Shannon Larratt is Zentastic

A number of people have pointed out that I'm being “unfair” in calling Sen. Santorum's homophobic and bigotted quotes — in which he'd said that gays were in effect sexual criminals that were “antithetical to a healthy family” (more) — as being statements “by the government”… So I'm adding this entry to cut down on the number of replies I have to do.

Let me be clear on why I put it that way… primarily because he said it with the (silent) support of the government and that support continues. And that silent support should not be ignored, and it is saying volumes.

First, he's the Senate's 3rd ranking Republican (if he can't speak for the government, who can?). Second, he “clarified” his remarks be saying*, “I have no problem with gays, I just have a big problem with them acting on their sodomite desires, and lots of people agree with me too!” (more, more, more). Third, not only has no official statement been issued by the government (more) — Ari Fleisher just said in effect, “it's not a big deal — we've got more important things to worry about” when asked about it (more) — but they are actively supporting him via their “unofficial channels” (more, more).

So, simply:

1. He is a direct representative of the ruling branch of the US government.
2. He made profoundly bigotted remarks as a representative of the government.
3. No statements decrying his comments were issued by the government, so we can assume they stand. On the contrary, the traditional “pseudo-government” lobby groups all supported him.
4. When asked to clarify his remarks, he “clarified” them into an even more bigotted form.
5. Again, no statement from the government.
6. When asked by the press what the President thought about the comments, Ari Fleisher replied that they were really no big deal and joked with the reporters that monitoring the UN inspection teams (which isn't happening) is more important.

PS. Just so you know exactly who Sen. Santorum is, here are a few of his claims to political fame (and I've listed only a few here):

• He directly supported a bill that would make murdering an abortion provider “justifiable homicide” (more, more).
• He tried to force through a bill ensuring that “creationism” was taught as a viable scientific theory alongside education in schools (ie. trying to force schools to teach Christian mythology). (more, more, more)
• He was of course a supporter of the “faith-based” charity system which allows funneling of federal funds to religious groups (more).
• He's the guy that along with Sen. Brownback is pushing through legislation that would cut federal funding to any educational facilities that allow students to speak against Israel (more, more) — that is, he doesn't give a damn about Constitutional rights.
• He's also part of the crew supporting putting that crook Chalabi in power (more).
• He's trying to initiate sanctions against both Syria and Syrians in America (more, more, more).