Rick Santorum has officially lost his mind.

[Effloresce]

Santorum defends Iraq war

By ALISON HAWKES
Bucks County Courier Times

Embattled U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum said America has avoided a second terrorist attack for five years because the “Eye of Mordor” has been drawn to Iraq instead.

Santorum used the analogy from one of his favorite books, J.R.R. Tolkien's 1950s fantasy classic “Lord of the Rings,” to put an increasingly unpopular war in Iraq into terms any school kid could easily understand.

“As the hobbits are going up Mount Doom, the Eye of Mordor is being drawn somewhere else,” Santorum said, describing the tool the evil Lord Sauron used in search of the magical ring that would consolidate his power over Middle-earth.

“It's being drawn to Iraq and it's not being drawn to the U.S.,” Santorum continued. “You know what? I want to keep it on Iraq. I don't want the Eye to come back here to the United States.”

In an interview with the Bucks County Courier Times editorial board late last week, the 12-year Republican senator from Pennsylvania said he's “a big "Lord of the Rings' fan.” He's read the first of the series, “The Hobbit” to his six children.

A spokesman for Democratic opponent Bob Casey Jr. questioned the appropriateness of the analogy.

“You have to really question the judgment of a U.S. senator who compares the war in Iraq to a fantasy book,” said Casey spokesman Larry Smar. “This is just like when he said Kim Jong II isn't a threat because he just wants to "watch NBA basketball.' ”

According to a Harrisburg Patriot-News editorial, Santorum said the North Korea dictator “doesn't want to die; he wants to watch NBA basketball” as a reason why Iran is the bigger nuclear threat.

Faced with a no-fantasy re-election battle against Democratic challenger and state Treasurer Bob Casey Jr., Santorum has positioned himself as strong on national security.

To counter Casey's claims that Santorum voted with President George Bush “98 percent of the time.” Santorum pointedly mentioned their areas of difference, specifically on Iran and its nuclear weapons program.

He called the Bush Administration's policy to negotiate with Iran “at worst appeasement and at best constructive engagement, either of which are wrong.”

“They believe you can negotiate with [Iran President] Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the mullahs on the issue of nuclear weapons and you cannot,” Santorum said. “You cannot negotiate something away from someone who has a messianic vision to a religious conviction that they need this weapon.”

Santorum said he managed to work out an agreement between Congress and the White House on a plan to toughen sanctions and fund Iranian pro-democracy groups. But he seemed frustrated by questions about U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq.

“I don't think you ask that question,” he said. “I know that's the question everybody wants to ask. But I don't think anyone would ask that question in 1944, "Gee, how long are we going to be in Europe?' We're going to be in Europe until we win,” Santorum said.

Asked whether he thinks U.S. troops will be in Iraq a half-century later, as they still are in Germany, Santorum said “potentially.”

“Having a presence there as we have since the Gulf War in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait is certainly not against the interests of America if, in fact, we're welcome to be there,” he said.

Santorum insisted the U.S. needed to take out Saddam Hussein because he “by all accounts, had weapons of mass destruction ... he was fomenting terrorism, he was paying for terrorists to kill Israelis and he was supporting terrorist objectives.

“To say we're being bogged down in Iraq, I disagree with you,” he said in response to a question. “We are fighting the war that we are engaged in — Islamic fascism — in Iraq. We are fighting those people right now, the people who, if we left, would come here and destroy us.”

The 911 Commission report found that while Saddam had been in contact with al-Qaida, there was no evidence the contacts ever turned into “a collaborative operational relationship” or that Iraq cooperated in the attacks against the U.S.

Santorum demurred on the growing strength of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the U.S.'s first post-9/11 nation-building effort, and the failure to capture Osama bin Laden.

“You know, what we have is a lousy enemy,” Santorum said about the Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan. “This enemy is really tough. And I underestimated this enemy ... and the problem is [the] American people underestimated this enemy.”

According to his campaign and published news reports, Casey also doesn't support a timeline for troop withdrawal. Casey criticized Bush for going first to Iraq, the weakest link in the “Axis of Evil,” while Iran and North Korea have developed nuclear capabilities.

Casey has been invited to meet with the editorial board, but hasn't yet agreed to do so.

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/ne...06-728120.html

“As the hobbits are going up Mount Doom, the Eye of Mordor is being drawn somewhere else,” Santorum said, describing the tool the evil Lord Sauron used in search of the magical ring that would consolidate his power over Middle-earth.

He's DONE.

[sleeper]

lost his mind? i think hes normal within the republican party and conservatism as a whole. they are absolutely nothing if not prone to cast complicated things in the most simple, binary moral terms. thats what their religiosity partly speaks to, and what else it speaks to -- their deeply ingrained stupidity -- accounts for the rest. i mean, call what he said ridiculous but be aware that the iraq war sprung from practically no more fantastic and childish thinking. using lord of the rings to help decide, interpret, or even explain foreign policy? really, not as ridiculous as it seems. this is the bush administration and these are conservatives, remember that. just fucking dare to tell me that it wouldve been even a hair less ridiculous for him to cite some biblical fable

honeslty, maybe its getting tired hearing me rail against religion in every single thread but i have problem whatsoever pointing to religion as being at the root of the monstrosity that is the bush administration. just try and tell me that some secular politican committed to reason and evidence would make glaringly retarded decisions based on "their gut." this is what religion does to people, it eats away at reason on the whole. whats that? stem cells are potentially one of the biggest breakthroughs in the history of medicine? no, it cant be done. GOD SAYS NO!!!

[Effloresce]

How many of 'em compare Iraq to Lord of the Rings though, ahahaha

[sleeper]

off the record, probably all

[sppunk]

He's just pissed the GOP cut funding for his campaign.

[Effloresce]

He's pissed about anything and everything. Big fat fucking baby. I can't wait to see him lose.

[JokeyLoki]

[Mayfuck]

Originally Posted by sleeper

lost his mind? i think hes normal within the republican party and conservatism as a whole. they are absolutely nothing if not prone to cast complicated things in the most simple, binary moral terms. thats what their religiosity partly speaks to, and what else it speaks to -- their deeply ingrained stupidity -- accounts for the rest. i mean, call what he said ridiculous but be aware that the iraq war sprung from practically no more fantastic and childish thinking. using lord of the rings to help decide, interpret, or even explain foreign policy? really, not as ridiculous as it seems. this is the bush administration and these are conservatives, remember that. just fucking dare to tell me that it wouldve been even a hair less ridiculous for him to cite some biblical fable

honeslty, maybe its getting tired hearing me rail against religion in every single thread but i have problem whatsoever pointing to religion as being at the root of the monstrosity that is the bush administration. just try and tell me that some secular politican committed to reason and evidence would make glaringly retarded decisions based on "their gut." this is what religion does to people, it eats away at reason on the whole. whats that? stem cells are potentially one of the biggest breakthroughs in the history of medicine? no, it cant be done. GOD SAYS NO!!!

There's this book coming out that I'm sure you already know about, where this guy, a self-procclaimed Christian conservative is making accusations about the current administration for ridiculing the religious right. “National Christian leaders received hugs and smiles in person and then were dismissed behind their backs and described as ‘ridiculous,’ ‘out of control,’ and just plain ‘goofy,’” apparently Karl Rove has been calling some evangelicals "nuts." is it possible you're underestimating republicans here? after all these are guys for the most part have money and access to top notch universities which they get their schooling from. these have to be smart guys in office to some degree and they have to realize the kookiness of their religious conservative base enough to know to manipulate it for votes. really when it comes down to it republicans are either dumb or crooked.

[sleeper]

Originally Posted by Mayfuck

There's this book coming out that I'm sure you already know about, where this guy, a self-procclaimed Christian conservative is making accusations about the current administration for ridiculing the religious right. “National Christian leaders received hugs and smiles in person and then were dismissed behind their backs and described as ‘ridiculous,’ ‘out of control,’ and just plain ‘goofy,’” apparently Karl Rove has been calling some evangelicals "nuts." is it possible you're underestimating republicans here? after all these are guys for the most part have money and access to top notch universities which they get their schooling from.

yeah ive heard of that book. but what are you talking about, 'underestimating'? i think this theory of them being fundamentally sound but just skewed into stupidity by their wacky, volatile christian base just doesnt hold up, as does the persistent misconception of people in power as being, by the fact that they are in power, inherently competent and professional. its tired to say so, but katrina did debunk that myth very well. but with regards to the bush administration i have to ask, really, what rock have you been living under? dont you have any conception of just how profoundly amateurish and inexpert they are? thats what defines them more than almost anything, actually. this doesnt just apply to michael brown and the like, but to even the "educated" ones, especially amongst the neoconservatives, like douglas feith and cheney (a total, total venal monster of a man. really, i hate him deeply. have you read anything on his life before becoming VP or even before becoming CEO of halliburton? ive never come across anyone so fucking loathsome. i really hate him so much. he makes me fucking queasy, i cant even look at him) and rumsfeld. these people are fucking children, they have no idea what theyre doing, thats whats most incredible about the whole thing. what theyre all really good at is winning elections and, honestly, if they took actually governing even half as seriously or were even half as professional with it as they are in constantly bamboozling the public they would be a pretty respectable government.

talking about their bamboozling, have you heard of frank rich's new book? ive read a number of reviews and it seems very good. it was crucial that this issue be explored in greater depth and im glad that he did

these have to be smart guys in office to some degree and they have to realize the kookiness of their religious conservative base enough to know to manipulate it for votes. really when it comes down to it republicans are either dumb or crooked.

it would of course be wrong to say theyre all, without fail, dimwitted or whatever, but the sheer ratio of incompetency to competency is what does it. the fact that the most incompetent seem to be stacked at the top, with the most power, doesnt help at all either. all you have to do is compare them to the clinton administration. compare, say, iraq to the balkans (actually a very apt parallel). theres, fundamentally, a really stunning defecit of professionalism. no government worth its weight in bile would do what they did in iraq, would be so aggressively, proactively irresponsible and amateurish. i say aggressively because the failure in iraq couldnt be described as a crime of omission or somethng, they actively fought off expert judgements and warnings to steer the whole ship into the rocks. it was quite an accomplishment, actually

but i dont agree that the christian conservative "value voters" are simply a means to an end, just tools for electoral success, i do think that theyre a legitimate, real part of the republican establishment. its not like theyre this kind of foreign element secular conservatives think is prudent and practical to exploit. bush is himself one of them. i dont doubt that some old-school, small government and economic conservatives are made uncomfortable by the whole thing, simply because the christian conservatives are getting too big a piece of their pie and are gaining too much influence at their expense (check out that other thread i made on this).

[sleeper]

this reminds me of a few hilarious descriptions i read of cheney recently:

"At the forefront of nearly every administration effort to annihilate the constitution. A true psychopath with only one motivating force; insatiable greed. Insists that we can only remain "free" through torture, spying and secrecy. Bears the crooked ugliness of a man whose entire life has been devoted to a senseless pursuit of power, and whose most effective weapon is a total lack of ethics, or even decorum. So cartoonishly evil he defies parody."

So loathsome his own party is frightened of him. Manages to deliver stunning lies with an air of sneering authority. Shamelessly employs scare tactics in order to strip the federal government of any resemblance to the one described in the constitution. So visibly evil that all of the documented evidence against him is superfluous. The kind of guy who starts talking cannibalism the minute he steps on the lifeboat."

that last line is prime. a better analogy for his character simply does not exist

[homechicago]

the whole cheney family is creepy. the wife acts like a down home donna reed except she has a foul mouth, wrote a western about lesbians, and their lesbian daughter is a menacing figure as well. a very hateful and hatefilled bunch. i wish money COULD buy happiness, they need some true happiness.

the book about the christianity shim sham is called Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction by David Kuo (i think)

[lohengrin]

reading you guy's posts after listening to NPR is irksome

[homechicago]

So, are the Hobbits winning or losing?