Posted on 11/12/2005 5:16:19 AM PST by Sub-Driver
Santorum Critical Of Bush, War In Iraq
(AP) PHILADELPHIA Sen. Rick Santorum took a rare swing at President Bush, saying the war in Iraq has been less than optimal and that some blame for that lies with the White House.
Santorum, a conservative Republican and usually a strong Bush ally, said the unpopularity of the war should be shared between the White House and the media.
“Certainly, mistakes were made,” Santorum said of the war’s conduct. “But that’s a criticism you can make of every conflict.”
The comments, made after a Veterans Day speech at the Union League in Philadelphia on Friday, came at the same time the Pennsylvania senator stressed he wasn’t trying to distance himself from the president, who spoke moments earlier about 80 miles away at the Tobyhanna Army Depot.
Bush’s poll numbers are the lowest of any time during his presidency, in part due to the climbing death toll in Iraq. He is also blamed by some for the loss of the Virginia governor’s race, in which he appeared with Republican candidate Jerry Kilgore the day before the election. Kilgore lost.
(Excerpt) Read more at kyw.com ...
And Casey is a ?
You obviously have a visceral dislike of Santorum and nothing I can say will change your opinion.
Re the fact that Santorum's principal residence is in Virginia and not Pennsylvania: This is the norm for most Congressmen who have school-age children and have been in office awhile. Maintaining two households is an expensive proposition, especially on a salary of $150,000 a year. Some Congressmen share apartments in DC and keep a larger residence in their home state. It depends. I don't fault Santorum for maintaining his principal residence in Virginia so he can be with his children.
He lives in and pays taxes on a million dollar home in VA and has for a long time.
A million dollar home in Northern Virginia is not all that exceptional. I have owned my home here since 1979. The value of my house has increased over 5 times what I paid for it. Santorum has lived in the area since 1990. I doubt if he purchased a million dollar home then.
Since you know so much about Santorum, where does his "wealth" come from? He certainly didn't go to elite schools or come from an upper class background. You can't be as naive as you sound.
OK. I hope I just fell for media distortion, and am not witnessing a change of heart of Santorum. I would much rather see him lose while sticking with his principles, than to go squishy (and still lose.)
Okay, they got you. Let me explain. Santorum is making temperate remarks that frankly are self-evident (who would argue that things could NOT have been handled better?), but you were misled by the headline. He wasn't being "critical," he was actually just commenting on the conflict.
The reason for this misleading headline is, the MSM agenda is to unseat Santorum, one of the few conservative senators with a national reputation. Most people don't read past the headlines, so this helps telegraph the following: Santorum (on the skids from a years-long campaign of smears from the press), is now criticizing a conservative Republican president (whose support of course he's going to need next year in his tough re-election bid in PA).
For them, it's a two-fer: Slam the president again, and take another chip of Santorum, who will be made to look disloyal to the president and wobbly on the war (which is important to his base in PA).
There. No need for gifts, but a heartfelt, effusive public thanks for explaining this to you would be nice...perhaps on a whole new thread, mentioning me prominently in the title?
Just kidding about the last thing. But I'm dead-on right about the rest of it.
This article also misses a crucial point Santorum made, which the White House is already responding to. He said that the President has made a mistake continuing to call this a "war on terror" rather than a "war on Islamic fascism." He said this was like saying that WWII was a "war against blitzkrieg" rather than a "war against Nazism." Terror is a tactic, and we need to be naming and confronting the actual enemy. President Bush has finally started to do this.
But go ahead and keep on bashing Santorum if it makes you feel better.
You DID fall for a media distortion.
Bye, bye Rick. May you enjoy the balance of your low life as a back stabber. How disgusting can a person get?
Ask Rick.
His criticism of Bush is mild and reasonable actually, but yes, if Santorum thinks he can win by running away from Bush (and his base) then politically he's a dead man walking.
From what I can tell by reading your post, pretty disgusting!
Residency and tuition controversy
In November 2004, a controversy erupted over education costs for Santorum's children. Santorum's legal address is in Penn Hills, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. But he lives most of the year at his home in Leesburg, Virginia near Washington, DC. (Leesburg is located about one hour's drive West of Washington, DC, and about 90 minutes' drive South of the Pennsylvania border.) Santorum's five older children received education through the Western Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School with 80 percent of tuition costs paid by the Penn Hills School District. At a meeting in November 2004, the Penn Hills School District announced that it did not believe Santorum met the qualifications for residency status since he and his family spend most of the year in Virginia. They demanded repayment of tuition costs totaling $100,000.
Santorum's supporters claim the controversy is politically-motivated as the school board is controlled by Democrats (Erin Vecchio, the school board member who first publicly raised the issue, is the chair of the local Democratic Party). They also claim that since Santorum votes in Penn Hills and pays property and school taxes there, he is entitled to the same privileges as any other Penn Hills resident. (Critics note that payment of property taxes is not dispositive on the issue of residency, as many people who own real estate in more than one jurisdiction are not residents of, and are not entitled to vote in, both jurisdictions.)
After the controversy erupted, Santorum said he would make other arrangements for his children's education, but insisted that he did not owe the school board any back tuition. In early 2005, both sides agreed to work out a settlement outside the court system. A state-appointed hearing officer set a deadline of May 9, 2005 for the parties to submit information relating to the case.
On July 8, 2005, a Pennsylvania state hearing officer ruled that the Penn Hills School District had not filed objections to Santorum's residency in a timely manner and dismissed the complaint, even though the district had followed the guidelines set by the hearing officer in May. Santorum hailed the ruling as a victory against what he termed "baseless and politically motivated charges," although the hearing officer who dismissed the complaint had not ruled on the merits or motivations of the complaint. Santorum told reporters that "[n]o one's children -— and especially not small, school-age children — should be used as pawns in the 'politics of personal destruction.
First of all, this is the AP here.
Second of all, Santorum may be criticizing the war differently, as we do. Maybe he's suggesting that Bush kick a little more ass, that Bush become more aggressive, instead of running the war like LBJ.
I don't know, just my two cents....
The notion to form a DHS predates 9/11 by years. I don't know Bush's position vis-a-vis the combining of departments. That is, he may have agreed with management structure changes in general, but objected only to federalizing of airport security employees. Whatever objections President Bush had at the time seem to have evaporated with time and experience.
Anyway, I don't see President Bush as a strong advocate for reducing the size of the federal government. Victim of circumstances or not, the record of spending and advocating federal programs speaks for itself.
Santorum can't win reelection in PA by simply exciting the conservative base. Philly is a very liberal, big city, prone to election fraud. The large stretch of land between phiily and Pittsburgh is very conservative, but it will not be enough this time. There are other issues creeping into states like PA that were never an issue before, such as illegal immigration. For a state which was hurt badly by the collapse of steel and coal, there are many who will not take kindly to new, undocumented workers coming in working for very low wages.
PA is a very strange state politically, but it is a crucial one for the GOP. Central PA is very religous and socially conservative, and Santorum will do well there, but he has serious problems in the cities. Philly is a lost cause for him, but with the right pitch he could gain some votes in Pittsburgh.
I know he was supposed to be the good guy but have also noticed some of the "good guys" beginning to distance themselves from the President which may be expected considering the political animals that they are. I am beginning to get a knee-jerk reaction on some of these guys and maybe I should put some ice on that. I realize the media will spin it their way. So OK - will reserve comment.
Showing you don't deserve our support is not the way out of your hole Rick. I worked in the Northeast Pennsylvania 72 hour task force for W last year. I would have done the same for you Rick. Now you can go fly a kite. Sorry pal, but you're a loser anyway. Good bye!
> Santorum is a weasel.
I agree. His hypocrisy on lawsuit abuse is pretty slimy.
http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/print?id=1300271
Mr. Santorum's tenure is coming to an end quickly it seems.
Santorum drove the wedge himself by his actions during the last Senate primary in PA.
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