Conservatism with consequences, can't have that now

[ck4829]

You see... If you're not conservative, if you're not white, if you're not male, if you're not rich, if you're not Christian (But you also need to be the 'right' kind of Christian), if you're not heterosexual, etc. then you're going to screw up in the eyes of conservatives. You're a sinner, you need the guidance of those better than you according to the conservative, you need to emulate them, and you need to become them according to them.

It's supposed to be us, the 'other', who makes mistakes, who flouts norms and rules, who sins, who fails, who falls short, who disappoints everyone else, who can't provide, who can't lead, and so on.

So imagine their surprise when people start calling them out, when they themselves are unable to lead, when they break promise after promise, on their stunning hypocrisy, when they make plea deals with Mueller, when they are caught in lie after lie, on them giving support to the most deranged people in this country, and more.

They can't blame the black man in the white house, he's not President anymore.
They can't blame the liberal, practically nobody wants to identify as a liberal anymore.
They can't blame the minorities, since their government is whiter, more male, more Evangelical, etc. than ever before.

So what do they do? Ask for respect and coming together. They want us to forget and pretend like they aren't the failures they say everyone else is.

[Orsino]

1. Consequences are teachable moments.

Conservatism is the opposite of learning.

[DetlefK]

2. And yet... they blame the deep state and run against Hillary in the 2018 races.

They are always the victims. Even when they are in power and control almost everything, they are somehow still the victims here.

[zipplewrath]

3. Post Truth and the failure of conservatism.

The very reason we are in a "post truth" situation now is because of the failure of conservatism and their ideals over the last 35+ years. Despite Ronnie and both Bushes, not to mention several years of total GOP control, they've never been able to achieve any of what they promise in terms of economic or foreign policy objectives. They've barely been able to advance their social agenda, and in the one case of greatest success (guns) it is coming home to roost.

You can't fail that long without some explanation. For a while it was that somehow the leadership was never perfect enough. Ronnie cut too many deals with the democrats. George the First couldn't read his own lips. George the II was too much the "compassionate" conservative. Apparently, perfection is required for conservatism to succeed at all.

But that gets harder and harder to sell as the decades go by. Especially when the dreaded Clinton achieved what you never could, he practically balanced the budget (and did it while raising taxes! OMG!). Oh, and he won his "wars". So what does one do? What does one do when the effects of global warming are all around, and you've been denying it for decades? What does one do when even the tobacco companies finally admit that smoking causes cancer and is addictive? What does one do when the army admits that gay soldiers are not a problem? What do you do when you fight a war and they don't greet you with flowers? And what do you do when the good guy with a gun doesn't stop the bad guy with a gun?

Welcome to Post Truth. If reality bites, make up your own "alternative facts".