It's important for everyone to have some kind of a routine, especially when they get off work. Whether it's copious amounts of booze, firearms, or just good old-fashioned American self-loathing, we all need some way to sit back and metabolize the day's events.
I spend my evening commute tuned into POTUS, a political analysis station on satellite radio, because after spending a work day aggravating an already ill-tempered wrist and essentially failing at everything I'm paid to do, it's nice to have a relaxing drive listening to news junkies regale me with all of the insane shit spewing forth in the political spectrum.
The booze comes later, once I've safely navigated the iconic California traffic and arrived home. Today it's a delicious mix of Bushmills and Sam Adams Boston Lager, two of my alcoholic staples that never fail to take the edge off a hectic afternoon. On the off chance that they do, however, I have a reserve bottle of absinthe waiting to do the trick. If the military taught me anything, it's to always have a backup plan.
One shot down, half a beer gone. Time to reload and ruminate on the events of the day, take the occasional break to watch the cats dart around the apartment high as kites on the nip. I sometimes wonder if it's acceptable to give them the stuff at only about seven months. Suppose it can't do much harm.
Anyway, to the matter at hand. The talk of the evening was of Sanotrum's plot to address AIPAC along with the other GOP candidates. The press pool at POTUS seemed confused as to why he would leave Ohio, still very much in contention, to try and get the Jewish lobby to swoon over him. Florida is long over and done, why bother?
Why, indeed? From a purely political standpoint, it doesn't make much sense. There's lots to lose in Ohio if Santorum doesn't make the grade there; it's pretty much the lynchpin for his campaign at this point, at least that's the conventional wisdom. I'm inclined to agree, not because I understand the inner workings of this primary process but because if the press says it is so, so will the majority of voting Americans paying attention. It has something to do with rust belts and cardigans, two particularly gaudy pieces of wear that Sanotrum seems hell-bent to bring back into style.
So what's the spin? Why ditch the state to go to DC and schmooze with a powerful national lobby? Ive got two theories:
One, to agree with the POTUS commentators who accompanied on my commute, is that he is making a play at appearing Presidential. This is important, because for most sane people Sanotrum is to Presidential as pepper is to sweet. There is something genuinely distasteful about the prospect of a Santorum presidency, and much of it has to do with him trying to be more like Billy Graham than Ronald Reagan, spending copious amounts of time fleecing the funds of gullible church-goers and opining on the ills of modern society.
In this light, an AIPAC speech is a good tactic. It seeks to shift the narrative from the contraception issue - once which has, rightly, caused many voters to despise the man - to one about foreign policy. This is smart, since most evangelicals (a solid majority of the GOP electorate) have no concept of international diplomacy and will blindly accept what any bible-toting hillbilly tells them about them there evil Iranians.
Contraception was a bad move: everyone, whether they like to admit it or not, has either uses, does use, or is thankful that someone is currently using it. To say that it shouldn't exist while trying to win national office is a bad idea, since everyone has experienced its benefits personally. If someone ran for President and said, "Chocolate is a thing of the devil and must be banned in its entirety" you'd be right to find the poor son of a bitch and kick him in the jewels. Everyone loves chocolate, and anyone who doesn't either hasn't tried it or is so hopelessly lost in the weeds that having a rational conversation about the stuff is an exercise in futility. Same with contraception.
Thus, Santorum can lay down another barn-buster of a stump speech and make the media shift focus to Iran, something which nobody feels that attached to (this would be different if a draft were a very real possibility). It doesn't speak directly to Ohioans woes, but to do so would require specifics, and the last time Santorum flapped about specific policy proposals he shot himself fifteen times in the foot. He's not about to make that mistake again.
Now, my second theory...this one has less to do with politics. In fact, it has nothing to do with politics. For my money, I don't think Santorum is much of a "politics" kind of guy. Nothing he has said or done strikes me as someone who has spent their whole life studying and enjoying the game that is political discourse and intrigue. Any positive political gesture he's made I'm willing to chock up to pure luck or the result of some excellent handling on the part of his staff.
Rick is not a politician; it's the only reason he's hanging around. He's not here to score another round of paychecks and socialized health care. Santorum is here because he wants to be, because he thinks he is on a mission from God to turn this country around. He's speaking to AIPAC because he believes he has something genuine to tell them, something that they need to hear. When he says he's willing to bomb Iran into oblivion, he's not just saying it to score political points: he fucking means it, and that should terrify the sane majority of the population.
This is a man who subscribes to the belief that the End Times are (as they always are) upon us, and that what the US does vis a vis Israel will have biblical implications on the fate of the world. One would think that a reasonable individual, given this knowledge, would do what they can to avoid such a cataclysmic scenario, but he/she would be dead wrong. It doesn't take much prodding to get a modern, on-fire Christian to tell you how they pine for the return of Christ, even though according to their theology it means a third of the population dying of plagues (Rev. 9:18).
I don't fault the people on POTUS or even any straight reporter for missing this fact; the only reason I'm aware of it is because I grew up drenched in the stuff. However I'm willing to parse my bets. It's possible that Santorum is just a cunning politician out playing the holy-roller card for some solid GOP delegates, yet it's also possible that he's an honest person looking to change the world.
I'll leave it up to you to decide which is worse. Selah.