I think I've come to the conclusion that a certain level of hypocrisy is unavoidable when trying to govern and safeguard a large country. Pragmatism trumps idealism, and most of the time that's for the greater good that it does.
Do you actually mean hypocrisy, here? As in doing one thing while saying another? As in forcing other people to live to standards that you don't hold for yourself? I doubt hypocrisy is what you actually mean here.
I think what you mean to say is that you don't believe in absolutes. This is also where "idealism" is a horribly abused word. Idealism isn't about denying reality, it's about working towards a better reality. Someone who bases their decisions on the assumption that the world operates according to their ideals is simply an idiot, not an idealist. An ideal isn't meant to be fully realized, or else it wouldn't be called an ideal. An ideal is a conceptual model, and reality can never match the purity of an idea. Nobody should expect an ideal to ever be fully realized, any more than an artist should expect to produce a work that cannot be improved on.
When pragmatism calls for action counter to ideals, reasonable people understand. When you expect others to be tolerant of your own pragmatism but do not extend that tolerance to others, that is hypocrisy and I don't understand how it can be argued for.