One amusing facet of modern “conservatism” is the propensity for its members to be the very things that they purport to despise. Meet Colorado State Rep. Tim “Jailbird” Leonard (R-Evergreen), who was recently sentenced to fourteen days in jail on contempt of court charges.
Leonard is a man who might want to consider a bit of humility to temper his sullied image, but instead, he has gone wild, seemingly trying to take the surrendered mantle of former Rep. Gordon Klingenschmitt (R-Colorado Springs)—chased out of the party as too radical even for the modern GOP—and run with it.
“Strong homosexual agenda” that seeks to “force others to change their behaviors” sounds like an anachronism from the nineties now that conservatives have largely lost that battle in the culture wars. Most Republicans, either due to cynical self-preservation or a genuine evolution of their views, have learned to at the very least not rail against the “homosexual agenda” this overtly and absurdly. With society increasingly supporting the “homosexual agenda” (which is a desire for equitable treatment, not “special” treatment) most members of the GOP have learned to cut their losses in this regard.
But that’s not this jailbird’s style. As another example of his radicalism, just over a year from the horrible day that a deranged man murdered three people in an attack on a Planned Parenthood—ranting about “no more baby parts” and apparently inspired by GOP rhetoric on the subject— Leonard has introduced legislation to “[stop] the trafficking in aborted baby body parts by…state universities”. He even knows that his bill is “going to fail” but is running it anyway with the hope of teaching the public about the “barbaric practice”.
Perhaps Tim Leonard is hoping to inspire more madmen to shoot and kill innocent people in service to his lies about baby-parts being “sold”. Of course, he would never admit to that as his motivation for tilting at such preposterous windmills, but in December of 2015 three innocent people and their families were destroyed by the violent ripples of the sort of rhetoric Leonard employs.
In today’s climate, will this sort of mendacity and extremism cost Leonard his job, like it cost Klingenschmitt his? Frankly, I doubt it, but hope is the flame that burns eternally and Leonard can only run amok for so long before the flames of reason and decency catch up to him.
