The Hypocrisy of Rick Santorum

July 14, 2005 5:21 PM

Earlier this week, Senator Santorum (R., PA) stood by comments he made on a Catholic website in 2002 when he said:

'It is no surprise that Boston, a seat of academic, political, and cultural liberalism in America, lies at the center of the storm" of the clergy sexual abuse scandal.

In a brief interview with the Boston Globe on Tuesday, Santorum reiterated his view that the 'basic liberal attitude" in Boston fostered an environment where sexual abuse of children could occur. Many slammed him for politicizing a scandal that has touched many across the country - way beyond the borders of Massachusetts.

Separate, but of great importance to one who waves a flag of "traditional family values" and repeated homophobic rhetoric, how does Senator Santorum "square the fact" that his "mouthpiece" to the world (Director of Communications, Robert Traynham) came out as a gay man this afternoon?
posted by ericb (50 comments total)

This is turning into a rough week to be a loud mouthed Republican.
posted by jperkins at 5:27 PM on July 14, 2005

'It is no surprise that Boston, a seat of academic, political, and cultural liberalism in America, lies at the center of the storm" of the clergy sexual abuse scandal.

Good fucking grief. It was liberal people (those not afraid to challenge an institution like the Vatican) and people of conscience in general who called for more investigation and accountability. This is just flat out pathetic.

The one good thing is that statements like this will alienate Santorum from Boston's largely working class Catholic population, which dipshits like him claim to represent. Guys like him always get cocky and shoot themselves in the foot.

Put Santorum in a Sanitarium.
posted by jonmc at 5:29 PM on July 14, 2005

ericb-- this is a great FPP-- both in format and content. But it's just so hard to get my head around. Is it for real? I can understand a closet case working for Santorum. But why come out under those circumstances? And what exactly is there to admire? Santorum's not only a homophobe, he's a fucking moron and creepy father. He made his kids hold a dead fetus, their younger brother, and later slept with corpse himself. He's a freak of the first order.

The comments on the article are great, tho. "I'm a Jew but I support Hilter as a man of principle...
posted by gesamtkunstwerk at 5:40 PM on July 14, 2005

Ohhhhhh SNAP!!!!
posted by Chris Brummel at 5:55 PM on July 14, 2005

Many slammed him...
posted by destro at 5:56 PM on July 14, 2005

I dunno...an openly gay, black man who steadfastly supports Santorum? Sounds like an early Xmas gift for old Rick to me.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:04 PM on July 14, 2005

Traynham, left, protested that has "been with the Senator for eight years."

Wow, did I ever misread the meaning of that sentence, but then again, I grew up in Boston.
posted by R. Mutt at 6:04 PM on July 14, 2005

gesamtkunstwerk - it's all so perplexing.

However, there is a grand tradition of self-hating gays (e.g. Roy Cohn) who deny their true nature. One need only look to Arthur Finkelstein here in Massachusetts. He has been a right-wing, Republican consultant for many years ... actually the architect of Jesse Helms campaigns. He urged him to focus on "gays" as a "wedge issue."

Well - it turns out that Arty and his male partner (who long ago adopted two children and live on an estate on Boston's North Shore) were married here in Massachusetts this year.

The hypocrisy spreads far and wide! Check out previous MetaFilter threads about "gay" Republicans denying their true nature: here and here (among others).

And - we shouldn't forget the most recent "poster-boy" of self-hating gays - Jeff Gannon/Jeff Guckert!
posted by ericb at 6:05 PM on July 14, 2005

ericb: a side question (and I'm not trying to be a jerk, I'm just curious) what should a proudly out gay person who supports all the other tenets of conservatism do?

Obviously, supporting today's crop of so-called Republicans is a massively hypocritical move, but supporting the left would be too, for such people.

I'm honestly curious, since sexual preference dosen't correlate with political opinions on, say, taxes or deregulation.
posted by jonmc at 6:10 PM on July 14, 2005

ericb: a side question (and I'm not trying to be a jerk, I'm just curious) what should a proudly out gay person who supports all the other tenets of conservatism do?

I'm not sure ... as I am gay and liberal (but was born into an old New England Republican family - e.g. holiday meals often end in "shouting.")

I've often wondered about those gays/lesbians who are members of the Log Cabin Republicans.
posted by ericb at 6:17 PM on July 14, 2005

I'm not sure ... as I am gay and liberal

and I'm straight and liberal (sorry boys, you could never afford me anyway), from a family of what you'd call Reagan democrats, who came back during the Clinton years and voted for Kerry this time out, although they're not that political generally.

I've often wondered about those gays/lesbians who are members of the Log Cabin Republicans.

Well, perhaps they're wealthy and don't want to pay taxes, or they believe in a hands-off political philosophy, or any number of things. I'd imagine gayfolk are as diverse in their worldview as any other demographic. It's just that the current administration would be putting a gay conservative between a rock and a hard place.
posted by jonmc at 6:23 PM on July 14, 2005

jonmc: The one good thing is that statements like this will alienate Santorum from Boston's largely working class Catholic population, which dipshits like him claim to represent. Guys like him always get cocky and shoot themselves in the foot.


He isn't representing anyone in Boston, working class or otherwise. He's representing people from Pennsylvania.
posted by hupp at 6:27 PM on July 14, 2005

I'd imagine gayfolk are as diverse in their worldview as any other demographic.

Bingo! Attempts by any of us to define others is "oh-so-futile"!
posted by ericb at 6:29 PM on July 14, 2005

e.g. holiday meals often end in "shouting."

That's so awesome! So, so awesome! Because I know the quotes mean "talking slightly more quietly than Italians saying grace, but you know everyone's pissed." I love Thanksgiving.
posted by Mayor Curley at 6:37 PM on July 14, 2005

He isn't representing anyone in Boston, working class or otherwise. He's representing people from Pennsylvania.

I know but galoots like Santorum always claim to represent everyday god-fearing working people (like Boston's Catholic population), who were the victims of the churches coverups. The Santorums of the world just use these people to get votes, and hopefully asinine statements like the quote above will alienate him from them.
posted by jonmc at 6:40 PM on July 14, 2005

what should a proudly out gay person who supports all the other tenets of conservatism do?

Find a Republican that isn't Santorum, and support him instead?
posted by five fresh fish at 6:54 PM on July 14, 2005

George Bush has announced a Hypocrisy Task Force - charged with rooting out hidden homosexuals in the GOP - headed by Arthur Finkelstein and Jeff Gannon.

Bush's Christian support base says it's about time.
posted by yakcat01 at 6:54 PM on July 14, 2005

Social conservatism leads to silence about sex, which leads to ignorance about sex, which greatly increases the following things: (1) ability of the perpetrators of sexual crime to get away with it; (2) unplanned pregnancy, which leads to economic suppression of females among the poor, and the raising of unwanted children among rich and poor alike; (3) neurotic fixations of a sexual nature; (4) popularizing of hysteric nonsense about sexual practices and desires which are otherwise normal and harmless (eg same-sex activity, extramarital sex, or fellatio).

Given this chain of logic, it's clear that the motives of social conservatives, at least within sexuality, boil down to one thing: to make more of themselves.
posted by aeschenkarnos at 7:01 PM on July 14, 2005

I sometimes sleep with dead fetuses. Why do you think there's something wrong with that? Who are you to question my co-dead-fetus-sleeping behavior? Bigot!
posted by fungible at 7:09 PM on July 14, 2005

Wow. Santorum's downfall is looking like it might be impressive. This guy is toxic. Schadenfreude time.
posted by mr_roboto at 7:13 PM on July 14, 2005

Didn't anyone else get a chuckle out of the title of the last link's story?

"Rick Santorum's Communications Director confirms to PageOneQ he is gay, stands behind Senator" [emphasis added]
posted by mystyk at 7:15 PM on July 14, 2005

i could never understand the gay republican thing. also, i once knew a black, gay, jewish republican...not that there's anything wrong with that. my friends and i still talk about this guy.
posted by brandz at 7:32 PM on July 14, 2005

i once knew a black, gay, jewish republican...not that there's anything wrong with that.

Well, at least not the black, gay or jewish part.

(Hopefully in the future being Republican will be a bit less shameful as well, but I guess that's up to the GOP.)
posted by bashos_frog at 7:46 PM on July 14, 2005

I know it's terribly terribly important not to sound like an uppity elitist northeast liberal looking down on hard-working God-fearing salt-of-the-earth heartland Americans, but the more I see of people like Santorum, Frist, DeLay, Inhofe, Coleman et al, the more amazed I am that so many people apparently voted for such a bunch of moronic knuckle-dragging scumbags. Has there ever been such a large collection of just plain stupid people in power?
posted by Armitage Shanks at 7:52 PM on July 14, 2005

Ya, probably.
posted by ddf at 8:07 PM on July 14, 2005

I was also going to use the word "scumbag" to describe Santorum, but I see that Armitage Shanks beat me to it.

Why should we pay any attention every time Santorum goes, er, frothing at the mouth?
posted by clevershark at 8:09 PM on July 14, 2005

yakcat01 writes " George Bush has announced a Hypocrisy Task Force - charged with rooting out hidden homosexuals in the GOP - headed by Arthur Finkelstein and Jeff Gannon."

What, Ken Mehlman didn't make it to that committee?
posted by clevershark at 8:11 PM on July 14, 2005

What, Ken Mehlman didn't make it to that committee?

What the hey? Are you implying that Ken Mehlman is gay? No, really?
posted by ericb at 8:15 PM on July 14, 2005

Sex, lies and Ken Mehlman.
posted by ericb at 8:17 PM on July 14, 2005

Not that there's anything wrong with that! (QuickTime movie)
posted by ericb at 8:18 PM on July 14, 2005

I deal with Santorum by not wasting a minute by listening to a damn thing he says.

Other than the 30 seconds I spent on this.
posted by MillMan at 8:35 PM on July 14, 2005

I would truly be ashamed of myself if I came from Pennsylvania and that asshat was my elected representative.

The utterly stupid things he says and then publicly stands by are more than enough to dismiss him as completely worthless.
posted by fenriq at 8:52 PM on July 14, 2005

"mouthpiece" to the world

and much, much more.
posted by quonsar at 8:59 PM on July 14, 2005

I think the Red Sox have something to do with it.
posted by nervousfritz at 9:13 PM on July 14, 2005

I've never understood Santorum. PA is a swing state, and this guy acts like he's right out of Alabama or something. And sleeping with a dead fetus?

I remember seeing a news show about people doing that when I was a little kid. It helped them get over the greif of losing the child. Or something. But for a senator to do it? So bizzare.

And bill frist cut up baby kitties. Both of these guys are potential 2008 candidates for prez.

The republican party is shooting itself in the foot here. I hope to see them crash and burn :)
posted by delmoi at 9:33 PM on July 14, 2005

I've never understood Santorum. PA is a swing state, and this guy acts like he's right out of Alabama or something.

Obligatory link to James Carville's quote that Pennsylvania is "Philadelphia on one end, Pittsburgh on the other, with Alabama in the middle."
posted by Armitage Shanks at 9:43 PM on July 14, 2005

Can we all agree to not put out for Traynham?
posted by the_bone at 9:54 PM on July 14, 2005

Mass. has had the lowest divorce rates in the US for close to a decade running.

Murder, rape, and violent assault are pretty low too.

These rates are generally higher in PA.

Santorum of full of shit.
posted by troutfishing at 9:54 PM on July 14, 2005

"Philadelphia on one end, Pittsburgh on the other, with Alabama in the middle."

AKA, Pennsyl-tucky.
posted by hopeless romantique at 10:07 PM on July 14, 2005

what should a proudly out gay person who supports all the other tenets of conservatism do?


Liberatarian?
posted by drezdn at 10:09 PM on July 14, 2005

Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho are pretty conservative socially and politically and over the past year we've had the Catholic diocese declare bankruptcy over pedophile priests, Spokane's Republican mayor has been outed as a gay (he has also been *accused* of molesting Boy Scouts) and a sexual predator has been arrested for killing a family so he could kidnap and rape the children. I don't think it's just a coincidence. I think hostility to government breeds this kind of sickness.
posted by faceonmars at 10:12 PM on July 14, 2005

When are you stupid homos and liberals gonna realize that it's not about teh gay, it's about teh power?
Sure, fight gay rights, then go get marries in Mass. Hypocritical? Yeah. Wins elections? Yeah. Which is more important? The latter. Duh.
posted by klangklangston at 11:58 PM on July 14, 2005

I think hostility to government breeds this kind of sickness.

A-wuh? I'm pretty hostile to the government in general and in particular and I don't feel any yen to be a pedophile and murderer. Or are you saying that those who don't recognize and obey our betters are taking the quick route to evil behavior? You see a lot of libertarians, anarchists and independent-minded types raping babies and murdering people? Or are you just a tiny bit authoritarian?
posted by Snyder at 1:27 AM on July 15, 2005

Those Catholic Priests, you know, the ones screwing the little boys, were they liberals?
posted by wrapper at 6:07 AM on July 15, 2005

I'm sure faceonmars meant "Hostility FROM government breeds this kind of sickness."

At least I hope so.

And thanks, Armitage Shanks, for the phrase "moronic knuckle-dragging scumbags". I'll save that one for a special occasion.
posted by Enron Hubbard at 6:11 AM on July 15, 2005

faceonmars was riffing on the quote from Santorum.
posted by deadcowdan at 7:58 AM on July 15, 2005

I sometimes sleep with dead fetuses. Why do you think there's something wrong with that? Who are you to question my co-dead-fetus-sleeping behavior? Bigot!
posted by fungible at 7:09 PM PST on July 14 [!]

It's the thin edge of the wedge! Once you start allowing people to sleep with dead fetuses, next thing you know they're wanting to sleep with the rotting cadaver of their dead wife, and from there you just know they're going to have necrophiliac sex with it.

And there's nothing more gross than Santorum leaking from a dead cadaver.
posted by five fresh fish at 9:50 AM on July 15, 2005

Blaming priestly pedophilia on Eastern Washington's conservative political climate is ludicrous, as ludicrous as blaming it on Boston's liberal political climate.I personally think it has more to do with the Human Resources Department of the Catholic Church.

I don't know what causes gay Republicans. Some say they were born that way.
posted by faceonmars at 10:00 AM on July 15, 2005

The Man Who Spreads (the Word of) Santorum

"Raw Story is reporting that the director of communications for vocal homophobe Senator Rick Santorum is a big gay. A big black gay. And sort of hot-looking! Again, we are confused by the strategy of outing gay Republicans. Given the Senator's reputation as a priggish thug, this is the best thing to happen to him since his strong anti-bestiality stance got him the entire Pennsylvania goat vote. It's not like hiring a homosexual makes Santorum a hypocrite, either. He's never demanded they be banned from the workplace, he just thinks they're going to hell.

Of course, if you're gay, working for Rick Santorum probably is hell."

posted by ericb at 10:08 AM on July 15, 2005

Those Catholic Priests, you know, the ones screwing the little boys, were they liberals?

Well, they were using a rather liberal interpretation of the lords big book o rules.
posted by Tuatara at 11:11 PM on July 15, 2005