Rick Santorum, pandering to the crazies

Santorum supporter: "I never refer to Obama as President Obama, because legally he is not." Of course, the crowd claps and cheers.

"He constantly says that our Constitution is passé, and he totally ignores it, as you know." Santorum nods in agreement.

"He does what he darn well pleases. He is an avowed Muslim." That gets more cheers and claps from the other idiots. "My question is, why isn't something being done to get  him out of our government? He has no legal right to be calling himself president."

Think about how truly batshit crazy that is. Think about a whole crowd of morons clapping and cheering at this absolutely incredible idiocy, that the President of the United States is an imposter who has usurped power illegally, an "avowed Muslim" who "says that our Constitution is passé."

And then, this woman wonders, "why isn't something being done" about that? What "something" do you think would be appropriate for an illegal imposter who had unconstitutionally grabbed power in our country? Just think about that!

So, how does Rick Santorum reply? "Well, yeah, I'm doing my best to try to get him out of the government."

Tell me, is Santorum actually stupid enough to agree with his lunatic supporters, or is he just such a spineless coward that he won't speak up to correct this kind of talk?

When the woman repeats herself, "He (Obama) says our government is passé, our Constitution," Santorum not only doesn't correct her, he says that he agrees with her!

Just think about that. Barack Obama faced a lot of bigotry, a lot of racism, a lot of pure insanity in 2008, too. But John McCain did, at least, object to the worst of it, in his own stumbling way, when his supporters called Obama a terrorist, an "Arab," a foreigner who didn't love America.

Think of how far to the bottom of the barrel Republicans have gone that Rick Santorum, who's currently leading the Republican race in nationwide polls, not only lets something this crazy pass but actually nods and says that he agrees with her! And the rest of these morons clap and cheer! Incredible, isn't it?

Surely, Republicans have reached rock bottom, haven't they? Is it possible to go any lower?

***
I saw that video clip, among others, in a column at TPJ Magazine (my thanks to Jeff for the link). The column itself is interesting, so I thought I'd point out a couple of things:

America suffers from a polarization not seen since the Civil War. While President Obama extended an olive branch, Republicans countered with a hand-grenade.

The reason the GOP is so infused with anger in recent years is simple to understand once one recognizes the now-completed Nixonian “Southern Strategy,” renowned for its plot to capture the majority by exploiting southerners angry over civil rights.

The party is dominated by the South – by old former Dixiecrats whose prime motive is race. So, a Black President in the White House is absolutely abhorrent to them because it goes against everything they were taught to believe. Evidence of African-American intelligence contradicts their long-held doctrine of white superiority. “Put him in his place” is their outcry, like a Gingrich supporter shouted in South Carolina.

I certainly agree with this. In fact, I regularly point out how the Republicans' notorious "Southern strategy" of deliberately appealing to white racists has put most of America's bad apples into one Republican basket.

The old Southern Dixiecrats combined with the John Birchers and other extremists already in the GOP to produce the current Republican base. Formerly on the fringe, they control the party with an iron grip these days.

But then there's this:

The principal force behind the Old Confederacy was misguided Christianity hijacked by plantation aristocrats in their attempt to preserve slavery – their means of accumulating wealth. The principal force behind the modern Republican Party is misguided Christianity hijacked by plutocrats in their attempt to preserve unbridled capitalism – their means of suppressing labor and, thus, resurrecting slavery. It’s not merely the 1% vs. the 99% or class warfare, but far more complex.

It’s the same spirit of greed that threatens the nation, and it’s the same apostate “Christianity” that plays the central role in backing greed in all three centuries. ...

America’s only other hope (besides the growing influence of the Latino population) is for the evangelical movement to experience a reawakening of true Christian principles. The core teachings of Christ are in direct contradiction to the modern movement. In time, perhaps, they will see the light and return to the Gospel.

Hey, good luck with that. I'd be happy to see liberal believers as the majority of Christians. But there is another hope - the hope that America will turn to secular, evidence-based thinking, as much of Europe has already done.

Don't get me wrong. I'm always glad to work with liberal Christians - or people of any other religious persuasion - on issues we all support. For one thing, we can all agree that freedom of religion and the strict separation of church and state are best for all of us, believer and non-believer alike.

And, certainly, atheists and agnostics would be in a world of hurt if most Christians did not support freedom of religion. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, "It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can stop him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important." Similarly, Christians don't have to like us atheists in order to refrain from burning us at the stake.

And there's no reason we have to agree with even our close friends and allies about everything. That won't ever happen, as long as we're all human beings and not robots.

Nevertheless, I did want to point out that other option. That's the option of turning to evidence-based, rather than faith-based, thinking. That's the option of needing good reasons for our beliefs. It's the option of atheism, agnosticism, free-thinking, humanism,... whatever you want to call it.


PS. Here's a somewhat different interpretation - or, perhaps, just a different spin on the same thing:

In the space of 15 years, the Supreme Court ruled that laws against birth control, pornography, and abortion were unconstitutional. At the same time, the women's and gay rights movements revolutionized popular culture, the family, and the workplace. Almost half the states repealed their anti-sodomy laws.

It didn't take long for a majority of the nation to embrace these changes and take this new world of sex, family, and gender for granted. But a small minority became unhinged by all the change.

That's when what I call the sexual counterrevolution began. ...

After these victories, these sexual fundamentalists methodically took over the Republican Party.

I'm not going to blog about that in any detail (I've got to draw the line somewhere), but I thought I'd at least post the link. Check it out. And feel free to comment on that article, too, if you want.