Forget Santorum

Who would have thought it possible that the Republican Party, having gone through Pawlenty, Palin, Trump, Bachmann, Huntsman, Cain, Gingrich, Perry, Paul, and others more or less nameless, would have finally arrived at a leading candidate who is actually WORSE than any of the above? Rick Santorum, who complained until relatively recently that he had not received enough attention, has now received a lot of attention and finally attained that illustrious status called of “Flavor of the month.” And, having succeeded in reaching it, has failed Sanity 101. He will soon join the other flavors of the month that are being forgotten, probably not even footnotes to history.

Where to begin? Although some 98 or 99% of American women, including Catholic women, have used contraception at one time or another, Mr. Santorum wants to make it illegal. This would not seem very astute. He is also opposed to prenatal care, claiming it leads to abortions, which it sometimes does to spare the mother’s health and well-being, and society at large from a far worse outcome. Mr. Santorum would also like to see abortions criminalized and doctors who perform them incarcerated. Women, according to him, should not work but stay home and care for the children (I gather he is unaware of single mothers or the economics of life in the U.S.). He is also completely opposed to Gay marriage, wants those already performed to be annulled, and wants to restore DADT. When he is not raving about his imaginary images of sex that is “not what it is supposed to be” (he must have an incredible imagination), he turns his attention to matters of domestic and foreign policy.

He is, for example, concerned that millions of non-Catholics have somehow strayed from religion, that President Obama’s vision for our nation is not “bible-based,” that Obama, in fact, believes in a different “theology,” apparently having something to do with the environment (maybe he meant to say “ideology,” but it is not clear). He seems to believe the earth is less important than the humans that vitally depend upon it. He thinks there are no Palestinians, that we should attack and destroy Iran as soon as possible, that the Crusaders were not aggressors against Muslims, and of course Israel and the United States are absolutely “good” while all others are “bad.”

Back on the domestic scene, he believes that inequality of income is good and hopes it will last (how much inequality he does not mention), does not believe in taking money from the haves (White people) and giving to others (Black, or other poor people), and wants to do away with public education entirely. He also would also, of course, do away completely with Planned Parenthood. It is probably fair to say that Santorum shares in the Republican belief that our responsibility for life begins at conception but ends at birth. Hence their obsessive concern with when, precisely, life begins, and their complete unconcern about what happens to infants and children after they are born. There would seem to me to be some contradiction here about life beginning at conception but no prenatal care, but far be it for me to understand Santorum’s twisted mind).

I don’t know what all else Santorum would do if (heaven forbid) he were to become President, but it is obvious that if he really wants to become President he is promoting ideas that will surely insure he will never manage to attain that goal. He is so extreme even the current Republican Party is not stupid enough to allow him to become their candidate. As Romney is not doing very well either there is already talk of a brokered convention and a new candidate (Jeb Bush seems to be their solution). As this is considered only a remote possibility, Romney will probably, as predicted, outlast everyone else and become the candidate. In any case it seems to me Santorum has had his moment in the sun, his turn in the barrel, his designation as flavor of the month, and will soon wilt like all the others.

There is one thing that bothers me even more than the specifics of Santorum’s extreme views on contraception, abortion, Gays, foreign policy, or whatever. After trying to make sense of his various statements and apparent beliefs, claims and accusations, I fear he doesn’t know what he is talking about. It is like ignorance run amok.

“Fine fellows—cannibals—in their place. They were men we could work with, and I am grateful to them. And, after all, they did not eat each other before my face…”
Joseph Conrad