Just as voters thought some sanity might be shaping up in the GOP primary, just as it looked like a candidate was making it to permanent front runner status, however mediocre; enter dark horse Rick Santorum who took sweeping wins in Colorado, Minnesota, and Missouri. But that was nothing compared to what came out next regarding this current GOP darling; then came his, only can be described as radical, views on social issues. Almost all watchers of Mr. Santorum knew he was against abortion, had a voting record to support that position, yet, as the Obama Catholic Church scandal made headlines so did current and former comments on the contraception issue. Next is his vehement stance against supposed free prenatal testing given to women under the Obama healthcare law; shocking statements about it leading to more abortions, in line with Virginia rolling out it’s latest personhood bill that would, in essence, force women to undergo something called trans vaginal ultrasound to be allowed to have an abortion. And while no one denies he has distinguished himself as both a candidate and political figure, has passed the litmus test of having a following, persuading people as to his more sometimes extreme views, gaining trust and popularity saying he will take on the dysfunction plaguing Washington, what none of that has answered is undoubtedly will he make a good commander and chief; can he take the country into the future, despite these challenging times, does he have what it takes to govern a nation in the 21st century?


 The answer is an emphatic no on all counts; republicans are already exploring other options should Rick Santorum win the nomination. No one sees him getting past the general election without the votes of independents, women he keeps alienating with his right wing policies. He was the author of the comments saying that birth control was not ok, lead to unnatural things, primarily sex before marriage; he is the one who called it irresponsible and seemed shocked at the 40 plus percent of children born to women are born out of wedlock. Though he shouldn’t be unduly so, as he also supports abstinence only sex education, leading to ignorant young people with hormones who aren’t taught sexual safety. Even more disconcerting for voters, where he used to distinguish between his personal beliefs and his public policy, there is no longer such a distinction. He dropped more jaws this past week when he came out against prenatal testing saying it lead to more abortions as we “cull the ranks of the disabled in this country.” To be fair, appearing on Face The Nation he tried to clarify it was only specific prenatal testing such as theamniocentesis he says not only screens for genetic defects where doctors then suggest patients get an abortion, but can also lead to miscarriage and complications if performed. While Santorum has yet to comment on what is taking place in Virginia where a bill forcing women to summit to a trans vaginal ultrasound, where in a probe is inserted into the vagina to get a picture of the fetus, before being able to receive an abortion, maybe no comment is his comment. Woman’s rights groups on the other hand are not silent calling the unfolding legislation in Virginia forcible rape as it is a non-medical necessity, done with neither the woman’s permission or by the guidance of her doctor. One such representative speaking on MSNBC about how far the right has gone when we have to get ridiculously specific in the definition of rape, that being forcible penetration of the vagina without a woman’s consent in order to combat a law most people can’t believe their ears when they hear about it.

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One other shrewd MSNBC commentator likewise quickly pointed out, regardless of his lack of comment on Virginia, his views on social issues aren’t new, aren’t unknown; in other words he’s not being voted for because people don’t know these things about him, but rather because this is what voting republicans want this election cycle. On top of that his comments and his facts are out of touch with reality considering over half of women taking it are on birth control to treat medical conditions, independent of preventing pregnancy. What unnatural things it could lead to in that context remains a mystery; to say nothing of the number of married women using birth control in the confines of that covenant, because their family cannot support any more kids, or having children at the present time. And there is nothing unnatural about married people having or enjoying sex, or hasn’t Mr. Santorum, heard of, if not read, the songs of Solomon?  Again to say birth control is irresponsible in that context is not grounded in common sense, fact; incidentally it is also part of why every instance of premarital sex does not end in a pregnant teen, 20 something, why there are not more out of wedlock babies than there already are. People will no doubt sympathize regarding the situation with Santorum’s youngest child and the diagnosis she has of trisomy 18, a genetic disorder few survive, but to use that as a reason not to provide certain types of prenatal testing is fear mongering and truly irresponsible. Not only is it inhumane not to recommend an abortion in cases where the child is already suffering, in pain in utero; there are plenty of cases where birth defects have been corrected there as well. Heart defects, intestinal issues have all been corrected with the child still inside the womb; however the most astonishing cases are those involving Spina Bifida, cases where the opening in the spine can be closed in utero and the child go from being paralyzed anywhere from the neck to waist down, to being able to, at the very least feel and move all extremities, having a far greater chance at walking, leading a more normal life. To say nothing of the number of people born in this country with disabilities to families who knew at least something of the condition their child had and had them anyway, kept them anyway. Additionally his nostalgia for family of yesteryear gives off the 1950’s and earlier ideal the women’s only place, value is in the home, barefoot and pregnant, minding children, given even greater weight looking at his view of women in combat, believing they should not because men might seek to protect them jeopardizing missions, lives. Concepts easily disabused in the modern age.

Returning to Virginia, shocking though it may seem, one can understand what pro-life advocates are hoping in making a woman undergo such a detailed procedure; they are hoping to dispel long held myths that the thing growing inside the women in question is not alive, is simply a blob of tissue. Unfortunately, no matter how well intended pro-life supporters are, it could just as easily backfire; since the procedure is done in the first trimester, when the fetus looks least like a baby, some women, particularly the young, may be spurred that much more to have an abortion on the grounds of eww what is that thing and please get it out of me. Bringing us to an actual view on held by Mr. Santorum and his thoughts regarding prenatal testing, this notion that it’s to be free under the Obama healthcare law. Almost any insurance plan you have, you pay a premium to keep, a copay or deductible to use, so no it is not free, neither is most anything else under insurance plans.  Further, personhood bills as they have been called, can reinstitute insurance company policies of refusing coverage to women with preexisting conditions, including pregnancy. Santorum similarly has no answer as to what will happen to all these disabled children born because parents didn’t get prenatal testing alerting them to a problem; he assumes they will be welcomed with open arms into a loving family and parents will make the best of what God has given them. Instead what is likely to happen is some babies will be abandoned at the hospital by people who just can’t cope; others will soon be institutionalized because of the sheer amount of care they require. He drastically underestimates the financial and emotional toll on a family that includes a special needs child, especially if that family is poor and/or has other children, an added reason a child is either abandoned or institutionalized. Nor does his ideal society centered around this issue account for cases of abuse generated by overwhelmed parents or inadequate, inexperienced care givers, a-la horrifying nanny cam video eventually being splashed on the news. All greater chances with a disabled child; still with his views he announced no added funding to institutions housing the disabled who cannot be cared for in a home setting, coverage, tax breaks to aid keeping disabled persons at home, increased funding to disability services should he reach the Whitehouse.


Notice the protest signs on women who clearly don’t want their bodies invaded, the voices of those who clearly think the government is over the line.  

Ironic considering the Santorum stance on family that says tax deductions should be far larger for families, pointing to a tax system that taxes you the same whether you have one child or 7; during one interview his touted should be dollar estimation 20,000 per child, going back to the WWI, great depression era where many paid no income tax because the child deduction was so large. Our candidate saying we supported family growth and what happened we had a baby boom. Once again ironically, the baby boom we now can’t provide retirement for. It was a wonderful plan for the time, replacing population after devastating losses in the First World War, however now we have not just a nation that cannot sustain and properly feed itself, but a globe. Here too is an example of why his environmental policy grates with many; in comments landing him in hot water attacking president Obama saying the latter doesn’t care about jobs, your quality of life and is clinging to some phony ideology, theology he claims he was referring to Obama’s support of out there, leftist, environmental fanatics who think man is here to serve the earth, not harness it’s resources and be good stewards of it. Critics immediately jumped on the statements showing republicans were, for the umpteenth time, questioning the president’s religion. Arguments to that effect aside, even taking Santorum at his word that he was challenging Obama on environmental policy, energy policy, why would you say such a thing in our media saturated society; why say something that could be so readily misconstrued? Examining the facts, we don’t have a population if the ground won’t grow food, can’t uphold an ecosystem, meaning plants, animals and lastly, the human race, dies. Dealing with the less dire, we won’t have either jobs or a quality of life if we all have to go outside in space suites because the air is so toxic; you can’t have basics like clothing without growing nature fibers like wool, cotton to make them, if we lose the base materials to create synthetics. Just one area devastatingly impacted without an environmental policy. Compounding insult to injury he says these things in the wake of things like BP, the downright dangerous state of oil rigs nationwide, when we still don’t know the lasting consequences to the Gulf Coast. Relatedly whether or not global warming is manmade or a natural occurring phenomenon we are seeing for the first time, how is it not being a good steward to pay attention to it, do things to better care for the earth on which we live?     

What is not in dispute is Rick Santorum’s potential derailing of the already struggling education system should he ever reach the highest office. Santorum who thinks no federal or state money should go to schools that it should be parents and community educating children. Not only would such a system broaden the gap between the haves and the have not’s, potentially create situations like you see in the 3rd world where all students have to pay to attend school, but it likewise, noted by several critics, allows for abstinence  only sex education, no sex education, should home schooling parents choose. It at the same time allows parents to teach creationism not science ideas supported by those who call evolution eviloution translating into a less educated population, less college admittance never mind college graduates, young people less prepared for the world, less capable of getting jobs. A similar scenario is playing out in the Chicago public schools as Mayor Rahm Emanuel closes a double digit number of failing neighborhood schools to either completely replacer staff under their turn around model or bus students to a different school. At issue however is the startling lack of money and resources given to these schools, exactly why the schools are failing. Further the turnaround provides only 3 months of support in getting a school back on track, somewhat belying the mayor’s comment about test scores that went up 1-2 grade levels and/or by as much as 10 points. Galvanizing the point was a school system representative who previously met Emanuel, years ago, him saying 25% of the kids weren’t going to amount to anything and he wasn’t going to throw money at it. Not answered under the Santorum education future is if state doesn’t cover it, federal government doesn’t cover it, who will, the city- all the sudden burdened with school funding on top of everything else? Equally unanswered, is how parents who can’t home school their kids, either because they work or because they don’t possess the teaching gene, will be handled, given a fair shot.     

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So to sum up if Rick Santorum ever becomes commander and chief, if we ever get one like him, we can look forward to women’s rights, responsibilities going back to the 1800’s, more women dying due to lack of prenatal care, proper prenatal care. In his zest to bring back the family, using his bully pulpit, known as the presidency, to talk about said subject he will in essence create more abuse, more neglect, more strain on the foster care system, more therapy bills and more potential criminals, drug addicts because we have parents who didn’t want to be, parents don’t have any real choice in being parents, who then can’t cope. While he champions children with disabilities in families, there will be no increase in the services that make that a greater possibility, ease the lives of their parents. We can look forward to a tax code that punishes you for not having a family, an environmental policy that goes against making sure there is an earth for us to live on, an education system based more on superstition and conjecture than facts, science or logic, more gaps between those who have money, those who don’t, less chance of rising from the socioeconomic class which you were born. Yes Rick Santorum is the most dangerous potential commander and chief.   

 Check out this bonus video of Rick Santorum saying birth control is not ok, rambling about a WWI tax code supporting families, using the presidency to talk about absent-tee fathers and a host of other things