Elizabeth Santorum says that she has gay friends who support her Dad. Here’s a taste of Dan Savage’s epic response:
Who are these faggots?
Political reporters? When Elizabeth Santorum says, “I have gay friends and they support my dad because they agree with him about family issues,” i.e. her dad’s opposition to gay people having a families of their own, your immediate response should be a request for the names and phone numbers of some of these gay friends. Because that claim requires checking out before you put it in print or pixels. Reassure Elizabeth you’ll quote her friends anonymously to protect them from potty-mouthed gay bloggers, they can talk to you on background or whatever, but tell her that you’re going to need to verify the existence of these gay friends. Because you’re a journalist, not a stenographer. You’ll either catch Elizabeth Santorum in a revealing lie—what does it tell us about this moment in the struggle for LGBT equality that even homophobes like Elizabeth and her dad perceive a political risk in being perceived as homophobic?—or you’ll land a pretty fascinating interview.
The whole thing is worth a read.
lamh35
sorry to highjack the thread so soon as it were, but how did ur post make it through, but DougJ’s Iowa post is gone?
I only ask cause I had something I wanted to post in that thread, but obvious I can’t.
Face
That title is really quite NSFW…just saying
mistermix
@lamh35: Dunno, some form of conspiracy I assume.
@Face: Am I naive to think that anyone reading this blog at work where they monitor your Internet is risking their job, no matter how NSFW the titles?
4tehlulz
EDT: that could be taken the WAY wrong way, nvmd
Gin & Tonic
I thought “rape” wasn’t a good word today.
Joey Maloney
I always enjoy a good Savaging.
ruemara
Not gonna comment on the title, due to the prior thread drama. I’m inclined to say those are Elizabeth’s invisible friends, but then I recall Herman Cain. There has to be a source of all those closeted types running conservative campaigns and hosting Log Cabin fund raiser brunches.
jrg
Libruls hate ‘murica because they oppose random invasions of third-world dictatorships. Climate scientists are making stuff up because they don’t like capitalism. Atheists worship Darwin. Gawd wants me to be presnit. “Some people say”. Blah, blah, blah.
If Republicans didn’t put words in other people’s (and deity’s) mouths, they wouldn’t have shit to say… Oh, and the media calling them on it? Sure, OK, because they have such a long history of doing so.
mellowjohn
is this the daughter who will eventually come out as a lesbian goth or the daughter who will be matching outfits with her dolly into her 30s?
Linda Featheringill
Ooooh! Such a string of happy posts today.
I think I’ll go back to typing reports about dead and dying people.
rlrr
Because that claim requires checking out before you put it in print or pixels.
That goes for everything a politician (especially a Republican) or their spokespeople say…
burnspbesq
And if Santorum were to somehow get the nomination, at least 57 million of your fellow Americans would vote for him.
Wow.
mellowjohn
@mellowjohn: p.s. sounds like it’s time for dan savage to make good on his threat to do to “rick” what he did for “santorum.”
daveNYC
@mistermix:
Yes with an if, no with a but. Most jobs cut a lot (or a little) slack with regard to non-work related use of the intertubes. Basically they have to, otherwise they’d have to fire the entire workforce. Problem is, NSFW words can trigger annoying software dodads that check for that crap, and that can raise flags with IT.
lamh35
@mistermix: wasn’t thinking conspiracy, not into conspiracy theories. Sorry, I really was just asking with no nefarious motives.
Schlemizel
I am not a bigot – some of my best friends are nig . . . er colo . . . ah . . . Black (yeah thats it)
Dans definition of Santorum my be too nice.
amk
why do rethugs shamelessly let their
spawnschildruns shill for them ?kindness
Who else is relieved to have a new thread? I am. Don’t want to fight the battles others seem to relish.
Dan Savage is right though. If Elizabeth Santorum had any gay friends that supported her Dad for President, it would be the same as a Jews for Hitler fan club. (No, Gay Patriot doesn’t count as he’s a worthless scum only good for Sadly No! fodder).
MariedeGournay
Hell, I’m surprised he has any friends at all.
Gex
@Gin & Tonic: The anti-gay group regularly accuses gays of wanting to fuck children, so it is an accurate description of what ES is claiming.
Pathman
I assume she was the one not holding the doll in the famous picture?
JGabriel
Mistermix:
Yes, but what are their thoughts on nuns?
(Awkward silence.)
Too soon?
.
dmsilev
From Santorum the Younger’s interview:
It makes you sad that people are that mean? Perhaps, just perhaps, you should consider what your dad said and did to earn such enmity? Because Dan Savage’s Googlebomb wouldn’t have worked to the extent that it did without the help of thousands or tens of thousands of people who felt that your father was and is a piece of trash.
Sorry if that offends you, Ms. Santorum.
Keith G
@burnspbesq: And yet he couldn’t win in Pennsylvania.
Have you sustained any blunt force head trauma in your life?
BO_Bill
Blogs who just fired their black correspondent had best be careful when making fun of people claiming to have gay friends.
For the record, that big black football player at The Facility still calls me ‘brother’. So perhaps me and Angry Black Lady will start up a blog and kick Balloon Juice’s ass. I don’t think either of us much care for Glenn Greenwald.
rea
Her gay friends all (1) are deeply closeted, (2) think of themselves as stright, (3) get turned on by the illicit nature of gay sex, (4) therefore don’t want gay sex to be legal and legitimate–what’s the fun of that? and (5) are absolutely opposed to gay marriage and gay families–families are what they have gay sex to get away from.
JGabriel
BO_Bill:
A) ABL left, she wasn’t fired. As Cole said:
B) ABL isn’t the only black Front Pager here.
.
Svensker
What happened to DougJ’s post? I’d like some more room between the top of the blog and the bomb throwers below, please.
Yevgraf
Under the new progressive normal, Santorum gets kudos for having gay supporters. Everybody needs to ignore all the other anti-gay warmongering, retrograde racial stuff, because everybody knows that Obama is the far greater evil.
WaterGirl
I’m pretty sure we’ll be seeing one of Santorum’s gay friends on Stephen Colbert, much as we have seen his black friend.
Gin & Tonic
@Gex: Yeah, I was trying to inject a little levity in light of the 300+-comment monstrosity downstairs.
CT Voter
The Santorum Family: making “Leave it to Beaver” look wild.
More seriously, who does the “I’m not a hater, because I have friends who are exactly the people I hate” line actually work with these days?
RSA
Actually, you need to reassure Elizabeth that her friends will remain anonymous to avoid being demonized by people just like Elizabeth’s father. That little bit of self-awareness never seems to happen with people like Santorum or her father. They’re happy to say, “I’m not a bigot; I have gay friends,” but they leave out “…even though they’re abominations and if they don’t change they’re going straight to hell.” Yeah, I think that about a lot of my friends.
Zifnab
@Yevgraf:
People are pissed at Obama because he came in promising a glorious new tomorrow of Hope and Change and failed to fix the nation’s problems with a snap of his fingers.
People aren’t pissed at Santorum as much anymore because it’s Santorum and we all know what to expect.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with holding Barack Obama to a higher standard than Rick Santorum. On the flip side, I do see something wrong when Santorum is considered a serious contender for the Presidency.
cmorenc
The existence of Log Cabin Republicans and Dick Cheney’s gay daughter actually does make Elizabeth Santorum’s claims that she is at least casual friends with some plausible, though her claims about their expressed degree of support for her dad should be taken with 50-lb bags of salt. She’s likely stretching some tactfully polite things they’ve said regarding her dad into expressions of true “support” for his presidential campaign. Let’s see how many checks members of “Log Cabin Republicans” have written in support of Santorum’s Presidential campaign, for instance.
Ruckus
@Keith G:
It’s possible. The number of millions who would vote for scum sucking, life draining cocksuckers, which defines any of the conservative candidates, seems to grow with each post on the issue. I believe it started at 50 mil and is now at 57 mil.
Mattminus
Doesn’t mistermix know that 175% of women are being raped RIGHT NOW?!?!?!?!
Worse than GG this guy is.
RobNYNY1957
There actually was a pro-Nazi Jewish group from 1933 (founded by an openly gay monarchist Jew) to 1935 (when it was dissolved by the Nazi government). The members believed that Jews were bringing about Germany’s downfall.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_deutsche_Vortrupp._Gefolgschaft_deutscher_Juden
It was “very small.”
slag
@JGabriel:
Too mannish.
Though now that you mention it…why do nuns get special treatment in these matters? Aren’t they just women of a certain occupation? Or do they all really sing like Julie Andrews?
Gust Avrakotos
Has Greenwald come out to defend Santorum yet (the google one or the person, take your pick)? With Cole following right along fluffing Greenwald as hard as he can?
Woodrowfan
made me laugh. 8-)
burnspbesq
@Keith G:
There’s a reason why lacrosse players wear helmets. ;-)
Dumbass, if you were the Republican nominee, 57 million people would vote for you. Has the concept of “brand loyalty” somehow managed to never penetrate your consciousness?
Baud
@RobNYNY1957:
I’ll take “What made Hitler go WTF?” for $100, Alex.
Carnacki
@BO_Bill: She wasn’t fired. Cole said she’s welcome to post whenever she wants. She decided to leave. She has quit before and I expect will return again some day.
Gin & Tonic
@Ruckus: Considering that 50 mil voted for Bush/Cheney the first time, 62 mil the second time, and 60 mil voted for McCain/Palin, Attila the fucking Hun could get in the 50’s.
slag
@Gust Avrakotos @Mattminus: Clearly, you don’t get what’s going on here. This is the post in which we get to mock the stuff that you people are taking seriously in the threads below. If you’re not into self-mockery, you’d probably be better off back there.
Zifnab
@Gust Avrakotos: Say what you will about Greenwald’s political affiliations, but his anti-war politics are fairly rock solid. If you start singing his song, he’ll listen.
Obama wasn’t the anti-war messiah he’d hoped for. Paul is promising he’ll dismantle the better part of the post-WW2 build up. Santorum wants to nuke Iran.
It’s one thing to be pissed at Greenwald for failing to read below the fold on Paul’s political history. It’s another to claim he’d back a K-street bible thumping war-monger because “GG is stoopid, heer heer.”
Brachiator
Wait. How can we really know if the Santorums are homophobes if we don’t know what’s in their hearts?
@Zifnab:
Heck, I’m astounded that Santorum is holds any political office at all.
On the other hand, Rupert Murdoch thinks Santorum is a man of great vision. Or something.
nastybrutishntall
@JGabriel: SHUT UP 0B0T!1! UR DUMBTARD LOLZ!
WereBear
@RobNYNY1957: Sucking up to oppression isn’t new. It’s just pointless and despicable.
Villago Delenda Est
The BJ site is being pounded right now. Not sure what it is, just high traffic from the great ABL/Greenwald dustup, most likely.
Gin & Tonic
@Brachiator:
He doesn’t.
nastybrutishntall
@JGabriel: SHUT UP 0B0T!1! UR DUMBTARD LOLZ! / SHUT UP LIBTARD JON GALT LIBTARD COLEZZZZZLIKKER!1!
*
do I get the prize?
slag
@nastybrutishntall:
The excuse to use allcaps is its own reward.
ruemara
@Mattminus: I am really glad that rape is hilarious to you. It speaks to your personality.
Brachiator
@Gin & Tonic:
I posted too fast and had browser edit problems. I should have said, “I’m astounded that Santorum holds or ever held any political office at all.”
catclub
@slag: You do know that Julie Andrews can no longer sing.
kindness
@ruemara: Please get thee back to the previous thread. Those of us who don’t want to use brain-bleach will forever be grateful to you.
Mattminus
@ruemara:
I’ve already made clear that rape is only hilarious when at least one of the parties is a clown.
slag
@catclub: Noooooooooooooooooooooo! Don’t tell me these things. I can’t handle the truth!
Seriously, what happened? Was it a freak accident involving too-hot tea? Or is it just a consequence of the natural aging process compounded with already having done it up right in her formative years?
cokane
Don’t agree with him slamming reporters on this. He’s right in a way, they should try to follow up, but most campaigns aren’t going to give out the identity of its supporters unless those supporters volunteer themselves. And frankly, political campaigns SHOULDNT give out names and contact information of supporters unless they volunteer it.
I think simply reporting that the Santorums said this is fine. Most voters will know it’s ridiculous.
Btw, has Savage never heard of the GayPatriot website? It’s not out of the question that Santorum has such supporters. Plenty of loony to go around.
Ruckus
@Gin & Tonic:
Unfortunately both you and burns are correct. Nutbags will vote for their own kind. In massively high numbers. My comment was a semi-friendly jab at burns for the ever increasing number, not the concept of stupid he was posting about.
Keith G
@burnspbesq: I do not think a marginal candidate like Santorum would be able to perform in the general at a level that would inspire a full turnout of all registered GOPers. Losing sides tend to become disheartened and Santorum is a loser in the general.
If having that view makes me a dumb ass, I will gladly cop to that.
Ruckus
@Zifnab:
Paul’s concept that he will end our post WWII military build up is to me like the dude running for HS class president, promising no detention for skipping typing class. Is he so addled that he thinks he is running for the US monarchy?
Barry
@cokane: “Don’t agree with him slamming reporters on this. He’s right in a way, they should try to follow up, but most campaigns aren’t going to give out the identity of its supporters unless those supporters volunteer themselves. And frankly, political campaigns SHOULDNT give out names and contact information of supporters unless they volunteer it.”
No, they should (a) point out that ‘some of my best friends are….’ is almost certainly a lie, and (b) tell her to put up or shut up when she tries to pull a Secret Ace card.
Three-nineteen
@catclub: Julie Andrews had an operation in 2009 and was singing again in 2010.
cokane
@Barry: Uhh yeah I disagree. The statement made, without any back up is sufficient to prove that she’s blowing smoke. Reporters don’t have to tell their readers this is BS. Most people who follow this shit close enough to even care about a second-tier candidate’s wife’s comments will know its veracity. Just as Savage and most of the readers in this thread know it’s bs, so will others.
catpal
we all know that little Miss Santorum is Lying.
I know it because I have relatives in PA that knew the Santorum family as a bunch of religious Nutjobs who preached garbage about Morals to everyone even while the Santorums were breaking the law in PA.
catclub
@Three-nineteen: I stand un-googled. Figuratively lacking in google-fu.
But two or three years ago, I would have been correct.
For some values of ‘correct’.
Cheers — for Julie!
Name
I actually believe her. She probably does have a gay friend or two who support her Dad. I believe her because I met an openly gay man at a friend’s wedding in 2004, and when we started talking about gay marriage he took the exact position Santorum has on the subject. “Gay marriage destroys traditional concepts of marriage, etc., etc., etc.”
I was flabbergasted. The photo of me talking to the guy captures the “WTF?” perplexed exasperation on my face. It felt weird being a straight guy and arguing for gay rights with a gay guy who said they were a bunch of crap, but I think there are probably plenty of gay people who hate themselves out there. (Most of them would probably be closeted though, and this one wasn’t; so… Yeah, even all these years later it strikes me as absolutely insane.)
AxelFoley
@Zifnab:
Oh, but there is a problem with that. Both are public servants. Barack Obama may be the President, and the better man, if you will, of the two, but Rick Santorum also serves at the will of the people. Therefore, he he should be held to the same standards as the President, or anyone else holding higher office.