March 10, 2006

Senator Rick Santorum you know from his comments on gay incest (or something) but you also know him to be a self-confessed point man on lobbying reform. Which is why a local investigation was surprised to find his charity being rife with lobby money.

Bonus points for connecting his charity to Tom Delay's. And, yes, the NSFW spreading santorum site, which is NSFW. (Did I say NSFW?) The sleaze is running deep almost everywhere Republicans run (so what are the Democrats getting up to while the heat is off?). But this piece was so concise, well written, and bitch-slappingly awesome, I thought it was FPP worthy.

posted by petebest 18 years ago
  • I am shocked, SHOCKED! to find that gambling lobbying is going on in here!
  • What he said.
  • google - define:santorum No definitions of santorum were found in English ...but... Definitions of santorum on the Web in German: Unter Santorum versteht man die schaumige Mixtur von Gleitmittel und Kot, die manchmal das Nebenprodukt von Analverkehr darstellt. de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santorum
  • Monkeyfilter: The sleaze is running deep
  • What makes Americans so apathetic to this type of sleaze? Here in Canada, a single instance like this would be front-page, bold-headline news for weeks on end, and would almost always result in resignations, criminal charges, public hearings, and a speedy change in government. In the US this stuff happens every day with nothing more than a few rumblings on left wing blogs and maybe a joke from Jon Stewart - then it fades away forever.
  • You're kidding right? Or not? Canada seems to be about the same as U.S. in terms of weasel-tolerance.
  • Because we're pretty much all of the opinion that (a) all politicians are corrupt piles of greedy shit, and (b) this is business as usual. I'd be shocked if Santorum, or any other member of Congress, *wasn't* knee-deep in after-market cash.
  • Except for my guy, of course! He's righteous. Pfft.
  • Santorum is part of K Street Project.
  • Sadly....this isn't an outrage because everyone suspects it goes on anyway. And we are so lazy...we can't get out to vote to change the proc....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
  • Don't get me wrong...Canadians are lazy, apathetic, and easily distracted creatures, too. I guess our press just does a better job of telling us how ouraged we should be over these kinds of abuses.
  • Yes.....your Candian Media Overlords are very responsible And let's not get into an argument over who is lazier.....
  • As an American living (happily) in Canada, I would say that the biggest difference between Canadians and Americans is that the Americans don't want to get into an argument over who is lazier.
  • One reason why it's understandable that sleaziness isn't a bigger issue is because a lot of people don't hear about it. And when they do, they may forget about it. One counterinfluence is Wikipedia - the past transgressions of weaseldom stand there for all to see despite the recent hubbub over congressmen trying to prettify their articles...
  • "One counterinfluence is Wikipedia - the past transgressions of weaseldom stand there for all to see" I wonder what percentage of American voters even know what Wikipedia is. And of course even fewer would go there to get the low-down on candidates for public office. The truth just isn't very entertaining sometimes.
  • Canadian Weasel being given free ride: David Emerson. Canadian Weasel being hailed as a hero in the media for giving the above-mentioned weasel a hard time: Garth "kickback" Turner.
  • Tell me again why I should respect the law when the people who make it don't?
  • Oh yeah, they also control the enforcement. Shoot. Time for a revolution.
  • That's what I've been fucking saying, mang.
  • Can I just pimp devoter.com, jca's site? It's well designed and a good place for a recap of somewhat lefty-slanted news. But I appreciate the straightforward approach.
  • British news is the model that North America should be looking to. The reporters here are terriers. In North America (in both Canada and the US, but worse in the US), the reporter seems to feel that their job is to be a facilitator, that the interview is a place for the interviewee to present their story. This may be fine for human interest stories, but it's a death knell to making politicians be responsible to the people. Politicians are too well trained in being weasely, because that is what gets them elected (since we, the voters, seem to hate honesty in our elected officials). But in Britain (and Ireland, where George Bush was grilled), the reporters feel their first responsibility is to the truth. They will interupt, they will tell the politician "You're not answering the question", they get after prevarications and muddlings. And they do this to both sides, equal opportunity - generally polite but insistent. Of course, the politicians here have wised up, and can give the reporters a run for their money - they are much better at speaking and thinking on their feet than in North America. But I feel like the reporters can and will keep up, and try to keep them more open and honest. (yes, I have lived in all three places, and watched/read news. Dreadnought and I also talk about this a lot. Generally in North America, print news is better than broadcast, but here, because of the BBC, the opposite is true - radio is best, then TV, and most papers aren't very good.)
  • > most papers aren't very good the guardian and observer have a solid track record of genuine investigative journalism into issues that might be uncomfortable for the powers that be. some other papers can generally be relied on to take a stance if to do so meets a particular editorial agenda. this is not to say that the guardian/observer does not have an agenda; they're simply more likely to pursue stories for the sake of the story than the others. i'm not sure they've done much of serious interest recently.
  • Wow. That Santorum reads LGF isn't half as frightening as the fact that I hadn't thought of it before. Yikes. Entire interview here. Find out Santorum's position on Islamic extremism (Play offense, not defense), NSA wiretap story leaks (against), Leiberman's defeat (chaos in the Democratic party), his Democratic opponent (against), immigration (no amnesty!), runaway spending (???), and - your Santorum money shot: Q: As a blogger, I have to ask what blogs you read, and how you stay on top of things online. A: I read Little Green Footballs, I read Red State. I read Townhall. I read Drudge. Going through the columnists, seeing what they’re reading and what they’re up to is something I probably enjoy more than anything. Q: How do you see the right side of the blogosphere, and the Townhall audience in particular, being active in this campaign? A: One of the reasons I like to do all the types of alternative media is because we can drive people to our website and get folks to either volunteer or contribute to our campaign. And, we need those dollars coming in, I’ve got to tell you. We’re up against, not just my opponent, but the Democratic National Committee, that has twice as much money as the Republican National Committee.