Though many people are proud to boast they never cross party lines when voting, my view is that if you show me a Republican worth voting for I'll vote for them. Former House member Connie Morella, was such a person. Former Senator (and current presidential candidate) Rick Santorum is not.
Not content with equating gay people to pedophiles, the action that led to his "google problem", Santorum has amped up the rhetoric as his poll numbers have ramped up ahead of the Iowa Caucuses. In addition to declaring his support of states restricting exceptionally private behavior, including contraception and sexual activity between consenting adults, Santorum has also declared his support for an amendment to the United States Constitution that would render any current same-sex marriages invalid.
This hypocrisy when it comes to state's rights would be bad enough, but the contempt for individual rights is especially rich. If this was about tax policy, environmental regulations or other elements of public life whose effects go beyond purely personal choices into the larger public space, you can bet Santorum would be banging the drum to keep the federal government out of it. For his stripe of Republican, though, individual liberties that involve sexuality always come with strings attached.
This would be beside the point if Santorum was still just a marginal candidate. Unfortunately, though Santorum seems unelectable on a national level, his recent rise in the Iowa polls means he has the potential to continue poisoning the political atmosphere with his especially rank form of hypocrisy.
No comments:
Post a Comment