Hypocrite: a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess, especially a person whose actions belie stated beliefs.
We have now reached the place in our slide toward democratic nadir where the nation's top law enforcement officer has no compunction about championing the foundational ideals of free speech one day and advocating for a gag order on that very speech the next.
Naturally, the beneficiaries of his efforts are what determine whether one is worthy of the free speech rights he claimed he longed to restore at a Georgetown University speech Tuesday.
Yesterday, Sessions announced his Justice Department would intervene in the case of a Christian college student who felt campus policies were impinging on his First Amendment rights. Translation: Evangelizing Christians = worthy.
But one day later, Sessions said we need a rule that compels football players to stand during the national anthem. Some players have been protesting police brutality against the black community by taking a knee during the national anthem. Translation: Football players protesting racial injustice = unworthy.
Tuesday, Sessions declared: "People have a right to not have their mind dominated, certainly by the government."
Wednesday, he sang a different tune during an interview on Fox News: “I think they should stand. I think it should be a formal rule of the league.”
Congratulations, Jeff Sessions—you're the poster boy for hypocrisy.