It is telling about the age we live in that as a guilty verdict is handed down upon Cardinal George Pell, a giant in conservative life in Australia, that so many conservative figures in Australia have leapt to his defence. Andrew Bolt, Miranda Devine and Lyle Shelton have all mobilised their power in the defence of a convicted child abuser.
Now Pell may indeed appeal this verdict, as is his right, but I think the derangement of the political right wing in Australia is shown in stark detail in this behaviour.
Yes the legal system is imperfect, but it's the best system we have in getting to the truth of what happened. And it has determined Pell is guilty of a heinous crime. But the spin doctors of the right such as Bolt, Devine and Shelton are furiously denying the truth. Pell is guilty. A jury of 12 of Pell's peers have found it to be so.
Likewise Andrew Bolt and Miranda Devine are both important cheerleaders in the denial of another fact. Climate change. For much the same reason. For Bolt and Devine, climate change, which is accepted to be a fact by the scientific community is also a guilty verdict.
For these deranged cheerleaders of conservatism, climate change represents a guilty verdict against them. They believe that to be told that we need to reform society is a statement of personal guilt.
They say we who believe the scientific consensus are just guilt tripping them. We are not. Andrew Bolt is not responsible for the one degree Celsius rise in average temperatures across the globe. But he could mobilise his very real power to change our society to help slow the rise in temperature.
But he will not. It takes emotional intelligence to put your emotions aside and objectively review evidence. This is the cause of the derangement of right of centre politics in this country. Whether it be a notable church leader abusing children or the scientific consensus, their denial of the truth is simply deranged. And it has deranged Australia.
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