The Word Marmot

    
     "Hey Marty, what's hypocrisy," Warren asked.
     "You gotta start looking this stuff up for yourself," Marty said. "You learn by doing, so get to it."
     Warren wandered over to the Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language (1989 edition), wondering why, since the first four words of the title ARE in English they felt the need to add the "of the English Language" bit to the title - it seemed superfluous.
     "OK, lets see. H - I - P," Warren said out loud.
     "Wrong again Cheney," Marty snarked.
     "I'll get there, let me do the work you told me to do," Warren said. "OK, sorry," Marty said.
     From The Copy Desk: At this point we need to cite this for the lexicographers; this may be the first usage of Cheney as an general term for someone who's wrong all the time.
     "Hey I found it," Warren said. "It says 'hy-poc-ri-sy, n. a pretense of having a virtuous character, moral or religious beliefs or principles, etc., that one does not possess.'"
     "That's good, now you need a solid example to set the concept for you," Marty said. "And the best one in the news now is Hobby Lobby."
     "That's the 'closely-held' corporation with religious beliefs?" Warren asked. "Which accepts the benefits of incorporation, personal asset protection, deductible expenses, various tax incentives and flexibility, name protection and perpetual existence . . . but refuses on religious grounds to obey the law that requires them to offer certain medical benefits to its employees - certain contraceptives that it feels are abortion, even though medically it's not considered as such.
    "But where's the hypocrisy," Warren said.
     "Well, this corporation makes its profits selling stuff that's mostly made in China, where there is religious prosecution, forced abortions, child labor and litany of other offenses suitable for religious objections," Marty said, "But it's quite happy to keep these profits. They just don't want to spend the money they make selling things from China on the individual choices made by their employees."
     "I've got it now," Warren said. "