Creep of the Week
America loves a circus. Doesn't even matter if it's ethical. Tigers locked in cages all day? Elephants viciously whipped? We don't care. We want to see big cats jump through hoops of fire and the world's largest mammal stand on her hind legs before taking a bow. All while we shove cotton candy and funnel cakes into our face.
This mindset is, as far as I can tell, the reason why Rick Santorum is a viable contender this far into the Republican scramble for the party's nomination for president. He's a spectacle and the American public doesn't see something like this everyday. Can it be that voters have become so used to the traditional prattle of politicians that Santorum's propensity to say exactly what he means is actually a welcome change? Even if the things he says are elephant shit crazy?
This is a man who said on CNN that women who get pregnant as the result of being raped should just "make the best of a bad situation" and "accept what God has given to you."
This is a man who has said, "I'm not a believer in birth control" and "I don't think it works. I think it's harmful to women. I think it's harmful to our society."
This is a man who has equated marriage equality with man-on-dog sex.
This is a man who said, into a microphone in front of lots of people, that the Crusades were actually a good thing.
This is a man who said, about welfare, "I don't want to make black people's lives better by giving them somebody else's money."
This is a man who wants to see all states follow the same anti-gay marriage law. As for same-sex couples who are already legally married? "Well their marriage would be invalid," he said. "If the constitution says 'marriage is this,' then people whose marriages are not consistent with the constitution…" And then he shrugged.
This is a man who said the separation of church and state "makes me want to throw up."
Granted, you may look at all of these positions and come to the conclusion that this is a man obsessed with social issues who wants to impose his own ideological will on America should he become president. But you would be so wrong. That's totally a lie perpetuated by the lame-stream media, Santorum told NBC's David Gregory recently.
"Yeah, they are deeply held views, but they're not what I dominantly talk about, David," Santorum responded. "You're taking things that over a course of a 20-year career, and pulling out quotes from different speeches on issues that are fairly tangential, not what people care about mostly in America, and saying, 'Oh, he wants to impose those values.' Look at my record. I never wanted to impose any of the things that you just talked about."
Then, just in case anyone missed the point, he added, "There is no evidence at all that I want to impose those values on anybody else."
It kind of makes you wonder just how Santorum is defining "no evidence" here. Perhaps he's being misquoted and the "no" is actually "no." short for "number," and in this case a very large number of so much undeniable evidence.
Or maybe he misspoke and meant to say, "There is not no evidence at all." It's hard to say. Words are a tricky balancing act. And he's working without a net.
I'd make a "Send in the Clowns" reference now, but that would be an insult to Judy Collins.
