Today on "Great Moments in Oxymorons": Conservative Leadership

Some of my more Conservative readers may well look at something like this and think, “My isn’t he being a Liberal elitist snob?” To that I would merely say that expecting political leaders to act on fact and reality instead of knee jerk reaction and fear mongering shouldn’t be cause for being called out for “Liberalism.” I’ve always thought the belief in truth and empirical reality to be a baseline expectation, not an option.

The problem from where I sit is that so few people are willing to think. They’ll react furiously when instructed to do so, but when pressed can’t provide and sort of logical reason for their outrage. My expectations are actually a pretty low bar: think. Know what you’re talking about. Live in the evidence- and reality-based world. Formulate opinions based on the real and provable, not what you believe or the way you think things should be.

(Un)Fortunately for me, I don’t have to work hard to find examples of politicians on the Right side of the ideological divide who traffic in fear-mongering, propaganda, and religious fantasy in the name of leadership and policy. Then again, when you’re in office because of your ability to appeal to the stupid and ill-informed, it doesn’t hurt to be ill-informed and IQ-deficient yourself.

West Virginia Republican says rape can be ‘beautiful’ if it produces a child: “Obviously rape is awful…What is beautiful is the child that could come from this.” What sort of monster could try to make light of something so horrific as rape? When you believe women to be vessels for the production of children, though, this probably makes sense…in a sick, twisted, horribly insensitive way. Who says women aren’t property?

Congressman Shrugs Off Dreamers’ Patriotism, Says ISIS Would Enlist, Too: Is it just me, or is Dave Brat really an intellectual and moral equivalent blank slate…someone who says a lot of words that carry no actual meaning? I’m not certain the man has two brain cells to rub together.

Fringe Pastor: Obama Will Declare Himself President For Life, Take All Guns: Then, when he has all the guns, The Black Guy in the White House © is going to force all good, God-fearing Christian patriots to like anal sex and Sharia. So says that wise sage, Rev. Pat Robertson.

Marco Rubio Struggles To Explain Whether He Thinks Iraq Was A ‘Mistake’: A very wise man once told me that if you tell the truth, you’ll never have to finesse your answer. Clearly Rubio didn’t get that memo.

93 OF 98 TEXAS HOUSE REPUBLICANS SHAMEFULLY SIGN ANTI-GAY LETTER PLEDGING TO DEFY SCOTUS ON MARRIAGE: Because hatred never goes out of style, and it’s SO much easier than loving your fellow human beings- especially when your constituents can be marinated in homophobia and cafeteria Christianity.

Bobby Jindal: George W. Bush ‘Made Absolutely The Right Decision’ On Iraq: Because killing more than 100,000 people- including almost 5,000 American servicemen and women- based on lies and propaganda was absolutely the right thing to do. ‘MERICA!!!