Santorum Says He Would Enforce US Obscenity Laws That Obama Ignores

MSNBC ^ | March 16, 2012 | Andrew Rafferty and Alex Moe

[Steelfish]

Santorum Says He Would Enforce US Obscenity Laws That Obama Ignores By NBC's Andrew Rafferty

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL -- Rick Santorum accused President Barack Obama of not enforcing the country's obscenity laws and said Friday that as chief executive he would crack down on illegal pornography.

Santorum found himself answering pornography questions during a stop at an Italian restaurant here after the discovery of a statement posted in his campaign website in which he asserts that "America is suffering a pandemic of harm from pornography." Recent reporting has shed light on the letter in which the former Pennsylvania senator vowed to "vigorously enforce" all the country's obscenity laws, though he said the statement was posted three weeks ago.

"We actually respond to questions that we get into our campaign when they say 'What are you going to do about these issues?' And when we respond we post them up on our website. And the response is, ‘we'll enforce the law,’" said Santorum.

"I don’t know what the hubbub about that is," he said. "We have a president who is not enforcing the law, and we will."

The candidate best known for espousing family values argues on his website that pornography causes changes in the brain to both children and adults, and contributes to violence against women, prostitution and sex trafficking. "The Obama administration has turned a blind eye to those who wish to preserve our culture from the scourge of pornography," he wrote.

[going hot]

what is Rick thinking???!!!

Not much, it seems, mostly emoting.

[PghBaldy]

What about people who are against Santorum TALKING about it? Precious time is being used to discuss this, now? With Obamacare and the economy, this is what he focuses on?

[wastedyears]

I’d put it at an even smaller decimal point. With better parenting, it’s a non-issue.

Now can we try to lower the budget?

[sillsfan]

This is also another example of one of our guys allowing the media to define their campaign.

BINGO. The And this is how, with Santorum as the nominee, it will be a disaster.

THE BIG PICTURE: This isn't about porn or morality or even government overreaching. This is about how Santorum hasn't learned anything from the campaign trail, and either is truly dumb or clearly isn't politically savvy enough to avoid the media gotcha traps along the way. he continually gets sidetracked on these other issues.

If one thinks that the media is being unfair to Santorum now and taking his words out of context, what do people think the media will do to him in the general? Santorum is NOT the candidate we need. We need a candidate that can focus like a laser on the critical issues in this country and offer solutions and make that message resonate with people. Has no one studied the Reagan playbook on how to win?

[Antoninus]

Pornography is an issue to be concerned about. However, it does NOT belong in a presidential campaign.

Well then you can blame the media for bringing it up. Santorum's position statement on the issue is nothing earth-shattering.

[I Shall Endure]

It’s a marketing thing, to pull in the teen-age demographic. Seriously.

[a fool in paradise]

I agree that the media is kneecapping Santorum. The BIG reason why is the Lavender Mafia in the newsrooms HATE him MORE than they hated Sarah Palin. They’ve been after Rick Santorum since he made that statement about a “slippery slope” in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Lawrence v. Texas decision.

Gay journalists who despise “don’t ask don’t tell” should not be closeted. The public DESERVES to know why these issues are so important to them and thus the viewing public.

[Antoninus]

That is Santorum’s problem, he thinks Government has the answer for everything. What's next, will he suggest burning books, more government intrusion into the private lives of FREE Americans.

These threads have convinced me that the collective IQ of Free Republic has dropped about 30 points since I first started posting here in 1998. Back then, it was obvious that obscenity is harmful to society, could and should be policed and restricted and IS NOT protected under the First Amendment. Now, we have all of you absolute slack-jawed morons arguing that Rick Santorum is somehow the equivalent of the Taliban for suggesting that the obscenity laws that are already on the books should actually be enforced.

And worse....

Gingrich and Romney have exactly the same position as Santorum on this issue.

You're all being played by the media and you're either on-board with the narrative or are too stupid to realize it.

[Raider Sam]

When they start making laws, Ill be against it too.

[sillsfan]

Well then you can blame the media for bringing it up.

The media brought up something posted on Santorum's campaign website. I am no fan of the media, but you can't continuously serve them up low hanging fastballs and not expect the media to hit them outa the park.

That's what the media does.

By continuously taking the bait, Santorum does it to himself.

[Antoninus]

1) Watching pornography triggers a very powerful brain response.

2) This brain response causes specific types of behavior patterns.

3) These behaviors have both long and short term effects on the lives of individuals, including all the suffering, sorrow and strife associated with premarital sex, single motherhood, divorce, pedophilia and the general breakup of families.

Change your 0.0005 to a 10. And realize that pornography is a weapon of the cultural and political marxists in their war against America.

Worth repeating. Talking to porn hounds has convinced me more than anything that porn can be a serious addiction. Talking about any restrictions of their porn is like talking to a crack addict about taking away their fix.

[Raider Sam]

So a Catholic website with an agenda misuses statistics and creates cause out of correlation, thus we must do something? Im sure 80% of mass murderers smoked too, does that mean we should ban smoking?

This is one of the worst misuses of statistics I have read.

[Antoninus]

24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press.

Amazing, isn't it, how many absolute fools there are, even on a supposedly conservative website like Free Republic.

Our toxic culture has ensnared even those who ought to know better.

[rwfromkansas]

This is going to get votes....NOT.

Good grief. This man really doesn’t have a clue about some things. I agree with him a lot and am a social conservative, but let’s focus on other things that win votes.

“I’m going to block your porn” is not a winning message!

[reasonisfaith]

“internet porn is not a pressing national problem”

Why would the marxists give up on their plan to use pornography to defeat our nation?

Answer: they wouldn’t and they haven’t. Yes, pornography is a weapon used just as destructive as any artillery.

You need to think about this, learn it, and stop letting the marxists use you.

[Raider Sam]

Probably has something to do with the fact that all three front runners are pretty much the same, with different packaging. They all want to save the country through the power of the government. I really dont see any of their presidencies differing much from each other.

[HKMk23]

Porn feeds human trafficking and sex slavery around the world.

That rises to the level of compelling public interest; i.e. government involvement.

Starve the beast.

[ohioWfan]

It's been more than obvious that pornography is not, nor will it be 'front and center' in a Santorum campaign, and what the MSM will do to any of our candidates is not really the issue. If it's Gingrich, they'll make some other minor issue 'front and center' to try to protect and promote Obama and deride our candidate.

The debt, the economy, Obamacare, have all been talked about at great length and in great detail by Santorum, and will continue to be addressed 'front and center.'

The fact that the Obama administration is lawless is a major problem, and Santorum's bringing up that the laws against pornography (among many others) have been ignored, is a major concern......or at least should be......for all Americans.

Don't be afraid of the moral issues in a campaign. They are winners because the majority of Americans don't have a problem with addressing them.

[Antoninus]

The media brought up something posted on Santorum's campaign website.

Did you actually read the statement? There's nothing even remotely controversial about it unless you're a porn addict.

Santorum took no bait. The homo-sex-positive freaks in the media are trying to make this into an issue and libertarian morons are only too happy to oblige.

You can either have good men like Santorum as your leaders or scum like those who run the media. It's your choice.

[Raider Sam]

Yeah, and oil fuels terrorism, so lets just ban that too.

We already have laws against trafficking and slavery, and we cant police the world (well, some big military conservatives and big environment liberals think we can).

Starve the beast indeed, remove power from the federal government.