Rick Santorum caused a minor international incident a few weeks ago, arguing that in the Netherlands, government officials routinely euthanize the elderly "involuntarily" when seniors "are older and sick." As a result, the Republican presidential hopeful argued, elderly Dutch people simply "don't go to the hospital," because they're terrified of being murdered by the state.
Erik Mouthaan, the U.S. correspondent for the Dutch RTL Evening News, appeared on the show soon after, explaining that Santorum has no idea what he's talking about. But to update the story, Andrew Kaczynski reports that Mouthaan connected with Santorum press secretary Alice Stewart, asking to explain why the former senator made a series of claims that simply aren't true. Regrettably, Stewart didn't offer much of a defense.
From Stewart's perspective, Santorum being " a strong pro-life person" apparently gives him license to make up nonsense about the Netherlands.
Leave a Comment:
In her non-reply, what Alice Stewart was really saying is "Rick is strong pro-life but equally strong anti-truth."
Apparently the ends(showing he is prolife) justify the means(lying) for Santorum.
So being "strong pro-life" and "coming from his heart" means the truth is just so passe?!? I get it now, the truth is whatever the GOP says it is....Hahahaha
Yikes. There just isn't any attempt at truthfulness there, just a canned non-answer. How can anyone support a candidate who will straight up lie, and have his people back him up for it? How does she sleep at night, working for that guy?
Actually she doesn't sleep, which is why she looks tired......
If he is truly pro-life from conception to natural death then why isn't he as vocal in his opposition to the death penalty as he is abortion/contraception.
"Rick is a strong pro-life...and that is what the voters of America stood behind him for..." And here in America lying about other country is considered our freedom of speech. That's why in some state we allow doctor to lie to their patient about their condition if that means preventing abortion. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion...the rest are just bystander casualties. Sorry, Netherlands....
Sigh! And she even look him in the eye, smile and said she gave him an answer for his question.....incredible!
#NotIntendedToBeAFactualStatement
ditto
The American Taliban, just like the Afghanistan counterparts, are simply zealots. Once you have absolute confidence that you are right, anything that stands in your way is the enemy.
Facts, history, global temperature rise, and droughts can all be disregarded if they do not support your world view. When you delude yourself that you truly know the mind of God you are lost.
In this case Santorum didn't merely disregard the facts, he just made them up.
You know, Steve, I'm a Dutchman, born and raised in a tiny little town called Lekkerkerk, about 10 miles east of Rotterdam. This November I've been here (in the US) 30 years. One kid got married and gave us 2 granddaughters, the other passed away about 3 years ago from a terrible (and long) illness. In a way I'm more American than Dutch. However, during the last decade or so, I've witnessed this country slide into a black hole, and this Santorum-Holland-euthanasia thing has me really upset. Instead of looking at Holland, where everyone has access to very excellent health care (no waiting lines, either), in a positive way, it's gotta be buried in hatred and lies. What a country where you have an excellent chance of winning the nomination of a political party by just blowing it out of your ass, all in a general effort to deny people meaningful health care insurance. People ought to be ashamed.
A lot of us are ashamed that a blockhead like Rick Santorum can make statements like that and get away with them.
Yeah, I'm ashamed, even though it wasn't me. Much of what America has done and said is against my will. I do not think it's good to go around making false statements even though someone believes a certain way is not a license to "anything goes", "end justify the means", verbiage. It seems to be what many of those that claim to have moral superiority use to excite their audiences. Very sad that we can no longer discuss the merits and pitfalls of issues without resorting to disparaging others.
Republicans specialize in nonsense because they believe that lying is perfectly acceptable when they are conducting a crusade. Nixon believed the ends justify the means. The Republicans have not evolved since that time because nonsense works at the ballot box.
And that's why, for at least 150 years, there has been so much opposition to wasting tax dollars on education:
http://books.google.com/books?id=aRsxpwAACAAJ&dq=life+and+letters+of+walter+h+page&hl=en&sa=X&ei=g0leT_SlC5TciQLCw4W9Cw&ved=0CD0Q6AEwAQ
You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure that Bush wrote IOU's to Social Security and racked up the government debt to pay for the wars and the tax cuts which primarily benefited the rich and now the Republicans are proposing that the middle class pay for all of those IOU's by program cuts. When are Dems going to get this simple message out to voters instead of letting Republicans sell more nonsense about the deficit? You don't have to be a scholar to figure out your pocket is being picked.
DANG!!! When something really USEFUL comes out, I am too old to use it! I could have really used this defense when I was younger.
{Daddy: I TOLD you not to go out with that boy. Why did you LIE to me? Me: But Daddy, I'm so strongly pro-life!!}
Nixon could have used it too as well as Clinton. The "I did not have sex with that woman" could have turned into: "i did not have sex with that woman because I am so strongly pro-life!"
The harp music that the religious right want us to hear when they push their agenda, is actually dueling banjos leading us into the woods for our 'deliverance'.
Relax people. Santorum has no chance in winning the nomination. After all, why would anyone vote for him when you've got Romney??
So what if Santorum won't win the nomination? Elections are less about the individual candidates than they are about political parties, and Santorum is more representational of the current state of the GOP than Romney is. This election cycle has ramifications beyond just this year. Not only does it (obviously) determine who the next President is, it sets the stage for the next cycle.
Consider the normal, unwritten rule that the runner-up in one Republican primary season is the presumptive nominee in the next. That's why Romney is where he is today. If Romney gains the nomination, but loses the election, that means the presumptive nominee for 2016 will be this cycle's runner-up: Rick Santorum.
Romney is a more or less conventional Republican presidential contender, by recent historical standards. Santorum would represent the triumph of the wingnut fringe. Romney probably will get the Republican nomination this year, but if Romney loses the election, he'll be past his sell-by date. He probably can't/won't be a contender in 2016 if he loses this year, but Santorum will or easily could be, and Romney is the very last "normal" Republican candidate for President the world will ever see. After this, it's the people like Santorum who will have full run of the GOP.
Republicans routinely say things about others that aren't true and are intended to be offensive and hurtful. Americans are jaded by it, and seem to have no will to stop it. Obviously the rest of the world isn't, and won't tolerate that childish b.s. Maybe we can learn by their example, but I really do doubt it.
You don't understand. Lying in the name of the lord is a holy right! So is cheating on your wife, stealing from customers, worshipping the dollar....
That's interesting. I recall an incident described in Acts 4:32-5:11, in which a couple sold some land they owned and turned a part of the proceeds over to the church, but they lied and said that what they handed over was the full amount. Their fault lay not in holding some of the money back for themselves, but in lying about it. When confronted, the couple promptly fell over dead.
That sort of phenomenon would certainly thin out the ranks of politicians, although it would be wrong of me to wish sudden death on any specific person. So I'll just let the implication hang in the air and let people follow the thought through to whatever conclusion they like.
I guess the Dutch didn't get the memo from the other countries warning them about our wonderful new Presidential hopefuls. Just ignore these boys behind the badly ripped curtain, wanting to play Army and stick their women where they belong barefoot and in the kitchen, not to mention pregnant.
Seriously, how do you defend a guy who lives in an old world morality play?
Rick Santorum is so pro-life that he wants to reach into the uterus of every American woman and make sure it's being used solely and only for production purposes. Get rid of the EPA and instead regulate the uterus! And to boot he wants to make sure there's no contraception out there to stop all the little Santorum babies he'll be making.
Incidentally he also is so pro-life that he wants us to bomb people overseas
Those babies don't count
#sarcasm
Answered the question? That woman reminds me of any obfuscating bureaucrat who parrots a standard reponse in a semi-hectoring tone, knowing that any genuine reply would cause further ructions. Besides, The Netherlands don't get the chance to vote for The Blessed Rick. Besides that story is SO last month. What arrogance on the part of her and her candidate. In Europe she would have been shouted down and exposed for such weasel words.
childish bs indeed.
Come, now. Rick is Strong Pro-Life, from Conception to Natural Death. And to prove that he needs a villain, a foil, someone to demonstrate just how pro-life he is. An Anti-Life Demon, if you will. It's like in pro wrestling; you wouldn't know that Hulk Hogan is a hero unless there was some sinister-looking brute he pounded every week, right? Or, it's like when I wanted to demonstrate to my family what a responsible car-owner I was, so I put the car in storage and filed a police report telling how I saw the black family across the street break the window and drive off in it, probably to score crack. You can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs, and sorry, windmillers, but this time you're the eggs!
What exactly is a 'natural death', anyway? I'm guessing it means any death that doesn't involve vampires, zombies, werewolves, and such. Or maybe I'm taking the Santorum spokeswoman more seriously than she deserves.
You forgot Nazi Zombies
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90TW-p3rkQk
OK, so if the Jewish zombies made a golem, would it be a zombie golem or just a regular golem but made by zombies? Oh, just skip it.
Y'all are forgetting the obvious... #notintendedtobeafactualstatement