The wisdom of Rick Santorum

[Ed W]

The former senator from Pennsylvania said that "elite smart people will never support the GOP."  I have to wonder if he meant that GOP voters are...let's be kind...intellectually challenged individuals.

And I think Santorum is way off the mark.  Sure, there are some abysmally stupid people in the GOP, some of them elected to office.  I can say the same about Democrats.  Give us a few minutes and we'll have a list from both sides.

I'm thinking specifically of those who post here on the forum, though.  If I were a Republican, I'd be offended by Santorum's views.  For that matter, even as a life-long Democrat I find his words offensive. 

Why is that?  Why would I defend those very people whose affiliations are so vastly different from my own?  I've learned that it's completely legitimate to attack someone's ideas and that's entirely different from attacking them as people.  I respect my opponents and I hope they extend that same courtesy.  It's one of the things I truly like about this forum.  It's something our political 'leaders' are sadly lacking.

In "THX 1138," George Lucas' first feature length film, Donald Pleasance has the memorable line, "We're all in this together!"  Of course, he's in the nut house when he utters it, but the resemblance to the TNF is remarkable at times.  Sure, we're all a bit nutty but just as surely we're all in this together.

[Hoss]

The former senator from Pennsylvania said that "elite smart people will never support the GOP."  I have to wonder if he meant that GOP voters are...let's be kind...intellectually challenged individuals.

And I think Santorum is way off the mark.  Sure, there are some abysmally stupid people in the GOP, some of them elected to office.  I can say the same about Democrats.  Give us a few minutes and we'll have a list from both sides.

I'm thinking specifically of those who post here on the forum, though.  If I were a Republican, I'd be offended by Santorum's views.  For that matter, even as a life-long Democrat I find his words offensive. 

Why is that?  Why would I defend those very people whose affiliations are so vastly different from my own?  I've learned that it's completely legitimate to attack someone's ideas and that's entirely different from attacking them as people.  I respect my opponents and I hope they extend that same courtesy.  It's one of the things I truly like about this forum.  It's something our political 'leaders' are sadly lacking.

In "THX 1138," George Lucas' first feature length film, Donald Pleasance has the memorable line, "We're all in this together!"  Of course, he's in the nut house when he utters it, but the resemblance to the TNF is remarkable at times.  Sure, we're all a bit nutty but just as surely we're all in this together.

It's actually kind of ironic he says that, given that he has a BA from Penn State, an MBA from Pitt and his JD from Dickinson.  He's obviously not a dummy, but wouldn't many put him in that 'elite' category too?