George Washington was a hypocrite.

O.K., that’s not what I believe.

But it's apparently what Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts believes.

Mr. Brown, in his campaign for re-election, is going all out on the proposition that Elizabeth Warren is a big hypocrite.

According to Brian McGrory, a columnist at The Boston Globe, Mr.Brown, a Republican, “seems to be fuming that his main Democratic rival, Elizabeth Warren, has done pretty well for herself financially.” “A filing publicized last week had her making $700,000 in income over a recent two-year period, and it's even more than that when you factor in a government salary she received during part of that time,” Mr. McGrory wrote in a column on Jan. 18. “Whatever the figure, it’s sent Brown over the edge. It caused his campaign manager, a seemingly nice young Vermonter named Jim Barnett, to toss out the ‘elitist hypocrite’ description, like it’s a crime to climb the ladder of success in America and impossible to remember what life is like on the lower rungs.” You see, Ms. Warren has been crusading to help the endangered middle class — but she herself is a well-paid Harvard professor, who would end up paying higher taxes as a result of the policies she advocates.

See the hypocrisy? Neither do I.

I’ve written about this before; somehow the notion has entered our politics that supporting a cause that isn't in your personal financial interest makes you a hypocrite.

It’s really bizarre.

As I suggested, think of what this says about George Washington. The fact is that he personally was doing very well under British rule — he was a big landowner, a man of stature in the colonies.

His life was just fine; yet he took huge personal risks to lead a rebellion for the cause of liberty.

He was a hypocrite! Or, maybe, he was a man of civic virtue, who placed the needs of his nation above his own comfort.

Part of the reason this plays on the right is that the right’s response to any attempt to talk about inequality and the tax system is met with claims that it’s all about envy; supposedly, anyone who thinks that the capital gains tax should be higher only says that because he or she hates rich people.

So how can they be affluent themselves? Strange to say, however, it’s possible to have no special animosity toward rich people as people, and still believe that they should pay more in taxes, that their workers should have more bargaining power, and in general that policies that would make them not quite as rich would make this a better nation.

But then as a liberal, well-paid professor/ journalist myself, I would say that, wouldn’t I?

Reader comments from nytimes.com

The extent to which we austerity-obsessed Europeans lack economic wisdom and you wealth-obsessed Americans lack social awareness is amazing. If only Europeans and Americans would listen to each other more often.

Perhaps the political elite in the United States would better understand what makes up the fabric of a functioning society. In Europe, our economic elite would better understand what really kick-starts an economy.

— Mike Moreking, Britain

Mr. Krugman, this is not really complicated. If liberals want the wealthy to pay more taxes, said liberals should pony up the money now, before attempting to take other people's money! I don't know which history books you read, but George Washington led by example, and that's all we're asking liberals like you and Elizabeth Warren to do.

— T. R., Kentucky

It's important to parse precisely what is going on here.

Scott Brown's staff members don't really think Ms. Warren is a hypocrite.

So why do they say it? Simple. They are cynically throwing everything negative against the wall, completely untethered to reality, in the expectation that they can fool at least some of the people.

— A., New York

If George Washington and Elizabeth Warren are hypocrites, that means Franklin D.

Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and others were also hypocrites, which leads me to conclude that what our country needs right now are more hypocrites of that order and fewer staunch, self-righteous politicians foisted upon us by the right.

— B., Colorado

This is nothing new — and it explains the right's hatred of Franklin D. Roosevelt, since he dared help the less fortunate even though he was wealthy.

— C., Australia

Wealthy liberals are Republicans’ worst enemies, since they not only donate money to Democratic candidates, but they also make it more difficult to attack higher taxes as the politics of envy.

— R., Norway

It doesn't strike me as odd that conservatives don't know the meaning of "hypocrisy." They don't know the meaning of many of the words that they use.

— B., Georgia

It would seem that, for some people, the only measurement of goodness in this world involves wealth.

Why is it so difficult to understand that a fairer society is actually good for everybody? — M., Spain