Religious Right Leader has it all Wrong

I love the quote from the Kerry staffer about reading the Bible cover to cover

Santorum resolute on Boston rebukeInsists liberalism set stage for abuse
By Susan Milligan, Globe Staff July 13, 2005

WASHINGTON -- Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania,the third-ranking Republican in the Senate, refusedyesterday to back off on his earlier statementsconnecting Boston's ''liberalism" with the Roman Catholic Church pedophile scandal, saying that thecity's ''sexual license" and ''sexual freedom"nurtured an environment where sexual abuse wouldoccur.''The basic liberal attitude in that area . . . has animpact on people's behavior," Santorum said in aninterview yesterday at the Capitol.''If you have a world view that I'm describing [aboutBoston] . . . that affirms alternative views ofsexuality, that can lead to a lot of people taking itthe wrong way," Santorum said.Santorum, a leader among Christian conservatives, wasresponding to questions about remarks he made threeyears ago on a website called Catholic Online. Inthose comments, Santorum said, ''It is no surprisethat Boston, a seat of academic, political, andcultural liberalism in America, lies at the center ofthe storm" of the clergy sexual abuse scandal.The junior senator is chairman of the SenateRepublican Conference and is considered a possiblecandidate for his party's presidential nomination in2008, if he wins reelection to a third Senate termnext year.''I was just saying that there's an attitude that isvery open to sexual freedom that is more predominant"in Boston, Santorum said yesterday. Reminded that thesexual abuse occurred across the country, Santorumsaid that ''at the time [in 2002], there was anindication that there was more of a problem there" inBoston.The senator's words sparked instant reaction fromMassachusetts political leaders, who ridiculedSantorum's suggestion that priests were driven toabuse children by the city's liberal culture.US Representative Barney Frank, a Newton Democrat,called Santorum ''a jerk" and pointed out that thesenator tried to use the levers of the federalgovernment to block the removal of Terri Schiavo'sfeeding tube, an act that Santorum likened to''execution." An autopsy found that Schiavo's brainwas half the normal size and that she could not seeanything.''This is one of those people who claims to have hadeye contact with a blind woman," Frank said.Representative Martin T. Meehan, Democrat of Lowell,said, ''There's not much you can say about someone whoclaims to have read the Bible cover to cover and cameaway from it thinking it encourages hatred for fellowhuman beings."David Wade, spokesman for Senator John F. Kerry, said,''Sometimes you wonder whether Rick Santorum canpossibly believe the radically wrong words that escapehis mouth."Santorum has startled Washington in the past. In a2003 interview with the Associated Press, he linked''man on child" and ''man on dog" sex withhomosexuality, describing them as deviant behaviorsthat threatened traditional marriage. Earlier thisyear, he apologized for comparing the Democratsblocking President Bush's judicial nominees to theNazi leader, Adolf Hitler.The senator faces an unexpectedly tough race forreelection next year. Pennsylvania state treasurerRobert P. Casey Jr., the expected Democraticcandidate, has been ahead or even with Santorum inrecent polls, although Casey hasn't begun activelycampaigning.Casey, like Santorum, is antiabortion, and Democratscontend that the Pennsylvania contest offers one oftheir best chances to pick up a Senate seat next year.Santorum, now 47, came to Washington as a House memberin 1991 and joined a group of young, assertiveconservatives bent on shaking up the institution.Elected to the Senate in 1994, he quickly moved up theRepublican ranks. With his vocal stances againstabortion, stem cell research, and the right-to-diemovement, he has become a favorite of evangelicals,said Jon Delano, who is a political analyst atCarnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.''He speaks exactly as he feels," Delano said. ''Youeither accept it or reject it. There's nothingdisingenuous about Rick Santorum."The Pennsylvania senator recently penned a book, ''ItTakes a Family," that blasts two-income families,divorce, cohabitation before marriage, and othersocial trends he considers liberal ills.The book, set to be released later this month, blames''radical feminism" for encouraging women to workoutside the home. ''In far too many families withyoung children, both parents are working, when, ifthey really took an honest look at the budget, theymight confess that both of them don't really need toor at least may not need to work as much as they do,"Santorum wrote.Jay Reiff, Casey's campaign manager, predicted thatSantorum's outspokenness might get him into troublewith Pennsylvania voters.''It's sort of being out of touch," Reiff said. ''Forhundreds of thousands of families, the option ofhaving a stay-at-home mother is not there from aneconomic standpoint. ''It's not because they are badbudgeters or are selfish."But Santorum's comments about Boston, like some of hisother stances, may play well with culturalconservatives in Pennsylvania, who appreciateSantorum's opposition to gay marriage and abortion,political observers said.''I think he probably has written off Massachusetts,"said Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican who isalso a potential 2008 contender.