Thursday, July 14, 2005

The Worst Member of the Senate

Although the Republicans have several strong contenders for this title (Tom Coburn of Oklahoma springs to mind immediately, as does Sam Brownback of Kansas), I think Little Ricky Santorum truly deserves the prize. Santorum has been trying to blame the Catholic Church's pedophilia scandal on liberals. Yes, it's not the fault of the Church's outmoded celibacy requirement, it's the liberal culture of places like Boston that has induced sex-offending priests to ruin the lives of the children with whom they interact. Santorum has absolutely no shame. He is perhaps the sickest and most brazenly dishonest officeholder in the entire GOP, and you gotta go some distance to win that race. He's in trouble in his re-election race already. I say let's help flush him next year.

Here's an excellent response to Santorum's preposterous lies.


UPDATE: John Kerry responds to Santorum's grotesque lies.

5 comments:

Schwompa said...

worst member is so difficult, but Santorum is certainly up there. I think if Santorum is the worst, I would like to nominate Frist for second prize. He may not look like much, but Frist is pretty ranks way up their in awfulness.

Joseph Miller said...

Yes, Frist is certainly a strong contender, no doubt.

Anonymous said...

Santorum is a pure raving Dobsonite. I'd love to see him picked up by the trousers and tossed on the street.

Anonymous said...

Two things: first, why the hell is Sam Brownback one of the "Worst Members of the Senate"? Because he is pro-life?

Second, the Catholic Church does not force vows of celibacy on ANYONE. If it was that big a deal, there would be no priests. One must VOLUNTARILY take a vow of celibacy after years and years of study and discernment. To imply otherwise is simply dishonest. Also, the vast majority of priests are not child abusers and are in fact very happy in their vocation and their vows. There have been many studies on this, some by such critics of celibacy as Andrew Greeley. If you don't want to be a Catholic or take a vow of celibacy, just leave. There are plenty of empty Episcopalian churches and no one will miss your illogical malcontention.

Joseph Miller said...

Anonymous--It isn't that Brownback is pro-life. The Senate candidate I'm supporting in Pennsylvania, Robert Casey, is a pro-life Democrat. It is rather that Brownback seems determined to impose his worldview on everyone else. I never contended, nor did the post I linked to, that the great majority of Catholic priests were pedophiles. But I can't help but conclude that it is the Church's elevation of celibacy to a moral status superior to that of married sexuality that is the source of much of the difficulty these men face. Moreover, I am incensed at the degree to which the Boston diocese, under its conservative leadership, tried to cover up and minimize the pedophilia scandal. Those who wish the Catholic Church well do no favors to it when they turn away from facing such problems directly.