Anyone who’s followed me on Facebook for more than five minutes knows how liberal I am and how much I dislike Donald Trump. So nothing that I’m about to say should in any way be construed to be in support of Republicans, conservatives, or Donald Trump.

What I dislike most in politics or anywhere in life is hypocrisy. With conservatives being allegedly pro-life but in favor of the death penalty, claiming to be Christian yet having a little regard for the poor, and dozens of other hypocritical stances I come down especially hard on the conservatives.

But recently my own side has really ticked me off with a huge lump of hypocrisy regarding Congressman John Lewis. In a recent interview with Chuck Todd, Lewis says that he doesn’t believe Trump is a “legitimate” president. This naturally drew a number of angry tweets from Trump which challenged Lewis to stop wasting his time and get to work on fixing the numerous problems and his own congressional district including poverty, crime, and a host of other stereotypical urban issues. He followed up by accusing Lewis of being “all talk”.

The liberal media, which I usually adore, pounced on Trump for daring to criticize Lewis who is described as a civil rights icon. The piles of hypocrisy upon hypocrisy on both sides are so huge I can’t believe it.

First of all let’s set our “Way-Back Machine” for a few months ago when Donald Trump hinted that he might not accept the results of the election. Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, people of all kinds were quick to condemn him for daring to suggest that one might disrespect the voice of the people. I was among those who said it was his most un-American statement to date. I don’t take that back and I don’t think anyone else should. Absent any 100% clear fraud or corruption that would invalidate an election, one has to respect the outcome of our democratic process.

Yet Lewis is doing exactly what Trump said he might do. He is saying that the outcome of the election was illegitimate. While Lewis believes that the activities of the Russians, the FBI, and who knows whom else rises to the level that justifies his claiming that Trump is illegitimate as president, the facts at this point simply do not support that. While I abhor the fact that the Russians tried to meddle in our political process and I think some of the actions of the FBI need some extra scrutiny, Hillary didn’t lose the election because these outside influences cost her votes. She got the number of votes she was expected to get. Trump won because he got more rural white votes than anyone anticipated. Unless we can somehow prove that Russia drummed up close extra votes in Wisconsin and a couple of other states, Russia really did not change the outcome of the election.

So in my opinion, Congressman Lewis is guilty of doing what Trump only hinted that he might do in disrespecting the outcome of the election. I know it sounds a little bit childish but in a dispute between Trump and Lewis, the defense of “He started it” directed towards Lewis is legitimate. Did you really expect Trump not to fire back at such a public and in some ways invalid attack on him?

Yet the media is jumping all over Trump for daring to attack a “civil rights icon”. It’s as if all of the good things that Congressman Lewis had ever done somehow earned him a free pass to throw invalid criticism at a duly elected president. Trump’s accusation that Lewis is all talk and no action can easily be construed to be disrespectful to Lewis’s lifetime of work in civil rights and his great personal sacrifice in Selma. However in context Trump’s criticism has an implied “okay so you’re a great man but what have you done lately”. The truth is I don’t know. I would rather see the media specifically disputing Trump’s accusation that Lewis is ignoring the needs of his constituents. But all we are getting is an indignant “How dare you criticize such a great man?”

Taken to extremes we would say “Who cares if Bill Cosby drugged and raped women? Look at all the good he has done?” Or “Who cares if Mel Gibson is a racist anti-Semite? I laughed my ass off in all of the Lethal Weapon movies?” While expressing one misguided opinion doesn’t invalidate Lewis’s lifetime of good work, neither does his lifetime of good work give him a free pass to make over the top statements and not be called out for them.

The approach of the Democrats towards Lewis statements are to sort of solemnly say things like “well that’s the way he feels” and they stop short of applying the “illegitimate” label as did Lewis. For example this morning Bernie Sanders was on the ABC “This Week” Sunday morning show and repeatedly declined to take the bait from George Stephanopoulos who tried to get him to agree with Lewis. Sanders also went on to say that he would attend the inauguration. But at no time did Sanders criticize Lewis in the way that Trump was criticized when he hinted that he might not accept the outcome.

While I really don’t expect the Democrats to criticize their own as rigorously as they would criticize Trump, I’m very disappointed that no one is that the courage on the Democrat liberal side to say that Lewis’s comments are a step too far. I happen to feel the same way about anyone who says “Trump is not my president”. He is your president whether you like it or not. And to say that he isn’t is to do the exact same thing that we criticized Trump for back in the debates when he said he might not accept the outcome.

The liberal media in its criticism of Trump’s handling of Lewis’s comments tries to point out the hypocrisy of Trump because he spent so much of his own energy supporting the birther movement which tried to delegitimize Obama. So basically the media is saying to Trump “Why are you criticizing Lewis for doing what you already did yourself?” Yet they are ignoring the fact that both Lewis’s illegitimate comments and Trump’s birtherizum were both false ideas to begin with. Saying that “You have no right to criticize our guy for being wrong because you were wrong too” is not a legitimate defense of Lewis.

While we’re on the topic of such things let’s talk about boycotting the inauguration. I’ve got no problem with people not wanting to attend. I’ve got no problem with people not wanting to perform at celebrations. If you don’t want to be associated with Trump that’s fine. I would not go if I had a free ticket and it was across the street. But I will be watching it on TV and while you’re free to watch or not watch, I think you should watch. I think we should all be watching. I think we dare not blink for a nano second during the Trump administration. Like the famous Weeping Angels from the Doctor Who TV series, you have to keep your eyes open because the minute you blink you are dead. If you really fear Trump then you need to be vigilant.

As much as I watch liberal media… MSNBC, the Daily Kos, MoveOn.org etc. I understand that they are liberal media and I don’t trust them to be anymore “fair and balanced” than I do Fox or Breitbart. That’s why I need to see the inauguration. I need to hear Trump’s inaugural speech. I need to get as many unfiltered news sources as I can. If our entire democracy is at risk at the hands of Trump and his people, I want to see it with my own eyes so that I can speak more clearly about what’s going on.

I don’t blame Trump for lashing back at Congressman Lewis. I don’t blame him for lashing back at Meryl Streep. I don’t blame him for lashing back at anyone who criticizes him. But the way to fight Trump not to simply say “How dare you attack an icon?” Criticize him on the merits or lack of merits of his arguments.

By the way I hate to say it, but my definition of the word “overrated” is someone who has received more adulation and praise than they actually deserve. While Meryl Streep is a great actress and deserving of much of what she had earned, let’s be serious people… Is she really THAT great? Can anybody be THAT great? You can be really, really good and still be overrated. People make jokes about how she always wins everything and nobody stands a chance against her at awards time. Aren’t those jokes a backhanded way of saying that perhaps, just perhaps, it’s somebody else’s turn to win once in a while? Doesn’t that hint that she’s overrated?

If the liberals and Democrats want to maintain the moral high ground, they have to feel free to say that Congressman Lewis, while entitled to his opinion, may have gone a step too far. And they have to feel free to say that maybe Meryl Streep has gotten a few too many nominations and awards. There are much better ways to attack Trump than to blindly defend one’s own icons against Trump’s legitimate criticisms of them. And if those criticisms are not legitimate then you need to be more specific than just to say “stop attacking our icons”.