This clown is also a dangerous joke

So, the Republican Clown Bus had a new clown clamber on board today. This one is a joke in so many ways, though apparently he doesn’t know it. There are other clowns/jokes soon to board the bus, too, but this one is his own category.

Richard John "Rick" Santorum, dumped as US Senator from Pennsylvania in 2006, is a far-right religious extremist, as so many Republican politicians are. He’s said that his adamant opposition to marriage equality, and his opposition to any legal recognition of same-sex relationships, is based on his Roman Catholic religion. Well, yippee, how nice for him. He’s entitled to believe whatever he wants to, and to advocate his peculiar religious beliefs, but he is NOT entitled to impose his religion on everyone else. The American people don’t agree with him on marriage equality, so why does he think he gets to dictate how things should be?

Santorum’s anti-gay bigotry is well-known. For example, in the past he called for criminalising homosexuality itself; since he’s never repudiated that sick ideology, we must assume he still supports that. Like Huckabee and Cruz, Santorum throws around his religion to justify all sorts of oppression of people who don’t share his religious beliefs. That’s not just wrong, it’s dangerous, and is little short (if at all) from religious fascism (technically usually called “authoritarian theocracy”).

He’s apparently hoping that people will forget about all that he tries to rebrand himself as the champion of the working class, but so far Republicans aren’t buying it. That’s actually good news, because Santorum would be an enemy of working people and a friend of Big Corporations and the ultra rich. I bet that if he does poorly in the lead-up to the Iowa Caucuses, he’ll re-re-brand himself as a culture warrior. Again.

I have nothing but contempt for Santorum. He’s wrong on every single issue he pontificates on, of course, but what I most have against him is his determination to force his religion on everyone else, against their will and their own beliefs. The dangerous arrogance of that leads not to freedom or liberty, and definitely not to morality, but instead leads to a theocracy like Iran. And that’s not just un-American, it’s anti-American.

I hope he’s defeated badly in every state he runs. Maybe when he loses yet again, we'll be rid of his extremist bullshit once and for all. We can only hope.

Related:
“Ten Outrageous Ideas Rick Santorum Actually Believes”
“Ten Of Rick Santorum's Worst Anti-Gay Comments”
"Five things to know about Rick Santorum"
“The Rick Santorum record: The original Ted Cruz, but with George W. Bush baggage”

Below: Facts about Rick Santorum from the Human Rights Campaign



There’s still 1 year, 5 months, and 12 days until the US presidential election.

The photo up top is a screen grab from Santorum’s announcement today.