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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Rick Santorum that America doesn't know
Youve probably heard all the good ones about GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum by now. The one about his Google problem. The one about the man-on-dog sex (prompting the greatest journalistic response ever, when the reporter told Santorum that he was sort of freaking me out.) The one about how the Catholic Churchs priest sex abuse scandal was caused by Boston liberalism, or the one about how President Obama should be anti-abortion because hes black and abortion is like slavery. And so on and so forth.
Thats the Rick Santorum that America has come to know over the last 15 years or so an unapologetic and almost goofy culture warrior whose obsessions like thinking that gay sex is a gateway drug to bestiality make him a hero to social conservatives and often a laughing stock to most everyone else. Santorums rise in the 2012 presidential race has people talking about whether his views on social issues talk of annulling gay marriages, seemingly questioning the right to even birth control --- make him too extreme to be president and thats an important topic to discuss.
But I also think Santorums weird sexual bluster can obscure who he really is, and what truly matters about his suddenly surging campaign. As a Philadelphia-based political reporter, I arrived in town just seven months after Santorum became my states junior senator. I followed his 12 years on the Washington political stage closely, and I think people obsessing on the man-on-dog stuff are missing the bigger picture. For one thing, the self-styled family values expert has a surprisingly ambiguous record with his own personal ethics. Also, Santorums legislative record shows that his real workaday agenda was not so much waging culture wars as protecting the interests of the 1 Percent, the millionaires and billionaires who funded the modern Republican Party. You could say that Rick Santorum is just another politician. But that would be giving him too much credit.
Heres a Pennsylvanians brief guide to the Rick Santorum you dont know:
...
8. Santorum has frequently insisted that his political values are guided by his religious values, and that John F. Kennedy's famous 1960 speech describing a separtion between the two had done "much harm" in America. But despite inviting such scrutiny, there's been little discussion of Santorum's ties to ultra-conservative movements within the Roman Catholic Church Santorum's comments about JFK were made in Rome in 2002 when he spoke at a 100th birthday event for Jose Maria Escrivade Balaguer, founder of the secretive group within the church known as Opus Dei. Although Santorum says he is not a member of Opus Dei -- which has been criticized by some for alleged cult-like qualities and ties to ultra-conservative regimes around the world -- he did receive written permission to attend the ultra-conservative St. Catherine of Siena Church in Great Falls, Va., where Mass is still conducted in Latin and a long-time priest and many parishioners are members of Opus Dei, mingling with political conservatives like Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and former FBI director Louis Freeh.
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/attytood/The-Santorum-that-America-doesnt-know.html
Much more good stuff at the link!
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The Rick Santorum that America doesn't know (Original Post)
FarCenter
Jan 2012
OP
While reading through the comments, there was an accusation that Santorum had an affair
justiceischeap
Jan 2012
#2
Blue Owl
(50,536 posts)1. Santorum had contact with the innermost recesses deep inside the system
n/t
justiceischeap
(14,040 posts)2. While reading through the comments, there was an accusation that Santorum had an affair
with WGAL reporter Kim Lemon. I used to live in PA and I vaguely remember Lemon. I wonder if that's what the Missus meant when she told Ricky not to embarras her.
monmouth
(21,078 posts)4. Sorry, I posted mine without seeing yours, I shall delete...n/t
Response to FarCenter (Original post)
monmouth This message was self-deleted by its author.