Santorum is addressing the fact that Obama is not enforcing the law.
The laws against pornography are something that the majority of Americans support.
Yes, morality begins in the home, but if laws against pornography are not enforced, or scoffed at, good parents trying their best to keep their kids safe from the evil of pornography, are fighting an uphill battle.
It is not inappropriate in the least for every one of our candidates to be addressing this issue.
(I'll ignore your strange reference to Prohibition, as it has absolutely no relevance to the conversation).
Prohibition is ABSOLUTELY the example of legislating morality. (History is difficult for you, I know) The Women's Christian Temperance Union, sold the government on the fantasy, that ALCOHOL was the root of all immorality, evil, addiction and depravity, and if they could just make it illegal, people would start living “righteous” lives again by law, Church attendance would grow again, and America would be saved from eternal damnation!
The very opposite happened. It actually increased the behavior they were trying to control or stop.
Hi, Ohio!
I'm certainly no fan of pornography, but can't your debating point about needing to help well meaning parents be used for any area the FEDERAL government wishes to become involved in?
Say ... what to eat? Just wondering.
As far as the Prohibition reference, it is very relevant to the discussion. People who want porn will be able to get it regardless of laws. The only thing is, they would be getting it from the same people who currently supply pot and cocaine, and the porn they get will be FAR more hard-core.
It doesn't matter what laws we have on porn production when people can download hours of it from an encrypted connection to an overseas server, and when hours of porn video will fit on a tiny flash card. Any laws you try to enforce will be counter-productive.
The military has a maxim: "Never issue an order which you know will not be obeyed". The corresponding maxim for politics is "Never create a law which will be openly flouted by a large percentage of the population", because doing so produces contempt for the law in general. Moral issues need to be handled by persuasion and social censure.