Posted on 12/20/2011 6:51:38 PM PST by no dems
I like Rick Santorum and I've been rooting for him to be "The Surprise" coming out of Iowa in 2012. But could stuff like this short exceprt from "The Believer" by Michael Sokolove, hurt him in the General Election? Is this beyond the pale?
From "The Beleiver" by Michael Sokolove:
The childbirth in 1996 was a source of terrible heartbreak -- the couple were told by doctors early in the pregnancy that the baby Karen was carrying had a fatal defect and would survive only for a short time outside the womb. According to Karen Santorum's book, ''Letters to Gabriel: The True Story of Gabriel Michael Santorum,'' she later developed a life-threatening intrauterine infection and a fever that reached nearly 105 degrees. She went into labor when she was 20 weeks pregnant. After resisting at first, she allowed doctors to give her the drug Pitocin to speed the birth. Gabriel lived just two hours.
What happened after the death is a kind of snapshot of a cultural divide. Some would find it discomforting, strange, even ghoulish -- others brave and deeply spiritual. Rick and Karen Santorum would not let the morgue take the corpse of their newborn; they slept that night in the hospital with their lifeless baby between them. The next day, they took him home. ''Your siblings could not have been more excited about you!'' Karen writes in the book, which takes the form of letters to Gabriel, mostly while he is in utero. ''Elizabeth and Johnny held you with so much love and tenderness. Elizabeth proudly announced to everyone as she cuddled you, 'This is my baby brother, Gabriel; he is an angel.' ''
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I think its a story any self respecting conservative should stay the hell away from. I don’t know anything about it and don’t care to.
It’s creepy but, then again, all but Santorum and Bachmann on the Republican side straight scare me.
I find it hard to believe the hospital, any hospital, would allow them to take the corpse of the baby home. It is pretty disturbing. My nephew an his wife lost two babies at 6 months, each survived a day or less. They had both baptized, a funeral, burial, etc. I never heard they’d even considered taking the bodies home. I guess different families grieve differently.
Very very strange. Not a reason not to vote for him. But still, pretty disgusting if you ask me.
Kinda strange, but then I have never experienced the pain and suffering of losing a child ( thank the Lord) so who am I to judge what one would do in times like that?
While I fully understand it, I don’t think the electorate would.
Losing a child in birth is hard on family’s.
The slimes has to release this to cream a guy polling at 2%
This election is going to be brutal.
Ghoulish. That is all I can say about this.
The article is from 2005.
I don’t understand your reasoning. You know that whomever our nominee is, Obama is going to take them apart, limb by limb. I like Rick Santorum but I don’t want any “surprises” in October of 2012 that would tilt the election to Obama.
Thank you.
Tell that to the brilliant multitude who are happily ignoring the truly relevant things that the media will dismantle Gingrich with when the time is right.
Just dealing with grief from the loss of a loved one. Old school Italians often had viewing of the deceased at home. What scares moderates and liberal is his absolute certitude that Gabriel was a full member of the human family.
Hospital policy may not allow it, but I wrapped a stillborn baby in a blanket and handed him to the grandmother to take home. She then personally took him to the mortuary to be buried along with his daddy. Both were killed by a drunk driver. Only mom survived. It was against policy, but I had the backing of my immediate bosses. Still, sleeping with the dead child is sort of odd. But I don't judge because I've never been in those shoes.
Would it make more sense if they put the body on a table in the parlor, then invited family and friends for a wake?
The other Rick......Perry has also been a consistent conservative and passionately pro-life.
He also is highly qualified with executive experience as Texas Governor for 11 years.
I think many will find this touching and sad.
“Bath-House” Barry supporters (The New York Times and it’s readers), on the other hand, will welcome this story of parents’ grief as a tool to try to beat down Santorum.
Supporters that consider Obama’s throwing abortion survivors into the trash while still breathing as “acceptable” couldn’t possibly relate to mourning the death of a newborn, in ANY fashion.
This is a very lengthy article and your excerpt was only a small part of it. I urge everyone to read the article in its entirety, even though it does require accessing the New York Slimes website. I have a more favorable opinion of Santorum having read it. As for the excerpt, I consider it a personal matter and will not pass judgement. I have never lost a child and so cannot relate.
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