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With all that has been in the news the last few months, the chickens are coming home to roost for both the Democratic and Republican parties, and their hypocrisy has never been laid more bare.

It is easy to divide ourselves along party lines, to call one side good and the other bad. The resistance against the establishment. The imposing Empire versus the scrappy rebels.

But increasingly it feels like we're all getting played.

Over the last two weeks in particular we've seen two stories unfold that lead me to believe the political class has no line it won't cross to advance its narrative.

Over the last couple weeks we've seen two incredible examples of this hypocrisy, and I hope they give other Alabamians and Americans as much pause as they gave me.

Let's start with the one that's garnered the most headlines in Alabama over the last month.

The allegations against Roy Moore absolutely rocked the state, and despite his regaining some ground in the polls, could still drastically affect the outcome of next week's election.

As soon as the accusations came out many commentators, party officials, and politicians on both sides of the aisle began talking a big game about holding Moore accountable. Everyone from Mitch McConnell to Joy Behar quickly lashed out, calling for him to drop out of the race.

The first blow was seeing so many Alabama Republicans who claim to be pro-family, immediately throwing Moore's accusers under the bus.

But when allegations against prominent Democrats Senator Al Franken and Representative John Conyers were revealed in the following weeks the responses from the left were on the whole... a little more concerning.

Nancy Pelosi called Conyers an "icon," and while Franken's behavior was called "unacceptable," there have been precious few calls by Democratic leadership for either of them to step down.

There were even commentators who said this behavior from Democrats is excusable because politicians on the left "care about people."

Bottom line: I don't care how you vote, or what party you claim to be part of, sexual abuse shouldn't be excused. When it comes to rewarding that kind of behavior there is no greater good.

Enough on that, on to issue number two.

Last week the Senate passed its version of President Trump's tax reform package and you would have thought the wheels were coming off.

Everything about the bill was thoroughly derided by Democrats, the press, even the New York Times, form and substance.

There are certainly some concerning things about the legislation in its current form, but it's really rich hearing about how democracy itself is now dead because Republicans pulled some procedural maneuvers from Democrats who used those very same schemes to get the Affordable Care Act passed in 2010.

I understand the game Democrats are playing, and I understand why they're playing it.

Yell loudly, rouse support, fundraise, get elected/reelected, rinse, repeat.

It's exactly what Republicans did during the years President Obama was in office.

But after six years of calling Republicans the obstructionist party, and constantly lamenting the need to "be the adult in the room," the outrage over this bill rings quite hollow.

The same histrionics that got Republicans labeled "children" during the Obama years are being employed to similar effect by Democrats today. But that doesn't make it ok.

The lesson we should learn here is that those in the majority will always use whatever tricks they have available to them to accomplish their goals, but so will the minority party.

We pretend like it's surprising someone would act this way, that the parties into which we've divided ourselves automatically create a dark and light side. I'm right because I'm on one side of the line, and you're wrong because you're on the other.

It's ok for me, but not for thee.

It's always been this way, but there does seem to be a ratcheting effect occurring in the national discourse today.

And that's how we get fun double standards like this one:

Awkward: @SenatorDurbin attacking GOP for making handwritten changes to the #TaxBill, when he literally authored a handwritten amendment to Dodd-Frank. pic.twitter.com/aKP3hWwjNR — Andrew Surabian (@Surabees) December 2, 2017

In the parlance of Twitter, "Life comes at you fast."

There no longer appears to be any room for people who think sex abusers shouldn't hold political office or maybe the tax reform effort needs some tweaking to make it better, regardless of their political party.

Politics and authenticity may seem like polar opposites, but they don't have to be. One of the great things about the transparency afforded by social media is the ability for us to hold elected officials accountable more often than just when we go to the ballot box.

The status quo of "Yell loudly, rouse support, fundraise, get elected/reelected, rinse, repeat," is exhausting, and folks are getting tired of it. But it will take authentic engagement and people willing to stand up against their party leaders (and their mouthpieces) for something to change. For many of us in Alabama, this Senate election has been the breaking point. What will it take on the national level?