Thursday, April 24, 2003

Utah Sect Leader Criticizes Santorum (Wasington Post April 24, 2003)

The leader of one of Utah's largest polygamist sects has objected to Sen. Rick Santorum's comment lumping plural marriage with other practices the Pennsylvania Republican considers to be antifamily.

Santorum has been under fire for comparing homosexuality to bigamy, polygamy, incest and adultery.

But Allred said Santorum's inclusion of polygamy in his list tarnishes a religious tradition whose roots are traced to biblical figures such as Abraham, Jacob and Moses - defiling them as "immoral and dirty."

In an interview with The Associated Press published over the weekend, Santorum criticized homosexuality while discussing a pending Supreme Court case over a Texas sodomy law.

Am I allowed the pun "politics makes strange bedfellows"?

This is such a great example of how someone is always willing to stand up and be offended by any comment uttered. Every fringe position in the world has a spokesman of some sort that WaPo or the NYTimes will quote.

The media trains people to couch their language in politically correct mumbo jumbo by dredging up these kinds of opponents. If you step out of the bounds of political correctness, especially on a slow news day, you’ll be singled out and sometimes forced to step down from your job, because someone is always standing by to denounce you. Then occasionally someone like John McCain or Pat Moynihan will come forward and refuse to use that language and they are paradoxically rewarded for “straight talk.”

But you’ll notice that they are only rewarded if they adhere to general media prejudices. McCain liked campaign finance reform and that was an issue that the media loved, so therefore, McCain could be off the cuff on other issues. Moynihan could complain about the welfare state as long as he didn’t stop voting for its increase. These guys were given profiles as colorful and thoughtful men, but only because they supported an overall structure the media believes in.

Santorum’s comments were foolish in a politically correct age. Although, I thought his legal reasoning was theoretically valid, he didn’t reinforce the media’s prejudices on the subject. There will be no reward for Santorum’s straight talk, but a litany of opponents to ready to denounce him.

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