  stop using the church for your own particular and political purposes.
Because hypocrisy has to be the eighth deadly sin.