These days it is becoming rather difficult to avoid the spectacularly hideous sight that is the Republican Primary. It’s been a circus that has redefined the term “race to the bottom”, and the the mounting chaos and conflict between the different elements of the party base have rendered any attempt at understanding the trainwreck unfolding before impossible.
But of the bottom feeders, one man truly stands apart. That man is Rick Santorum. He is adamant that a society can’t redefine words like marriage out of “politically expedient needs”, and equally adamant that it is acceptable use religiously expedient language in crafting secular, civil codes concerning marriage. Santorum has also criticized President Obama for what the Republicans characterize as the end of democracy as we know it. (This makes former Senator Sweater Vest’s master plan to dial back an entire generation of reform and progress via executive orders even harder to swallow.)
The questionable policy proposals don’t end there. Santorum also wants to cripple public education, handicap the Supreme Court, destroy the environment, and more. One can only conclude that he either loathes any Americans lacking the privileges he personally enjoys, or is stunningly clueless to the growing needs of Americans. (Case in point: the issue that appears first on his campaign site is none other than “Enforcing Laws Against Illegal Pornography.” Really? Before jobs?) And of course, what kind of Republican Candidate would he be if he didn’t have his sights set on a war (in his case, Iran)?
The only question left when it comes to Santorum is, “Where the hell did this jaw-dropping jackass come from?” The short answer is Pennsylvania. But even after hours of research, I was unable to discern exactly how someone as far right as Santorum has always been was able to seize a heavily Democratic district. The important thing is that in 1990 he did. And so our story begins.
Santorum: Early Years and the Republican Spring of ‘94
Rick Santorum began his political career volunteering with the late Senator Heinz of Pennsylvania and working for Doyle Corman. In 1990, he managed to capture the election of his district in Eastern Pittsburg largely through challenging incumbent Doug Walgren’s residency. His work in unearthing the House Banking Scandal as a member of the Gang of Seven kept him seated in ‘92, and in ‘94 he narrowly made it to the US Senate in the Republican sweep in 1994.
Santorum remained a seated senator until 2006, when he found himself ironically embroiled in the same kind of residency controversy that won him his first seat in elected office. More damning was that by that time, his hateful record towards homosexuality, his regressive stances on abortion, and his general tenor as a right-wing Bush lackey lost him favor in an election that trended positively Democrat.
The definition of “Santorum” may have changed, but the positions haven’t
Unfortunately for humanity at large, Rick Santorum being despicable is not an aberration from the norm, it’s just more nationally visible now. Rick Santorum has always marched to his own drum beat, one likely supplied by a college drumline on a residential block at 3 AM. During his twelve years in the Senate, Santorum tried to pass the Santorum Amendment to the misnamed “No Child Left Behind” initiative, aimed at providing religious freedom to schools to teach Christian anti-evolutionary doctrine as science. He also tried to prohibit the National Weather Service for its provision of free weather data to the public where private sector firms provide the same information commercially (Fun fact, apparently being endorsed to the tune of $10,500 by AccuWeather employees doesn’t count as a conflict of interest). Santorum is also responsible for an attempt at a synthetic-fuel tax credit to benefit his engineered-coal-producing constituents. He supported long-term occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, and has been posturing against Iran for years too.
But in case you’re still giving him the benefit of the doubt, apparently Santorum knows more about enhanced interrogation than John McCain, he doesn’t realize what a misogynist he really is, knows next to nothing about factually documented things but talks about them regardless with an air of authority, and is the reason that so many of us have to put up with juiced up “pro wrestlers” in our news. So congratulations, Rick Santorum! I hereby nominate you to be President…of the worst kind of people.
