Real Conservatives Accept the Consequences

If you listen to half of the Patch commenters, you’d think I’m a flaming liberal, radical progressive or whatever pejorative term Fox News is using this for people who think for themselves. But those commenters' comments could not be further from the truth.

I challenge you to find one column where I’ve defended the left, or God forbid, Democrats. In fact, I’ll be willing to stipulate that the only thing worse than an Illinois Republican is an Illinois Democrat. There’s a really good reason they’re the party of the jackass!

If that doesn’t convince you, if I’m the leftist poster child you insist I am, then please explain my consistent support for Kane County Board Chairman Chris Lauzen. I’ll wait … Can’t do it, can ya?

Here’s the truth! Real conservative and CNN correspondent Michelle Cabruso-Carera summed it up quite well on last Friday’s Real Time when she said, “The actual American is actually a fiscal conservative and a social liberal.”

Were I to tweak that a bit, following author Jim Wallis, I’d say most Americans are socially liberal, but they’re conservative on personal responsibility. The reason it doesn’t appear that way is because the false conservatives shriek so much louder than everyone else.

And speaking of personal responsibility, if you asked me how you could tell a real conservative from the fake variety, I’d say it’s the capacity to accept the consequences for one’s actions. The truth is, these garden variety self-proclaimed defenders of all things holy almost always believe there’s someone to blame.

Though I’m loath to turn Mill Creek Elementary School basher Colin McGroarty into another example — his 15 minutes have long been up — his response to the fallout from his Pledge of Allegiance antics is a perfect example of this phenomenon.

In hisMcGroarty claimed the only reason he went off on that liberty-less kindergarten class is that principal’s failure to immediately address his concerns. Or as he put it, “… I have no doubt that had school officials been willing to discuss the issue, the outcome would have been quite different.”

Considering my vast District 304 dealings, there’s no doubt they’d have addressed the issue if granted an opportunity to do so. Elementary school principals are rather busy, and to expect them to ignore those spinning plates is unreasonable.

McGroarty also offered a threatening email mea culpa, but then insisted that missive was misinterpreted because, “The current climate of fear generated by some of the horrible tragedies that have occurred in our great Country as of late.”

C’mon! We know this had nothing to do with the timing and everything to do with his alarming behavior.

The next step in the false conservatives’ excuse parade is to say they acted out of love of country and/or family. “It is because of my love and desire to protect children that I felt it was so important to get the word out,” McGroarty said.

When they realize it ain’t workin’ and they can’t escape the consequences, then they play the ultimate trump card — God.

As a result of his outburst and email, McGroarty is facing the sad prospect of losing regular contact with his two young children. So he wrote this, “I truly believe that my life is in God’s hands. If the Kane County Civil Court takes my Children away from me then I have to believe it is because God wants me elsewhere.”

Let’s get this straight. God doesn’t care about sporting events. God doesn’t care about any specific country. She doesn’t care about your religion, take sides in wars, or align Herself with political parties. Of the 6 billion people on this planet, you’re probably not the first thing on Her mind.

The bottom line is, God has far better things to do than sit on a cloud thinking, “Whose life should I mess with today?”

Redemption, on the other hand, is always available to those who choose to avail themselves of it. I can’t help but wonder how this might have turned out had McGroarty taken responsibility, issued a real apology and promised to do better.

The irony, of course, is the cornerstone of these faultless artificial right-wingers is their persistent demand that the “takers” take personal responsibility. Folks in the psychology game call it “transference.” It’s when you paint other people with all of your shortcomings.

And when this dynamic occurs on a grand scale, instead of taking responsibility for a weak candidate, a poor message, and a subpar ground game, 49 percent of Republicans believe Mitt Romney lost the election because ACORN, a group that folded in 2010, stole it.

Sorry, folks! You can’t be called a conservative if you can’t accept the consequences of your actions. And until these fake conservatives are willing own up to their failures, nothing’s gonna change.

So please don’t call me a liberal! Because the truth is, when it comes to personal responsibility, I’m a flaming conservative!