Compassionate-less Conservativism
Yesterday around 7:30 p.m. I was on Twitter and kept seeing news of Eric Cantor losing his bid for reelection to a Tea Party candidate, David Brat. (“Heh” at that surname.) I couldn’t believe what I was reading. Eric Cantor should’ve easily won reelection and now he can’t run in November on the Republican ticket, he will not do a write-in campaign, and we will have a new majority leader in Congress.
(Credit: AP)
There has been much said about why Eric Cantor lost (lack of feeling the need to campaign, his wavering on immigration, his late-stage slight willingness to work with President Obama, and I even saw something about his being Jewish [which didn’t stop him for 7 elections so far, so #NO]), but I think it’s because he pursued power more than doing a good job as a public servant. Eric Cantor turned himself from a working Congressman into a recalcitrant government representative who hitched his horse to the runaway Tea Party carriage. It’s the same thing Michelle Bachmann did and she’s not even running for reelection after a close call this past November (she almost lost her seat). So, Cantor was compassionate about power and influence and thought he could use the Tea Party to further his aims, but they proved him wrong. Clearly, they cannot be easily controlled. (Just ask John Boehner.)
He’s GOTTA be shook today…or maybe happy that Cantor can’t take his place now.
Another example of a conservative who is getting his compassion wrong is Indiana GOP candidate John Johnston. Johnston stated that “[most candidates do not have] the guts to just let [poor people] wither and die.” It’s like the Republican Party is having a competition to determine who can be the biggest jerk and say the most insane things to get free press that hopefully translates into insane votes. This strategy is not a good long-term one if you look back at the 2012 Republican Presidential Primary debate candidates. (Has there ever been a bigger continuous cheap political song and dance on television before?)
You can just tell he was thinking, “This is gonna go viral. I’m gonna be a Conservative hero!”
The thing about that poor comment that bugs me the most is that these are the same conservatives who claim to love Jesus and have memorized the Bible and the Constitution, but they forget that Jesus said, “The poor will always be with you…” (Mark 14:7a; Matthew 26:11), but they talk like if they take away poor people’s food, health care, and money that they’ll be motivated to go out and grab one of those jobs that are supposedly readily available for anyone with any skill set imaginable, even if they don’t qualify. (Most people I know on public assistance don’t like being on public assistance and are working to get off of it or have to have it because they don’t make enough to be above the poverty line. How about we get people more jobs, make companies hire instead of hoard, and pay people bigger salaries to catch up with inflation?)
So, the Republican Party’s vocal conservative members (most of them) clearly have a problem with their loudest members focusing on the things that make them passionate and compassionate. Eric Cantor might still have a job to come back to in January if he focused on the right thing (i.e. – doing his job and not trying to be a Tea Party/GOP rock star [don’t be a hero, Eric]) and John Johnston wouldn’t be labeled a heartless jerk if he stopped thinking that all poor people are lazy and don’t want to work. If they don’t want to change and refocus, the nation will happily watch as they implode. I’d actually like that if it means we will have less mass shootings due to people believing in a coming race/political/white survival war as they wave Confederate and Gadsden flags. (Y’all gotta chill. Seriously.)
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Category: Christianity, Conservatives, Politics
