I have no particular feelings toward Rick Santorum. Indeed, the current emphasis on PERSONALITIES (rather than issues and ideas) is probably the biggest red herring of what passes for American politics. But Santorum is such a complete catalog of everything wrong with "conservatives" that he makes a perfect example.
He has perfectly exemplified the waffling "conservative" attitude toward abortion. And he's taken up the the "conservative" pose of victimization that is such a pervasive and unlovely part of that faction's self-image.
Santorum told the talk-shows how he suffered when he was in college for openly championing his "conservative" beliefs in that "liberal" world. It's a long-running theme for "conservatives," starting with William F. Buckley's "God and Man at Yale" in 1951.
It may well have been true for Buckley. But Santorum's frat-brothers and professors doubt he experienced any such thing. They remember him as a typical frat-boy, interested in girls, sports, and beer. His frat-brothers say he only stood out for his political ambitions. (And that, we know, rings true.)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/01/rick-santorum-frat_n_1312924.html
and
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/05/rick-santorum-penn-state_n_1322663.html?icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl15%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D140823
Besides those close eyewitnesses, there are other reasons to doubt Santorum's self-pitying memories. Most convincing is that he told an interviewer, on his first political contest 10 years after college, that he was "...basically pro-choice all my life, until I ran for Congress" in 1990. It's hard to believe that the "liberal" bullies on his campus persecuted Santorum for (by his own admission) sharing their views.
We all know the "conservatives" checklist. A "conservative" must hate Obama: extra "conservative" creds for irrationality and shrillness. He must claim to be pro-life, pro-military, and pro-business. He must bash "the liberal media," "activist judges," "big government," "enviro-Nazis," gay marriage, unions, global warming, illegal aliens...the list goes on and on. (And above all, politically-correct "conservatives" must be against "political correctness.")
But there's also an attitudinal check-list for "conservatives," and its first requirement is self-pity. I'm skeptical of Santorum's claim to have bullied on campus for his "conservative" views because it too perfectly mimics the attitude by which "conservatives" pander to their "base."
It's hard to take that "conservative" attitude seriously when so much of it is false. "The activist judges" who handed down the Roe v. Wade decision were overwhelmingly "conservative," and the Court has remained so. "Conservatives" have dominated American politics for 30 years. The biggest player in the world of "liberal media" is Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, whose deliberately-"conservative" slant on the "news" reaches over 90% of American homes. It's hard to swallow the "persecuted minority" self-image from a faction that dominates courts, politics, and media.
But as Santorum knows, it's the required attitude for any who wish to belong to that faction. Being able to spout the required attitude, and righteous indignation about it, on fabricated evidence probably marks him as indeed thoroughly "conservative." It seems illogical that "conservatives" want to think of themselves as downtrodden and persecuted: but those whose governing philosophy is being against government have no problem with illogic.
I've never really understood why "conservatives" find it advantageous to strike self-pitying poses. Perhaps it's supposed to draw our sympathies (and votes) to the poor underdogs who dominate our national life. Personally, I find self-pity, especially a self-pitying pose, disgusting. It reminds me of the joke:
Q.: What's the difference between a new litter of puppies and "conservatives" ?
A.: Puppies grow up, and stop whining.
The only real hope for "conservatives" is that they will repent, and follow Christ. In the meantime, perhaps we can at least hope they will grow up and stop whining.
