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STEUBENVILLE, Ohio -- Facing newfound scrutiny as a frontrunner in the Republican presidential race, Rick Santorum today fired back at national media who he says have given undue attention to comments he made this weekend questioning the president's theology. He also defended comments about World War Two that some saw as linking Hitler and President Obama.
On Saturday in Columbus, Ohio, Santorum told a Tea Party crowd, "It's not about you. It's not about you. It's not about your quality of life. It's not about your job. It's about some phony ideal, some phony theology. Oh, not a theology based on the Bible, a different theology, but no less a theology."
But in front of a crowd of more than 500 people here on Monday, he said the comments were not meant to question the president's religious beliefs, rather a critique of what he called the "extreme" environmental regulations of the Obama administration.
"I referred to it the other day,” he said, “and I got criticized by some of our less than erudite members of the national press corps.”
When pressed by reporters after Saturday's comments, the former Pennsylvania senator maintained he did not mean to suggest that the president is not a Christian. But he did say the president is trumping religious freedoms.
"You may want to call it a theology; you may want to call it secular values,” Santorum said. “Whatever you want to call it, it’s a different moral values. And the president of the United States is exercising his values and trumping the values of the church.”
Today, Santorum did not use the word "theology," instead attacking the president's "ideology."
He was also asked about comments made last night in Georgia that compared America now to Europe during World War Two.
“I’m sure some of you have ancestors who were part of the Greatest Generation,” Santorum said last night. “Why were they the Greatest Generation -- because they were better than we were? Smarter? More courageous? They were they greatest generation, because when their country needed them, at a time of great peril, they met the challenge. Your country needs you. It’s not as clear a challenge. Obviously, World War Two was pretty obvious. But at some point, they knew. Remember, the greatest generation for a year and a half, sat on the sidelines while Europe was under darkness.
“While our closest ally Britain was being bombed and leveled, while Japan was spreading its cancer all throughout Southeast Asia … America sat in 1940 when France fell, December of 1941…Because we’re a hopeful people. We think, well, you know it’ll get better. Yeah, he’s a nice guy. I mean, it won’t be near as bad as what we think. This will be okay. I mean, yeah, maybe he’s not the best guy after a while, after a while you find out some things about this guy over in Europe who’s not so good of a guy after all. You know what … we’ll just take care of our own problems. We’ll just get our families off to work and our kids off to school and we’ll be okay. So with the optimistic spirit of America, sometimes, sometimes it’s not okay. It’ll be harder for this generation to figure it out. There’s no cataclysmic event.”
Santorum defended the comments today. "It’s a World War Two metaphor,” Santorum said. “It's one I've used 100 times."
In response to whether he meant to compare the president to Hitler, Santorum said, "No, of course not."
Those comments were not the only ones from the weekend that the former Pennsylvania senator found himself explaining. In front of the Ohio Christian Alliance, he said the 2010 health-care bill signed by the president encourages aborting children with disabilities by requiring prenatal testing that can detect if a child will not be born healthy. It is an assertion he did not back down from.
"I was criticized for making the comment about prenatal testing when it came to amniocentesis,” he said. “Amniocenteses are done by and large later in pregnancy whether the child in the womb has a disability.” And he claimed, “[A]s we all know, 90 percent of Down Syndrome children in this country are aborted once the mother and father find out that that child is going to be less than what they wanted it to be.”
The candidate, now surging in the polls, has focused almost all his attention on the White House and not so much as mentioning chief rival Mitt Romney. Stumping in Rust Belt states like Michigan and Ohio, Santorum has focused his message on manufacturing and environmental issues like hydrofracking and the Keystone pipeline. Both are issues in which Santorum argues the president has ceded to environmentalists, costing the country jobs.
Just 40 miles outside his hometown of Pittsburgh today, Santorum played up his blue-collar roots growing up as the grandson of a coal miner.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we need someone who understands, who comes from the coal fields, who comes from the steel mills, who understands what average working people in America need to be able to provide for themselves and their families,” he said.
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I love the "undue attention" comment. I mean, the man wants to be president!
Santorum is a nut case and helping to hand this country another Democrat President. I thought all the early Rep. candidates were fair at best before Ricky got his ball rolling and opened his mouth. If Santorum is the "best of show" for the GOP then they have one serious problem on their hands and better move swiftly to contain the "Santorum Damage". If they don't.... the Samtorum legacy/aberration will out live all them before they see another WH.
woodin,
Your sentiment is dully noted. However, such has been the case since the "W" exit from the WH. You see, America has finally come to understand the argument that Coporate tax cuts do NOT spur economic growth. Instead, those Coporate tax cuts spurred explosive deficits paid for by the middle class to benefit the Coporate structure and it's plans to outsource all high paying middle class jobs overseas. Since the end of "W", the descent of this Republican ideology has been apparent. And.....Grover Norquist becomes responsible for the fall of Conservatism.........
Obama/Biden 2012
If Santorum wishes to base his campaign on religion and his self-preceived perfect theological beliefs, I'm sure that'll be just fine with Democrats. He's preaching to a very limited base of voters, and regardless of whether Republicans wish to admit it, the general election issues are going to continue being Jobs & Economy for some time to come. This party of idiots is eat up with TPer infiltrations. Them and their leader, Grover Norquist will most assuredly lose.
Also, Santorum needs to understand that his Cathlolic faith & beliefs rank 4th in the world in popularity and following. So if he's going to start another "Holy War" (verbally) on what's right & what's wrong, he needs to realize there are a lot, lot, lot more people out there that think his beliefs are BS, and they're much more willing to die for their beliefs than I'm sure he is.
Santorum ... the issues are JOBS in the USA, and Economy. Quit pointing your finger and start telling us HOW you will fix this USA, and if it has anything to do with converting the population to the Catholic faith, go sit in a closet and say 1 million Hail Marys ... no, make that 5 million Hail Marys. You IDIOT!
Obama is sure good at the talk you are looking for. Except he fails on actually doing anything except sanctioning businesses with his ultra liberal agenda.
Considering the GOP took the position that they would do everything in their power to block everything Obama attempted.......so what do you expect? I know what I expect, mature adults who carry out the responsibilities and jobs that the taxpayer gave them when they voted them into office......but the public didn't get that now did they?
This guy should get down from the pulpit, if I were looking for a minister I'd go to church. This is a nomination process for the President of the United States, not president of the Christian leaders institute. Ever heard of Separation of Church and State Ricky?
Eddie, I agree with you that we need a secular leader, not some one like Santorum. But there is nothing in the constitution that says Seperation of Church and State. Its a common error and statement. Its not literal out of the bill of rights. Here is the amendment for your consideration.
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
In otherwords you are free to pray to the flying spaggetti monster if youd like to. The government cant pass a law saying you cant or endorse a national religion like they can make the Bald Eagle the national bird. One reason you can no longer open school with a prayer is that it is an implied government endorsement of that belief.
I recall back in the late 50's when I was in elementary school, having to recite the Lords prayer every morning at the start of school. It always confused me, since it was not what we did at home. We also opened up the school day saying the pledge of alliegence. That was a good idea then and still a good one now.
only liberals and those pretending to be liberals can make any comments and be given a free pass.
Same old playbook from the right--make a total inflammatory and false statement then blame the press/other side for misinterpreting it or for being politically incorrect. Yawn!! Such tactics are only supported by the willfully ignorant who will support anyone who reinforces their core beliefs (associated with disgust for those who are not like them, e.g. poor and another race). If such people now represent the majority of voters in this country, we have started the long slide into irrelevance on the world stage.
Hmmm...Looks like we have our dream team.
Rich Candidate who will tell you anything you want to hear to get elected, can state mythical truth based from deviated facts, knows how to work around our financial system, knows when to call a gamble, excellent for presidential skills.
Abstract Candidate who will reinforce whatever Rich Candidate says with more twisted fictional statements obscured by historical abstracts, can fix in our health system, perfect for vice presidential role.
Self-Interest Candidate who knows the various lobbyists and interest groups, knows how washington d.c. works inside and out, perfect for a white house chief of staff skills.
Crazy Idea Candidate, may not be an out of the box crazy idea, just needs to be studied if it will pass legal and moral ethics, perfect for the Attorney General. Wait, he is not a lawyer, who cares..
and don't forget, they are all severely and seriously conservative candidates who may wander into the liberal dark side when appropriate, but they always come back to the conservative side.
have fun folks. don't take politics too seriously.
"Society's needs come before the individual's needs."
"We are socialists, we are enemies of today’s capitalistic economic system for the exploitation of the economically weak, with its unfair salaries, with its unseemly evaluation of a human being according to wealth and property instead of responsibility and performance, and we are determined to destroy this system under all conditions."
"the government must provide an all-around enlargement of our system of public education…. We demand the education at government expense of gifted children of poor parents…. The government must undertake the improvement of public health — by protecting mother and child, by prohibiting child labor — by the greatest possible support for all groups concerned with the physical education of youth."
"Before everything else, the trades unions are necessary as building stones for the future economic parliament"
All quotes courtesy of everyone's favorite National Socialist--Adolf Hitler.
Diogenes: I didn't know Hitler was running this year. I mean you wouldn't just put up his quotes to equate anyone running with him, right? That would be comical hyperbole. No rational person would do that.
Diogenes 22, You about half studied history and are sick with the disease of Confirmation Bias. Oh yeah, you're a jerk too.
@trip & @bill...
Funny, you resort to name calling rather than respond with facts and history.
Hitler (along with just about every Socialist dictator in modern history) has risen to power with promises of a "Beneficent State" that will handle all of society's ills to protect the "proletariat". In the end, they all end up the same way--either in bankruptcy (ala Greece, Spain and soon-to-be France) or in tyranny (ala the former Iron Curtain states, Cuba, Venezuela and North Korea.)
Facts are stubborn things.
And what about modern Germany? Are they a dictatorship? They're more "socialist" than we are. What about the UK?
Diogenes,
What's in a name? All the title Socialist Democratic Party was in Germany was a way to fool the populace. Hitler was a Fascist dictator through and through. Look up the term. In fact, Google "14 signs of fascism" Sounds more like GOP than DEM. You have fallen for the stupid right wing media's name calling, which they engage in without conscience. So, you'd like to brand the Dems as "The Socialist Democrat Party". Two can play at that game, my friend.
Since your party officials and candidates have taken the liberty of renaming our party (That's who started it), we should be able to name yours. How about "Republic Fascist Party"?
THAT is what name calling is, buddy.
Hey Rick, your country needs you in its "time of peril". It needs you to take a hike and stuff yourself. Come to think of it, maybe we need him to be the Republican nominee. The country could use a good laugh.
Go Ricky! Go Ricky! What's the harm? Imagine this boob as President. Voting him in would proove the old saying:
Lay down with dogs, get up with fleas. No, wait a minute. That's a major insult to dogs.
Goodness...Obama's old paster was a jerk, but Santorum's paster (the pope) was a real card carring NAZI!
Ladies and gentlemen, we need someone who understands,who understands what average working people in America need to be able to provide for themselves and their families and President Obama does. What we don't need is a potential presidential candidate out there with extreme views, extreme values, racism, and bigotry.
Rick Santorum is a bigot and a bully. I despise him and his social conservative ilk. Social conservatism has never helped any society. If we want to be a forward-thinking society, we should tell Rick and his supporters, no thanks on election day.
Bigotry in any form is indefensible. Once again, read the constitution...separation of church and state. I am Catholic and pro-life for MYSELF. It is not my place, or my right, nor the governments to dictate whether or not to use birth control. As for Insurance covering the cost - so what- I don't hear the candidates complaining about coverage for Viagra et al. Which by the way is covered by Medicare and in most states by Medicaid.
I'm sure Ricks father must be extremely proud that the son he raised took the lessons taught by the example or back breaking labor to justify becoming a bigoted, misogynist, Lobbyist er...candidate.
If it isn't too late for him, Santorum will have a breakdown. But it may be he is too far gone to have enough lucidity left to have a breakdown. It may be he is too delusional to have any capacity, whatsoever, for enough self-reflection to have any kind of emotional breakdown. I feel sorry for his children.
RICHMOND — Hundreds of women stood mute, arm-in-arm, forming a human cordon through which legislators walked before Monday's House and Senate sessions to protest a wave of anti-abortion legislation coursing through Virginia's General Assembly.
Capitol and state police officers, there to ensure order, estimated the crowd to be at least 1,000, perhaps 1,500 at the noon peak of the protest.
The silent demonstration was over bills that would define embryos as humans and criminalize their destruction, require "transvaginal" ultrasounds of women seeking abortions, and cut state aid to poor women seeking abortions.
Note to Santrorum..This is only the beginning. Millions will protest this rape of women.
Absolutely!
Yes indeed! I'd like to see how men would react to having a probe as a condition to getting Viagra.
So zealots.... NOW it's okay to have the gov't mandate to private business (doctor) about health??
giggle...
DB AKORN it's obvious why you are a Rick backer.
Seriously, chill people... it's just another presidential election year full of just another round of bull. I can't believe you all fall for this stuff over and over and over and over and over again! It's like groundhog day on the internet, with everyone re-circulating the same crap every day. Turn off your computers and go outside!
@ DB Akron: Really apreciate you comment. I had neglected to completely follow up. I knew that Santorum was a Lawyer (BTW Obama is Not permitted to practice - he voluntarily surrendered his license in 2008. You might want to find out why)."
Well, that's an outright lie. He did not surrender his law license. It is inactive at the moment because he doesn't need it. It's a simple thing to re-activate it. It's the same as me or you lapsing our professional accreditation when we leave our fields. Stop trying to turn it into a conspiracy theory.
“While our closest ally Britain was being bombed and leveled, while Japan was spreading its cancer all throughout Southeast Asia … America sat in 1940 when France fell, December of 1941…Because we’re a hopeful people."
He really needs to learn something about history if he's going to try and use it! First we were an 'isolationist' people weary of another war in Europe and still reeling from 1929. Second, Lend-Lease you moron!
And this idiot said "most amniocentesis result in abortions". Most pregnant women have one and most DON'T have an abortion. I watched him say this and none of the news outlets have not quoted this properly, although I'm sure he has repeated it several different ways but that's the one I heard and couldn't believe my ears. And of course it a flat out lie.
This guy is the most dangerous candidate but fortunately he's also the least likely to ever be elected.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor, thou shalt love they neighbor as thyself, THOU SHALT NOT LIE! heah Santorum, what happened to the ten commandments which are what ALL the laws of the prophets are hung by....Santorum the HYPOCRITE!!!!
By the way, just for the sake of argument, it's "by and large" not "by-in-large". You know Mr. or Ms. Reporter, if you don't know what something means, or are unsure, try looking it up.
The phrase "by and large" today means "generally speaking," "mostly" or "on the whole." The origin is nautical, and had a very precise meaning. It was an order to the man at the helm of a sailing ship, meaning to sail the ship slightly off the wind. A similar command was "full and by" which meant to "sail as close to the wind as it can go."
The risk of sailing too close to the wind was the danger of being "taken aback" (when the sails press against the mast and progress halts.)
Thus, when a person doesn't want to "sail" directly into a statement, "by and large" is a hedge, a phrase of circumspection, a way of saying that the statement is an imprecise generality.
Not as bad as "for all intensive purposes" Don't know how many time's I've read that one. Funny and sad.
Oh, and I blame the big box stores and and fast food for people thinking it's 'buy in large'. LOL.
Buy'n'large (BnL) - a company from WALL-E movie.
The article said that Rick Santorum fired back at the national media today.
Actually, I think he back-fired. He seems to do that a lot. Probably needs a tune-up.
Santorum and backfire does not create a pretty mental picture! LOL!
Since obama, the dems, and the media began attacking the catholic church and santorum, obama's approval number has dropped to 44% according to gallop. Latinos who are very strong catholics as is santorum, approval rating of the president has dropped from 59 to 52% in one week. Obama needs 70% of the latino votes to win. Blacks have dropped their approval of the president 8% in one week. Even women have dropped from 51% to 48% in one week. KEEP IT DEMS YEEEEEEEEHHHAAAAAAWWWWWWWW.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/us/general_election_santorum_vs_obama-2912.html
WRONG mmac: Read it and weep!
Owww! That's gotta hurt. Particularly since the home team (FOX) poll has the biggest spread!
Go Rick!
Pooooooooooor mmac...
he was running all over the internet, flapping his lips about "Obama has insulted the Hispanics, and Catholics" he's DONE now....I swear I read the same drivel, at least 10 times, last night, poor guy....
Keep it up Repubs, AND it'll be a shoe in for Obama!!
This guy is the most dangerous nitwit in the history of our country ! After Bush , that's saying something ! Look at every theocracy that ever existed and the lesson learned is religion and politics DO NOT MIX ! He will get the nomination of the teabagged scumpublicans and it will lead to the greatest rout in American history.
Both parties have been gradually drifting farther and farther to the right. Democrats today are what the Republicans were 40 years ago and Republicans have become a radical extremist party. Nixon was actually far more liberal tham Obama. Nixon was pro-union he met with Jimmy Hoffa. The Nixon administration created OSHA and the EPA. Nixon wanted health care reform but never put forth a specific plan. Of course it was Goldwater that wanted to lift the ban on gays in the military.
Stop smoking that corn dude.