So Rick Santorum launches a deceitful attack on the Kennedy speech regarding the role of religion in society, lying about pretty much everything Kennedy said, to include the preposterous claim that liberals don’t think “people of faith” have any role in the public sphere, and this is how the NY Times covers it:
Yes, he was just making the case for religious freedom. Your liberal media.
Zifnab
John F. Kennedy – history’s greatest monster. Who the hell let that jumped up Mic into the White House anyway?
Scott
Oh, pshaw. Like a reporter from the NYT isn’t going to suck up hard to a Republican.
Mike Goetz
He was literally shouting on Face the Nation that Kennedy made him want to barf.
I think Santo’s come undone, and he’s letting the freak flag fly. He sounded borderline insane talking about Iran in the dabate last week, now this.
MariedeGournay
Santorum makes case for Inquisition.
cathyx
Well, that person of faith doesn’t have any business being in politics.
PeakVT
Heaven Help Us All
Starting with Ayatollah Santorum, preferably.
GregB
I too recall how the Catholics in Massachusetts and the Northeast recoiled in disgust at Kennedy’s anti-religious crusade and rejected him at the ballot box.
Comrade Mary
Doctor, the words “Burn it down! Burn it ALL down!” keep running through my head. What do you think that means?
Ash Can
I object to shortening Santorum’s name to “Santo,” as it defames the memory of one of the greatest Chicago Cubs to ever wear the uniform, as well as his Cub-blue heart on his sleeve. I suggest shortening “Santorum” to something far more appropriate, e.g. “Insufferable Lying Shitheel.”
Mike Goetz
Nice poll numbers from Politico:
Obama 53 — Romney 43
Obama 53 — Santorum 42
Obama 50 — Generic Republican 45
They have Obama at 53% approval. Romney and Santorum are fighting to the death over a pissy biscuit.
Comrade Mary
Anyway, something to clear the brain. (Thanks for the reminder, John.)
Paul in KY
I’d love to see how they would caption Hitler’s ‘Today Germany. tomorrow the world’ speech
‘Hitler Plans Outreach to Non-German Nations’ or something like that. Maybe:
‘Hitler has Ambitious Plans for Party’
Mike Goetz
@Ash Can:
So, don’t start calling Paul Ryan “Ryno”? Duly noted.
Paul in KY
@Ash Can: I like calling him: ‘Satanum’. Sorta links him to his boss…
El Cid
Governor Jerry Brown of California loses all decorum and is mean and rude to a journalist just for being a right wing lying / Foxnoozworld-believing Moonie hack. What a terrible man.
Brown is so brusk and rude as to insist upon an actual correct chronology of who was governor of California and when and in what order, when Real Americans know that all timelines begin and end with Ronald Reagan.
And what on Earth would Jerry Brown possibly know about what went on in California’s governorship before and after Ronaldus Magnus Reagan? Who does this guy think he is? Ronald Reagan was Governor of California, after all.
Here he was with his spokesman chiming in from time to time:
H/T GOS.
Linda Featheringill
This particular rant on Santorum’s part doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Kennedy came and went a long time ago. He was a child of his times and did what he could with those circumstances.
If he disagrees with Kennedy’s stance on separation of church and state, he should have chosen a more polite way of expressing this disagreement.
Or if Kennedy were being recommended for sainthood and Santorum were charged with being the Devil’s Advocate, then it would be appropriate to argue that Kennedy was more of a secular politician than a religious saint. But he could still phrase his objections politely.
geg6
Well, John, I have a solution for the indigestion the “liberal” MSM induce. QUIT READING AND WATCHING THEM!
I have, for the most part, and I can tell you that my life is much, much, much better for it. I’ve narrowed my exposure to “news” media to the web, the local newspapers, the local news, and Up with Chris Hays and the Melissa Harris-Perry show. I only catch the national media by accident when my John has it on, mainly CNN and the CBS Evening News.
c u n d gulag
YAY!
Judith Miller is back!
piratedan
and think of all of the new reality shows a Santorum Administration would spawn…. Stone the Heretic, Undercover Brothel, Are You Holier than your local Cardinal? Wheel of Martyrdom….American Jihad…
I await our new Fuedal-Theological Overlords with dread, like any working serf should….
Satanicpanic
I take some small solace in the fact that theocracy’s spokespeople continue to be ludicrously unappealing.
Comrade Mary
@El Cid: Jesus. Is it too much to ask that people who earn a living as reporters know something about undisputed facts, like who served how many terms when? I’ve given up on reporters knowing anything about science, technology, or economics, but history shouldn’t be that hard. You don’t have to be an historian, ready to analyze the root causes of world events: you just have to remember the stories or even — big step! — refresh your memory of a few facts when you prepare for an interview.
flukebucket
@Mike Goetz:
God I love this place!
cathyx
I like Charles Pierce’s take on this subject. If Kennedy had embraced his Catholic religion like Santorum embraces his own religion, he would never have been elected. Never.
MattF
Q: So, you’re saying the headline should read ‘Religious Fanatic Spits on JFK’s Grave’?
A: Yes.
Fwiffo
A more accurate headline would be “Rick Santorum Attacks Strawman, Loses”.
Mike G
@Ash Can:
I prefer ‘Sanatorium’.
It’s where he belongs.
Mnemosyne
@El Cid:
I like Jerry Brown much better now that he’s given up on national politics and is concentrating solely on getting California back on its feet. It’s like having Bill Ford in charge of Ford Motor Company — Brown knows that his legacy and his family’s legacy depends on rescuing our state.
Ash Can
@Mike Goetz: ::GASP:: Such sacrilege, young man. (Seriously, I LOLed. Good one. And you’re right; don’t you dare. :) )
General Stuck (Bravo Nope Zero)
No shit, and that ain’t the half of it. Santorum’s economic plan
He might as well come out for ovens and a cookbook to serve the poor. This fucker makes Bush look like Peter Pan.
gelfling545
I would place a wager that Santorum has done more to drive people away from religion just lately that Satan, secularism and university professors combined.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@El Cid:
OMG, I think I love my governor.
The rest of it too, were Brown was fighting back against all the nonsense about California being some backwards hippie commune.
koalaholik
@Ash Can: I second your suggestion.
geg6
@El Cid:
Holy shit. That is some industrial size stupid there. Dumb shit thought Jerry was his dad, Pat. Which would make him, oh, about 107 years old or something?
Rick Taylor
I think Santorum makes even Sarah Palin look good. He’s smarter and more informed than she is, but he’s more radical and more willing to make use of the Republican id, which is quite an accomplishment. Even Sarah Palin didn’t openly talk about Satan taking over the colleges and the churches.
cathyx
@General Stuck (Bravo Nope Zero): You forgot to add that he wants all Americans who earn under $100,000 to hand over our paychecks to the him and he will give us a stipend and a budget to live on.
Ok, I’m kidding, but just barely.
Petorado
Not to be outdone by the NYT, NPR has a story up about “How Lawmakers Lost Their Sense Of Shame,” with regards to legislation such as that proposed by Rep. Yasmin Neal to draw attention to how outrageous Republicans have been with exerting control over other people’s uteruses.
“These bills themselves are part of a larger trend. Politicians have always thrived on attention. In the age of reality shows and instant hype through Twitter and cable coverage, however, it appears there are no longer any limits on what they are willing to say or do.”
It’s all about the vanity of Democratic lawmakers, apparently. Both sides do it!
Democratic Nihilist, Keeper Of Party Purity
Let’s turn government and science back to the responsible hands of the Church, who did such a great job that the period between 900AD and 1400AD was known as the “Awesome Ages”.
Gun-grabbing sodomy liberals are the ones responsible for getting that great period of time renamed the “Dark Ages”. Lies. Wasn’t a damn thing dark about them, there were no black people as Africa had yet to be discovered.
dedc79
There’s a fundamental misunderstanding of positive vs. negative rights by Republicans and apparently by the MSM. The government gave us all the right to run for office regardless of our religion. The balance to that right is the public’s right to be free from the government’s exercise of a state religion. So basically, you can’t be stopped from running for office because of your religion, but you can be stopped from forcing your religion on others.
Kennedy was telling people they didn’t have to worry about his catholicism because this country would prohibit him, even if he was so inclined, from forcing his catholicism on others. Santorum, a religious fanatic (and also not a very bright guy), either doesn’t understand this balance or is choosing to ignore it.
Few seem to understand that today’s GOP (as represented by Santorum) is actually tearing down the very doctrine that protects their own free exercise of religion.
Elizabelle
NYTimes header dovetails so nicely with mistermix’s preceding blogpost title.
sigh
Elizabelle
You wonder what our liberal media would do with a Hitler’s rise to power in the US.
“Some say he’s anti-semitic, but he makes the trains run on time.” You decide.
Democratic Nihilist, Keeper Of Party Purity
@El Cid: I have never been so happy over a vote as the day I inked the bubble in for Jerry Brown and this is one of the big reasons why. You DO NOT try to pull any bullshit on Jerry Brown.
dedc79
@Elizabelle: “Hitler makes case for Jew hatred in public sphere”, “Hitler defended right of Germans to be free of Jews”, and so on….
Mark S.
@General Stuck (Bravo Nope Zero):
Do they even try to come up with anything halfway realistic anymore?
RalfW
@geg6:
Yep. When the NYT put up the paywall, it was the best excuse ever for me to decamp my eyeballs to other, less liberal news sites.
Relatedly, I think this from Jay Rosen about NPR moving away from flat he-said-she-said has a glimmer of hope in it.
General Stuck (Bravo Nope Zero)
@Mark S.:
That number caught my eye, as well. Thoroughly insane.
forked tongue
There really isn’t any need to come up with a derisive nickname for Rick Santorum. Thanks to Dan Savage’s fine efforts, the nastiest and funniest thing you can call him at this point is “Santorum.”
rikyrah
Go Governor Brown!!!
Bullsmith
The media are supposed to be a pillar of democracy. When they switch sides and instead become a willing dealer of establishment lies, they become maybe the single biggest tool to undermine it. Fucking journalism, how does that work?
Ruckus
@Ash Can:
Nice. Short, pithy, gets right to it.
However…. I think you may be underplaying the description.
Hungry Joe
As a former newspaper reporter I feel compelled to point out that copy editors, not reporters, write headlines. More often than not the reporter doesn’t see the header till he picks up the paper the next day. And if a reporter does happen to see it beforehand, and he doesn’t like it, and he complains, he’ll probably be told to take a hike. Or a flying leap. Or worse.
harlana
my bf and i were at a bar and Santorum came on the teevee. i guess i’d had a bit too much to drink the night before b/c i pointed to the screen and said “did i tell you how much that guy makes my skin crawl?” – bf replied “only about 85 times last nite”
Jay C
@El Cid: @Democratic Nihilist, Keeper Of Party Purity:
RLY: too bad Jerry Brown is so old, he’d make a perfect Presidential candidate when Obama has to step down in 2017: and he’s Catholic, too: though far more in the JFK mold than Idiot Ricky’s.
Rafer Janders
Nobody expects the American Inquisition.
gex
@Ash Can: Frothy works pretty good too.
Villago Delenda Est
To be fair, Santorum himself is a strong argument for bringing back arenas with hungry lions in them.
RalfW
@dedc79:
One of the blinkers of the mainstream media, up to and maybe even particularly including NPR, is that they cannot see that the GOP is just not, not, not what it was 10 years ago.
It has broken with the compact of our basic, common understandings of things like separation of church and state and now seeks theocratic governing.
Its so far from what they are used to that they cannot seemingly decode it. Its baffling why this is so hard to see.
Maybe what I linked to @44 can begin to help, but reporters have to be able to internalize that the GOP no longer seeks the betterment of the whole nation, but rather domination and control of the non-white/non-rich/non-fundamentalist Christian US for the benefit of their small and dwindling club of privilege.
becca
@Ash Can:
Rictum? Rektum? Or, maybe, Rihtum?
Ed Drone
I’ve seen some alternate headlines for historical events, and it suggests a contest among the regulars here. Some entries have already been produced, but I’d like to see more.
Perhaps we should produce the alternate headline, and then the event (maybe in a second post? or lower down on the page, anyway), so readers have to guess, before seeing the answer.
What do you think?
After all that, I can’t come up with one myself. Let me try.
Native Spokesman: “There Goes the Neighborhood”
.
.
.
.
.
.
Event: Columbus’ arrival in the “New World”
Or, more recently,
Headline: Economy Eases for Two-Car Families
.
.
.
.
.
Event: Romney’s two-Cadillac wife
Neither of these is funny, but someone out there has what’s needed, I’m sure.
Ed
gex
Heh. The best thing about being 0 for 4 on the kinds of Americans Frothy likes, I don’t have to worry about how I will live in a Santorum administration. Because I won’t be allowed to, I suspect.
The Fat Kate Middleton
I’m assuming this will be discussed in a later BJ post, but I’ll throw it out here for now: Jonathan Chait’s latest in NY Magazine:
http://nymag.com/news/features/gop-primary-chait-2012-3/
Best analysis yet on the current state of the GOP.
Violet
@Mike Goetz:
And yet on the crawl on Good Morning America this morning I saw, “Romney and Santorum beat Obama in 12 swing states”.
Saw that Romney is ahead in early votes in Michigan. I soooo want Santorum to win that state. Sad that Romney seems to have pulled ahead in polling, although it’s close.
Bruce S
I just sent an email to Barbaro making the point that his passivity as a stenographer for Santorum made him complicit in a mendacious lie, which is not what constitutes decent journalism even at its most minimalist (the reporter can’t be held responsible for a headline, incidentally, so I didn’t hang it on that.)
Villago Delenda Est
@dedc79:
The atheists will make gays of us all!
Culture of Truth
That’s pretty rich coming from NPR
Benjamin Franklin
@Jay C:
and he’s Catholic, too
Trained as a Jesuit Priest; the shitkickers, Knights Templar of Christendom.
Culture of Truth
I’m calling him Frothy, but that’s because I call david gregroy Fluffy, and it’s obviously a play on Dan Savage’s re-identification of Santorum.
MikeJ
@RalfW:
I’ll believe it when I hear it, but sadly I probably won’t hear it. When I first gave up on NPR it was pretty difficult, but I simply don’t have the habit any more.
Paul in KY
@Elizabelle: How about this one: ‘Hitler Promises Change in U.S. Relationship with Israel’.
Elizabelle
@Jay C:
And Governor Brown has a photogenic dog:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef016762f91651970b-pi
John M. Burt
@forked tongue: Friend Forked Tongue speaks my mind in this matter. Dan Savage went to a lot of effort to make sure “santorum” was literally a dirty word, why let that go to waste?
Elizabelle
@dedc79:
@Paul in KY:
Indeed.
Comrade Mary
@Violet:
That’s the Gallup/USA Today poll (scroll down). Landlines?
Frank
@Culture of Truth:
This from the same station that refused to call waterboarding torture.
Talk about irony…
geg6
@Jay C:
In fact, in his youth, he trained to be a Jesuit.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Brown
And I see Benjamin Franklin beat me to it.
Tractarian
@Violet:
That’s from a USA Today/Gallup poll taken from Feb. 14-21, so it’s kinda outdated. On the other hand, the Politico poll showing a double-digit national lead for Obama is more recent: Feb. 19-22.
Elizabelle
WaPo website headline is better:
Santorum assails Obama on education, JFK on church and state
their featured reader comment: “So much for the Constitution”
geg6
Meanwhile, Scotty “Hotpants” Brown just doesn’t know when to shut up. After Scott began running ads claiming that Ted Kennedy would back his stance and not Elizabeth Warren’s on the Blunt amendment, Patrick Kennedy issued this statement:
Basically, saying STFU Scotty. I knew my father, I served with my father. You are NOT my father. And an intelligent pol would just shut up about it. But not our Scotty! He has to tell Patrick that he knows Ted better than Patrick does:
Edited to add GOS link: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/02/27/1068687/-Patrick-Kennedy-to-Scott-Brown-Stop-claiming-my-father-s-support-for-your-birth-control-position?via=blog_1
ornery_curmudgeon
The corporate media is bought, ya’ll, but it’s necessary. Fascism has never worked without it.
Folks is mighty slow to recognize, gotta say. It will be obvious eventually: better to see it sooner than later, just sayin’
amk
@El Cid: Go Brown.
What the fuck were the ‘californicators’ thinking when they elected the governator ? twice ?
Rashmi
The ombudsman needs to be inundated with emails. That was a ridiculous article. They need to be called out every time this happens. Maybe one day they’ll learn.
Yutsano
@geg6: Prefect ad opportunity right there: “Who does Scott Brown represent, the people of Massachusetts or the Catholic Church?”
Then shiv him by pointing out he’s not Catholic. That’ll go over well.
The Other Chuck
Sick Rantorum will not be the nominee. The guy never stops beating the culture war drum, never stops lecturing the country on how he thinks we should all behave. He would lead the party into a Goldwater-esque defeat that would drag the downticket down with it, the party knows it, and I think everyone outside the 27% knows it too.
trollhattan
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
I wondered, going into the 2010 gov’s race, whether Jerry had any of the old mojo. First debate with Megs vanquished any doubts I’d had. He’s a wonk with attitude and a sardonic sense of humor. I’m guessing the Jesuits had their hands full with the young Jerry.
So pointedly schooling the WT nitwit should serve notice to anybody who thinks they can dish him talking points and get away with it. His teebee appearance aside Jan Brewer was a treat–calling all the remaining Republican candidates lunatics while Jan Brewer is announcing her Willard endorsement. Was surprised she kept the pointy finger holstered.
MattR
@geg6: That is a pretty impressive job by Brown of turning off the Massachusetts voters who may have been swayed by his initial argument. But of course Brown couldn’t stay silent and let Patrick Kennedy “win”.
Democratic Nihilist, Keeper Of Party Purity
@RalfW: Nobody wants to admit that at least 27% of the electorate want what Iran has; a small ruling group of Chrisitan ayatollahs, accountable to no one, who speak with the literal voice of God. An America where murder of the other/unorthodox/unbelievers is standard operating procedure/Friday night entertainment, and where the Constitution is nothing more than a religious icon, invoked as a blessing for any hideous ends as though it were the toilet paper of Jesus Christ himself.
I don’t want to admit this, I can surely understand how a media outlet, who makes their living by fellating the status quo, wouldn’t want to admit it either.
TOP123
@Elizabelle:
NYT: Hitler Contests Portrayal of Recent Speech as Anti-Semitic
“In fact, I’m pretty confident I didn’t say Jewish. What I think — I started to say a word and then sort of changed and it sort of — Jeesh — mumbled it and sort of changed my thought.”
Elizabelle
re Barbaro NYTimes story:
I know they’re different orifices, but seeing “Santorum” and “full-throated” in the same sentence made me giggle.
Martin
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM!
Man, do I love Jerry. Guy knows everything. Makes some nutty decisions, but the good beats the bad every day.
@Elizabelle: And he of course earns bonus points for having a corgi. But mine is prettier.
TooManyJens
@El Cid: I need a cigarette after that. Can we send a tape of that interview to every Democratic officeholder in the country? Damn.
harlana
saying a martyred president makes you want to vomit
it’s so bold, and refreshing!!
SiubhanDuinne
O/T but WaPo is reporting that Bob Kerrey has changed his mind and will run for the Senate seat being vacated by Ben Nelson (Dino-NE).
trollhattan
@amk:
The first time was almost understandable because of how it was orchestrated. Being elected took (1) a majority vote for recall and (2) selecting a candidate from among dozens and dozens (pr0n star or action hero or the MLB commissioner or… ) I blame Leno for the outcome.
Here’s the ballot.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c6/Sample_ballot_for_CA_recall.png
Second time–I blame the schrooms. Actually, the Dems were in disarray (quelle surprise) and couldn’t field a strong candidate. Arnie in a walk.
Democratic Nihilist, Keeper Of Party Purity
@amk: It’s a long story.
Gray Davis was the victim of perhaps the most underhanded and brutal hatchet job any sitting governor has ever been subjected to. Enron started shutting off the power and he had to mortgage California to keep the lights on. His name became synonymous with shit – nobody at the time knew that the power failures were deliberate – and the voters here wanted blood. His, specifically, and his party, generally. There was no way we were getting a Dem governor of California at the time.
The guy who was supposed to be the beneficiary of all this ratfuckery – and who paid for it all – was Darrell Issa. Turns out the voters didn’t feel right about electing an Ay-rab with a felony criminal history. Arnold, whose movie career was done at that point, but still was jonesing for more sweet fame fix, stepped up to the plate.
He had a plan and it was a good one. Finish out Davis’ term as a centrist moderate (he did), get re-elected (he did), and then pull a Scott Walker and gut all the unions. The first part worked – he got re-elected – but the second part failed, as Californians cock-blocked all his union-busting initiatives.
The important thing to realize about Ahnold is that while he is BFF with big business, that’s as far as he subscribes to the conservative agenda. He is big on social safety nets and he is not averse to taxing the shit out of high earners. By the end of his second term he was so frustrated with the intransigence of the California GOP that he stopped talking to them and just cut deals with the Dems.
bemused
@El Cid:
“Are you a Moonie by any chance?” I love it.
trollhattan
Rih is really having a time organizing and sticking to his talking points. So very many wrongs for him to right.
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/02/santorum-pregnancy-gaffe-iran.html
Suffern ACE
@SiubhanDuinne: Wait. Will run or will NOT run. I thought he was already running.
Mike G
@SiubhanDuinne:
Speaking of Bob Kerrey, one of his few contributions to the national discourse was his statement during Little Ricky’s reign of error in the Senate:
Benjamin Franklin
Speaking of governators. Walker may think he’s in the catbird seat, or he’s decided to let the chips fall where they may.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2012
9:08 AM
http://elections.wispolitics.com/2012/02/citing-time-crunch-walker-camp-wont.html
trollhattan
@Benjamin Franklin:
Timelines have a liberal bias.
Jay in Oregon
@Ash Can:
I’ve seen “Sick Rantorum” show up at least once. I thought that was pretty inspired.
Mnemosyne
@Petorado:
Well, to be fair, the Democrats are proposing bills they don’t really want to have passed to highlight how bad Republican bills are, so they’re grandstanding. Republicans, in contrast, really do want the government to be able to vaginally probe women before they’re allowed to have a legal abortion, so they have the courage of their convictions. Therefore, the Democrats are just grandstanding while the Republicans are Serious People trying to pass Serious Legislation.
Geez, and I though I was feeling nauseous from the flu before typing that …
Elizabelle
@Mnemosyne:
Hope you’re feeling better soon.
Comrade Dread
Honestly, Mr. Santorum fundamentally misunderstands that government cannot be the enforcer of morality.
All of these morality laws throughout our history have failed to stop the behavior they were intended to stop. People will continue to make choices that others disagree with, they’ll just do it underground, and all the rest of us will be ‘blessed’ with is an authoritarian police state that does more harm to liberty and citizens than the behavior these laws were intended to stop.
If you want a more moral, Christian society, then drop out of the Presidential race and start picking up where Billy Graham left off: convincing folks one at a time to follow Jesus and praying for those who decide not to.
dww44
@Hungry Joe: Yep, I had figured this out with my local paper, so I address all my complaints to the editor. Complain often and in writing, is my motto. Lots more of us need to do this. It’s the only way to counter the fact that a for-profit newspaper is by default a voice for the establishment and the 1%. So, we already start out behind the 8 ball.
artem1s
@RalfW:
well, I hope they don’t adopt Faux News dedication to the truth as a model. Perhaps their new standards aren’t a bunch of double speak but it’s exactly the sort of thing I would expect to hear from a new outlet trying to justify a new hard swing to the right.
but I also admit NPR lost me a long time ago. And although I occasionally tune in to see what they are up to, usually the local affiliate just makes me want to cringe and turn away in disgust.
Commenting at Balloon Juice since 1937
‘Last night, Rick Santorum opened a broadside against Iran by saying “Under a Santorum pregnancy” at a Michigan rally.’
wrb
@dedc79:
They are out to prove American liberalism ultimately and fatally wrong, you see. There were conservatives who thought this liberal freedom of conscience thing was bullshit, especially when it came to imagining that it would work if Catholics were admitted, “They’ve spent hundred of years killing those who infected with too muh freedom of conscience, we’ve finally got a country where we gan go to bet at night without fear that some Catholic will set it alight before dawn, and you want to invite them here?! You’re not naive, you are fucking insane.”
“The fact that they have chosen to move here means that they’ve embraced our dream of freedom. They will be our friends and partners. Our children will marry. A new and better world will start here. All will joint together in peace in our shining city on the hill, our New Athens. The hatreds of the past will be no more”
“Bullshit, if they say that they are embracing your hippie-dippy freedom of conscience idea they are faking. People don’t change. The church doesn’t change. Soon as they get a chance they will be packing the Supreme court. The church is Dominionist, it always have been Dominionist, and it has fought a hell of a lot of wars and done other nasty things in order to assert its dominion.”
I’m rooting for the a liberal victory in this argument.
virginia
Ricky S appears to be off his meds.
I was rereading David Foster Wallace’s stunning commencement address to Kenyon 2005 in an attempt to purge after brief exposure to Stentorian’s insane appearance on my Sunday morning teevee screen.
It worked — the best of the USA can still pack a punch, thank the fishes and the water, when it comes to dealing with the basest and dumbest elements.
I hope RS keeps it up actually. He really is just that crazy and craven.
Southern Beale
I think this, and the last thread, and the headline in today’s Tennessean which I’ve already blogwhored twice and won’t inflict on you a third time, has given us a little taste of what we can expect from the “liberal media” in the coming months. Once again it will be just like it was in the days of Teflon Ron, both Bushes, the Clenis, etc. The liberal media will swallow whole every piece of GOP, Frank Luntc-focus-group-approved framing about Democrats and liberal issues. Conservatives will continue to whine about the Lamestream Media despite the fact that its so-called liberal bias is but a figment of their imagination.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
tomvox1
That NY Times headline and “article” makes me want to throw up. Where have you gone, Anthony Lewis, a nation yadda yadda…
SiubhanDuinne
@Suffern ACE:
He said a month or so back that he would not run. He changed his mind over the weekend, apparently.
SiubhanDuinne
@Commenting at Balloon Juice since 1937:
Transvaginal ultrasound images, or it never happened.
Mnemosyne
@Jay C:
Nah, Jerry’s tried to run for president before and he’s horrible at it. He’s better off staying here in Cali and fixing his mistakes of the 1970s — yes, it was under Jerry Brown that the piece of excrement known as Prop 13 was passed by the voters of California, not under Reagan, and Jerry did pretty much nothing to try and stop it. He’s got a lot to atone for.
virginia
Re the seemingly spineless NYTs reaction to these howlingly dumb comments of Rick’s, I dunno, maybe it’s just me, but there’s something to be said for the paper of record, the one the right loves to lambast the most, playing it gentle and coy. As we say in Brasil, “throw it out green so you can collect it ripe.” Santorum’s comments are offensive and outrageous enough — let folks come to their own conclusions, if they haven’t already.
He’s like the Mr. Rogers of vile dementia. What adult describes a real response to a stance in terms of “it makes me want to vomit?” Let alone a dude hoping to be POTUS.
Spadizzly
@geg6:
He might be 107 years old, but he’s tall for his age.
Southern Beale
BTW we’ve all heard the quote, but has anyone asked Rick Santorum exactly when he read this speech? He was 2 years old when Kennedy gave it. I am curious about the circumstance which would lead him to read this speech today.
I am smelling the waft of bullshit, and am guessing he hasn’t read one word of it.
Catsy
@RalfW:
I really wish bloggers would stop linking to the NYT altogether. I close the window the moment I realize I’ve clicked through to a link with a login page, and go look for my news somewhere else.
Jay C
@Democratic Nihilist, Keeper Of Party Purity:
Also, IIRC, another factor in giving California a Governor Schwarzenegger in 2003 was that Arnold had been pushing the CA GOP for years to give him a shot at fronting for them in public office: the State Party (run by the same sort of troglodyte business-types and Movement Conservatives that pushed Ronald Reagan into prominence) were only too happy to take his money – and whatever he could fundraise for them – but generally gave him the brush as being “too liberal”. The Davis recall in ’03 was basically his one chance to sidestep the Party machine, and so he took it. Much, I think, to the CA GOP’s chagrin, as Der Governator showed little interest in their main project, which was to return California to the sort of socio-political structure it had in 1928.
Boots Day
It’s really important to reiterate that Santorum is actually a cafeteria Catholic, picking and choosing among the church’s policies that he wants to impose on the rest of America. The church is opposed to capital punishment, for example, and Santorum doesn’t say a word about imposing that doctrine on the U.S. In fact, he gleefully opposes the church on the matter.
Santorum is certainly not just being a good Catholic in the way he goes about his public life. He’s a terrible Catholic.
trollhattan
@Jay C:
It was pretty telling that as soon as Arnie was elected, and before he took office, the Talking Point went out all over this fine land that we really didn’t need that pesky “presidents have to be born here” business in the constitution, because it would deprived us of all that brilliant overseas talent. i.e., Let Arnie run the whole joint!
Once he began governating, and showing his hippie side along with his Kennedy wife, all that talk died right out.
Republicans are “originalists” except when they aren’t.
Jay C
@Benjamin Franklin: @geg6:
Yes, I knew Jerry Brown had had Jesuit schooling: it’s a logician’s dojo of hard knocks: the training in intellectual rigor still shows through – and bolstered, in his senior years, by a refreshing “take no sh*t” attitude…
@Mnemosyne:
Jerry Brown may have some political sins in his past to atone for, but Prop 13 wasn’t one of them: California’s initiative process is notorious (and has been for years) as being designed primarily to circumvent both the executive and legislative branches of the State’s government – neither Brown or any other California Governor had, or does have, any significant control over what Propositions get on the ballot. IIRC, Brown’s Administration fought the proposal all the way: but alas, to no avail.
Benjamin Franklin
@Jay C:
Brown opposed prop 13, but then worked hard to implement. He was fighting for a balanced budget during the campaign for/against 13 He was a fiscal conservative, as you know. I even recall Republicans chiding him for refusing to occupy the governors mansion, and choosing a cheap apartment, in it’s stead.
He’s no hypocrite.
honus
@Benjamin Franklin: the Knights Templar were Christian. I always like to think of the Jesuits as the Hells Angels of the Catholic Church.
Gravenstone
@geg6:
Someone needs to remind CosmoBoy that he wouldn’t be a fucking Senator with an opportunity to “work with” Ted Kennedy were the latter still alive!
Benjamin Franklin
@honus:
I always like to think of the Jesuits as the Hells Angels of the Catholic Church.
I like it….
schrodinger's cat
@Martin: Are you the Queen of England?
nellcote
“A Visit to Jerry Brown’s Conference Room-and It’s Bookcase
The first thing a visitor notices in the austere but cheery gubernatorial conference room now occupied by Jerry Brown isn’t the absence of Conan the Barbarian’s sword or the Southwestern art on the walls, it’s the presence of books.
Lots of them.
And an eclectic mix at that.
The second thing is the glorified tan wood picnic table that serves as a conference table.
“After awhile you want to leave, depending on the strength of your posterior,” Brown told reporters gathered January 26 for a budget briefing.
There’s also a tan, circular, low coffee table – perfect for sitting around cross-legged or lounging on beanbag chairs. There’s a floral arrangement in its center and four books at the compass points.
At one point is The Dancing Column – On Order in Architecture by Joseph Rykwert, a University of Pennsylvania professor.
A large collection of Diego Rivera is at another. Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez was a Mexican painter with reason for truncating his name. He was a communist and fans of Salma Hayek will recall her portrayal of his wife, Frida in the movie of the same name.
There’s also Elements of Western Water Law, a 1913 book by A.E. Chandler. It comes from the Oakland Public Library from which Brown presumably bought it at a sale of old books.
Another picture book Growth Stock: Trees of California rounds out the compass. It was published by the Office of Appropriate Technology, created by Brown the last time he was governor and eiminated by his successor, George Deukmejian, as a cost-cutting move.
But it’s the bookcase that fascinates, brimming — without organization — with topics like religion, urban planning, history, psychology and mysticism.
More significantly, most of the books look to have been read.
At least at some point.”
more with an amusing survey of the books
liberal
@RalfW:
Huh? The GOP started going bonkers when Ray-gun took office, and by 1994 the transformation was complete.
Paul in KY
@nellcote: Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo were friends of Trotsky while he was in Mexico.