Flim-Flam Men

One of the things I find frankly appalling about the current state of American conservationism is their willingness to follow obvious flim-flam men. For example, David Clarke, the (just-resigned) sheriff of Milwaukee County. I can't find it at the moment, but there was a nice article by the State's Attorney of Milwaukee County noting how, under Clarke, the sheriff's office had withdrawn into doing little more than guarding the county courthouse. (This was made possible by the fact that Milwaukee County has only a couple of square miles of unincorporated terrority, mostly on or along one Interstate.)

Another example is the "minister" Joel Osteen of recent Twitter fame. The man, who is personally rich, had to be shamed into opening his church for the refugees of storm-flooded Houston. (Since when does a Christian minister get rich while being a minister?)

These men and others are clearly flim-flam artists, all talk and no cattle. Yet modern conservatives hold them up as examples and invite them to their conventions. Why?