If you haven’t heard of Rick Santorum, Google his name. Take a look at the link below Santorum’s official website. That’s right, the one with the address www.spreadingsantorum.com.
What you will find is a well-executed smear campaign for the Pennsylvanian senator, spawned eight years ago by Dan Savage, syndicated sex-advice columnist and homosexual. So what did Santorum say that pissed off Dan Savage badly enough to create an embarrassing “Google problem” for the uber-conservative senator?
In an interview with The Associated Press, Santorum identified homosexuality as deviant sexual behavior and compared the orientation with polygamy, pedophilia and bestiality. During the same interview, Santorum dissed a citizen’s right to privacy, saying, “… If you make the case that if you can do whatever you want to do, as long as it’s in the privacy of your own home, this ‘right to privacy,’ then why be surprised that people are doing things that are deviant within their own home? If you say, there is no deviant as long as it’s private, as long as it’s consensual, then don’t be surprised what you get.”
Let me remind you that this man is in the running for the Republican presidential nomination.
Does he have a shot in hell? No, absolutely not.
His extreme social conservatism may appeal to some voters, but his politics and demeanor are amateur in comparison with heavyweights like Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney. The Republican Party cannot afford to invest in this man.
Rick Santorum is the mouthpiece for an extremist viewpoint that fleshes out stereotypes of the far right, making the other candidates seem almost sane in comparison. The problem is, I cannot decide if he is the Lone Raver or if his fellow Republican candidates are just keeping their homophobia on the DL.
In a panel discussion on CNN, Santorum — along with Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Michele Bachmann — claimed he would support a constitutional amendment to define marriage as between a man and a woman, which would revoke a state’s right to legalize marriage between same-sex couples. When asked if they would reinstate Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, the same four candidates said, “Yes.”
How does that make sense?
Gingrich and Bachmann said they would have to confer with military leaders first, but considering the military was already consulted, this redundancy alone reeks of inefficiency and shameless agenda-pushing.
Here’s what Santorum had to say about DADT: “The job of the United States military is to protect and defend the people of this country. It is not for social experimentation. It should be repealed; and the commanders should have a system of discipline in place … that punishes bad behavior.”
Oh, Rick. You are such an A-hole. You make all the other candidates look like fuzzy little bunnies. Even Rick Perry looks like a kitten next to you — OK, a feral kitten that carries a gun.
I was first introduced to Rick Perry a few weeks ago when buzzfeed.com featured a YouTube video of the governor struggling to answer a question concerning Abstinence Education in Texas schools. The commentator from the Texas Tribune begins the interview, “Abstinence education programs — they don’t seem to be working. In fact … (Texas has) the third highest teen pregnancy rate in the country.”
“It works,” is the point Perry continues to revolve around; and when the reporter asks for evidence to support his claim, Perry responds, “I’m just gonna tell ya, from my own personal life, abstinence works.” The quip earned him a few chuckles, but after three minutes of failing to address the issue, Perry was left looking clueless and a bit frazzled.
Perry is a political resurrection of G.W. Bush — the blank stare, the Texas drawl; Oh yeah, and did I mention he’s the governor of Texas? He also has a nice record of job creation to offer potential supporters. No wonder the GOP has Perrymania. He openly despises the Obama administration and sells a vision of a socially conservative utopia.
In a speech at the Republican Leaders Conference in New Orleans, Perry slams the Left and those Republicans who seek bipartisan solutions, saying, “Our opponents on the Left are never going to like us, so let’s stop trying to curry favor with them. Let’s stand up and speak with pride about our morals and values and redouble our efforts to elect more conservative Republicans. Let’s stop this American downward spiral. It’s happening because of too much spending, too much interfering and too much apologizing.”
Perry envisions a future without the problems “created” by the current government, but he fails to successfully detail any fundamental plan — a fact that makes me nervous as he garners popularity. Who would vote for this man?
Perry himself has the answer, “Texas elects folks like Perry, the kind of guy who jogs packing a Ruger .380 with laser sights, loaded with hollow-point bullets and shoots a coyote.”
It sounds a little extreme to me, (hollow-points and laser sights for a coyote?) but you tell me, my fellow Americans.
Among the Republican Party, there is quite a buzz about Perry’s potential for taking on Obama in the 2012 election; however, according to The Huffington Post, “holding onto the voters’ support will require keeping up perceptions that he’s a strong leader who can turn the economy around.”
The economic platform that Perry used to create jobs in Texas revolved around making the state more attractive to business owners, which included lowering taxes and offering financial incentives to companies willing to move from other states. While this worked out well for Texas, it negatively impacted other states — making it a questionable model for national job creation.
At the end of the day, what astounds me the most is the public acceptance of both Ricks of the race. To respect the spouting of Santorum’s hyper-homophobia as social moralism or to consider Perry’s portraits of a conservative autonomy as healthy democracy — makes my jaw drop. America can no longer afford to support promises dressed in a suit — from either party.
It’s time to get critical. The future of America depends on it.
WTF?!!!
If you haven’t heard of Rick Santorum, Google his name. Take a look at the link below Santorum’s official website. That’s right, the one with the address www.spreadingsantorum.com.
What you will find is a well-executed smear campaign for the Pennsylvanian senator, spawned eight years ago by Dan Savage, syndicated sex-advice columnist and homosexual. So what did Santorum say that pissed off Dan Savage badly enough to create an embarrassing “Google problem” for the uber-conservative senator?
In an interview with The Associated Press, Santorum identified homosexuality as deviant sexual behavior and compared the orientation with polygamy, pedophilia and bestiality. During the same interview, Santorum dissed a citizen’s right to privacy, saying, “… If you make the case that if you can do whatever you want to do, as long as it’s in the privacy of your own home, this ‘right to privacy,’ then why be surprised that people are doing things that are deviant within their own home? If you say, there is no deviant as long as it’s private, as long as it’s consensual, then don’t be surprised what you get.”
Let me remind you that this man is in the running for the Republican presidential nomination.
Does he have a shot in hell? No, absolutely not.
His extreme social conservatism may appeal to some voters, but his politics and demeanor are amateur in comparison with heavyweights like Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney. The Republican Party cannot afford to invest in this man.
Rick Santorum is the mouthpiece for an extremist viewpoint that fleshes out stereotypes of the far right, making the other candidates seem almost sane in comparison. The problem is, I cannot decide if he is the Lone Raver or if his fellow Republican candidates are just keeping their homophobia on the DL.
In a panel discussion on CNN, Santorum — along with Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Michele Bachmann — claimed he would support a constitutional amendment to define marriage as between a man and a woman, which would revoke a state’s right to legalize marriage between same-sex couples. When asked if they would reinstate Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, the same four candidates said, “Yes.”
How does that make sense?
Gingrich and Bachmann said they would have to confer with military leaders first, but considering the military was already consulted, this redundancy alone reeks of inefficiency and shameless agenda-pushing.
Here’s what Santorum had to say about DADT: “The job of the United States military is to protect and defend the people of this country. It is not for social experimentation. It should be repealed; and the commanders should have a system of discipline in place … that punishes bad behavior.”
Oh, Rick. You are such an A-hole. You make all the other candidates look like fuzzy little bunnies. Even Rick Perry looks like a kitten next to you — OK, a feral kitten that carries a gun.
I was first introduced to Rick Perry a few weeks ago when buzzfeed.com featured a YouTube video of the governor struggling to answer a question concerning Abstinence Education in Texas schools. The commentator from the Texas Tribune begins the interview, “Abstinence education programs — they don’t seem to be working. In fact … (Texas has) the third highest teen pregnancy rate in the country.”
“It works,” is the point Perry continues to revolve around; and when the reporter asks for evidence to support his claim, Perry responds, “I’m just gonna tell ya, from my own personal life, abstinence works.” The quip earned him a few chuckles, but after three minutes of failing to address the issue, Perry was left looking clueless and a bit frazzled.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djJBFurrbW0[/youtube]
Perry is a political resurrection of G.W. Bush — the blank stare, the Texas drawl; Oh yeah, and did I mention he’s the governor of Texas? He also has a nice record of job creation to offer potential supporters. No wonder the GOP has Perrymania. He openly despises the Obama administration and sells a vision of a socially conservative utopia.
In a speech at the Republican Leaders Conference in New Orleans, Perry slams the Left and those Republicans who seek bipartisan solutions, saying, “Our opponents on the Left are never going to like us, so let’s stop trying to curry favor with them. Let’s stand up and speak with pride about our morals and values and redouble our efforts to elect more conservative Republicans. Let’s stop this American downward spiral. It’s happening because of too much spending, too much interfering and too much apologizing.”
Perry envisions a future without the problems “created” by the current government, but he fails to successfully detail any fundamental plan — a fact that makes me nervous as he garners popularity. Who would vote for this man?
Perry himself has the answer, “Texas elects folks like Perry, the kind of guy who jogs packing a Ruger .380 with laser sights, loaded with hollow-point bullets and shoots a coyote.”
It sounds a little extreme to me, (hollow-points and laser sights for a coyote?) but you tell me, my fellow Americans.
Among the Republican Party, there is quite a buzz about Perry’s potential for taking on Obama in the 2012 election; however, according to The Huffington Post, “holding onto the voters’ support will require keeping up perceptions that he’s a strong leader who can turn the economy around.”
The economic platform that Perry used to create jobs in Texas revolved around making the state more attractive to business owners, which included lowering taxes and offering financial incentives to companies willing to move from other states. While this worked out well for Texas, it negatively impacted other states — making it a questionable model for national job creation.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7LI7RRwX60&feature=related[/youtube]
At the end of the day, what astounds me the most is the public acceptance of both Ricks of the race. To respect the spouting of Santorum’s hyper-homophobia as social moralism or to consider Perry’s portraits of a conservative autonomy as healthy democracy — makes my jaw drop. America can no longer afford to support promises dressed in a suit — from either party.
It’s time to get critical. The future of America depends on it.