Nuke the News: Santorumania!

* I have a new New York Post column on why Occupy Wall Street is the greatest political movement and will be around forever.

Nothing ruins a political movement like achieving its goals. No one wants to keep yelling and waving signs after they get what they want. OWS wisely avoided this pitfall. The Occupiers roared in with nonspecific anger — about such things as Wall Street, with its walls and its streets, and the rich, with their money they got somehow — but it never set any actual goals.

* So not only did Rick Santorum win the caucuses in Minnesota and Missouri, but he also won Colorado. Yesterday, Intrade had Romney at a 98% chance of winning Colorado. No one saw this coming. I’m still not sure what’s going on. Someone explain this to me. Who is this Santorum? Where did he come from? Why are people voting for him?

Apparently, Santorum has like no money and no big name endorsements, so who knows if he can keep this up. But this has to be scaring Romney. People just really don’t like him and want another viable choice. And finally it’s Santorum’s turn in the spotlight. They say he’s a big government conservative, but the other option, Romney, is a big government not conservative.

* So what happened to Newt? Is he still around? I guess there’s a limit to how many times you can be frontrunner and lose it.

* And I’m out of blogging time. Working hard on my new book that will solve all of America’s problems, though. I should be back to my normal blogging capacity next week.

* Oh yeah, feel like I should mention something on the Prop 8 decision. No time for meaningful commentary — which IMAO is always abundant with — but I think the best way to keep people from tinkering around with marriage until it’s completely asinine is to get it out of government.

34 Comments

  1. Why do people still get surprised that Romney is not running away with the election? He’s been a flat line from day 1 with 25%-40% in the polls. Every time a new front runner crashes their support always goes TO SOMEBODY ELSE. If the voters haven’t given up and settled for Romney by now they’re not going to. If they do a full out hatchet job on Santorum next, we’re just going to end up with Ron Paul as President.

  2. Santorum is popular because he vaguely pretends to be a “true conservative” while never really articulating true conservatism. He is also apparently somewhat successful with convincing Christians that big government is a Christian value.

  3. Random thought: With the way liberal fake, weasely, whiny, dirtbag, detestable phony Republican presidential candidates pretend to be conservative, and with the way nutjob real liberals like Clinton and, to a lesser extent, Obama moderate during general campaigns, why, it’s almost as though conservatism is generally the most popular political ideology in this country.

    But I’m sure poll results would prove me wrong. Right? http://www.gallup.com/poll/141032/2010-conservatives-outnumber-moderates-liberals.aspx

  4. @Marko – you’re on to something. Obama in 2008 certainly pretended to be “post-partisan” and “moderate” and, why golly, everything *but* the extreme liberal hack that he, in fact, is.

    Has anyone campaigned by pretending to be liberal just to win the White House and then take a hard turn right once in office? Happens the other way all the time, it seems.

    They say Santorum’s a big government conservative, but the other option, Romney, is a big government not-conservative.

    Are these our remaining options? Good thing the Tea Party made a big ruckus in 2010 about smaller government!

    Shorter Prop 8 ruling: the constitution is now unconstitutional.

    Holy crap. I almost went an entire comment without using strikethrough. This feature is, by far, the biggest advantage of commenting here over, say, posting on Twitter. Strikethrough is such a desirable feature that having it available and not using it is like having access to, and then not using, a chocolate waterfall firehose near an OWS protest the remote control DirecTv’s Red Zone Channel.

    Follow me on Twitter

  5. “normal blogging capacity”

    Frank, you’ve been blogging way under capacity for a long time now. (Understandably.)

    At least you’re writing your various columns and books and such.

    BTW, we’re all running out of time. When time runs out completely, we’ll probably just stand there, looking puzzled.

    “What can I get you, Grandpa?”
    “Time, Jim. Just time.”

  6. “…when economic conditions force us to live in shanty towns, we’ll look to them (OWS) as the new Founding Fathers. By then, I hope, they’ll have figured out how to deal with the rats.”

    Fooking golden!

  7. @Marko: The RINO mind is a tricky one, but I think their game plan involves the worship of swing voters:

    1) Triangulate by swinging left. Hold conservatives by claiming to be the only (or the only electable) game in town.

    B) ???

    3) Conservatives bail. Triangle breaks and country accellerates into oblivion.

    Some have postulated that “Step B” occurs when — having had their fill — conservatives decide to use said triangle as an improvised proctology device (IPD).

  8. David (Rush’s brother) Limbaugh says,
    “Sure, electability has always been an issue, but now some are saying that to support someone, it’s essential not only that we show he is electable but also that he is the most electable. This amounts to replacing the “Buckley rule” — that “we should support the most conservative candidate who is electable” — with “we should support the most electable candidate, provided he is at least marginally conservative.”
    “Such is the formula for sacrificing one’s dreams and aspirations; such is the avenue toward fatalistic resignation, compromise and settling for less without even trying to push for your real goals; such is the formula for guaranteeing that we never elect another Ronald Reagan conservative.”
    “I reject the conventional wisdom that Rick Santorum could not win the general election, because I believe he represents the best contrast to Obama and is the least vulnerable to attack, among other reasons. I have varying concerns about the other candidates, but I respect their respective supporters and realize that some of them even believe their candidate is the most conservative of the group, though I disagree. I will support whoever emerges as the Republican nominee, but I do not apologize for supporting Rick Santorum.”

    nuff said.

  9. “Man, you are out of line. If that’s the way this blog is gonna go, I’m outta here.”

    “Moderation in the protection of liberty is no virtue; extremism in the defense of freedom is no vice.”

  10. “Scooter, near the end of your clip they said that if Santorum wins, it’d be “like 4 more years of George Bush”.
    After 3 years of Obamageddon, 4 more years of George Bush doesn’t sound so bad.”

    Yes, I think saying it’d be like 4 more years of Bush is understating what he is trying to state. Obama is more of a fascist than Bush was. Santorum is more of a fascist than Obama. I’ve never heard Bush or Obama say in quite such a straight up manner as Santorum did, basically, “I’m against freedom.”

  11. but I think the best way to keep people from tinkering around with marriage until it’s completely asinine is to get it out of government

    Amen brother! Practicing Catholic here, and I don’t want my church performing gay marriages, but if other churches do it that’s their business. Leave government out of it.

    Congrats on the NY Post column. It’s a masterpiece!

  12. Unfortunately, you misunderstood what actually happened in Missouri. Santorum won a non-binding primary vote that amounts to $7.5 million in advertising paid for by Missouri voters. Not exactly a good deal for Republicans in the Show-Me State, who, along with the rest of the state, paid for the primary, but still has to pay for a caucus later that will actually award the delegates. I’m from Missouri, and I voted for Paul (ready why below; I was as surprised as anyone, but you gotta vote for someone), but this generally looks bad for those of us dying to replace Obama.

    http://conservativerevolutionary.com/rants/?p=191

  13. I don’t think so, Scooter.

    Hiding behind Barry Goldwater for your insipid, verbally violent attack on Rick Santorum is neither a virtue – nor moral – nor justified – nor a defense of freedom or reason.

    If this were my blog, you’d be outta here.

  14. Perhaps this is why nobody is hanging out at your blog, Jimmy.

    Don’t worry, if Santorum wins, he’ll sign laws ensuring that we make nice.

    “All creatures will make merry … under pain of death” — Ming the Merciless

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