If it’s 6:00 A.M. on February 2nd inside Phil Connors’ room on the second floor of the 1895 Queen Anne “Cherry Street Inn” in downtown Punxsutawney, Pa., you can pretty much guarantee what’s going to happen next: 

The bedside radio alarm clock will be playing Sonny and Cher’s, “I Got You Babe,” and a couple of cheery, upbeat disc jockeys will be referring to their listeners – including the cynical, bedraggled Pittsburgh meteorologist played by comedian Bill Murray – as “happy campers” and encouraging them to “rise and shine” for the upcoming day’s festivities. 

Phil Connors, trapped in a time loop, lives the same day over and over, seemingly unable to break free and move on to February 3rd

The nearly three-decade-old “Groundhog Day” movie has become synonymous with painful, toxic, monotonous predictability and sameness – much like modern-day liberalism. 

Liberals remind me a lot of Phil Connors, minus the sense of humor. Like the bitter weatherman in the eccentric comedy, they engage in destructive behavior but seem oblivious to the consequences. Despite decades and even centuries of evidence to the contrary, the radical leftists continue to believe their failed policies will somehow work the second, third or even tenth time they try them. They never do. 

Instead, when the sun comes up and the clock alarm goes off again each morning, similar or even worse results inevitably follow.  

Multiple millennia confirm that societies rise and fall on the strength and health of nuclear families. Children do better when raised by married moms and dad. Though the studies are unequivocal, progressive politicos continue to experiment with alternative forms of social policy and family forms – hurting children and discouraging marriage. The family is the world’s most important domestic institution, but liberals seem determined to undermine it. 

The right to life is another basic, fundamental principle – but groups like Planned Parenthood with its racist origins callously and indiscriminately work each day towards the destruction of it. Margaret Sanger launched the organization in 1916 with the desire to pursue eugenics and work toward “the gradual suppression, elimination and eventual extinction, of defective stocks — those human weeds which threaten the blooming of the finest flowers of American civilization.” 

Even liberals cringe at these words from one of their own, but it’s 6 A.M. in Punxsutawney – although accounting for just 12% of the population, 38% of abortions involve black babies. Liberals continue to claim abortion liberates – but in reality, it obliterates and enslaves. 

America was founded on freedom – but leftists are determined to control. They don’t trust you and me. Yet, they’ve pretty much made everything worse that they’ve touched – from education to healthcare to our borders and our justice system.

Back in 1964, Ronald Reagan accurately and presciently observed, “The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they’re ignorant; it’s just that they know so much that isn’t so.” 

Liberals believe faith in God is, at best, kept in private. But a public, vibrant, Christ-centric faith changed the world – transforming nearly every major institution including healthcare, schools and government.  

Leftists “know” socialistic policies are humane and helpful. In reality, they’re destructive – discouraging innovation, disincentivizing work and disintegrating the literal value of the dollar.

Liberals “know” open borders are true to the founding principles of a big-hearted America. In fact, they invite lawlessness and ignite a catastrophic sequence of trouble ranging from crime to the collapse of social services that can’t keep up. History tells us that weakness invites and encourages aggression. 

Leftists “know” taxing the rich leads to equality. History tells us governments eventually run out of other people’s money. Income “redistribution” has never worked. As it is, the top one percent of income-earners pay over 40% of the federal taxes. 

Although still something of a debate with fans of the film, Phil Connors was finally able to break out of his Groundhog Day time loop when he stopped being a jerk and stopped engaging in destructive behavior. He seems to finally break free to February 3rd when he started being kind and thoughtful – especially to the proprietor of the inn. 

Converting liberals to a more conservative ideology is more than a matter of kindness, though true kindness (and love) is not doing what someone necessarily wants but what you know they need. It’s the correction of the self-destructiveness of liberal behavior that provides us with the best path forward to rehabilitating leftist ideologues. 

As Christian moms and dads, the very best thing we can do to help our children grow into responsible and level-headed adults is to introduce our kids to Jesus Christ, and help them cultivate the ability to think critically for themselves. That’s because as someone once mused, if you catch a liberal in a thoughtful moment, you might just have a convert for life.

Photo from Twitter.