Santorum: Demagogue

Demagogue

1. a person, especially an orator or political leader, who gains power and popularity by arousing the emotions, passions, and prejudices of the people.

Charles Pierce has a great post about Rick Santorum.  Read it, and then follow his link to Santorum's speech in Boise, Idaho.  The speech is an hour long, but if you were ever curious about what a demagogue sounds like, this is a good start. 

Demagogues should always be labelled as such and shunned.  Demagogues are bad for society because they rely on lies and half-truths to incite people's anger.  A good example would be someone saying, "Welfare recipients are too lazy to get a job and they have found they can live quite well on the money you, the good, honest, hard-working, tax paying American are forced to give them by the Democrats in government so they will keep voting for the Democrats."  Sound familiar?

Actually, demagoguery defines the radical right, led by Rush and Fox News.  The radical right has no ideas beyond "cut taxes," and "demolish the government."  They exist purely on demagoguery.

Pierce shared a piece of Santorum's speech in Boise that is classic radical rightwing demagoguery:

"They don't believe you can make these decisions because if you were allowed to make these decisions you would obviously jump off a cliff. Don't you see how they see you? How they look down their noses at average Americans? These elite snobs!" [emphasis added]

Yes, rational, thinking, aware people do look down on the people who suck this stuff up, not because they live in Idaho or they believe in God, it's because how can you have respect for people who are so shallow and insecure that they fall for Santorum's naked appeal to their prejudices and insecurities.  [I suspect they also fall for those TV ads that sell cheap health insurance and cheap life insurance (no physical necessary!) and reverse mortgages.]

Charley does a good job rebutting some of what Santorum said right off the top of his head.  It isn't hard, I as doing the same as I watched Santorum's speech.

-Trakker

Comments

[horsec]

Santorum's Boise audience? ~750 adults

750 is roughly 1/2 percent of Boise adult population, and only 2/10ths percent of the Boise metro area adult population, 3rd most populous metro area in the US.

"We are the greatest country in the history of the world."

(Human impact on global warming.)
"This isn't climate science, it's political science."

- Rick Santorum

Loss of freedom, because of "People's addiction to Britian's National Health Care System," R. S., attrib. to Margaret Thatcher.

We have a winner.

[Trakker]

True, a relatively small crowd, but what concerns me is that Santorum is saying these things as he runs for President. He knows these comments are being reported beyond Boise.

[horsec]

REMARKS OF SENATOR JOHN F. KENNEDY,
STREET RALLY, WATERBURY, CONN., NOVEMBER 6, 1960

In Connecticut on Tuesday, our work is finished, and your work begins. I ask you to support us. [Applause.] I promised the mayor that I would have you all in bed by three. [Response from the audience.] I want to just say, and I mean it: No.1, this is the biggest crowd we have had in a city of this size in the United States; No.2, it is not 12 o'clock, it is 3 o'clock in the morning. [Applause.] And I must say every day I keep reading the Vice President says the tide is suddenly going in his direction. [Response from the audience.] Well, I think the tide is rising in Connecticut that is just going to wash him all the way out. [Applause.]

This is what enthusiasm for a candidate looks like.

[Trakker]

Santorum and Kennedy were both Catholics but that's where the similarities ended. In fact the Catholic Church of 1960 was a much different church than today, and so was America.

In 1960, Kennedy had to promise not to let the Catholic church sway his decisions as President while in 2012 Santorum insists the whole country must obey the Catholic church.

[horsec]

Graspy hands

If you're the Church, Who do you want to embrace you?

The Church could embrace/endorse Kennedy because he kept them at a distance. Santorum? they might agree to hear his confession.

If your guy can't win he's a loser, useless, dead to you. The Church is like any other business with an agenda. They like winners. They like to endorse winners.

The only person who thinks Santorum can win is him.

[Ted McG]

Got your sock puppet running full out I see.

[Trakker]

Yes, Ted, every liberal commenter on every blog is just a George Soros sock puppet. Damn, how did you find us out?

[Trakker]

The only person who thinks Santorum can win is him.

I wonder what his supporters think. Do they believe he can win in November? If so, do they think Santorum's positions are held by a majority of the voters? Or do they think he can sell his unpopular positions to a majority of voters? I hope he's the candidate because he's probably the one who reflects the views of the radical Republicans who now control the party. If he loses in November, it should sound the death knell for the tea party.

[Dagny T]

Trakker said ...

Yes, Ted, every liberal commenter on every blog is just a George Soros sock puppet. Damn, how did you find us out?

By the smell? The "talking points"?

~ Dagny :D

[Dagny T]

In reality Trakker,

Think Ted was referring to comment made by your "sycophant" Horsec.

sycophant - n. A servile self-seeker who attempts to win favor by flattering influential people.

In this case ... YOU ... as the owner of this blog!

~ Dagny

[Trakker]

Dagny, Dagny, you must have been a real riot in school...I'll bet a lot of teachers retired quickly when they found out you were going to be in their class next year. Did you run out of flies to pull wings off of and now you're back to torture me? Yes, winter is not a good season for flies.

You called me an influential person! Wow! Sounds like something flattering that a sycophant would write.

[Dagny T]

No darlin' wasn't me.

The dictionary did!

Now ... just look up the meaning of "influential" for yourself.

Can be used for evil as well as good.

~ Dagny

[Dagny T]

"I'll bet a lot of teachers retired quickly when they found out you were going to be in their class next year."

No, Trakker, just the most *chicken-hearted* liberal ones did! Ha! ha!

Only joking ... I did not talk back to my teachers in those days. I had too much *respect* for them back then.

Not too sure if I would have now though!

As for your comment "Now you're back to torture me?"

Can't recall where the saying came from, but would be a good one for you to take to heart in this case:

"Never let them see you sweat!"

~ Dagny

[Trakker]

Dagny, do you have any purpose to your comments? Insults and name calling is a waste of everyone's time.