Santorum Makes It Official: He’s Running For President On God’s Platform
Rick Santorum, who owns the record for the largest defeat of an incumbent U.S. Senator, announced Monday morning that he is running for president. Santorum, who has said, “America belongs to God,” attacked Barack Obama’s foreign policy, calling the very popular president a “paper tiger,” but left out why he is really running: God. Yes, God has told Rick Santorum to run for president. Just ask his wife, who said last month, “We believe with all our hearts that this is what God wants.”
Santorum, who told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos today that the Paul Ryan Medicare destruction plan should apply to seniors who already paid into the plan, says “we’re in it to win,” and actually won a few straw polls, which generally means he’ll lose by a wide margin. Santorum blames his record 2006 loss on America’s lackluster support of Republicans.
http://abcnews.go.com/assets/player/walt2.6/flash/SFP_Walt_2_65.swf
Last month, Santorum announced, “I always said when I first was elected that I had a constituency of one. And if you are serving God in your daily work, what you know is right and you are being transparent about what you are doing and why you are doing it, then it is up for the people then to decide whether what you believe, and what you think is in the best interest of the country, is what they think.”
And they did, in Pennsylvania, by a 59%-41% margin.
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Saying, “If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery,” Santorum believes in banning anything “antithetical to a healthy, stable, traditional family.”
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Santorum, who is running on moral values, billed his Pennsylvania school district $73,000 in tuition for online classes for his children who were living in Virginia. He is virulently anti-gay, and once gave a speech about the 9/​11 attacks being part of a centuries-​old plot by “radical Islamists,” which led to him “launching a tour called “The Gathering Storm,†comparing himself to the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who alerted his nation and the world to the Nazi menace in the 1930s, and then fought with America, Russia and others to defeat the Germans, Italians and Japan in World War II in the 1940s.â€
Rick Santorum, speaking against Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell repeal, actually said of America’s military leaders who support repeal, “I’m not too sure that [the Generals] can actually see straight to make the right decisions.†In a time of war, that is about as close to treason as you can get if you are an elected politician. Fortunately for Santorum, the people of Pennsylvania fired him before he uttered that despicable slam on our nation’s military.
Santorum earned a 25% score from the ACLU on 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.
Santorum, who wants to ban not only same-sex marriage but same-sex sex. Yes, Rick Santorum wants a legal ban on homosexual sex. Saying, “If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery,” Santorum believes in banning anything “antithetical to a healthy, stable, traditional family.”
Santorum repeatedly has said he is not a homophobe. But this statement will forever be attached to his name:
“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.”
Responding to those who say Santorum is a homophobe, the former Senator had this to say:
“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.â€
Here’s Santorum’s statement on same-sex marriage: “But what I can say is that the state is not doing a service to the child and to society by not putting that child in a home where there is a mother and a father. This is common sense. This is nature. And what we’re trying to do is defy nature because a certain group of people want to be affirmed by society. And I just don’t think that’s to the benefit of society or to the child.â€
Where do we even begin with this? OK. “the state is not doing a service to the child and to society by not putting that child in a home where there is a mother and a father.†Thanks in large part to Santorum and his ilk, women’s reproductive rights are becoming even more difficult to access, which means even more unwanted children, which means even more children are going to be put up for adoption. Not to mention all the countries around the world, and recent disasters that have killed hundreds of thousands of parents. My point is, speaking of “common sense,†there are far more children needing good homes than there are heterosexual married couples wanting to adopt them.
So, unless the former Senator is willing to adopt millions of children, he needs to do better than proselytize here. He’s plain wrong. Remember this: Two long-​term studies recently published found just the opposite. In fact, one of them, a twenty-​five year-​long and vigorously peer-​reviewed study published in the journal Pediatrics, found that adopted children raised by lesbian parents are better–adjusted and do better in school than their opposite-​parented peers. Add to this the fact that we now have, “a study of gay dads that finds they are more likely than straight ones to focus on parenting over career, at least when their children are young.†Any questions, minister Senator?
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U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon late Tuesday afternoon issued an indefinite postponement of the court date in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution of Donald Trump on Espionage Act charges, in the indictment commonly referred to as the classified documents case.
Claiming it would be “imprudent and inconsistent with the Court’s duty to fully and fairly consider the various pending pre-trial motions before the Court,” along with other matters, Judge Cannon, a Trump appointee, wrote: “the Court finds that the ends of justice served by this continuance…outweigh the best interest of the public and Defendants in a speedy trial.”
Politico’s Kyle Cheney reports, “It may be months before we know the new schedule.” Trial had been slated to begin May 20.
“With 13 days before her trial was supposed to kick off, Judge Cannon finally says what has been obvious to every legal journalist I know: She’s not just canceling the existing trial date; she’s also not picking a replacement,” MSNBC legal correspondent Lisa Rubin reports.
READ MORE: Johnson Demands All Trump Prosecutions Cease, Vows to Use Congress ‘In Every Possible Way’
The 37 count indictment was brought after Trump removed well over 1000 items, including hundreds of classified documents, out of the White House, retained then refused to return them, allegedly violating several statutes under the Espionage Act.
“Trump mishandled classified documents that included information about the secretive U.S. nuclear program and potential domestic vulnerabilities in the event of an attack,” according t0 the federal indictment, Reuters reported last year.
The trial now is not expected to conclude before the November presidential election this year.
“This is news but it’s hardly unexpected,” declared professor of law, former U.S. Attorney, and MSNBC contributor Joyce Vance wrote. “Judge Cannon seems desperate to avoid trying this case. This isn’t justice. defendants aren’t the only ones with speedy trial act rights, we the people have them too.”
“After the election,” professor of law and former chief White House ethics lawyer Richard Painter commented, “if Trump wins Jack Smith gets fired, the case gets dismissed, and Judge Cannon is ready for SCOTUS.”
READ MORE: Trump Threatens to Violate Gag Order and Go to Jail: ‘I’ll Do That Sacrifice Any Day’
Attorney and author Luppe B. Luppen noted, “Judge Cannon’s rationale for indefinitely postponing Trump’s classified documents trial is that a large number of pretrial motions remain unresolved—a state of affairs she has literally engineered by failing to resolve them.”
Professor of law and noted election law expert Rick Hasen asked: “Is it too cynical to believe that Judge Cannon timed the announcement of the postponement of a Trump classified documents trial to take away from the salacious sex details from Stormy Daniels’ testimony today?”
National security attorney Brad Moss served up a “silver lining to Cannon not setting a new trial date: she isn’t blocking the DC or Georgia election cases from resuming in the late summer/early fall, pending SCOTUS ruling on immunity.”
Foreign policy, national security, and political affairs analyst David Rothkopf added, “Justice delayed is justice denied. Both the defendant and the public have the right to a trial ‘without unnecessary delay.’ (Sixth Amendment.) When does Jack Smith seek a remedy for the problem Judge Cannon clearly represents? Tick freaking tock.”
READ MORE: Judge Hands Trump ‘Incarceration’ Threat as Experts Say Next Time He’ll Toss Him in Jail
Last month Donald Trump falsely told reporters Justice Juan Merchan had blocked him from attending his youngest son’s high school graduation, refusing to give him the day off from his required attendance at his New York criminal court case.
Justice Merchan had actually told Trump he would take the request under advisement, but Trump quickly ran to reporters painting the judge as heartless.
On April 15 Trump said, “it looks like the judge will not let me go to the graduation of my son who’s worked very, very hard and he is a great student.”
“It looks like the judge isn’t going to allow me to escape this scam. It’s a scam trial,” Trump alleged.
The Associated Press reported, “Trump then furthered his criticism of the judge on his Truth Social platform, writing in one post both that he ‘will likely not be allowed to attend’ and that ‘the Judge, Juan Merchan, is preventing me from proudly attending my son’s Graduation.’ He wrote in another post less than two hours later that he is ‘being prohibited from attending.'”
READ MORE: Johnson Demands All Trump Prosecutions Cease, Vows to Use Congress ‘In Every Possible Way’
None of that was accurate.
Last week Judge Merchan granted Trump the day off from court to attend his son’s high school graduation.
But The Lincoln Project and others on Tuesday posted the announcement for “Minnesota’s 2024 Lincoln Reagan Dinner With Special Guest DONALD J. TRUMP” on Friday, May 17, 2024.
Trump, as The New Republic notes, will be the headline speaker at the event in Saint Paul, Minnesota, which starts at 5:00 PM.
The fundraiser offers supporters the opportunity to spend $100,000, which grants them “10 VIP Dinner Seats | 10 VIP Reception Passes | 3 Photo Opportunities with President Trump.”
Or, for example, for $50,000, a supporter can get a “Chairman’s Host Table – 10 VIP Dinner Seats | 10 VIP Reception Passes | 1 Photo Opportunity with President Trump.”
Trump plans to attend a fundraiser on the day of Barron’s graduation.
Wonder what Judge Merchan thinks when he sees this. pic.twitter.com/d74ms3FhP1
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) May 7, 2024
KARE reports “the visit is expected to be the former president’s first trip to Minnesota of the 2024 election cycle.”
READ MORE: ‘I’m Not Talking About That Meeting’: Noem Implies She May Have Met With Kim Jong Un
Trump has strong motivation to head to Minnesota.
Over the weekend, as NBC News reports, “Top officials for former President Donald Trump’s campaign believe they can flip Democratic strongholds Minnesota and Virginia into his column in November, they told donors behind closed doors at a Republican National Committee retreat Saturday.”
Barron Trump’s graduation from Oxbridge Academy in Palm Beach, Florida reportedly will be the same day, May 17. Depending on timing, It’s possible Trump could fly from Florida to Minnesota to get to the fundraiser by 5 PM.
Watch Trump’s remarks from April 15 below or at this link.
In a clear attack on the executive branch, the judicial system, states’ rights, and the rule in law in America, Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson vowed on Tuesday to use all the powers of Congress at his disposal to end all four current criminal prosecutions of ex-president Donald Trump.
Johnson’s remarks late Tuesday morning came at the exact same time Stormy Daniels was giving sworn testimony about her alleged sexual relationship with Trump in a Manhattan Superior Court case. The presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee is on trial for 34 felonies related to falsification of business records when he allegedly paid hush money to the adult film star then covered up those payments in what prosecutors say was election interference.
“President Trump has done nothing wrong here and he continues to be the target of endless lawfare,” Speaker Johnson told reporters Tuesday during an official House news conference (video below). “It has to stop. And you’re gonna see the United States Congress address this in every possible way that we can, because we need accountability. Ultimately, at the end of the day, it’s bigger than President Trump. It’s about the people’s faith in our system of justice. And we’re gonna get down to the bottom of it. All these cases need to be dropped, because they are a threat to our system.”
Johnson’s remarks also come as he faces an ouster threat from far-right MAGA Republican Christian nationalist Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The Speaker, who repeatedly has said he speaks to Trump frequently, spent the weekend at the ex-president’s Florida resort and residence, Mar-a-Lago. He also traveled there just weeks ago as Greene’s threats were heating up. Trump and Johnson held a joint press conference on “election integrity,” an image some say was a show of strength and support from the leader of his party.
READ MORE: Trump Threatens to Violate Gag Order and Go to Jail: ‘I’ll Do That Sacrifice Any Day’
Johnson’s job is being protected by Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and the vast majority of the Democratic caucus, who have promised to protect him should Greene call up her motion to vacate.
Claiming Republicans are “trying to keep steadying hands on the wheel here and keep the legislative branch moving and operating in the best interest of the people,” Johnson also alleged: “one of the things that is also in jeopardy right now is our judicial branch. And it’s our system of government itself. And I don’t think we can say often enough here how much of that has been abused under this administration, and with local prosecutors, state prosecutors, and at the federal level, who are using lawfare. They’re using our judicial system to go after political opponents.”
The Speaker continued his targeting, declaring Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s “case should never have been brought.”
“If there’s ever been an example of lawfare. Everybody can look at that and see, the trial is being orchestrated by Democrats, supporters of President Biden who are trying to make a name for themselves. I mean, they’re they’re pretty open about that. They used it in their campaign flips. We’ve got a Democrat District Attorney, a Biden donor judge, whose daughter is a Democratic political consultant and has clients that use the case in their solicitation emails to raise money.”
Justice Juan Merchan, CNN reported last month, made a $15 donation to the Biden campaign, amid a total of $35 total in 2020.
Johnson also called Justice Merchan “a well known Democrat” who “is pursuing an indefensible gag order on President Trump,” and “trying to override President Trump’s constitutional right to defend himself against the constant smears of his political opponents.”
READ MORE: ‘I’m Not Talking About That Meeting’: Noem Implies She May Have Met With Kim Jong Un
Pointing to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution of Donald Trump in the Espionage Act case, often called the “classified documents” case, Johnson called it “the weaponization of our justice system.”
He called all the cases against the ex-president “a clear attempt to keep Donald Trump in the courtroom and off the campaign trail. That’s what this is. It’s an election interference. It is borderline criminal conspiracy and the American people see right through it.”
Watch a short clip of Johnson’s remarks below or at this link.
Johnson: President Trump has done nothing wrong… it has to stop and you’re going to see the Congress address this in every possible way because we need accountability. All these cases need to be dropped because they are a threat to our entire system pic.twitter.com/Vvg6pQRU52
— Acyn (@Acyn) May 7, 2024
READ MORE: ‘Israel Aid, Ukraine Aid, Kitchenaid’: Dem Mocks GOP’s ‘Hands Off Our Appliances’ Week
Trump Threatens to Violate Gag Order and Go to Jail: ‘I’ll Do That Sacrifice Any Day’
Marjorie Taylor Greene Delivers Demands to Johnson as Her Three-Person Posse Weakens
Johnson Demands All Trump Prosecutions Cease, Vows to Use Congress ‘In Every Possible Way’
Trump Battled to Go to Son’s Graduation – So Why Is He Speaking at a Fundraiser That Day?
‘This Isn’t Justice’: Legal Experts Blast Cannon for Postponing Trump Case Indefinitely
‘This Isn’t Justice’: Legal Experts Blast Cannon for Postponing Trump Case Indefinitely
Trump Battled to Go to Son’s Graduation – So Why Is He Speaking at a Fundraiser That Day?
Johnson Demands All Trump Prosecutions Cease, Vows to Use Congress ‘In Every Possible Way’
Marjorie Taylor Greene Delivers Demands to Johnson as Her Three-Person Posse Weakens
Trump Threatens to Violate Gag Order and Go to Jail: ‘I’ll Do That Sacrifice Any Day’
News1 day agoJudge Hands Trump ‘Incarceration’ Threat as Experts Say Next Time He’ll Toss Him in Jail
News1 day ago‘I’m Not Talking About That Meeting’: Noem Implies She May Have Met With Kim Jong Un
OPINION24 hours agoTrump Threatens to Violate Gag Order and Go to Jail: ‘I’ll Do That Sacrifice Any Day’
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OPINION5 hours agoJohnson Demands All Trump Prosecutions Cease, Vows to Use Congress ‘In Every Possible Way’
News3 hours agoTrump Battled to Go to Son’s Graduation – So Why Is He Speaking at a Fundraiser That Day?
News18 mins ago‘This Isn’t Justice’: Legal Experts Blast Cannon for Postponing Trump Case Indefinitely