As the "Google problem" Turns

Despite what are presumably his best efforts, Presidential candidate Rick Santorum continues to make more news in relation to his "Google problem" than anything related to his presidential bid or even substantive policy matters (those two things seem rather disconnected these days). The latest outburst is the former Pennsylvania senator's assertion that not only could Google alter the search results that put the scatological use of his name at the top of the results but also that their choice not to do so is politically motivated. I'm not sure whether Santorum appreciates the irony that his comments to Politico were made against the backdrop of a congressional hearing about whether Google is manipulating results to favor their own products.

Admittedly, it's a bit unfair to paint all of any party's politicians with the same brush based on any one person, but Santorum makes the GOP seem like a pretty thin-skinned bunch. President Obama has been likened to Hitler and had his name used to link him to terrorists and tyrants, and that's not even getting into the "birther" nonsense. In contrast, Santorum made offensive comments about an entire group of people and continues to play the victim because one of the objects of his scorn, columnist Dan Savage, found a clever way to respond in kind. Savage's method may have been distasteful, but then so were Santorum's initial comments to the Associated Press.

"In every society, the definition of marriage has not ever to my knowledge included homosexuality. That's not to pick on homosexuality. It's not, you know, man on child, man on dog, or whatever the case may be. It is one thing. And when you destroy that you have a dramatic impact on the quality [of marriage]."

In closing, here's another thought that's probably escaped the man-who-would-be-POTUS. The reason his "Google problem" persists, aside from the fact he keeps talking about it, is that he hasn't done anything worthwhile to displace it. To any Republicans reading this, it seems to me that surely your party and our country deserve better than Santorum.