Rick Santorum-Seriously?

AP Photo

Ham on Wry purposely placed Santorum's picture on the left, because he is certainly not "right" for our country. Even though he won in Mississippi and Alabama, I have faith that common sense will eventually eliminate him as a candidate for President of the United States. The photo shows him holding a piece of shale as he spoke at the Gulf Coast Energy Summit Monday, where he claimed that Global Warming is a liberal myth.




He explained his view by stating,"The dangers of carbon dioxide? Tell that to a plant, how dangerous carbon dioxide is." Now there's an intellectual view of a complex problem. Santorum has obviously missed the alarming footage of large pieces of glaciers breaking off, polar bears standing on small pieces of ice wondering where to go, and the migration of penguins who no longer have breeding grounds. He probably hasn't followed the concerns of many small island nations who fear they will slip underwater entirely as the water level rises from the melting glaciers. Perhaps his concern about birth control dominates his time to the extent that he has little time left for studying global issues carefully.

A liberal myth? Hardly. The vast majority of the world's scientists believe global warming is real and has tragic consequences if appropriate actions aren't taken to mediate the effects already noted. One can easily find vast amounts of evidence to support the claim that we must reduce fluorocarbons. In fact. 189 UN members have signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol, but the United States has not. Santorum is out of touch with global issues, I can't imagine him in a G8 conference, sitting next to Angela Merkel, my litmus test for candidates running for President.

The United States can not afford to consider someone who is so insular and short-sighted as Santorum has revealed himself to be. He seems like a nice guy, but we live in complex times and must have a leader who can align with our allies and not pander to an ultra-conservative view that places our country in jeopardy. Voters who choose a candidate on social issues rather than on an entire platform make a huge mistake, causing great risk to America. As citizens of the United States, we abide by a constitution that places responsibility on an informed citizenry to elect those who govern us. That means reading information from all sides before voting and ignoring forwarded political messages that have single-minded agendas. That would eliminate Santorum for consideration as the Republican nominee.