consistently talking about consistency

I am always harping on consistency. Someone said it was the hobgoblin of little minds. I suppose I do have a capacity for greater thinking and an abstract level that allows for dichotomies and contradictions to coexist peacefully. There are many examples in my life- my personal thoughts about evolution and creation, or the existence of hell, or when I want to blow my own mind I start thinking about time space continuums- hard to even have those thoughts without some serious open endedness. So it's not like I am super-rigid and need everyone and everything to be black or white.
However, comma, I do seem to have a need for those in the political/social rhetoric area to "stick to message" as it were. For example- I am highly irritated when you say one thing and do another when you are in the public spotlight- especially when you are begging for the public's attention! So, choose whether states rights is dominant or not- if Arizona can decide what to do about immigration then Illinois can make their own gun laws. If you won't accept federal policy to change health insurance, then stop accepting federal stimulus money. If you berate people for not supporting UN millenial development goals and spending their money to save the poor, then don't spend MILLIONS on lawsuits to keep old buildings while you tacitly uphold the wall street system of capitalism (get yours now and worry about the rest later). If we can't play judge about the value of a fetus' life because we don't have to power to legislate life, then we shouldn't support the death penalty. If you want immigration reform and you are worried about anchor babies, don't also lament that the constitution won't allow a certain Austrian born govenor to be president.
My latest hobgoblin comes in the form of two recent hullabaloos on the national stage. If you think Muslims should show some cultural sensitivity by not building a mosque/cultural center near ground zero, especially as we approach the actual anniversary date, even though they have the legal right to, and it won't be seen from the site- then for pete's sake- show some cultural sensitivity of your own by not holding an almost totally WASP rally on the anniversary and very site of one of the best known speeches of the civil rights movement.
In all these cases, and more that rankle me every day, it is almost always a case of "the rules need to apply to them, but not necessarily to me." There's always a self-interest angle, I get it. But living in this inner circle of hell where Pride and the "all about me" world is all we are surrounded by, sure is getting old. I encouraged my child the other day to take back a paper where he was credited for a wrong answer. I did not require it of him, but I did say, "you sure would want your teacher to admit to and change a grade in your favor- but you need to do the same and show that it works both ways." He did, and as I expected, his teacher still gave him full credit for his honesty. But I hope that he will learn something from that- when you are working with people and trying to get something done, it pays to be honest, to own up to who you are, and to say and mean the same things. Rules apply to everyone equally- (this also makes me in favor of a flat tax).That's a stretch I know, but a mother can always hope.