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You are here: Home / Politics / Republican Stupidity / Santorum’s Desperation

Santorum’s Desperation

by John Cole|  October 30, 20063:58 pm| 40 Comments

This post is in: Republican Stupidity, Outrage

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This is charming:

.S. Sen. Rick Santorum accused state Treasurer Bob Casey of “aiding and abetting terrorism and genocide,” saying yesterday that state pension funds are invested with companies linked to terrorist-sponsoring states.
As he has done before, Santorum criticized Casey’s work ethic, saying his Democratic opponent has failed to show up for work and has not been a diligent treasurer in failing to change investment policies.

The third-ranking Republican in the Senate said preventing terrorists from getting funding was an essential part of combating terrorism.

“I’m the one trying to fight this war politically and economically so we don’t have to fight it militarily, and he is asleep at the switch because he’s not doing his job,” Santorum said.

***

Santorum did not cite specific examples but referred to a report by the Center for Security Policy, a conservative think tank that has pushed for divestment from companies doing business in terror-sponsoring nations.

“Bob Casey has invested Pennsylvania pension funds in companies with ties to terrorist-sponsoring states and states that engage in genocide,” Santorum said. “Bob Casey is aiding and abetting terrorism and genocide.”

I can’t believe I ever voted for these people. And all you terrorist enablers in Pennsylvania should be ashamed of yourself and better vote for Santorum, because if you don’t, we are ALL GONNA DIE. Hell, someone in Santorum’s campaign told me that Casey was going to have tea with Zawahiri and plot bombings if he gets elected. Or maybe I read that at the increasingly disgusting Red State.

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Reader Interactions

40Comments

  1. 1.

    craigie

    October 30, 2006 at 4:13 pm

    Tea is for fags. I hope they drink black coffee. Anything else would be unamerican.

  2. 2.

    Zifnab

    October 30, 2006 at 4:18 pm

    This just proves that if we don’t privatize social security, the Terrorists Win(tm).

  3. 3.

    Pooh

    October 30, 2006 at 4:25 pm

    Remember, don’t vote for the Dems and their sexual McCarthyism, vote for Reps and their actual McCarthyism. Ain’t nuthin like the real thing, baby…

  4. 4.

    The Zero Boss

    October 30, 2006 at 4:25 pm

    I heard that Bob Casey loves to give Osama lengthy foot massages. My evidence for this is that Bob Casey is a communist.

    If he denies it fervently, then that only proves it’s true.

  5. 5.

    Tsulagi

    October 30, 2006 at 4:27 pm

    How dare you question the great Santorum! Ricky is always vigilant! Wasn’t it just last month he was breathlessly exclaiming the WMDs had been found and for some vague reason the admin was trying to hide it?

    Maybe Rick can also say how many calls he’s made for investigative and oversight committees to look into companies like Halliburton, Conoco-Phillips, and other Republican A-list contributors that admit their subsidiaries do business with Iran, Syria, and other bad guys. Of course he moved legislation along to close these types of loopholes, right? …

    U.S. law does ban virtually all commerce with the rogue nations, but there’s a loophole that G.E., Conoco-Phillips and Halliburton have exploited: The law does not apply to any foreign or offshore subsidiary so long as it is run by non-Americans.

    No? Nothing done? Oh well, I’m sure he was just continually busy being on the lookout for man-on-dog sex acts. These Republicans deliver.

  6. 6.

    Mean Gene

    October 30, 2006 at 4:37 pm

    I don’t think I have any terrorist sympathies, but just for Santorum I’m going to waterboard myself to find out for sure. Although, to be honest, after yesterday’s Steeler game I think I’m all tortured out.

  7. 7.

    Steve

    October 30, 2006 at 4:45 pm

    Actually, Tsulagi, you might be surprised to learn that Santorum himself was the primary sponsor of a bill – the Iran Freedom Support Act – that would have closed that very loophole.

    The bill was ultimately passed a couple months back, but as luck would have it, the loophole-closing portion somehow vanished during the legislative process. Now, there’s a mystery some investigative reporter could have fun solving.

    Anyway, yeah, anyone bringing up the notion of “corporations who support terrorism” needs to be careful they don’t step on Halliburton’s toes. But from the fact he introduced a bill to close the famous loophole, it appears Santorum probably isn’t on Halliburton’s Christmas card list in the first place.

  8. 8.

    danelectro

    October 30, 2006 at 4:47 pm

    sweet mint tea, john. sweet mint tea.

  9. 9.

    Jennifer

    October 30, 2006 at 4:53 pm

    I am a conservative, currently live in Pennsyltucky — I mean Pennsylvania — I skew libertarian, will NOT vote for the increasingly looney Santorum, but blanch at the thought of voting for Casey, as he doesn’t get simple economics/math: he wants to a) raise the minimum wage and b) stop U.S. jobs from going overseas. Apparently he doesn’t get it: the increasing U.S. wages CAUSE JOBS TO GO OVERSEAS.

    But, I digress — I long, truly long for the day Libertarians can come into the fore. Hell, Greens, too! Let’s have some real debates and talk about real issues, instead of having to choose between Dumb and Dumber. It’s all so depressing, no wonder we have such low voter turnout in this country.

  10. 10.

    Tsulagi

    October 30, 2006 at 4:56 pm

    Actually, Tsulagi, you might be surprised to learn that Santorum himself was the primary sponsor of a bill – the Iran Freedom Support Act

    LOL. Shit, knew I should have spent a few more minutes with Google before making that claim, but had things to do. Still, as you say, the loophole is still there. Anybody ask Santorum how that came to be? Somebody have Ricky’s number?

  11. 11.

    ThymeZone

    October 30, 2006 at 4:57 pm

    I can’t believe I ever voted for these people.

    Well, what’s important is going forward. Bush gained reelection by trashing his opponent’s war record even though he himself had probably been mostly drunk in Alabama during the same period of time, and by pimping DOMA and wedge issues. These are bad people, who don’t give a fig about the people, or good government … what did we expect of them? To turn Rick Santorum into George Will or William F. Buckley?

    Give me a break. I can’t believe that a lot of people voted for these assholes, but that’s in the past. The way to put it behind us is to quit dwelling on it and move forward.

    There is more to Democrats than the fact that they are just not Rick Santorum or Karl Rove.

  12. 12.

    The Asshole Formerly Known as GOP4Me

    October 30, 2006 at 5:01 pm

    The shock of recognition of how crazy these fuckers really are is so intense, it’s borderline painful, isn’t it, John?

    Luckily, after a while, you get used to it. You sort of take it for granted, and move on. Spoofing them helps a lot, too. You learn to laugh at what traumatizes you.

  13. 13.

    Redleg

    October 30, 2006 at 5:03 pm

    Meanwhile, the “liberal media” is largely silent about these increasingly vitriolic and deceitful attacks on the intentions and patriotism of Democrats. Bush, Cheney, and other GOP slime have long been asserting that Dems don’t care about America and that Dems really don’t want to win the war against terror.

    At the same time, however, the same “liberal media” has gone into a tizzy every time a Dem suggests that Bush and Cheney intentionally mislead us about Iraq’s WMD or suggests that Bush has botched the war in Iraq. Oh the outrage! To question the Commander in Chief based on his own words and deeds is bad. Screw the “liberal media” and anybody who actually thinks that the media is predominantly liberal.

  14. 14.

    Pb

    October 30, 2006 at 5:03 pm

    Actually, Tsulagi, you might be surprised to learn that Santorum himself was the primary sponsor of a bill – the Iran Freedom Support Act – that would have closed that very loophole.

    Cite? I looked at the bills (both linked from there), and I don’t see where either of them would have closed the loophole that Tsulagi mentioned, or in fact even come close. Rather, it was more like “Waah, we want a Democratic Iran, someone pretty please overthrow them for us and start a Democracy, we’ll pay you (a little)!” And I have to say, if it worked, then it’d be literally tens of thousands of times cheaper than Iraq, at least as far as direct expenditures go–actually, it’d be half the cost of the planned Iraq victory party!

  15. 15.

    Ted

    October 30, 2006 at 5:11 pm

    “Democrats will ban the Bible and force you to marry homos if you don’t support the President’s plan to give the Social Security trust fund to Wall Street.”

    –General J.C. Christian, Patriot

  16. 16.

    oddjob

    October 30, 2006 at 5:18 pm

    Ricky is always vigilant! Wasn’t it just last month he was breathlessly exclaiming the WMDs had been found and for some vague reason the admin was trying to hide it?

    Actually, I think maybe you’ve got Ricky confused with the ever intrepid Congressman from the Pennsylvania 7th Congressional District, the bad joke known as Curt Weldon.

  17. 17.

    oddjob

    October 30, 2006 at 5:22 pm

    Bush gained reelection by trashing his opponent’s war record even though he himself had probably been mostly drunk in Alabama during the same period of time, and by pimping DOMA and wedge issues.

    Actually, there may well be a good case to be made that he didn’t gain reelection, but stole it by illegally suppressing the voting of urban Democrats in Ohio, something Congress didn’t want to think about and no one in the Justice Dept. or in Ohio (both run by Republicans) has decided to examine either.

    Imagine that…….

  18. 18.

    Andrew

    October 30, 2006 at 5:23 pm

    I could take Casey a lot more seriously if he hadn’t asked my girl to have a recreational abortion with him and his illegal Mexican boyfriend in Cabo.

  19. 19.

    Zifnab

    October 30, 2006 at 5:24 pm

    I’m sure it was in there right up until the Halliburton campaign contribution check cleared.

  20. 20.

    oddjob

    October 30, 2006 at 5:27 pm

    Oh, and then there’s this (which I admit I haven’t yet verified, but it’s still worth bringing to the attention of others):

    The de facto repeal of Posse Comitatus.

    No habeas corpus, no posse comitatus……..

    Does anyone else realize this is the path towards fascism?

  21. 21.

    Steve

    October 30, 2006 at 5:35 pm

    Cite? I looked at the bills (both linked from there), and I don’t see where either of them would have closed the loophole that Tsulagi mentioned, or in fact even come close.

    Well, I’m glad you asked, because even though I double-checked this before posting, my head is spinning trying to sort through all these different bills and versions thereof.

    Take a look at H.R. 282, the version that was marked up by the Senate committee. It changes the definitions under the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act of 1996 to apply sanctions to:

    a corporation, business association, partnership, society, trust, financial institution, insurer, underwriter, guarantor, any other business organization, including any foreign subsidiaries of the foregoing, any other nongovernmental entity, organization, or group, and any governmental entity operating as a business enterprise

    The bolded language is what was added. The key part, obviously, is the “foreign subsidiaries” language which would close the loophole.

    However, I think I was wrong to state that Santorum introduced this language. As I go reread the versions, it doesn’t seem like this was in his original bill; it got added on somewhere during the process, and then it got taken out again.

    Anyway, Halliburton Halliburton Halliburton.

  22. 22.

    ThymeZone

    October 30, 2006 at 5:46 pm

    there may well be a good case to be made that he didn’t gain reelection, but stole it by illegally suppressing the voting of urban Democrats in Ohio

    I’d be more interested if I saw the case made.

    And if this is dirty tricks at the ground game level, then all I can say is, boo for the Ohio Democrats. Combating this kind of thing has been part of ground game politics since Christ was a kid. Ohio Dems need to step up and get their people to the polls and then make sure that there are poll workers who will see to it that voters get to vote …. my parents were doing this kind of work fifty years ago. It’s not a new problem set.

  23. 23.

    Teak111

    October 30, 2006 at 5:51 pm

    It ain’t the candidates, its the people who fall for the bullshit that are most frightening. How can someone like Santorum be elected to office in the first place. Ultimately, I think we realize now after 6 “interestin times” years of expliotation and incompetance, that we as citizens ought to take this voting thingy more seriously. The big test this week will be when I talk to my mother in law, god bless her. Listens to rush all day, thinks the WMD are in syria, and that Bush, “isn’t so bad.” I fear the first thing out her piehole will be, “that Michael J. Fox stopped taking his meds…” Oye Ye!

  24. 24.

    Tsulagi

    October 30, 2006 at 5:56 pm

    Actually, I think maybe you’ve got Ricky confused with the ever intrepid Congressman…

    Nope, oddjob, didn’t get that one wrong. From the never wrong or biased Fox News: Report: Hundreds of WMDs Found in Iraq.

    We have found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, chemical weapons,” Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., said in a quickly called press conference late Wednesday afternoon

    Guess I did get the time frame wrong, though. I thought it was around the beginning of last month, but I guess Ricky was making that claim starting at the end of June. Time flies when you’re having fun.

  25. 25.

    Teak111

    October 30, 2006 at 5:56 pm

    And to think, my mother in law is a Holocaust survivor. There is real irony there, no?

  26. 26.

    Punchy

    October 30, 2006 at 6:01 pm

    I can see why Cole-slaw wouldn’t vote for the R in the Dub-V Senate race. Look what Byrd’s opponent has to bring to the table:

    John Raese, the Republican challenging Byrd, recently made an issue of the senator’s age. Raese, a 56-year-old Morgantown media owner and heir to an industrial fortune, said he wouldn’t hire the senator because of his physical appearance.

    In addition to using canes, Byrd’s hands tremble — a condition he dismisses as a “cosmetic malady.”

    “I was alarmed at his physical and mental appearance when I talked to him,” Raese told the Charleston Daily Mail. “The business I’m in, I can’t have that. Nobody can have that.”

    This guy must either be in porn or spring-break promotional video production. The guy’s got shaking hands–hell, he’s 141 years old–and that’s the best you can bring? That’s your A material?

  27. 27.

    tBone

    October 30, 2006 at 6:19 pm

    The guy’s got shaking hands

    I call BS. Either Byrd is faking or he didn’t take his medication. It’s shameless, really.

  28. 28.

    Pb

    October 30, 2006 at 6:29 pm

    From the never wrong or biased Fox News: Report: Hundreds of WMDs Found in Iraq.

    At this point, I think The Onion is more credible. They should do a follow-up report: “Hundreds of WMDs Found in Salvation Army Stores”, or maybe “Hundreds of WMDs Found under Kitchen Sinks”…

  29. 29.

    MMM

    October 30, 2006 at 7:10 pm

    The revolution starts now….

  30. 30.

    guyermo

    October 30, 2006 at 8:02 pm

    John,

    You should start hanging out with Jim Derych…or at least read his book

  31. 31.

    Andrew

    October 30, 2006 at 8:11 pm

    At this point, I think The Onion is more credible.

    At what point, exactly, was The Onion less credible than Fox News?

  32. 32.

    demimondian

    October 30, 2006 at 8:23 pm

    And if this is dirty tricks at the ground game level, then all I can say is, boo for the Ohio Democrats. Combating this kind of thing has been part of ground game politics since Christ was a kid. Ohio Dems need to step up and get their people to the polls and then make sure that there are poll workers who will see to it that voters get to vote …. my parents were doing this kind of work fifty years ago. It’s not a new problem set.

    Hey! Who are you, and what did you do with Herb? He never makes sense like that!

  33. 33.

    ThymeZone

    October 30, 2006 at 8:42 pm

    what did you do with Herb?

    He was too Sage for his own good. I rubbed him the wrong way, I guess.

    I feel parsley to blame for what happened, though.

  34. 34.

    Sojourner

    October 30, 2006 at 9:46 pm

    Apparently he doesn’t get it: the increasing U.S. wages CAUSE JOBS TO GO OVERSEAS.

    Yep. The U.S. needs to decrease its wages so we can compete with other countries. Let’s talk about $5/day, not per hour.

  35. 35.

    rachel

    October 30, 2006 at 11:24 pm

    Sojourner Says:

    Apparently he doesn’t get it: the increasing U.S. wages CAUSE JOBS TO GO OVERSEAS.

    Yep. The U.S. needs to decrease its wages so we can compete with other countries. Let’s talk about $5/day, not per hour.

    *I’m* wondering how people in China or India can wait tables, pick fruit or sweep floors that are located in the USA.

  36. 36.

    Pb

    October 30, 2006 at 11:51 pm

    I’m wondering how people in China or India can wait tables, pick fruit or sweep floors that are located in the USA.

    Telesweeping? Cheap little foreign-made radio controlled dustpans on wheels? I’m sure they’d come up with something…

  37. 37.

    Bombadil

    October 31, 2006 at 10:27 am

    Telesweeping? Cheap little foreign-made radio controlled dustpans on wheels? I’m sure they’d come up with something…

    Hey, if someone can come up with an Internet-enabled rifle that allows Cheney to shoot a lawyer in the face without leaving his office, why not remote controlled dustpans?

  38. 38.

    scarshapedstar

    October 31, 2006 at 10:57 am

    If Little Ricky loses, then Sauron will take over the Shire and then who will give Christmas presents to the miscarried fetus in a jar that he keeps on the mantle?

  39. 39.

    Zifnab

    October 31, 2006 at 11:07 am

    No habeas corpus, no posse comitatus……..

    Does anyone else realize this is the path towards fascism? the second death of Latin in America?

  40. 40.

    Sojourner

    October 31, 2006 at 12:10 pm

    I’m wondering how people in China or India can wait tables, pick fruit or sweep floors that are located in the USA.

    Good thing that geography means American workers can hang onto the high-tech/high-paying jobs.

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