Is that too much to ask?

January 24, 2006 6:57 PM

"They're willing to sacrifice their lives for this great country. What I'm asking all of you tonight is not to put on a uniform. Put on a bumper sticker. Is it that much to ask? Is it that much to ask to step up and serve your country?"
posted by EarBucket (34 comments total)

I see your Santorum and raise you a Stein.

I don't support our troops. This is a particularly difficult opinion to have, especially if you are the kind of person who likes to put bumper stickers on his car. Supporting the troops is a position that even Calvin is unwilling to urinate on.
posted by billysumday at 7:04 PM on January 24, 2006

Santorum: The frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 7:10 PM on January 24, 2006

Which bumper sticker does he want me to put on my car? This one? How about "No Fat Chicks"?
posted by mr_roboto at 7:10 PM on January 24, 2006

Context?

Sure, he's a jackass, but at least give me some context.
posted by Pollomacho at 7:12 PM on January 24, 2006

Someone please put him out of your misery.
posted by five fresh fish at 7:12 PM on January 24, 2006

It doesn't seem to me he's at all comparing putting a bumper sticker on your car to fighting in Iraq, he's comparing himself to those who weren't too privileged or chicken-shit to serve in the military.
posted by Pollomacho at 7:16 PM on January 24, 2006

Funny, I thought Santorum was running for Senate, not the troops.

I hope that wasn't the entire speech because I learned absolutely nothing about the man besides the fact that his brother probably runs a bumper sticker company.
posted by crashlanding at 7:37 PM on January 24, 2006

Until I read the article I assumed that the quote was sarcastic.
posted by I Foody at 7:39 PM on January 24, 2006

Just fyi - this is the bumpersticker Santorum has in mind:




posted by stenseng at 7:48 PM on January 24, 2006

No shit? I always thought that this was symbolic of BSDM GAY DOM TOP. Really, 'cause those are the guys that have them in my neighborhood! No shit.

Guess I'll have to order one!
posted by snsranch at 7:59 PM on January 24, 2006

What an incredibly shameless, brazen, disgusting slimeball.
posted by redteam at 8:01 PM on January 24, 2006

Oohhhhh, Human Right Campaign: Working for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equal right.

Uh, I guess that's cool but I'm not getting the sticker anymore.
posted by snsranch at 8:07 PM on January 24, 2006

Funny video: the lighting makes him appear to be sporting a hippie/redneck ponytail. He should grow one in real life. Make politics more interesting. Retired traitor Ben Nighthorse Campbell shouldn't be the only longhaired Sen/Rep.
posted by kozad at 8:19 PM on January 24, 2006

Baby_Balrog: "Santorum: The frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex."


Also, see www.spreadingsantorum.com, which is probably NSFW.
posted by JMOZ at 8:19 PM on January 24, 2006

"They're willing to sacrifice their lives for this great country. What I'm asking all of you tonight is not to put on a uniform. Put on a bumper sticker. Save energy. Reduce emissions. Consume less. Is it that much to ask? Is it that much to ask to step up and serve your country?"

Were that the USA had a great leader.
posted by five fresh fish at 8:42 PM on January 24, 2006

Context?

Sure, he's a jackass, but at least give me some context.

He's asking people to support his campaign by putting on a Santorum bumper sticker. Since he supports the troops, ergo they would be supporting the troops by supporting him.

You don't need any more context than knowing Santorum is a shameless asshole.
posted by mr.curmudgeon at 8:56 PM on January 24, 2006

He supports the troops? Did he vote against cutting benefits?
posted by Goofyy at 10:07 PM on January 24, 2006

Is it that much to ask?

Yep. It shouldn't have to be asked. It certainly shouldn't be subject to any kind of pressure.
Free speech isn't free if it comes from guilt or some misplaced sense of obligation.

And, y'know, fuck Santorum.

All I'm asking is that we give our returning soldiers what they need: hospitals, pensions, mental health and a safe, immediate return. But, please, no parades.

I don't see the problem with Stein, billysumday.
posted by Smedleyman at 10:28 PM on January 24, 2006

He's asking people to support his campaign by putting on a Santorum bumper sticker. Since he supports the troops, ergo they would be supporting the troops by supporting him.

Actually, I got the impression that he was casting his (and his supporters') political fight with the troops' military one. By putting a bumper sticker on their cars, his supporters can help in the fight to keep America the flag-waving, God-fearing, nation-invading, furriner-torturing, homo-bashing country the whole world so admires.
posted by bjrubble at 11:01 PM on January 24, 2006

I like mine.
posted by rob511 at 12:43 AM on January 25, 2006

Isn't that pretty much the whole chickenhawk approach to war? Don't put on a uniform - put on a bumper sticker.
posted by aeschenkarnos at 12:44 AM on January 25, 2006

All this hate for the poor Sen. Santorum is not justified. It's pretty evident that he belongs to that part of the Rep Party who just played to obtain religious people votes ,as this Republican interest website points out he flip-flopped on the "issue" of "intelligent design".

But election time needs election time adjustments, meaning you need a more popular set of beliefs ; too bad once one supports religious extremist one remains a liability ..did he really believe ? Is he really a religious freak ? We'll never know, but I wouldn't take the risk of re-electing a zealot.
posted by elpapacito at 3:23 AM on January 25, 2006

All this hate for the poor Sen. Santorum is not justified. It's pretty evident that he belongs to that part of the Rep Party who just played to obtain religious people votes..."

No. Santorum is part of the freaky religious movement in this country.

When his wife and he suffered the loss of a newborn child, they brought the corpse home and introduced it to their little children, and then slept with it in their bed.

A sad personal loss? Certainly. Weird, freaky behaviour? No doubt.
posted by jpburns at 4:33 AM on January 25, 2006

"The question to all of us is, how much are we willing to fight to maintain this great country?"

Fight?

Well, I'll volunteer to punch Santorum right in the nose....

Absent any context, this is truly bizarre.
posted by alumshubby at 4:48 AM on January 25, 2006

(fingersnap) I've got it -- we need a magnetic yellow-ribbon applique that reads "Pity the Troops."
posted by alumshubby at 4:50 AM on January 25, 2006

Remember the combative, gay AIDS marcher in the Seinfeld AIDS ribbon episode? "Who ... who doesn't want to wear the AIDS ribbon?" Santorum is looking more gay all the time. Not that there is anything wrong with that. < /bad punnery>
posted by a_day_late at 5:17 AM on January 25, 2006

You don't count the dead when god's on your side....
posted by pompomtom at 5:18 AM on January 25, 2006

When Santorum reverently whispers "They volunteer," he is leaving out the fact that "they" do so because they are dirt-poor, undereducated, and see no other alternative -- and they live in a society that, thanks to the efforts of Santorum and his party, conspires to keep them that way. Santorum, of course, is such a patent fool and an easy target of lefty scorn that one can forget how dangerous he and his ilk are. Despicable.
posted by adgnyc at 5:49 AM on January 25, 2006

Metafiler: a frothy mixture of...
ok, that's just too gross.
posted by leapfrog at 6:04 AM on January 25, 2006

Don't worry. Polls show that Santorum is going to get his ass handed to him in the next election, santorum and all (Questions 15 and 16).
posted by ND¢ at 7:18 AM on January 25, 2006

Jpburns... When his wife and he suffered the loss of a newborn child...

Source?
posted by nadawi at 10:00 AM on January 25, 2006

Father First, Senator Second
For Rick Santorum, Politics Could Hardly Get More Personal

By Mark Leibovich
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 18, 2005; Page C01

...Upon their son's death, Rick and Karen Santorum opted not to bring his body to a funeral home. Instead, they bundled him in a blanket and drove him to Karen's parents' home in Pittsburgh. There, they spent several hours kissing and cuddling Gabriel with his three siblings, ages 6, 4 and 1 1/2. They took photos, sang lullabies in his ear and held a private Mass.
posted by ND¢ at 10:54 AM on January 25, 2006

whoa, that is freakin' bizarre!!!! What religion is THAT?
posted by cell divide at 11:09 AM on January 25, 2006

cell divide: whoa, that is freakin' bizarre!!!! What religion is THAT?

"You know, the one with all the well-meaning rules that don't work out in real life. Uh... Christianity."
posted by oncogenesis at 5:27 PM on January 25, 2006