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ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL -- Rick Santorum accused President Barack Obama of not enforcing the country's obscenity laws and said Friday that as chief executive he would crack down on illegal pornography.
Santorum found himself answering pornography questions during a stop at an Italian restaurant here after the discovery of a statement posted in his campaign website in which he asserts that "America is suffering a pandemic of harm from pornography." Recent reporting has shed light on the letter in which the former Pennsylvania senator vowed to "vigorously enforce" all the country's obscenity laws, though he said the statement was posted three weeks ago.
"We actually respond to questions that we get into our campaign when they say 'What are you going to do about these issues?' And when we respond we post them up on our website. And the response is, ‘we'll enforce the law,’" said Santorum.
"I don’t know what the hubbub about that is," he said. "We have a president who is not enforcing the law, and we will."
The candidate best known for espousing family values argues on his website that pornography causes changes in the brain to both children and adults, and contributes to violence against women, prostitution and sex trafficking.
"The Obama administration has turned a blind eye to those who wish to preserve our culture from the scourge of pornography," he wrote.
Santorum's campaign has been sidetracked throughout the primary by eyebrow raising statements on social issues that many Republican voters feel pale in comparison to the importance of the economy. In Illinois, a state where polls show Santorum mounting a close challenge to Mitt Romney, he again found himself answering questions about a social issue that is unlikely to play a role in the 2012 election.
The other problem for the candidate running the most serious challenge to Romney is the fact that again he is not eligible for all the delegates up for grabs in Illinois during Tuesday's primary.
Santorum only filed for 44 of the 54 at stake. It is the same issue his campaign had in Ohio where they went into Super Tuesday knowing they could not win all the Buckeye State's delegates.
Santorum today said his ineligibility for a handful of delegates can be attributed to the grassroots, underdog nature of his campaign.
Months ago, when it was time to file to get on the ballot in many states, Santorum maintained, "We didn’t have a big campaign, a big superstructure, we didn’t have big offices in Boston," he said, a shot at Romney, whose campaign headquarters are in the Massachusetts capital. "We didn’t have millions of dollars to organize this, we had grassroots people."
The GOP hopeful has a tall task ahead of him in the Land of Lincoln, a state where he's being considerably outspent and he cannot rely on a strongly conservative base of voters like the ones who put him over the top in Mississippi and Alabama.
"They like the guy who is scrappy," Santorum said of Republican primary voters. "They like the guy who is trying to overcome the machine. Folks here in Chicago know all about the machine and what it means to fight that machine. It's hard but it's possible."
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I find it obscene that a lecherous old man taking ED pills blathers on for days on public airwaves. About wanting to see videotapes of a female student having sex.
Of course Santorum really came out and blasted that situation, huh? No, he turned a blind eye.
In the meantime President Obama was quick to address the situation directly.
No brainer on who was attempting to uphold standard decency.
Hmmm...wouldn't that qualify as pornography? Can you say "hypocrite"? Tell us Ricky, what would you do with your buddy, Rush, who publicly admitted he'd like to watch and promote material that "causes changes in the brain to both children and adults, and contributes to violence against women, prostitution and sex trafficking" every time a woman uses a contraceptive?
Ricky be silent on that issue. It's only bad if "liberals" (people to the left of Genghis Khan) do it.
Most men just love porn. Why is it so surprising guys love it? They think with their snake, not their head.
He would have to stop talking, that alone would win the nominaton.
Rick's stance on porn has been up on his site since it went live. They buried it at the very bottom of the issues page, but it's always been there.
Republican agenda: forget jobs. Just punish all those sinful fornicators and everything will be great.
If you are not a rabid fundamentalist, how could you consider voting for these people?
"how could you consider....?" Nathan, it is called brainwashing the uneducated. That's why they want to eliminate public education, especially Santorum. The more people know, the less malleable they are to all of the nonsense.
He who screams the loudest ALWAYS has something to hide. How is he so versed in pornography? If he's talking about pornographic films, there are many, many couples who film their love-making. Is he going to stop them from doing that? Santorum's got his nose so far up his religious butt that he cannot see the forest for the trees.
If he gets the nomination, many Americans will be leaving this country.
I certainly won't vote for him. I'd rather vote for Obama than Santorum and I'm a Republican!
Wasn't Rush Limpbaugh just calling out a college student to post sex videos to the internet so we all could watch? Of course, Santorum doesn't have the balls to go after Limpbaugh and his desire to watch more porn. No, he goes after the President, who is kind of busy with important issues. Yep - Santorum is a poster boy for the hypocritical religious fanatical party.
Rick is about as bad as the taliban. If he is elected will he decide how short women can wear their skirts, not wear make-up, stay at home, he is already intruding in our bedrooms with his outdated views on contriception. This man has a real ego problem, too much ego and probably not enought in the man area.
Will Mr Santorum be enforcing the laws against pedophilia and child molestation ? How about enforcing laws about aiding and abetting pedophiles and child molesters ?
President Obama has a lot more to worry about than porn! Does RS have 6 or 7 kids? guess you know where his mind really is (huh ) Presidents get a lifetime pension + perks with that many kids no wonder he wants the job.
Sounds to me if he has that many kids he wants to prove his manhood, cause no one in their right mind would want that many except for that reason! I think being the President would just prove to himself how manly he is in another sort of way.
Like Rick Santorum, I don't much care for the commercial porn industry. And like Rick Santorum, I was raised as a Catholic. But unlike Rick Santorum, I don't want the long arm of the government reaching into the bedroom I share with my wife.
Santorum: Pornography existed when you so-called served in the US Senate. Pray tell Pope Santorum why didn't you propose legislation to ban it then? Pornography in the US has existed for many a year prior to Mr. Obama's birth. Now, the gospel according to Pope Santorum, it's Mr. Obama's fault and mission to eradicate it from this nation. Viva poppa Santorum, what other claim to fame do you possess? Without a doubt prospective Presdential qualities is not one of them.
Mr. Santorum, please enforce child molestation laws involving Catholic Priests first.
.
He was a douche bag before he had national media attention,
and, drum roll please . .....................
Yup!!! He's STILL a douche bag.
And the only reason he's against pornography is because
he's got a hard drive full of it, and he has to overcompensate
for his shameful, naughty, bad, bad, penis!!!
Shame on you Penis!! Shame on you!!
Bad Dick! Down Boy!
There went another election to Obummer!
Yeah, Ricky, violence against women, prostitution and sex trafficking will virtually diappear when you stop pornography.
Sanitarium has turned a blind eye to reality.
What is his reasoning anyway? Porn increases desire so you go and get a prostitute? Men are still men and will always have sexual desire. Without porn they are MORE likely to get a prostitute, go out for a one night stand, or heaven forbid, push their sexual desires forcibly on a woman.
The likely hood of modern men going out and getting a wife- not gonna be increased.
What about couples who enjoy watching pornography during sex? Will they be punished as well?
No sex except for procreation...no fun or fantasy allowed in the republican bedrooms..they do it missionary and then return to their own beds just like June and Ward did...lmao
Baptists can not make love while standing
Someone might think
they were Dancing!
Roger
Rick is Catholic
What does that have to do
with the price of tea in China?
willard(gay caballero) romney said to don king at the last debate
you can ask the questions you want to
and I can answer the ones I want to
anarchy prevails
it was a joke
about the insanity of christianity
Why all the hate?
You're opinion is not reality.
I'm sorry Mr. Santorum please speak up, I cant hear you all the way back there in the 1950's.
.
sumgai,
Thanks for your thoughtful post...NOT!
Ricky is as dangerous as the Ayatollahs in Iran. Fanatics are fanatics no matter their religion.
The 'war on pornography' tactic will probably be revealed as a lame attempt to win over women by making a stink about exploitation. Since he's already on record about his position(s) on birth control and abortion (the missionary position, apparently) I doubt it will work....Unless he suddenly reverses himself the way he did (in less than a week!) on the condition that Puerto Rico change its language to English in order to attain statehood. (Ask an entire state to give up the native language of most of its inhabitants in order to gain statehood? Did God 'speak a word' in his ear about how stupid it is to piss off an entire states' worth of voters by telling them that their culture has no value in the eyes of the Union they might become a part of?)
I'm just waiting for the funny farm to find this guy and take him back....I think I've heard about enough...
Hey, Jody- nice to see a familliar moniker on here this time of day. See post from me earlier in the thread, about Iowa and education. What the hell DID happen while I was gone? This state was something to BRAG about when it came to smarts. A LOT! Now people think Steve King is some kind of, what- political genius instad of a good old fashioned western Iowa farmer??
And tell me Santorum, how will you actually enforce the laws, what will you define as "Obscene" and how much will it cost?
People are making a stink over Obamacare because the details are vague, people have no idea how far reaching it will be, nor how much it will actually cost, both financially and for society.
Defining obscenity will further work against you, because people know how restrictions work. First you start with the obvious violations, gain a law foothold and slowly chip away as the law becomes more "accepting" of restrictions. Good luck telling men what is and isn't obscene if it doesn't violate human, children or animal rights.
Plus there is the internet. A uncontrollable machine constantly churning stupidity and information at a race of pace most people cannot keep up with. Banning or restricting the creation of porn in this country will only fuel the porn industry in other countries and sharing over the internet.
Gonna police the internet Rick? That's your only chance in hell of ever getting any kind of obscenity law enforced. And finally:
"The candidate best known for espousing family values argues on his website that pornography causes changes in the brain to both children and adults, and contributes to violence against women, prostitution and sex trafficking."
Alcohol and cigarrettes also affect the brain in both women and children. Can we have Prohibition back please? :)
I want to be able to make easy money I MEAN protect people from these harmful vices! Yeah that's it!
Also the best way to protect prostitues and stop sex trafficking is to legalize prostitution. When it's illegal the prostitutes are not protected by employee laws and are less likely to report abuse or exploitation because they themselves are doing a illegal activity and fear punishment. Prostitution is the oldest job in the world, it has always existed and it always will. If prostitution is legal you can focus more resources on stopping sex trafficking and child exploitation and demand will go down because people can access sex workers legally and not fear punishment as a client.
Inadaze, you are right about Santorum "defining" pornography. The same issues came up when Bachmann signed her anti-everything pledges. It's all in the eye of the beholder, and people like Santorum could declare everything they don't like as porn. Kiss free speech goodbye, because if it offends the people in power, they get to declare it illegal. It would be a boost to employment, temporarily, as all of the new government censors get hired. Then employment will drop like a rock given that everyone from catalog models to book authors will be put out of work for exposing more than they should. Kiss your romance novels goodbye!
All because what one person thinks of as offensive is a non-issue to most of society.
I watched a documentary years ago when Hustler and Playboy first came into existence and the constant fighting they had with churches over their existence. Of course, the churches had no problem using the government to try and define what makes porn "obscene" to get their feet in the door to slowly dismantle it.
Either Hustler or Playboy retorted by publishing graphic pictures of the Vietnam war to say "And how is this not obscene compared to sex?"
It's unenforceable. Another example of the GOP wanting to allow businesses to have free reign but use the government to legislate their version of morality.
LOL I bet you'd like legalized prostitution. Then you wouldn't have to worry about getting caught with your pants down (pun definitely intended). Degradation of women to object status or slave status (or anyone for that matter) is not a good thing. That's what prostitution does. I certainly don't want to see brothels and prostitutes on every street corner either, so I could get a real good look at that degradation.
Santorum has a point.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/larry-flynt-freedom-fighter-pornographer-monster-2289592.html
It is where his head should be.
The guy can't win. if he refuses to answer these ridiculous questions he's evasive. If he answers from the heart he's taking it to far, blah blah blah... Why don't the libs ask an intelligent question about something that really can be changed or made better instead of ranting about his morals or religious background.
We should start by asking the voters in PA why they voted Santorium out of the Senate by double digits. Let's see if Rick can handle those kinds of questions. You know something of substance. I know I spend every waking moment worrying about the damage the porn industry is causing (rolling eyes).
Most of voters in PA
Found out he did not live in PA
but sent the bills for home schooling his kids and turning them into religious robots to the fine taxpayers of PA...
Santorum will NOT be our next President, unless this country has all gone MAD!!!!
Mittens has already been annointed by your GOP handlers to be the next POTUS.
You Guppies just need to hold your nose and SUCK IT UP!!!
Good luck in the General Election.
And how, pray tell Mr. Santorum, will you judge is obscene? Didn't Potter Stewart answer that question long ago?
Rick's message is to take us back to never-never land, where women are still bare-foot and pregnant, infidels were tortured and burned at the stake, and Divine Right of Kings was the rule of the land. I ain't buying it...and if you have a shred of individual thought, you won't either.
Of course Ricky will have to judge for us. He'll have to spend hours and hours watching it in order to protect us from ourselves.