A Commentary On A Rough Few Days

It would be remiss of me not to rise above all the bomb throwing that has been going on in the Republican nominating fight, and point out a few things. First, there is poor Mitt Romney. Who has turned into his own worst enemy, and frankly is so disheveled one cringes at what he might say next. His speech in Michigan last week is a perfect example, he said he liked the lakes, and cars, and that in Michigan all the trees are the right size. All the trees are the right size? Did he leave his prepared speech in the car that day? and if he did, is that the best he could come up with? Throw in a another one of his stirring off key renditions of America the Beautiful, and sideshow would be complete. Add to that fact, that one week out from his home state primary in Michigan, he is still trailing, yet closing the gap on Rick Santorum. Father Rick currently leads there by 4 points in the latest polling. Some would say Romney's ship hits the iceberg, should he lose Michigan. My take is, he has already hit the iceberg, Michigan will prove whether he can stay afloat, or starts going down by the head.

Then we have Rick Santorum who must be exhausted from carrying that huge cross on his back all weekend. He challenged the Presidents religion, compared him to Hitler, inferred Obama is a Muslim, made a general indictment of the American public school system, said birth control is bad for women and the country, and asserted women shouldn't be in combat situations because of all the emotions involved. Whew! I'm tired just listing it. That is a lot of shit shovelling for one weekend, even for Father Rick.

There was one other thing he mentioned that I wanted to focus on, and that is prenatal testing. Here is what Father Rick had to say, "One of the mandates is they require free prenatal testing in every insurance policy in America," Santorum, a conservative Roman Catholic, told a Christian Alliance luncheon in Columbus. "Why? Because it saves money in health care. Why? Because free prenatal testing ends up in more abortions and therefore less care that has to be done, because we cull the ranks of the disabled in our society." He added that the requirement was "another hidden message as to what President Obama thinks of those who are less able."

Now I don't know if that's true or not, the fact is I don't care. Obviously Father Rick is pro-life, anti-abortion, but here again he oversteps the mark to the point of being offensive. Again, if he wants to feed this kind of ardent pablum to the evangelical masses in his party, while independents and moderates run screaming from the building, I say go for it. Because for every 10 voters he fires up on the right, he loses 100 voters in the middle, and that is not a recipe for victory in November. Speaking directly to the issue itself, I can think of a no more difficult situation, or greater hardship for parents, than learning their child may have a defect inutero that would prove life altering. However, the last time I checked, despite countless attempts by the Right to undermine it, abortion is still legal in this country. What if those parents don't have the means to properly care for a special needs child? What if the pregnancy may endanger the mother in some way? What if for any number of reasons continuing that pregnancy was not an option? Is Rick Santorum going to pay the bills associated with such a child, or make the sacrifices needed to provide proper care? Of course not! But that's not even enough for him, he has to continue by linking the President to this most incredibly difficult decision, by saying this is what President Obama "...thinks of those who are less able." As if the President is making the decision for all those who find themselves in this wrenching position. It is despicable on its face, not just to raise the issue in this light, but to link it directly to President Obama. It is contemptible, presumptuous, and just one more, of a growing number of reasons why Father Rick should not become President.