Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum Wednesday, in response to HLN’s Joy Behar’s statement that “Rick Santorum … seems like a big homophobe,” denied the claim and brushed off same-sex marriage as merely “a public policy discussion,” in a similarly out-of-touch manner as he did the previous day when he suggested that Senator John McCain — famous for enduring torture as a Vietnam POW — “didn’t understand how enhanced interrogation works.”
In a radio interview with WOR’s Steve Malzberg, Santorum, apparently laughing at CNN’s Don Lemon’s coming out as gay, was asked, “where does she get that you are a homophobe?
Santorum replied, “I guess because you stand for traditional marriage and you believe that, you know, that people should, we should have a society that affirms one man and one woman as marriage, that makes you someone who’s a hater, someone that doesn’t, doesn’t like people. I disagree with people, by the way, who are gay and straight who believe in changing the marriage laws. But it’s a public policy discussion, and this is the, this is really the problem that we see on the left which is the personalization of politics. I mean, we have a policy disagreement, and, and which I am very passionate about. I admit that. Because I do believe the family, integrity of the family is important for the future of our country. But that does not mean that, that I don’t like people or I hate people or that there’s something wrong. The only thing that’s wrong is their opinion.”
For the record, marriage equality is far more than a “policy debate.” It affects the lives of millions of people and their families — families they are raising and growing, despite little rights or protections from the government, unlike Santorum’s legally-recognized marriage with his wife, Karen Garver Santorum, and their seven children.
Santorum, who lost his last re-​election bid, 59% to 41% — the largest upset in more than a quarter-​century, went on to lie, claiming repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell “was attempted for the Navy to make chaplains, you know, marry people in the Navy who are same-sex couples.”
READ: DOMA: First GOP Debate Showcases Santorum’s Anti-Gay Politics
At last year’s CPAC, Santorum said that he didn’t trust the decision-​making ability of America’s Generals during the middle of two wars, adding, “I’m not too sure that [the Generals] can actually see straight to make the right decisions,” on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
For the record, Santorum is about as anti-​gay as you can get. He gets a 25% score from the ACLUon civil rights in general. He wants a constitutional ban on same-​sex marriage. He voted no to adding sexual orientation to definition of hate crimes and voted no to expanding hate crimes to include sexual orientation.
Also, let’s not forget how Santorum views the “policy discussion” of same-sex marriage, and how he engages in the “personalization of politics.”
“Every society in the history of man has upheld the institution of marriage as a bond between a man and a woman. Why? Because society is based on one thing: that society is based on the future of the society. And that’s what? Children. Monogamous relationships. In every society, the definition of marriage has not ever to my knowledge included homosexuality. That’s not to pick on homosexuality. It’s not, you know, man on child, man on dog, or whatever the case may be. It is one thing. And when you destroy that you have a dramatic impact on the quality.â€
Let’s also remember Santorum’s rather nasty comments about the Catholic Church’s pedophile priests rape and molestation scandal, in which he said, “We’re not talking about priests with 3-​year-​olds, or 5-​year-​olds. We’re talking about a basic homosexual relationship.†In other words, Santorum blames thousands of victims for being raped and molested by priests all over the world.
Santorum has an especially difficult road to the GOP nomination. In March, Gallup reported, “Despite some observers’ claims that Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum have a special following among social conservatives, these two politicians do not have an unusual appeal among Republicans who care most about social and moral issues.â€
And earlier this month, in a Quinnipiac poll that asked Republicans, “If the 2012 Republican primary for President were being held today, and the candidates were Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Mitch Daniels, Tim Pawlenty, Ron Paul, Michelle Bachman, Gary Johnson, Rick Santorum, John Huntsman, and Donald Trump, for whom would you vote?,” Santorum received 1% of the vote.
http://www.mrctv.org/embed/101865
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