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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 his Facebook “apology,” McGroarty 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!
Thanks. We'll email you the next time we update this story.
Patrick Sennett
6:28 am on Thursday, January 24, 2013
I can't begin to imagine why people think you are a liberal. Maybe it's the nearly relentless (and mostly ad hominem) little snarks about Republicans AND Conservatives (and if you don't understand the chasm between them, it proves the point).
But, to the larger point. If America was truly socially liberal and fiscally conservative, there would have been a different President sworn in this week, America has been convinced that to be fiscally conservative is Draconian and kills children and the elderly. America has been convinced that my healthcare shouldn't be any more lavish than yours or his/hers, and that I should be taxed/penalized if it is. America has been convinced that trillion dollar federal deficits in the name of "fairness", with no measurable effect on either the economy or unemployment, are just peachy.
Hardly either personally responsible or fiscally conservative.
Jeff Ward
7:17 am on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Yet another stilted and narrow conservative view that didn't answer a single one of my challenges. Find a column where I support liberals and explain my support of Sen. Lauzen.
Americans have become fiscally conservative on the local level where it really matters. What fake conservatives like Patrick want you to forget is it's your school board and municipality who puts their had far deeper in your pocket than the federal government.
But railing against them doesn't give you the reason to get up on the morning that that castigating a black president does!
Justa H.
6:56 am on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Laura Hollis has an interesting piece on this topic
http://m.townhall.com/columnists/laurahollis/2012/11/08/postmortem
Jeff Ward
7:19 am on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Justa,
Just more fake conservative blather. If Romney would've made a "fine president" he would've been elected.
Jeff
Martha Hanna
7:32 am on Thursday, January 24, 2013
I am proud to be a social liberal...look at that silly Jim Oberweis. He is having a "cow" over legalizing same sex marriage.
Progressive and liberalism ideas always win in the end!!!
And Romney sucked as a candidate, that is why the republicans lost!!!!
Justa H.
7:35 am on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Jeff, you characterized both comments above as "fake." What does authentic look like through your lense?
Jeff Ward
8:18 am on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Justa,
Fake conservatives are those who use the conservative movement only to further their own agenda and ambtion. If they manage to get into a position of power, they abandon those principles faster than a French soldier can surrender.
As far as the column you cited, even that insipid Ann Coulter - who's written the same book 5 times said Romney could not beat Obama yet Ms. Hollis insists in saying "it's not us - it's them!"
The real conservatives these days are stating that the GOP has be a party of inclusion not exclusion, but they're being drowned out by the fake variety.
Jeff
Terry Flanagan
11:19 am on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Jeff,
You've got to be kidding, someone recently asked Ann Coulter for her opinion! I thought maybe she'd turn up on on Celebrity Apprentice with the likes of Gary Busey, saying the Donald would make an "absolutely good" president. With the rise in fake conservatism (it makes such good theater) I think we need to call them something other than fake conservatives, something in keeping with the whole circus atmosphere they thrive in. I'm suggesting conservatrix. But maybe someone can come up with something better.
Jeff Ward
12:44 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Terry,
The reason I cited Ms. Coulter is that even someone as addled as she knew Mitt Romney couldn't win.
As for the appropriate name for fake conservatives, how about Tea Partiers?
Jeff
Terry Flanagan
2:21 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Romney was considered too liberal by conservatives and too conservative by liberals. Even his closest aides weren't quite sure what his ideology was. That alone was probably enough to sink his campaign. Then there was the infamous 47 percent quote in which he wrote off a percentage of the population saying his job was not to "worry about those people". As President, you just can't do that. I don't think Romney is driven by any ideology per se. He's a pragmatist. He'll say and do what he needs to get elected because he sees that as the best strategy for winning. It's the businessman approach to achieving a goal in which strategy is evaluated only in terms of its effectiveness. This can be a good thing when you have a problem you need to resolve like he had with the Olympics in Salt Lake City or even with health care reform in Massachusetts. But voters expect that policy decisions will be made on the basis of an ideology and not circumstance and they weren't sure what they'd get with Romney
Colin C.
8:24 am on Thursday, January 24, 2013
For yet another take on this phenomenon upon which we place the labels "liberal" and "conservative":
"Looking at MRIs of a large sample of young adults last year, researchers at University College London discovered that 'greater conservatism was associated with increased volume of the right amygdala'. The amygdala is an ancient brain structure that's activated during states of fear and anxiety. (The researchers also found that 'greater liberalism was associated with increased gray matter volume in the anterior cingulate cortex' – a region in the brain that is believed to help people manage complexity.)"
http://www.alternet.org/story/155210/why_is_the_conservative_brain_more_fearful_the_alternate_reality_right-wingers_inhabit_is_terrifying
If you wish to take a few moments to do a search on the topic of actual physical differences in the brains of those who espouse differing political philosophies and their differing reactions to the same stimuli you will find a fair amount of research.
Could it be that the actual difference between these two groups is simply that our brains are wired differently and therefore we simply process information differently? Kind of like Windows computers trying to communicate with Apple computers? It really does not work too well, not because one is "righter" than the other but because they are different systems.
Jeff Ward
8:57 am on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Colin,
Or could it be that folks like Angela Kane love to wield patriotism/conservatism and a cudgel to control others.
For some folks the drive for consistency is borne of fear, but for most of 'em it's a method of gaining power.
Jeff
Angela Kane
10:55 am on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Geez, I don't know how it's possible, but Jeff, you get stupider every day.
I read your posting this morning and decided not to even bother with you because people would recognize that you must be off your meds to write such drivel. Don't drag me into your delusions.
Jeff Ward
11:57 am on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Angela,
If you don't play nicer I'm going to stop sending you all those autographed pictures you've been asking for.
Jeff
Kara F
2:38 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Mr McGroarty was never denied the time to meet with the prinicpal. Mr Mcgroarty was so busy telling the office staff how angry he was about his concern, that they were unable to even explain that they would have the prinicpal come talk to him when he was out of his meeting. He then left to go back to the classroom. Upon returning to the office with the prinicipal, he was given the opportunity to discuss his concerns, however, he was in a state of mind where he was not able to have a discussion. He was not listening, nor letting the principal talk, so he was asked to calm down or leave the building. He was told that his concerns would be addressed when he was in the frame of mind to have a discussion. End of story.
It would be nice if these comment boards were used for valid discussions. I actually found the above research study very interesting. What we do with that information, I don't really know. We can't all agree on everything, that would keep us stuck in one mind and one level of thinking. By challenging each other in a respectful thought provoking way, we create discussions that may shed light in some of the darkened corners of an issue. Stop yelling, and listen, then think, then consider, then speak or type. We have become a society without a filter, everything is fair game and beind kind has gone out the window. I find that ironic in a nation that stands "under God" and is "Indivisable". Just my thoughts.
Jeff Ward
3:03 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Kara,
Thank you for the post. I won't ask how you know all this, but I have an ideal.
Why am I not surprised that, in addition to being a self-serving opportunist, he's a liar too.
Jeff
Matilda B
5:14 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2013
Nicely done Jeff.I agree with many of the comments, including Kara's. It is a shame that we have become so uncivilized with our political discussion. When I was growing up, I lived in a town where everyone was Republican by my folks. If I and my friends were able to communicate with respect and listen to each other. If we had not done that, I'd have had no friends. But in doing so, I also gained a respect for the other view and recognized that there is god on both sides. Now, the extremism is out of control and communication often doesn't exist.There is so much hostility and distortion and delusions. We need to have moderation come back
Mike B.
8:41 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
Great column. Why is it that even a leftist like Jeff see what needs to be done to reboot the Republican Party, but we Republicans can't..?
Terry Flanagan
9:58 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
Mike,
There may be hope for the Republicans yet if they start listening to new leadership in the party like Bobby Jindal at the winter meeting http://thehill.com/video/in-the-news/279243-jindal-republicans-must-stop-being-the-stupid-party or Chris Christie instead of hedging their bets by trying to appeal to fringe elements.
Mike Bruno
2:10 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
@Terry: I am hopeful that this past shellacking will hearken the return to moderation for the GOP. But then I thought the *2008* shellacking would hearken the return to moderation and intellect for the GOP. I will admit to becoming somewhat jaded on the matter. If Jindal invokes the "rape" comments as "stupid", it remains to be seen whether he believes them stupid because they were ignorant of biology (and such) or whether they were stupid for saying them out loud. I like to think the former, but I have learned to wait and see.
Mike B.
8:42 am on Friday, January 25, 2013
Great column. Why is it that even a leftist like Jeff sees what needs to be done to reboot the Republican Party, but we Republicans can't..?
Jeff Ward
1:57 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Mike,
Thanks for the compliment - I think!
I actually identify far more with local Republicans than Democrats. Who cares if they're against same-sex marriage, mayors, county board members and court clerks don't set those policies.
When I run - and I will - it will be as a Republican. And less government means staying out of peoples' bedrooms.
Jeff