Santorum and the zealots - Convictions aren't all equal

Rick Santorum is back. (And to rehash and old joke, "No. Don't google it.")

He was recently on Meet the Press (Why was he on MTP, people? He’s an unemployed zealot.). While there...dropping off a job application???...he hinted he was up for running in 2016. For president. Again.

Why? Because theirs money and power in doing it.

Why would anyone support him? Because he says the horrible things a small minority of this country desperately wants to hear on stages across the country. Hurtful nasty things.

And you know what? It can work. NO! He can’t be president. I don’t think the GOP is that addled of mind yet. But he can ride on his nastiness and zealousness for a while and get some love for it.

Remember last time around? He had a few days where people were starting to think he had a serious shot at the Republican nomination. That was some crazy thinking. But Herman Cain was getting the same talk. Every nut had their day.

Yet more than the base and some pundits were giving him credit. The media did. He would say mean and cruel things, and the media actually said, “He’s talking from the heart.” “He’s a straight shooter.” “He’s a man of convictions.”

They said that stuff as conviction were meritorious qualities in an of itself. 

He’s a zealot. He plays off some of the worst impulses in humans. He’s backwards thinking. But he’s forthrightly backwards. How refreshing.

It seems in the world of political word games and spin, having convictions is blurred with having substance. Having weight. Having value in what you say.

That's crap.

Blurting out things, like how horrible black people are is none of those things. Even if you really really mean it.

No. You want to talk about convictions that matter, look at a real example, another Christian you talked the talk and walked the walk. ...No, I am talking talking about Jesus. (Geez. Is everything about Jesus with you?)

Let's talk one Fred Rogers.

Rogers, along with being a long time host on PBS, was also a Christian minister. Not that you would know from his show, Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. He didn't need to throw it in your face. He just lived his beliefs. Beliefs and convictions centered around being kind to everyone, listening to people (in particular kids), being reassuring and supportive to those you meet, and being openly friendly and giving day in and out. And when other religious voices were out  belittling gay people, he outright refused to join in. Instead, he kept to his philosophy. He loved them for who they were.

That's some nice stuff. And it affected people. He would argue to support children television (and making it meaningful). He would reach out and do whatever he could when someone asked, or he heard their was a need. He was a guy that was almost unreal in his compassion that sharing his impact has become an Internet meme.

He affected so many lives. He made so many bad times for kids, and others, better. He mattered.

He was a man of convictions. He lived by values and beliefs. Good values and beliefs.

Sadly people like Rick Santorum have a lot to learn to be anything like Fred Rogers. And, if he was still around, Fred Rogers would have been their with open arms willing to give him a chance to become a better human being.

People really should appreciate the difference between good and bad convictions. They aren't all equal.