And Santorum Makes...Damn, I've Lost Count

 

In the increasingly-crowded GOP field for the 2016 Presidential nomination, I'm actually sort of pleased to see former Senator Rick Santorum throw his hat in--not that I agree with a lot of what he says, mind you. It's just that, as I have pointed out before, he always provides interesting blogging material. And I think it is refreshing that he's choosing to craft an economic message for working people. This field of competitors has a lot of people who have burnished their social conservative and religious right ties--Santorum doesn't necessarily need to push that aspect of his narrative, it's just always there. It's who he is. Bringing up a discussion of economic policy, though, might bring the political conversation around to something a little less fraught and more productive than the culture war.

That said, I'm going to address something I don't want to do on this blog--the Dan Savage thing. I've written about how Santorum has a kind of "name herpes", now. But the more I think about it, the more unfair it seems. His family share his name, and there are certainly other Santorums out there, and they didn't really do anything to deserve their surname being given nasty connotations. It's not that I'm above calling out and even cursing out boneheaded POV's. I've just decided that it's unkind and hits outside the target. And as for Savage wanting to make "duggary" a thing--that's not cool. While what Josh Duggar did was wrong, and what his parents did in covering it up was terrible, nonetheless his sisters share that name. There are still little children in that house, and Josh Duggar's own babies, and however I feel about their upbringing, it is tragic and unfair for them to have their name made filth. They will have enough to carry in this life without people just being mean for the association, which they can hardly help.

I like a good debate, or even a fight for something that matters. Sometimes name-calling is satisfying. And sometimes it's just hurtful, and not really the way to make a point.