Do as I Say (Not as I Do): Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy is a book written by author Peter Schweizer and published by Doubleday in 2005. The book covers the alleged lies, contradictions and hypocritical behavior of famous liberals, including Ted Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi, Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, Ralph Nader, Al Franken, Cornel West, Michael Moore, George Soros, Noam Chomsky, Barbra Streisand and Gloria Steinem. Schweizer contends that many liberals publicly promote liberal values regarding the environment, affirmative action, racism, sexism and finance but practice the opposite in their private and professional lives.
Book Chapters and examples of "Liberal Hypocrisy" from some
The chapters in the book are named for the individuals profiled therein:
1. Introduction — The Do-As-I-Say Liberals
2. Noam Chomsky — Social Parasite, Economic Protectionist, Amoral Defense Contractor
- One of the premiere anti-capitalists and anti-militarists in academia today, Chomsky, a self-described "anarchist-socialist," has been paid millions by the Pentagon—which he once called "the most hideous institution on this earth"—over the last 40 years, as well as various corporations, which he has described as "just as totalitarian as Bolshevism and fascism." When asked by Schweizer about his seeming contradiction, Chomsky responded (via email), "I think we should be responsible for what we do, not for the bureaucratic question of who stamps the paycheck." Chomsky then went on to rationalize his wealth achieved via Pentagon contacts by stating that anyone who uses the Internet, which was created by the U.S. military, is guilty of working for the Pentagon. Though he has lectured that other university professors should wean themselves of Pentagon funding in the form of grants and scholarships, he has yet to do so himself.
- Chomsky's public condemnations of capitalism, which he calls a "grotesque catastrophe," are similarly contradicted by his private lifestyle. Mr. Chomsky lives in an $850,000 house and has a $1.2 million vacation home, both in Massachusetts. A critic of the "massive use of tax havens to shift the burden to the general population and away from the rich," he has called tax rebates "equivalent to a welfare payment," yet has set up trusts in his children's and tax attorney's names in order to avoid future payment of inheritance taxes. His loathing of copyrights and patents has also not stopped him from copyrighting his lectures, speeches and articles over the years (which can be downloaded—for a fee—off the Internet). After speaking at a benefit sponsored by the Greater Philadelphia Democratic Left where Chomsky stated, "A democracy requires a free, independent and inquiring media," a reporter named Deborah Bolling was told that she would have to pay $35 to interview him. Perhaps most damning is his impressive stock portfolio, which includes shares in oil companies, military contractors and pharmaceuticals.
- While Chomsky has championed free speech and denounced what he sees as a lack thereof in the United States, he has often visited Communist nations completely devoid of free speech and given speeches celebrating the sociopolitical systems of Laos, Cambodia, China, North Vietnam and Cuba.
3. Michael Moore — Corporate Criminal, Environmental Menace, and Racist Union-Buster.
Schweizer argues that although Moore speaks out against racism and capitalism, even claiming to avoid the stockmarket, he has hired an overwhelming percentage of whites and has become very wealthy including owning many stocks.
4. Al Franken — Habitual Liar, Mean-Spirited Partisan, and Racial Discriminator
- Claims to support affirmative action and has accused conservatives of racism due to their opposition to affirmative action, yet public records reveal that of 112 people Franken either hired or had a hand in getting hired to work on his films, television series' and radio show, only one was black; also, though he has stated that conservatives spread "filth, sleaze, and bile through the media apparatus," Franken has made jokes considered tasteless by many about Bob Dole's WWII injury, John McCain's time spent as a POW (stating, "Anybody could get captured. Essentially, he sat out the war") and the menstrual cycle of one of Newt Gingrich's daughters. He was also quoted in the Harvard Crimson during his Saturday Night Live days, "I just don't like homosexuals. If you ask me, they're all homosexuals in the (Harvard Hasty) Pudding. Hey, I was glad when that Pudding homosexual got killed in Philadelphia."
5. Ted Kennedy — Environmental Rapist, Tax Cheat, and Oil Profiteer.
E.g. he advocates "high taxes for the rich", estate taxes, and rails against "tax shelters", yet Joseph Kennedy's fortune of about half a billion dollars paid only 0.04% estate tax, and is currently largely in a tax shelter in Fiji. Kennedy also rails against oil and advocates "clean energy", but the Kennedys own oil companies, and Ted opposed the Cape Wind project because it was allegedly too close to his home.
6. Hillary Clinton — Greedy Speculator, Corporate Shrill, and Petty Tax Avoider
7. Ralph Nader — Bourgeois Materialist, Stock Manipulator, and Tyrannical Sweatshop Boss
8. Nancy Pelosi — Ecological Scofflaw, Out-of-Touch Elitist, and Immigrant Labor Exploiter
9. George Soros — Inside Trader, Economic Globalist, Corrupting Financial Influence
- Wants higher taxes on wealthy individuals, one of which he is, claiming he would bear any tax increase to help the poor. Soros, however, has most of his money in Bahamian banks where it is immune from U.S. taxes. The tax hike he calls for would barely affect him.
10. Barbra Streisand — Civil Liberties Violator, Outsourcer, War Profiteer
- Though she claims to be a champion of the working class, the environment and women's rights, in private her actions contradict her public proclamations. Brad Meltzer, a former employee who was on good terms with Striesand during his 18 months working for her, states, "She was generous in terms of large amounts—big charities, things like that, but absolutely mean and niggardly about the salaries of the working people she hired. I recall once that Jon [Peters] had hired some young Mexican workers who had no green cards and paid them $3.50 an hour, but the work wasn't getting done fast enough. Barbra wanted them to work overtime. She told me to fire them and have them replaced. It killed me, but I did it." Also, any contractors hired to do work on her Malibu ranch have had to place liens on the property in order to get paid, the bills ranging from $4,500 to $50,000. Kris Kristofferson, her co-star in the film A Star is Born, once said, "Filming with Streisand is an experience which may have cured me of the movies."
- Although she claims that the working men and women of America deserve higher wages, her production company, Barwood Films, usually films in Canada, where she can pay lower wages and receive tax breaks that she cannot get in the United States. Ms. Streisand has often accused Republicans and conservatives of greed, yet, in 1993, she admitted to the Washington Post she was almost broke due to her lavish spending. Despite claiming she would "rather pay more taxes" than receive tax breaks, Streisand took a $15 million write-off for Malibu property she donated to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, even though she had failed to find a buyer when the property was on the market for $11.9 million. This landed her in trouble with the IRS, and she ended up negotiating a settlement for an undisclosed amount.
- Streisand told Tikkun magazine that "We continue to thrive on this earth, but in order to do so, we must adapt to a more sustainable way of life. While there is still some time to alter our way of living, we must begin to behave respectfully and honor these sacred gifts—our rolling hills, the depths of our blue oceans and rivers, the richness of our forests and plants and the vastness of our land." Contradicting this statement, Ms. Streisand has consumed in excess both water and air conditioning in her private life, and invested greatly in oil companies and Halliburton. She also sued Ken and Gabrielle Adelman for $50 million when the Adelmans posted aerial photos of her Point Dume estate while it was undergoing extensive development. This raised the ire of many in the environmentalist movement, who opposed such development, and the case was thrown out by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge.
- Finally, while she publicly supports affirmative action for blacks, and has publicly stated her deep kinship with black Americans, Ms. Streisand rarely hires blacks to produce or direct her films. Out of 63 producers and directors she has hired over the years, only one was black.
11. Gloria Steinem — Hopeless Romantic, Dependent Female, Serial Monogamist
12. Cornel West — Segregationist, Commodity Fetishist, Capitalist Interest-Maximizer
13. Conclusion — The End of Liberal Hypocrisy
Aftermath
According to Schweizer, Franken threatened legal action upon learning of his inclusion in the book, believing the information had been obtained illegally. After being told that all information in the book came from public records, he backed off. Noam Chomsky wrote to Schweizer defending his capitalistic lifestyle—despite his condemnations of capitalism—by claiming that he had earned the right to his millionaire status due to his work on behalf of the poor.
In addition, during his publicity junket, Mr. Schweizer has spoken of Arianna Huffington's use of private jets for transportation and excessive energy consumption despite her public pro-environmentalist stance.