Rick Santorum

There is a man in Pennsylvania by the name of Rick Santorum. He has been a State Senator there since 1994, and rarely has one person elicited so much national attention as a junior Senator from a State like Pennsylvania. Not that I have anything against Pennsylvania, but on the national attention meter, it doesn't exactly ring the bell like California, Florida, Texas, Massachusetts, New York, etc.

Rick Santorum is a conservative Republican, and it looks right now as if he is probably going to lose his seat in the Senate, partly because of the backlash voting that everyone is predicting, and partly because of Senator Santorum himself. You see, Rick Santorum says what he believes, and stands for what he stands for, regardless of whether that is going to cost him his job. This past Monday, he said as much during a campaign speech he was giving. He told prospective voters that he "was not going to say to them what they wanted to hear just to get re-elected." He followed that with the daring statement, "and I'm ok with the fact you may not vote for me because of it."

Hmmmm. Interesting.

Rick Santorum believes in traditional marriage and family, and he said so several months back. He also made a strategic - and admittedly stupid blunder - by saying homosexuality is destroying the moral fabric and fiber of our society. Say goodbye to any possibles you may have had with that statement, Rick. The truth of the matter is homosexuality probably does not tear down the moral fiber of America, but plenty of other stuff does. We do just fine jacking things around all by ourselves, and one more thing isn't necessarily going to make it worse. But he said it, and now he has to live with it. And to his credit, he does.

In the same speech, Senator Santorum voiced his position that he was and still is in favor of the War in Iraq and the battles against terrorism in general. This of course is political suicide of the highest magnitude these days. Gay bashing and war supporting is not in the best interests of any candidate right now. In the speech, the Senator noted the following:

Since 2003, 4,500 schools have been reopened or built by coalition forces, and stocked with over 8 million text books. This number is up from less than 1000 schools during the Saddam regime.

Since 2003, 98% of the children of Iraq have been given the basic imunizations that we here in America get. That 98% is up from 1% during Saddam's time.

Prior to 2003, there was a cell phone or PC for 1 person out of every 1 million. Since 2003, 5 million cells are in use, and over 3.5 million Iraqi's own PC's.

There were 2 television stations from 1979 to 2003. They were silently dubbed "Saddam TV." Since 2003, there are now 150 local and satellite stations available, many of which openly talk and debate politics...something that would have earned a citizen a bullet in the head in another time.

Of the 18 provinces of Iraq, 12 or 13 of them are secure and peaceful. Strides are being made, and yes, lives are being lost in making those strides.

He said a lot more...which included his acknowledgement that there have been political and military blunders in Iraq as well... and he was roundly booed during the speech. Senator Santorum says what is on his mind, and that is where he declared he won't change his mind, his Senatorial duties, or his principles, for a vote. He was again booed.

I don't know about you, but I'm damn sure glad we are getting ready to boot this guy. Imagine what might happen to this country if we had a whole barrel full of politicians who said what they believed and stuck by their principles...regardless of which side they stood on?

Show me another liberal or conservative anywhere who has not caved to money or special interest groups. Show me another - again, liberal or conservative - who has not changed their mind and their statements when the situation fit.

In a few years, Pennsylvanian's are going to be kicking themselves for being blinded by anger. Perhaps luck will turn it around, and the entire nation will prosper from Pennsylvania's error in a couple of years.

Perhaps...