Rick Santorum (R-PA) is a Jackass

Regular readers know that I mostly try to avoid invective and ad hominem at this blog. But occasionally the complete and utter imbecility of a public figure leaves me with no choice. This time, and not for the first time, it’s Senator Rick “Man on Dog” Santorum.

To be clear, I first read this quote at Wonkette and I really thought she was making it up for comedic effect (Wonkette.com is quite funny), or at least paraphrasing. No. Senator Rick Santorum really said this:

“I would argue that the future of our country hangs in the balance because the future of marriage hangs in the balance,” he said shortly before the vote. “Isn’t that the ultimate homeland security, standing up and defending marriage?”

Yes, Senator Santorum. Doing what we can to prevent 3,000 people from being incinerated or voluntarily plummeting to their deaths is just like — literally, no discernible difference, exactly the same as — doing all that we can to prevent gay couples from wedding. No difference. None. None whatsoever. And here are the pictures to prove it (can you tell which is more evil? I can’t!):

Jackass.

AB

UPDATE: Brad DeLong points out that I’ve given Santorum a bit too much credit. My post implies that Santorum believes that the importance of stopping gay marriage and the importance of stopping terrorism are on the same level. In fact, when Santorum says that stopping gay marriage is the “ultimate homeland security” he necessarily means that other actions — e.g., preventing planes from flying into buildings — are of lesser, non-“ultimate” importance.