I heard an audiotape of Sen. Santorum debating Sen. Barbara Boxer on the senate floor about late term abortion, a practice he opposed and she supported.  He was amazing in nicely, but firmly, leading her to expose her complete ignorance about the right to life.  I wish I had a link to that, so that everyone could hear it.  He was wonderful!

I’m so glad he’s doing well - and it has nothing to do with his being Catholic.  Joe Biden is Catholic, as is Nancy Pelosi; both support legislation that dishonors God (like same-sex marriage).  But Santorum is a gem, and an honorable man.  I pray he succeeds in more states.

This is a Great article and I wish more people would see it. KATHRYN JEAN LOPEZ hits the target on the problem in America. Obama is taking us down the road of having a Government and politicians promising us everything we WANT and not what we NEED.

Thank you Mrs. Lopez!

What utter nonsense.  Rick Santorum supports the intrinsic evil of torture, has supported preemptive war, and has sold out his principles on abortion ion order to endorse a pro abortion candidate.  Sorry, I’m not sold.

Rick Santorum on clergy sexual abuse:

“In this case, what we’re talking about, basically, is priests who were having sexual relations with post-pubescent men. We’re not talking about priests with 3-year-olds, or 5-year-olds. We’re talking about a basic homosexual relationship. Which, again, according to the world view sense is a perfectly fine relationship as long as it’s consensual between people. If you view the world that way, and you say that’s fine, you would assume that you would see more of it.”

Is THIS the kind of Catholic you want representing you?  Frightening.

I celebrate the lives of the unborn conceived in rape and incest. A lawyer in Detroit was conceived in rape. Her mother had her. I celebrate those who defend All Human Life, from Conception to Natural Death. I praise God, for true Catholic Politicians who translate their faith into their public life. Jesus suffers abortion: through unborn babies, with unborn babies, and in unborn babies, as their Primary Witness, to their Conception, Short Lived Lives and their atrocious deaths, via Abortion.

Babies Aborted b/c of the excuses in the Hyde Amendment will face God and these Innocent Souls on their Particular Judgment Day. Only Christ & His Mother shed tears over the devaluing of their lives. Christ’s Incarnation is celebrated on March 25th every year, on the Feast of the Anninciation. It is exactly 9 Months from March 25th to December 25th.

Both St Paul in the Book of Romans and Pope Paul in Humanae Vitae said, “You cannot do evil, so good can come, from it.” Those who use: (1) the Lessor of Two Evils Argument and (2) the Hyde Amrndment as their excuse not to defend Very Young Unborn Babies, do not know, nor practice their Catholic Faith and should not present themselves to Holy Communion. Life and Death is non-negotiable. If Santorum wants to be like Herod, Pharhoah, or Pontius Pilate, as a Politician, he sure has had a lot of practice. His 4 Version of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban falsely stated that unborn babies were “inches away from viability.” That’s a lie. Life begins at Conception. Seems Santorum is Politician first, Catholic last. I will NOT Vote for Santorum. He is not in the State of Grace. He compromises on the 5th Commandment. That’s nothing to flatter him for. Much less gush over him, for.

Santorum on Meet the Press said, “I support the Hyde Amendment,” which allows for the exceptions for rape, incest and the health of the mother.”

Jesus suffers Abortion: In, With and Through the Unborn who die because their Father’s Committed a Crime against their Mother and Their Conception was not welcomed as a Hidden Blessing, that it is.

These Babies will be present when Rick Santorum dies, and he will face them, finally, giving them the Justice they did not get from this supposedly, Catholic Politician who really should not present himself for Holy Communion.

I will not vote for Santorum. Many acquaintences say “He’s the Lessor of Two Evils Candidate for President. Yet, Saint Paul in Romans and Pope Paul VI in Humanae Vitae said, “YOU CANNOT DO EVIL, SO THAT GOOD CAN COME FROM IT.”

I oppose Santorum on Immigration, and I oppose Santorum on Iran. I oppose Santorum on his Compromising his Catholic Faith by saying in the final draft of PB Abortion Ban, that the Baby is “inches away from viability.” NO Mr. Santorum, “Life begins at Conception and ends at Natural Death,” Our Catholic Faith Teaches. You fail everyone of those Unborn Babies in MI who died because of the Legal Loop Holes in Your Partial-Birth Abortion Ban of Nov. 2004. Shame on you. I’ll pray for your conversion.

I read that the count was stopped at 2 in the morning. How can this be with only eight votes difference between the candidates?  How could Santorem not want every ballot counted or a recount?  If anyone understands what happened I would appreciate a clarification.

Rick Santorum’s startling victory should not be a surprise to those of us who agree with his religious convictions.  When a candidate makes a showing like this, with all the odds against him, I see God’s hand at work.  May God’s blessings continue to follow this man, who is not afraid to live his faith.

It is now time for the Catholics in our pews to speak up for life, we have two people in this race who are Catholic and are pro-life. The moral compass in our country is broken. Our church has to speak out on these moral issues that are affecting the soul of America! When we put God first everything else falls into place. To all who pray in front of the abortion clinics we now have a glimmer of hope, that finally a leader will come forth and stop these murders that take place everyday. Mary, our mother, will help us if we say our rosaries everyday. We are in a battle, use your weapon, the rosary. It is powerful!

Fantastic article!  Thank you!  Rick Santorum is the man!

As a conservative Catholic, I cannot in good conscience even consider voting for Rick Santorum.  He is the very epitome of a Washington establishment politician known for saying exactly what he thinks he should say to whatever audience he is facing, and equally well-known for the correlation between his campaign contributions and his voting record. 

It is surprising to me that in this day and age, all it takes is for a man to be a member of the Church for Catholics to start getting excited about his candidacy.  We would be well-advised to remember that we are as likely to be corrupt as any other human beings on earth.

Surprising finish.  Great message, Rick.  Great alternative to Mitt, who is sure to disappoint us.

Many citizens have learned much from Dr.Ron Paul. He has emphasized the
principal of subsidiarity all of his public life. It appears Rick has been taking lessons from Dr.Paul.
Santorum has publically stated during a debate in Iowa that, as president
he would bomb Iran if they don’t do as they are told by allowing inspections. (Does Rick intend to consult the Congress or the UN about this)?Even if bombs are focused on alleged locations there will be collateral damage including women and children and such damage is long lasting. It is estimated that 250,000 Iraqui children eventually died of cancer and other related illnesses as a result of thousands of bombs tipped with depleted uranium which were dropped on their country.I wonder how this can be reconciled with a pro life position.

in Our Lord Jesus Christ the Prince of Peace
if Santorum pro life stance includes these

(“You can’t have limited government without strong families. You can’t have a successful economy without strong families,” Santorum said in reply, as he has tirelessly taken his message to Iowa, South Carolina and New Hampshire. )
It is equally difficult to have small government when senators, like Rick Santorum, Vote in favor of bank bailouts (tarp) Auto industry bailouts, (cash for clunkers). Or, all sorts of pork for PA. That is why he was ousted in 2006. He is a pro life statist.
Why mess around with a half baked statist who is pro life when we have Ron Paul who also gets the whole economic mess? If Rick Wants to do some good, he can get behind Ron Paul.

Excellent piece. Hopefully the sleeping giant will awake for this election year and save our nation from this fast downward spiral into soft communism known as socialism.

Many citizens have learned much from Dr.Ron Paul.
He has emphasized the principle of subsidiarity all of his public life.
It appears Rick is not the only one who has learned from the good Doctor.
Santorum has publically stated during a debate in Iowa that, as president he would bomb alleged nuclear sites if Iran doesn’t do as they are told and allow inspections. My question is if we bomb before an inspection how do we know where and who we are bombing? There will be collateral
damage either way.
It is estimated that 250,000 Iraqui innocent children eventually died
of cancer and related illnesses as a result of 1,000 bombs tipped with depleted uranium which were dropped on their country.
How can this be reconciled with a pro life position?

In Our Lord Jesus Christ the Prince of Peace

I have another question.If we bomb before Iran allows an inspection
how do we know where and who we are bombing?

Thank you Michael K. for your comments.

I believe Rick Santorum and his family live there Catholic faith. I Know by my Catholic faith that the moral issues of our time are by far the most important issues in this election. Only God can lead our nation and the world out of the trouble its in and heal it.  We need to get our country back on track and right with God before its too late.  In the bible it teaches that with God all things are possible and without Him you can do nothing. Rick Santorum knows and lives that. I pray that God will send His spirit down on us all and awaking us to our true Catholic Faith and to live it.

I have never before in my life donated a dime to a political candidate.  I just Santorum $35. I lived in Iran.  You have NO IDEA how crazy 12th Imam Shia is.  They would destroy their own country to bring about the world chaos necessary to ‘initiate’ the arrival of their imaginary ‘savior’. Hitler who tested the waters each time before he made an aggressive move was sane by comparison.

I have only just begun looking into Rick Santorum’s stand on the issues.  I am troubled by the accusations made here about his statements about supporting the Hyde amendment, illegal immigration and other things.  I will check out his website now and learn whether or not I can, in good conscience support his candidacy.

I wonder what Miss Lopez thinks (her current preference being Mitt Romney) of what many of Romney’s supporters (like Ann Coulter) give in their rejection of Mr. Santorum:

“Santorum is not as conservative as his social-issues credentials suggest. He is more of a Catholic than a conservative, which means he’s good on 60 percent of the issues, but bad on others, such as big government social programs. He’d be Ted Kennedy if he didn’t believe in God.

Santorum may not be a big spender as far as professional politicians go, but he is still a professional politician. In 2005, one of his former aides described him as “a Catholic missionary who happens to be in the Senate.”

The Catholic missionary was fantastic on issues like partial-birth abortion, but more like a Catholic bishop in his support for No Child Left Behind, the Medicare drug entitlement program (now costing taxpayers more than $60 billion a year), and a highway bill with a Christmas tree of earmarks, including the famous “bridge to nowhere.”

Santorum cites his father’s admonition to put any extra money in the poor box at church to explain his wanting to use the federal government to help the poor.”

Not a fan of Santorum, but this is absolutely absurd, and I would almost feel compelled to support Santorum simply out of Catholic solidarity if it came down to him and Romney.

Ms. Lopez, Thank you for the excellent article.  It takes courage to do an objective piece on Rick Santorum and heaven knows there are much safer subjects to write about.  I live in Iowa.  I am very proud of the campaign Rick ran there.  And although I fully expected the usual last minute attacks against him, I was surprised by their blatant lies and distortion.  Most were from campaigns of men proclaiming to be men of faith.  After getting a good dose of the smear adds that came either from them or PACs supporting them, I am at a complete loss to figure out exactly what “faith” that might be.  Again, congratulations on an article well done and thank you for the courage to post it!

good read on Rick

We need a Catholic as President.  The lies, the deception, the anti-religion, the pro-death (abortion & elderly euthanasia and the immoral acceptances of OBAMA & his followers have done nothing but put America in a filthy toliet in a mere 3-4 years.

Amazing. Simply amazing. Whether it’s politics, religious news or in Santorum’s case, usually a very powerful and bad mixture of the both, I can’t help feeling just how sadly misinformed many mostly white conservative prolifers in both Catholic and Protestant camps, are willing to suffer nearly anything uttered by one of their fav pols, just so long as he or she was “prolife.”
  This alone should explain the lasting power of Rick Santorum in the wake of his comments about African Americans and social spending programs. I guess subsidiarity only applies to whites Santorum and his bunch.
  It’s not hard to admire his fast push-back directed at the liberal shock-jock Alan Colmes, whose wise-crack about the Santorums’ handling of the death of one of children (back in the 90s). Colmes’ game n’ lame apologia notwithstanding, he, too, lost a lot of my respect for even bringing the matter to use as a political jibe against Santorum, the candidate, was a very low blow and no doubt helped the former senator during the Iowa Caucus.
  What did Santorum do with this “moment” given to him during the final hours of the past Caucus’ campaign? Did he demonstrate a lot of that special “grace” he claims to have received from the Almighty? Think again. He took a shot at millions of poor African Americans, who for no fault of their own, have to rely on so many of the programs Santorum and his mostly white and very forgetful middle class supporters rely on, or have relied on in their not-always-so-distant-pasts.
  The next time you hear a fairly well-off white person who came from tight or even poor economic circumstances, bleat on and on about how he or she didn’t need any government help and made it on his/her own ... ask that person if there’s a Pell Grant in the past? Oh, any National Defense Education Act grants? How about regular student loans? Did his or her parents receive any federally subsidized fuel assistance grants? Do I have to go on?
  BTW, I’m a white guy with no axe to grind against any qualified recipient of government funding. I sharpen my axe for the hypocrites, especially the white variety, who never pass up the opportunity to dispense with cheap shots.
  I’m an independent, but if I was a Republican, I’d be all the more dedicated to do whatever possible to put an end to that party’s long history of producing one bigot after another, especially when it comes to those “with issues” with people who aren’t WASP, or if they happen to be Catholic, the hot flavored target of the day, week, or month, campaign…whatever…are worthy of being deemed as no more than a tax liability.
Still; the GOP wonders why it can’t recruit and keep more African Americans who aren’t ethically challenged (Justice Clarence Thomas); off-balanced (Rep. Allen West, R-FL) or too conveniently ideologically wired, Rep. Tim Scott, R-SC.) Just look at how it treated Edward Brooke and Colin Powell; and witness the likes of Santorum getting away with his neo-Archie Bunker impersonations.

Rick Santorum’s apparent views that the government has no responsibility to the poor and that income inequality is a good thing are distinct from Catholic Social Doctrine on those issues. To conflate his views with “subsidiarity” betrays a misunderstanding of what subsidiarity is. Santorum has accused President Obama of Marxism, based on Obama’s alleged support of redistribution of wealth, and yet Pope Benedict’s calls for redistribution of wealth are far more explicit and radical than Obama’s ever have been.

Furthermore, Santorum has publicly dissented from the U.S. Bishops’ teaching on immigration (which is completely in line with what the Vatican has said on that issue). While Santorum’s position on immigration is of course a matter of prudential judgment, his vocal dismissal and belittling of the Bishops oft-stated position is evidence of the fact that this is not a man who thinks with the Church.

It is unfortunate that he is now a public representative of the Church.

I am watching America’s news on my t.v. and I truly believe that Mr’ Rick Santorum is the right man to put America on its feet. America stop sleeping and wake up ! U will be accountable for not voting for a righteous man as this man is.  He is the one that can put people to the test of knowing what is right and what is wrong with America. He is a true catholic and will i am sure lead America the way God wants it to be . I urge all Americans to think well of what this man can do. A man with knowledge of God and a true suporter for all that is good . I am a candian and i keep watching and praying for America to do what is right. To me this man is the one for America. Let’s pray for him.  Flo.

So refreshing to see a Catholic politician who actually practices and is guided by his faith, he’ll be attacked as a right wing extremist but if we get behind him he can do this and turn this country around before it’s too late.

Outstanding article on how economics is tied to morality. Rick expresses this in his book “It Takes a Family”.
As a social worker, and teacher in poor neighborhoods for two decades, I can assert that young women have given up on finding men who will marry them and support their children. Then, they relate to a president like Clinton or Obama who was raised by a single mother and makes all types of promised to support them. The Democrat Party relies on this to stay in power.
Republicans can sometimes be insensitive to the problems of the poor, and Ann Coulter is right, Santorum is a Catholic first, a Republican second. That’s what Catholics should be looking for!
Santorum has described many time tested economic plans in his book which will help poor people work together to rebuild their broken families (single parenthood is the quickest way to become poor), and rebuild society. He understands that when you take away the family structure, we need big government to replace it. Then we lose our freedom.
That’s one of the reasons why he’s my candidate!

Dear Dixie Meyers and others;

I am concerned about the fact that you cannot support Mr. Santorum due to “He’s the Lessor of Two Evils Candidate for President.”  From this statement I can deduce that if Rick Santorum was running against Barack Obama for president, that at the very least you would not vote for Santorum because he is the lesser of two evils.  Every vote not for Santorum in this hypothetical sceario would by default be a vote for Obama.  With this mindset we would be sure to re-elect the MUCH more evil option.

In short you would rather re-elect the man who has stated that he believes babies who survived an abortion attempt should then be slaughtered because they are not wanted, then electing a man who would at least save some of the babies?  Unfortunately, Christ Jesus is not coming down to run for president (how I wish He would though).  therefore, I think it better to support the better candidate than to support the evil one or no one at all which is also a vote for the evil candidate.

Peace in Christ!

There are three things I am looking for in a candidate.  #1 prolife from conception to natural death for all.  #2 the defense of the institute of marriage between one man and one woman, and #3 immigration reform. If he was about social justice, it would include immigration reform.  Most come here legally, to provide for their families.  Our government creates the problem that work visas are 6-7 yrs, and it typically takes 10-14 yrs for citizenship. At some point, they become “illegal” as they hope that their paperwork will come thru.  If their employers vouch for them, they should have their work visa renewed while they wait for their “naturalization.” Personally, the criminalizing immigrants seems to be about racism and prejudice against Catholics.  If Hispanics looked “white” and weren’t Catholic, they wouldn’t be such a target.  I live in Arizona, and I know children who have lost one or both parents who were deported, communities in fear because they cannot call the police to report true criminal activity (and we have Sheriff Joe who does not pursue solving sex crimes nor outstanding warrants, but Hispanics) and businesses that are suffering because of the hostility towards Hispanics in our state.

Another Fantastic article,Katheryn Lopez! You’ve always been a staunch Santorum supporter, and with good reason.
To:Dixie Meyers,
It is good that you desire to defend the rights of unborn children and all human life from conception to natural death, but, I think you fail to see that Sen. Santorum was advocating for the most stringent laws on the voting table within the senate at the time he was in office. He fought for the best protection he could for human life considering what was possible for him at the time. Sen. Santorum need not be ashamed of anything he did while in office, he fought with all of his might to protect children from conception to birth from abortion, he was and is a champion for human life. Never did he advocate abortion in any case, the Hyde Amendment was the best he could advocate/vote for at that time. If you want to “shame” someone, wiggle your shame finger at “in name only Catholics” such as Pelosi, Biden, Sebelious, Kennedy,etc.etc., but not Santorum. You’d be searching far and wide to find a more pro-life polititian out there than Rick Santorum-and it certainly wouldn’t be Ron Paul or Newt Gingrich! I hope you will pray on this more before you continue on your road to “working to keep Rick Santorum out of the White House”. I think you will regret it if you don’t.

RICK SANTORUM FOR PRESIDENT!

He is Presidential in every way and quite intelligent, never backs down to any challenge from any candidate in the caucuses and if you listen carefully to him:  he is pro-American, pro-Constitution, pro-life, he can make good on getting Americans working again and he’s the man to handle both foreign and internal affairs.  The man has the solutions.  The man is an *authentic* Catholic.  He leads by
the example of his own life.
He’s transparent whereas Obama isn’t.
He’s not afraid, where Obama is.
He’s unswerving whereas Obama’s all over the place.

And, now, he’s showing just how electable he is.

Mitt/RomneyCare/Good ol’boy/corrupted politics/ do or say whatever to get elected has a REAL run for his money.

College kids and Independents: study him hard before you vote:  Unless you want 4 more years of excess spending and socialized healthcare and more apologies, via your elected leader to those whom we should be standingly firmly before…..

Rick, we’re praying for you!!

The problem with Santorum is that he is too Catholic in a very anti-Catholic country. Even Bill O’Reilly (supposedly a Catholic) jumped on Santorum on the contraception issue and called it a “man made” doctrine that the Church imposed (like meatless Fridays according to Bill). Whether we like it or not, homosexuality is the new black. Homosexuals are revered and admired. To say anything against them is bigotted and evil in the eyes of most Americans, even conservatives. Gay marriage is becoming a non-issue. Santorum is a great candidate but America’s obsession with lust and Christian’s (especially Catholic’s) timidity when it comes to defending moral issues will do him in. The underground Church is closer than you think.

The things that the left says about Santorum are nonsense: for instance, that he supports torture, when he only approved of scaring terrorists so that they might tell us about future attacks.  (Something that the British have been doing for decades.)
Or that unless you support the complete liberal agenda you’re not a Catholic.

No matter who “wins” this year’s NH Republican State Primary, the surviving “winner” has only set himself up for the eventual mauling he’s inevitably going to receive in November.
  I simply cannot fathom for a single second why any sensible Republican politician, conservative, just a tad bit less conservative than Attila, or a flaming Massachusetts Moderate, as that paradigm of political, civic and family stability, Newt Gringrich dubbed Mitt Romney, (geesh, give us a break) would want to give New Hampshire a second’s worth of time, much less pour any good money into that granite quarry. Listening to this bunch quibble over who’s the most suitably conservative GOPer to take on Barack Obama next November is like watching another bunch of dolts taking bets on who’d last the longest in Tuckerman’s Ravine, whilst wearing anything less than all of the combined winter gear one could purchase at better prices in Maine, that state’s sales taxes notwithstanding.
  This is the politics of the cheapest pols going pandering to the lowest-minded political “thinkers” and doubly cheapest collection of yokels one could possibly imagine in his wildest domestic political nightmares.
  Natch, Santorum should’ve been better able to put a dent in the likes of Massachusetts Moderate Mitt;  Newt, the Georgia Flamethrower Gingrinch; Ron Paul, the man who gave us Rand Paul and wants to snatch the safety net out from under everybody, never mind what happened on Wall Street three years ago, and what the hell, I don’t want to bother with the rest of the bunch, save for Jon Huntsman…the only sensible GOPer who somehow lost a little of his sensibility to believe a rationale thinking moderately conservative member of the Guardians of Plenty, could stand as much a chance as Rick Perry’s memory skills on Jeopardy, even if all the questions pertained to Texas’ history.
  Santorum had no choice but to go into full Torquemada Mode with his social conservative mantras that while suitable for sustaining the nodding approval of his Church, it had absolutely no appeal or shelf-life with non-Catholics. Rick, take a hint, non-Catholics aren’t bound bur Church’s rules and since this ISN’T a “Christian nation,” (and never has been or was intended to be)... calling for the outlawing of contraceptives isn’t only a losing strategy; it’s plain loony, even way up in the Land of the Loons!
  New Hampshre’s NOT the Bible Belt and you’re no Protestant, either. It’s a land of the (very) frozen and damn few chosen.)
  Even Mitt Romney, who all of a sudden received his Damascus Road epiphany about abortion ... er, uh, who said, he did anyway ... just before it was high time to make plans for his first run for the WH and he needed to be ready for his first foray into Bible Belt Politikin’ in South Carolina in 08, managed to figure out what will never work in New Hampshire. If witless Mitt could manage to figure this out just as he was getting ready to say, “‘nuff of being Massachusetts’ guv,” maybe Santorum might wake up in time for Sunday’s final NH Primary Debate on Meet the Press.
  Nothing like a football game sans pads and helmets after early Mass and before the real football games begin. Odd coincidence; playoffs begin this weekend.

It’s not really surprising that those Catholics who oppose Santorum writing here clearly feel comfortable with the most pro-abortion community organizer they helped elect.  Obama received 53% of the Catholic vote.  To claim Santorum is not a “real” Catholic or has abandoned Catholic principles is disingenuous considering you proudly cast votes for Catholic politicians supporting abortion like Senators Dick Durban, Chris Dodd, all the Kennedy’s, Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahy and Joe Biden.  You also voted for Catholic Governor Jerry Brown, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Andrew Cuomo who all support same-sex marriage.  Your negative comments concerning Rick Santorum fall on deaf ears.  Perhaps what really galls you is that Evangelicals like him.

Christine: what exactly is “frightening” about Santorum’s quote setting the record straight on homosexuality in the priesthood? His point is simply that the problem is a homosexual problem, not pedophilia. He endorses neither.

@Christine Hickey, Kevin Tierney & daygirl: Thank God for your far more reasoned replies about this sad spectacle who’s packaged himself off as both a “Catholic politician” and favorite of Evangelical voters. The former is far more disturbing since his economic views puts him squarely in the more backwards-thinking sector of the Evangelical voting bloc. Thankfully that portion’s shrinking. Too bad it took the collapse of Wall Street in 08 to bring more of them to their senses when it comes to putting so much trust in the private sector. Yet, still more than enough of them, including all-too many of their rising number of Catholics are buying the snake oil potion called privatized social security, and all because those ever so loudly self-proclaimed and superbly packaged “pro-family” Catholic pols like Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum have given their imprimatur to it, especially its “voluntary” Chilean model.
  Facts mean nothing to desperate men seeking to obtain power. They are only problems to be faced, and re-shaped into “talking points” they can rattle off quick enough so they can get through their post-talk & reception line small talk/cell-phone photo-ops in the least amount of time necessary to beat the press to their next scheduled dog n’ pony show off in some wickedly gawdforsaken Yankee backwater hick town up in the granite-heart state.
  Conservatives sometimes rightly point out that wealthy and/or otherwise very protected—i.e. tenured academic, etc.—liberals volunteering on local school committees, have no problems when it comes to raising taxes on everybody and/or slashing even public jobs (when it’s not even necessary; i.e., instead of trimming the salaries of local school administrative staff, they’ll take it out on the local school lunch ladies!)so they can look like ever-prudent budget slashers and stalwart friends of the taxpayer.
  Conservative phonies like Santorum and Gingrich, who are very wealthy men indeed, and who not only went to DC to do good, but also managed to do very well for themselves, checkered Congressional records and gross ethical lapses, notwithstanding,have shown time after time their propensity to demand more from people making and having far less than they’d EVER be willing to suffer. Hey, if you have Newt’s and Santorum’s bank accounts, what’s working a few more years till you collect SS going to mean? It’s not as if they have to hope n’ pray they can land a greeter’s job at their local Wallyworld. I’m fortunate in that I don’t either, but I can’t also help feeling similar outrage and disgust at the speechifying by millionaires within the GOP/Tea Party about the need to maintain tax breaks for the ultra rich in the 1 pct tax bracket ... knowing full well that the rain of paying for such welfare for the likes of Alice Walton and her sibs, et al will not fall equally on the rich and poor alike.
  On Dec. 10, 2010, in his now-famous 8-hour filibuster, Vermont’s Independent Senator, Bernie Sanders poignantly asked, “The point that needs to be made is, when is enough enough? That is the essence of what we are talking about. Greed, in my view, is like a sickness. It is like an addiction,” which he compared to drugs, smoking and overeating. “. . . We all have our share of addictions. But I would hope that these peop le who are worth hundreds of millions of dollars will look around them and say: There is something more important in life than the richest pe ople becoming richer when we have the highest rate of childhood poverty in the industrialized world. Maybe they will understand that they are Americans, part of a great nation wh ich is in trouble today. Maybe they have to go back to the Bible, whatever they believe in, and understand t here is virtue in sharing, in reaching out; that you can’t get it all.”
(From “The Speech,” pp 125-126.)
  Sen. Sanders is right. We can’t have it all. Sigh, I can’t help this inescapable conclusion that the reason there are so many wealthy and mostly white conservative Evangelicals in the South and ethnic Catholic conservative wannabe members in that crowd ... is that this crowd has bought into the arrogant notion that there are some very “elect” persons whom God has deemed blessed moreso than others ... and we have them here in the good ol’ non-socialist USA. In the meantime, they’ve yet to grasp the fact about childhood poverty Sen. Sanders brought out (or at least how to deal with this unpleasant reminder that American style capitalism has some very deep downsides.)
  And nobobody has demonstrated that better than Santorum with his views about childhood sexual abuse, poverty and providing opportunities for all of us to rise above some very ugly circumstances.
  Instead, Santorum represents and foolishly reminds the rest of us about the very ugliest side of the (American)Catholic population’s historical rise from its own humble economic and social circumstances. He not only doesn’t give a damn about the ugly reprocussions of “drawbridge pulling,” ... heck, he seems to condone it. As for his comments about clerical sex abuse ... all I can say is what cave has he been hiding in this past decade?

I’ve been tough on Santorum; but I’ll gladly give him a round of Kudos for his performance against Willard aka Mitt, Romney, the full-time P/T politician whom the Pennsylvanian exposed as a flat-out fraud when it came to the big WHY concerning Romney’s decision not to seek reelection as MA governor.
  Romney was a bust and he knew he was vulnerable. But he had to get out of Dodge (The Statehouse on Beacon Hill) as fast as he could so as to remain “viable” for future races.)
  Too bad Santorum was denied enough time to dig further into what really precipitated Romney’s Damascus Road-like conversion to the prolife stand. Romney admits he had a change of mind, but it’d take a lot of mind-changing and heart-changing for an extremely ambitious guy like Mitt to have walked away from this level of committment to Planned Parenthood.
http://yfrog.com/z/oc6u1p
  Y’all might not think he had some things to attend to in Columbia, as in the one smack in the middle of South Carolina, to attend to viz wrestling with all those Democrats he boasted about getting along with during his rather tumultous term?
  It’s not that I want to see Santorum go on to beat President Obama. In fact, I’m not in the least enamored with the entire GOP bunch at all. But Romney has gotten away with his packaged schtick far too long. For those of you old enough to remember, Mitt’s father, then-Michigan Gov. George Romney, claimed he was “brainwashed” by LBJ about Vietnam ... a bizarre charge which boomeranged in fine fashion. I certainly hope today’s debate where Santorum, with help from former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who took umbrage at Romney’s swipe at his fellow Utahan for having the nerve to put loyalty to his nation above that of any ideology or party (...good Heavens, can’t have that, right Mitt?) It’ll make for a nice closing chapter on this season’s dynastic masterpiece classique of American politics. After all, just think of the fun you’ll have watching Rick Santorum work his way through to another shocker whilst Mitt is explaining not only his ineptitude in handling Huntsman’s greater service to his nation by becoming Obama’s first Amb. to Beijing, but also Mitt-I-Wanna-Bomb-Iran-To-Dust Romney’s credential deeper into a hell-hole of his own causing.
  Let’s see, what did the Chickenhawk son of the brainwashed elder Romney, who ran for the GOP nomination in 68, say about his yearnings to serve his country during the Vietnam years?
  On May 2,1994, during his “liberal period,” while running against Ted Kennedy, Romney was quoted in the Boston Herald: “I was not planning on signing up for the military. It was not my desire to go off and serve in Vietnam…” Thirteen years later, on June 24, ‘07, Romney gave the Boston Globe a differing take;  “I longed in many respects to actually be in Vietnam and be representing our country there and in some ways it was frustrating not to feel like I was there as part of the troops that were fighting in Vietnam.” (Source, MA Democratic State Partyhttp://romneyfacts.com/redblue.php )
  Certainly a man who’s spent many years as a lifetime public servant…which he should NOT be in the least bit ashamed of .... can take such divergence in self analysis by Romney and blow a hole in the former MA governor’s campaign. Too bad he has so little time left to use this time-delayed campaign bunker-buster in New Hampshire. But it’s amazing what a week’s time can do for Santorum in South Carolina where such an inescusable display of self-justification for non-service won’t go over very well in one of the most solid pro-military states chock full of VOTING veterans with long memories.

Now is the time for the desert to bloom…

It is time now for Catholics to share their faith and help the public understand the consequences of a contraceptive/abortion culture. 

Our children are now becoming addicted to porn, the early sexual activity with the accommodation of public school ‘health’ educators, and their innocence is being destroyed…along with the foundation of the family…only a man and woman can bring life.

This ‘blooming’ is Christ at work…we should respond to His promptings, not be afraid…Santorum is a great witness, and share our faith more openly with others.

Abortion is shun by Catholic teaching but the question of whether abortion will be eliminated is no. Even if this was done federally, it would become a states decision, which would mean that anyone that could afford a trip to another state could get an abortion. Then even if all the states banned abortions people would still commit this sin. While I’m prolife I realize that our struggle is mainly to maintain balance (in the face of conflicting view points) and provide awareness of our beliefs. That said blindly following anyone that’s prolife isnt going to cut it with me.
    Economics matter and so do people. The pope teaches of a mixed economy (which is the system most of the world follows; a true free market was somewhat experienced during the robber baron era) which should be followed by the way he talks of distribution of wealth, equality, and fairness. 
  We must also remember our own family history so as to understand immigrants and their plight. We must stay faithful and reasonable not following our own fancies, or emotions, we must be enlightened, and see God as loving all his children equally. I pray that we Catholics reason more as God intended, while still respecting our subtle differences.

@Johnny:  If you’re taking a subtle shot at Santorum even though he is Catholic and Prolife, that’s fine.  Catholics supported Ted Kennedy for decades while he voted in favor of abortion rights from the beginning.  There are various positions one can take for not supporting Santorum, Newt, Romney, and all the others.  When you cite the idea of distributing wealth (or enacting governmental laws to re-distribute wealth) you end up with Obama.  He and Boxer are the most pro-abortion politicians in Washington.  Never forget, however, that re-distributing wealth under the guise of higher taxes only gives more money to the government and prevents God’s people from giving more to the poor and other charitable agencies.