Is 'a hypocrite politician' a pleonasm?

Nancy Reagan was anti-stem cell research. Until the therapy could help her husband. 

Dick Cheney was anti-gay. Until his own daughter told him she was a lesbian.

Sarah Palin was against social distancing and mask mandates. Until she and her daughter contracted Covid.

You could say they are hypocrites. But what if they were merely playing the part that everyone expected from them? From a conservative woman like Mrs. Reagan it was expected she was very 'pro-life' and thus against the use of foetuses to help make medical progression. But should she let her beloved husband die because she was 'pro-life'? Doesn't make much sense, does it? A bit like killing a doctor who works at an abortion clinic, shouting 'All life is sacred!'

From a conservative and 'christian' politician it is expected to be anti-gay. As a matter of fact: so called 'christian' (there's nothing christian about being anti-gay) lobbygroups actually pay politicians good money to spread their *ahem* 'message of love': 'Just convince your son to stop being a homosexual so you can love him again once he turned away from satan. Purely out of love for your son of course!'

I can't recall where that stuff is in the Bible but fake Christians are convinced 'God hates fagots!' 

But anyway: Dick Cheney discovered he still loved his daughter after she came out of the closet so Evangelicals in the United States lost a bit of their power. 

But they still had Sarah Palin! That true conservative Christian (who once stated she loves animals só much that she likes to see them straight in the eyes just before she shoots a bullet into their face) that put all her faith in God and not in that stupid thing called 'science'. That was right up until she and her daughter gaught the Coronavirus. Without further explanation she told her conservative christian fans: 'Please practice social distancing and wear a mask! Just like I told you since the beginning of the pandemic!'

She may have done a '180' on her opinion but she just can't stop lying. I guess some things never change.

Not only politicians but also QAnon-followers love playing roles. I'm not only talking about the QAnon Shaman (a failed actor of 33 who still lives with his mother in real life, by the way) but all those tens of thousands of people who want to belong to a group. When people want to belong to a group, they start acting and even dressing different then they would normally do. 

Ten to one that one someone in your surroundings suddenly changes his or her opionion on a matter, he or she will also change hairstyle, get a different car and/or starts eating different foods and will start putting on a different style of clothes. It's a but like entering a weekend of  LARPing.

I could try to explain to you what I mean but it's much better explained (and in better English than mine. It's not my native language) in this article. 

Want to read (more of) my short stories? My author page: Terrence Weijnschenk at Amazon