Why Scandals Stick.

The sins of the self-righteous will always be magnified

Hypocrisy isn't a crime; it's more like a sad song sung in the round: you forgot to practice what you preached, broke your own rules. It is hard even to level the charge of hypocrisy without becoming guilty of it yourself.

World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz amassed a legion of enemies as the militant muse behind the Iraq invasion. They pursued him as he migrated from the Pentagon to the World Bank, promising a war on poverty and corruption. So evidence that he arranged his girlfriend's $60,000 raise invited critics to pounce: How can we fight cronyism abroad if we practice...

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