This one's for THE CHILDREN

It's amazing how much of what conservatives want in America is allegedly driven over concern for "the children."

Abortion should be illegal because it kills unborn children.

Janet Jackson's nipple and curse words make for indecent TV because of the children.

We should stop mortgaging the future of the country (at least as far as non-war, non-tax cut stuff) because we have to think about the children.

Teachers must shut up about their increasingly miserable lot because of the children.

We must return to alleged Christian roots because of THE CHILDREN.

When George W. Bush surrounded himself with black schoolchildren during the signing of No Child Left Behind, it was an inspiring step forward in American education.

And yet...

When Barack Obama surrounds himself with diverse schoolchildren to sign executive orders intended to ensure they're less likely to get blown away in school, HE'S JUST LIKE HITLER. What kind of vicious fiend would use children as a political prop?!!

Just to be clear, I'm not a fan of using children as a political prop. I was actively interested in politics from the age of 8, but I suspect most kids aren't. (I knew a guy in college who, as an 11 year old, was part of a crowd of hecklers at a Bill Clinton rally that I had attended as a supporter. He grew up to be a gay Democrat, and the memory was a source of deep shame for him.) However, to suggest that Obama is the first to do it, or the worst, is to look like a partisan fool.

But that's beside the point. What's more important is what this latest criticism confirms about many American conservatives — that even the children, their oft-stated most valued concern, matter less than guns. I figured if anything would cause Second Amendment fetishists to reconsider their hard-line stance on the right to bear arms, it would be the Sandy Hook shooting. 

Nope. Instead, worrying about the children is suddenly a political ploy, a ruse to garner emotional support for a political issue. And that's bad now, at least insofar as it applies to guns. Because guns are sacred. Even more sacred than THE CHILDREN.

Apparently, there's literally no principle the GOP won't abandon for a few more pats on the back from the NRA.