Rick Santorum? Really? Are you f@#kin' serious?
Hey, maybe Operation Hilarity was just a tool to energize us to focus on the possibility of a Santorum candidacy. Maybe kos wanted to galvanize the community. He did say something about "fighting" after all. And fight we did. I was pleasantly encouraged, though, by the fact that the whole thing didn't turn into a flinging pastry fest.
I know that this is not a timely diary and that I missed the firestorm over Operation Hilarity. Sorry, I have been taking my time mulling the impact of the whole thing. Also, the rec list was full of people posting and commenting and, in general, making a ruckus. I didn't want to post another three paragraph diary that would allow me to vent but probably just get ignored.
The hardest part of the whole thing for me was choosing sides. Was I team Edward or Team Jacob? Team Coco or Team Leno? Peanut butter or jelly?
Where did I stand? How was I to make up my mind? I wasn't sure if it was bad strategically or if it just stuck in my craw that we were talking about Rick, of all fucking people, Santorum.
At the end of it all, call me a pearl-clutcher, not because I am against the thought of voting in an open process to force a leading contender to fight a rear-guard battle. Hey, let 'em keep on slugging it out with each other. That can only be good for Democrats in the Fall. My qualm was with throwing some support behind Santorum. I just can't abide anything that might give him a half ounce of credibility with anyone, even with crazy-ass nut-job Republican voters.
The cool thing has been the eruption of anti-Santorum sentiment here at the Great Orange Satan. He does have the effect of getting people's dander up around here. He has also been doubling down on the True Believer bullshit over the past few days to give us plenty to ponder.
Santorum is a true believer nonpareil. This one is not using the socially conservative to get elected, he wants to enforce his vision of morality on the rest of us and he wants the Bully Pulpit to do it. His views on abortion, contraception, morality, and education are well to the right of mainstream thought. Santorum knows that he will need to ignite a legion of true believer volunteers to counter Romney's money.
Best way to do that? Sound the alarms and man the barricades for another (sigh) battle in the Culture Wars. Call out the militias and the home schoolers and birthers and the homophobes to arms.
Of course, maybe I'm just wrong. happens all the time.