"Santorum? Really?!"

Well, the much-touted Iowa caucuses are over, thankfully, but the Republicans still haven't managed to admit they have to choose Romney. Sure, Romney won Iowa by a whopping 8 votes, but the fact that Rick Santorum nearly tied him should give all sane people pause. When I first heard that Santorum was even running, I couldn't take it seriously. The man was voted out of office in Pennsylvania by 18 percentage points in 2006 for a lot of good reasons (see link for a number of lapses in integrity and episodes of crass hypocrisy) and his history of homophobia was (and still is) so rabid that his opponents, led by Dan Savage, actually made his name a definition for an unsavory type of substance, which shows up pretty close to the top of any Google search you do on his name. (No, I won't link it here, but feel free to Google if you are one of the few who has not already heard about it).

So I may be forgiven if I thought we'd seen the last of him. But strangely, he's baaaack! Santorum is running for President and has managed to promote himself as the sole keeper of family values competing for the Republican nomination, thus siphoning off all of the hardcore right-wing evangelical Republicans in Iowa and managing to nearly topple Romney. You almost have to feel sorry for Romney; he's doing everything right and yet the GOP voters still don't want him.
Just in case anyone has forgotten what a nutjob Santorum really is, let's revisit a few of his positions. This link will take you to a site that lists a number of quotes by Santorum on various subjects. A few choice examples:

• “The reason Social Security is in big trouble is we don’t have enough workers to support the retirees. A third of all the young people in America are not in America today because of abortion, because one in three pregnancies end in abortion.” - Rick Santorum on how abortion is responsible for Social Security’s problems, 3/29/11

• “I find it almost remarkable for a black man to say ‘now we are going to decide who are people and who are not people’.” - Rick Santorum on President Obama’s race and pro-choice beliefs, 1/19/2011 

• “Is anyone saying same-sex couples can’t love each other? I love my children. I love my friends, my brother. Heck, I even love my mother-in-law. Should we call these relationships marriage, too?" - Rick Santorum comparing his love for his mother-in-law to the love that same-sex couples share, 5/22/2008

In case you wonder whether he really believes some of the things he says, you can see his beliefs on his own website, where he states he will do the following things, among others:

• "Repeal Clinton-era Title X family planning regulations, and will direct HHS to restore the separation of Title X family planning from abortion practices and restore a ban on referrals for abortion 
• Reinstitute the Mexico City Policy to stop tax-payer funding or promotion of abortion overseas
• Ban federal funding for embryonic stem cell research 
• Restore conscience clause protections for health care workers 
• Defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court 
• Ban military chaplains from performing same sex marriage ceremonies on military bases or other Federal properties
• Repeal Obamacare mandate for contraceptive services in healthcare plans... 
• Veto any bill or budget that funds abortion or funds any organization that performs abortions including Planned Parenthood 
• Call on Congress to abolish the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals 
• Advocate for a Personhood Amendment to the Constitution... 
• Advocate for a Federal Marriage Amendment to the Constitution 
• Call on Congress to reinstitute Don't Ask/Don't Tell 
• Call on Congress to pass the Workplace Religious Freedom Act 
• Call on Congress to reinstitute 2008-level funding for the Community Based Abstinence Education program 
• Advocate for a federal law permitting schools to allow prayer at graduations, football games and other school functions." 

Anyone who cares about a woman's right to choose - including the choice of using birth control - should be very afraid if Santorum ever got elected. And forget separation of church and state - such as it is - this guy would love to see a theocracy.

On last night's Daily Show, Jon Stewart used a great analogy to point out that in the end, the Republicans just have to pick Romney. I'm just hoping he's right, for the sake of the country. While I do feel that Romney may have the best chance of beating Obama, which is not good from my perspective, on the other hand, the voters in this country are just crazy enough that they might actually elect a Santorum or some other equally unsuitable person as president, and that would be so much worse than having a President Romney that I can't even think about it.  Of course, there are a lot of reasons Romney should not be the next president.  We can get into that next time!

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Indecision 2012 - Romspringa - Rick Santorum's Surge
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog The Daily Show on Facebook