WebProNews

Tag: rick santorum

  • Rick Santorum: My Grandfather Was a Democrat, Knew Hitler

    Rick Santorum almost didn’t make it to America to run for President. In fact, were it not for a technicality, his family would’ve been turned away at the shore as unwanted immigrants.

    In 1921, a law was passed in the United States that limited the number of persons allowed to immigrate into the U.S. from southern and eastern Europe. The idea was that these people were “hyphenates”, such as “Polish-Americans,” “Greek-Americans,” and “Italian-Americans.”

    People of Western European descent, who made up the bulk of the U.S. population at the time, felt that those from further east could not assimilate into America properly and would be a divisive influence with loyalties to their home countries. So the Emergency Quota Act of 1921 was passed to severely limit their access.

    But when Rick Santorum’s grandfather, Pietro Santorum, came to the U.S. from Italy in 1923, he had an edge.

    “The ’21 immigration act was an act clearly designed to stop southern Europeans and Jews — that’s who was targeted,” Santorum said in an interview when asked about his grandfather. “The reason he got in, is when he was born in Riva del Garda in the 1880s, that was a part of Austria.”

    In fact, Santorum surprised everyone by telling a little-known fact about his grandfather.

    “He fought for Austria-Hungary in the first world war,” Santorum said. “He knew Hitler.”

    But his grandfather had no love for the future dictator.

    “‘[Hitler] was a loudmouth, idiot — nobody paid any attention to him,’ that’s what he told me,” Santorum related.

    But the most out-of-place thing about Santorum’s heritage? His grandfather would not have voted for him.

    “He was a Democrat and always voted Democrat,” Rick Santorum said. “Above the kitchen table was a picture of the pope, Jesus, and John F. Kennedy.”

  • Rick Santorum Launches New Hashtag to Get Away from Own Name

    Rick Santorum is nothing if not persistent. Despite having his own name dragged through the mud in retaliation for equating being gay with bestiality, the former Senator from Pennsylvania is plastering it all over yard signs again.

    Rick Santorum was famously targeted by radio host Dan Savage with a much-publicized effort to redefine his name. But he bounced back to run for President in 2012. He joined a whole raft of other challengers to obvious GOP favorite Mitt Romney. One by one, each candidate succumbed to the scrutiny of the press. Herman Cain didn’t know what was going on in Libya. Michelle Bachmann peaked too soon. Rick Santorum took his turn for a week, but in the end it was Romney.

    Now Rick Santorum is back in the fray.

    “Americans don’t need another president tied to big government or big money,” Santorum said as he announced his candidacy. “Today is the day we are going to begin to fight back.”

    But his past statements about same-sex marriage still haunt him.

    His Twitter posts not only feature poor subject-verb agreement …

    … they are a target for his opponents.

    As for the largely-successful effort to besmirch Rick Santorum’s name, he has found a novel way around that. Rather than adopt the hashtag #Santorum2016, as he did last time with #Santorum2012, he is opting for the smaller target: #Rick2016.

    But it isn’t helping.

    It seems that no matter where Rick Santorum may go, his name is a sticky mess that will follow him.

  • Rick Santorum Still Has a ‘Frothy’ Search Problem

    It looks like there’s a good chance that former Senator Rick Santorum is going to jump into the fray.

    He appeared on Fox News Wednesday to discuss his plans with Greta Van Susteren, which at this point is only an announcement to make an announcement. RickSantorum.com asks you to “save your seat for a special announcement on May 27. The site is currently paid for by “Rick Santorum Presidential Testing the Waters”.

    Let’s just say there a decent shot Santorum runs for the Republican nomination.

    And if he does, it’s important to note that he still has a bit of a search problem – albeit a much smaller one than he’s had in the past.

    – – – – – – – – – – –

    First, a little background.

    Years ago, Santorum drew the ire of popular blogger Dan Savage by making some unsavory comments regarding the gay community. During an interview where he stated the position that consenting adults have no expectation of privacy, Santorum equated homosexuality to bigamy and incest. He also made some comments relating homosexuality to bestiality, although he has maintained that the were taken out of context.

    Either way, Savage and some other activists were less than pleased. They launched a campaign to redefine the definition of the word “Santorum.” Through SEO tactics and link-trading, they were able to push a website called SpreadingSantorum.com to the very top of the Google search results for “Rick Santorum.”

    Over at SpreadingSantourm.com, you’ll find a brown splatter graphic behind a definition that reads “santorum (n): 1. The frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the by-product of anal sex.”

    Probably not what a Presidential hopeful wants showing up when people search his name.

    In 2012, the last time Santorum ran a GOP primary race, SpreadingSantorum.com was the very 1st results fetched for searched of “Santorum” and the third result when you searched “Rick Santorum” on Google. It wasn’t just a Google problem either, as both Bing and Yahoo showed similar results.

    Rick Santorum isn’t unaware of his “online reputation” issue. In 2011, he contacted Google and tried to convince the company to remove the result.

    “I suspect if something was up there like that about Joe Biden, they’d get rid of it,” Santorum said. “If you’re a responsible business, you don’t let things like that happen in your business that have an impact on the country. To have a business allow that type of filth to be purveyed through their website or through their system is something that they say they can’t handle but I suspect that’s not true.”

    Google’s response was basically sorry, no dice. “[Google] does not remove content from out search results, except in very limited cases such as illegal content and violations of out webmaster guidelines.”

    And Santorum remained frothy.

    – – – – – – – – – – –

    Flash forward to 2015, and Santorum’s problems have been mitigated but not erased.

    A Google search for “Rick Santorum” shows no result for SpreadingSantorum on the first page. SpreadingSantorum doesn’t even show up on a search for just “Santorum”.

    But the ghosts of the past are still present.

    The top result (for a logged-out user) for “Santorum” is the Wikipedia page explaining the neologism campaign:

    Scroll down a bit and a 2010 Mother Jones article called “Rick Santorum’s Anal Sex Problem” is the 5th result below the news box.

    On Bing, the Wikipedia page for the Santorum neologism is the first result below the news box and image box.

    But it’s over on Yahoo where Santorum still has a big problem. Here’s what you see when you search “Rick Santorum”:

    SpreadingSantorum.com – preview definition and all – is the second result, directly below the one for his official site.

    Santorum also has a small domain problem. He’s locked up RickSantorum.com, which is lucky for him. But here’s where Santorum.com redirects:

    Of course, Santorum is far from the only candidate to have to domain problem. Ted Cruz didn’t lock up TedCruz.com, and now he’s getting trolled. Carly Fiorina didn’t lock up CarlyFiorina.org, and now she’s getting trolled. Rand Paul had to waste over $100,000 to secure RandPaul.com.

    – – – – – – – – – – –

    If Rick Santorum does indeed announce intentions to seek his party’s 2016 nomination, people will once again be searching his name

    If he’s lucky, they’ll use Google.

  • 19 Kids and Counting: Duggars Join Santorum at Gathering

    Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar joined Mike Huckabee in a roundtable discussion at an event in Iowa today that was billed as the America Takes Action for Iowa Homeschool Day.

    The Duggars were on hand to “talk about the importance of educational choice and the other conservative policies and principles.”

    According to the organization website, “Homeschool Iowa Capitol Day provides our Iowa legislators an opportunity to “put a face to homeschooling” by briefly chatting with friendly homeschooling families, face-to-face.”

    The event took place at the Airport Holiday Inn in Des Moines. The roundtable discussion was just part of the proceedings. Also on the bill for the day’s activities were Ted Cruz, Bobby Jindal, and Rick Santorum.

    America Takes Action is Mike Huckabee’s organization. According to their website, America Takes Action aims “to activate citizens and help them engage in the public arena for the causes, values and principles we hold most sacred.”

    These issues include such classic Conservative topics as:

    Immigration overhaul
    Life
    Reducing the size of government
    Sanctity of marriage
    Standing with Israel
    Strong national defense
    Tax reform

    These and other topics were what the Duggars were on hand to support.

    While “educational choice” is important to the Duggars, the freedom to choose which bathroom one should go to while at school is not. Michelle Duggar famously called transgender men “males with past child predator convictions that claim they are female.”

    She recorded a robocall that opposed allowing “men – yes I said men – to use women’s and girls’ restrooms, locker rooms, showers, sleeping areas and other areas that are designated for females only.”

  • Santorum And Lohan: Twitter Reacts To Unlikely Buddies

    Rick Santorum was at a White House Correspondent’s Dinner over the weekend with President Obama and some influential people in the world of media and beyond; Greta Van Susteren, Jimmy Kimmel, and…Lindsay Lohan?

    While I’m still not quite sure how Lohan got an invite to such an event, the bigger question is why Rick Santorum was so interested in her.

    TMZ has reported that Santorum approached the table Lohan was sitting at and asked her to take a picture of him with Van Susteren, which seems fair enough…although I’m sure there were any number of people snapping photos that could have obliged him. At any rate, Lohan took the picture and, after getting his camera back, Santorum asked for a solo pic of just Lindsay.

    Maybe he’s a big “Parent Trap” fan?

    Perhaps the strangest thing of all is that Santorum later said he “didn’t remember” taking the picture.

    (image)

    (image)@mieowkat
    Lizzie McGuire    The photo of Rick Santorum and Lindsey Lohan talking at Obama’s dinner last night amuses me so much(image) 15 hours ago via Twitter for Android ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@Marmel
    Steve Marmel    Santorum conveniently forgets taking Lohan pic. As well as science, logic and reality. #Santoruminsane http://t.co/YT3Bn1hm(image) 15 hours ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@lordxmen2k
    Gerald Nelson    Rick Swaggart: I wonder how many SS agents hit on Lindsay Lohan and Kim Kardashian… Oh wait just Rick Santorum. Isn’t he a preacher? #gop(image) 20 hours ago via Twitter for iPad ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@monbud
    Matt    @pklinkne Speaking of which, what do you think Santorum and Lindsay Lohan had to say to each other?! http://t.co/VocL3fj6(image) 57 minutes ago via TweetDeck ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@hollyrpeete
    Holly Robinson Peete    #WHCD was so surreal and fun. To see lohan santorum POTUS alicia keys wolf blitzer and tony romo in the same room… #atrip(image) 20 hours ago via Twitter for BlackBerry® ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@Ms_Raine
    Lorraine W.    Rick Santorum and Bobby Jindal in the same room with Kim Kardashian and Lindsay Lohan #passtheholywater #nerdprom #whcd(image) 1 day ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

  • Ann Romney: Our Dog Loved Riding On The Car Roof

    In the past few years, now former Presidential candidate Rick Santorum’s last name became something else. You’ve probably read dozens of pieces on Santorum’s “Google problem,” so I’ll spare you most of the sticky details. In short, anti-Santorum activists were able to push a certain site called spreadingsantorum.com to the top of Google search results for his last name. That site redefined the word “Santorum” as a rather unsavory sexual term.

    So every time anyone search “Santorum” on Google (and other engines), they were treated with a graphic neologism. His problem has seemingly been mitigated in recent weeks, as that particular search result has been pushed down the page.

    That issue received a lot of attention during the campaign, but few people know that frontrunner (and future nominee) Mitt Romney had a similar (albeit less serious) Google problem of his own.

    Just a couple of months ago, anyone who searched “Romney” in Google would see a result near the top for the site spreadingromney.com. That site redefined the candidate’s last name into a verb meaning “To defecate in terror.” Let’s use that in a sentence, shall we?

    “Dude, I woke up and thought I saw a ghost – I almost Romneyed all over myself.”

    All of this stemmed from a story that Mitt Romney probably regrets telling. Meant as a humorous anecdote, it became the focus of the campaign back in January.

    Romney detailed one fateful road trip where Seamus, his now-deceased Irish setter got a bad case of diarrhea and made quite the mess all over the car. Not the inside of the car, mind you – the outside. That’s because Seamus was tied to the roof of the car.

    Sure, he was secure and in an open-air crate, but you can understand why some people were left a little uneasy by the story. It’s odd to a large portion of the population to strap your dog to the roof on a car trip. As you would expect, he caught a lot of flak for this – the neologism search result probably the least of it. But, of course, the news cycle spins and all is forgotten.

    Until it’s brought up again on the national stage.

    In a recent interview with ABC’s Diane Sawyer, Mitt’s wife Ann Romney was asked about the Seamus incident. Here’s the conversation, courtesy of ABC:

    DIANE SAWYER: As we move away from this primary campaign into the next phase– again, on Yahoo, we got two questions most often, first about Seamus– which as you know is out there forever– would you do it again?

    MITT ROMNEY: Certainly not with the attention it’s received.

    DIANE SAWYER: You said it was the most wounding thing in the campaign–

    ANN ROMNEY: It’s crazy.

    DIANE SAWYER:–so far.

    ANN ROMNEY: The dog loved it. The dog was, like–

    DIANE SAWYER: But the dog got sick, right?

    ANN ROMNEY: Once, he– we traveled all the time and he– he ate the turkey on the counter. I mean, he had the runs. But– he would see that crate and, you know, he would, like, go crazy because he was going with us on vacation. It was to me a kinder thing to bring him along than to leave him in the kennel for t– in– in– in a kennel for two weeks, so.

    Crazy because he was excited? Or scared sh*tless? You be the judge.

    I can see the campaign ads now: Barack Obama – loves dogs, puts his on the White House Christmas card. Mitt Romney – thinks his dog loves being tied to the roof of a car.

    Somehow, in this crazy season of politics, dog-oriented ads don’t even seem like a stretch.

    [Image Courtesy]

  • Trisomy 18: Why Santorum Is Leaving The Race

    Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum has announced the end of his campaign today despite a recent rise in his popularity on the trail. The news comes after his 3-year old daughter, Bella, suffered a bout of illness over the weekend and was hospitalized. Santorum took a mini-break from campaigning over the holiday and spent time with his family, but was expected to return today. A call to Romney to concede changed all that.

    The illness is believed to be connected to a genetic disorder the little girl was born with, Trisomy 18, which is caused by an extra 18th chromosome. The disease can be fatal and affects a surprisingly high amount of children–an estimated 1 out of every 3,000. It is similar to Down Syndrome but affects a different set of cells.

    Aside from visible physical disorders, Trisomy 18 also causes a number of internal problems, including heart defects and organ issues. There are no specific rules about the disease, as it can range from mild to severe depending on the person. At three years old, Bella has proved to be a fighter and an exception to the rule, as many children afflicted with the disease don’t make it out of infancy. One doctor says the oldest child he knows of that suffers from the disorder is only 13.

    Twitter users tweeted about the news today and offered thoughts and prayers to Santorum and little Bella.

    (image)@kkjordan
    Kim    To be completely fair, I respect Santorum’s reasoning if it was for his daughter. Trisomy 18 is terrible. :/(image) 26 minutes ago via Twitter for iPhone ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@genejm29
    Gene J. Mikulka    Think here’s the reason for Santorum’s announcement. Put politics aside & all hopes to the family. http://t.co/Hkxtjzjd via @msnbc_health(image) 52 minutes ago via Tweet Button ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@Adrienne2012
    Adrienne Ross    Rick Santorum put up a valiant fight and a commendable effort. God bless him and his family–especially little Bella. #Santorum(image) 46 minutes ago via Twitter for Android ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@amaeryllis
    amaeryllis    I hate everything Rick Santorum stands for, but he fought a good fight and I wish nothing but the best for his family, especially Bella.(image) 27 minutes ago via Tweetbot for iOS ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@ChuckNellis
    Chuck Nellis    Rick Santorum is a good man & can run for president again. My thoughts & prayers go to their family & mostly for Bella. God bless them!#TCOT(image) 58 minutes ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

  • Santorum Is Out

    Rick Santorum announced today that he is suspending his campaign for president. Mitt Romney has held a lead in the delegate count and, to many, has been the presumed delegate. The primary in Santorum’s home state of Pennsylvania is still two weeks away. Santorum lost his Senate seat there two years ago.

    Citing concerns for his ailing daughter, Santorum bowed out at a press conference in Gettysburg, Pa. Santorum apparently called Mitt Romney a day earlier to tell him of his decision to suspend his campaign.

    In the conference, Santorum sought to paint his campaign as a success.

    We were winning in a very different way. We were touching hearts and raising issues that others didn’t want raised.

    We can’t have a strong economy without having strong familes and a strong moral fiber.

    Amazing thing that sweater vest. The Twitterverse went wild… the sweater vest became the official wardrobe of the Santorum campaign. We sourced that in a company that was making them in Minnesota. We’re the best customer they’ve ever had in their entire history.

    It’s been a wonderful story after story. Even today, we have people working for us in Texas to make sure we have a winner-take-all primary. It turns out it wasn’t my voice, it was your voice.

    People say, “How does this happen?” How were we able to come from nowhere? Miracle after miracle, this race was as improbable as any race you are likely to ever see for President.

    Against all odds. we won 11 states. We won more counties than all the other people in this race combined.

    We made a decision to get into this race at our kitchen table. We made a decision that this race is over for me, we will be suspending the campaign effective today.

    We are going to continue to fight to defeat President Barack Obama. We are going to take back the House. We are going to take back America.

    He spoke of a “violent and radical Islam” his campaign opposed, the excitement of the Tea Party with his campaign. He quoted Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address about all men being created equal.

    The conference room was full of press, but had been packed along the sides with Santorum staffers and supporters. They applauded loudly as he left the room. Santorum refused to take any questions, including one about whether he would now endorse Mitt Romney.

    As expected, the Twitter snark kicked in immediately…

    (image)@mileskahn
    mileskahn    Santorum: “We are not done fighting,” adding “you know, except for me, who is quitting and stuff.”(image) 10 minutes ago via TweetDeck ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@usedwigs
    Jeff Lyons    “Hello, I’m from a show called Dancing with the Stars, may I please speak with Rick Santorum?”(image) 11 minutes ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@LukeRussert
    Luke Russert    Santorum is living proof of the value in running for POTUS. Started w hardly nothing will leave w book deal, more speech $ & pundit gig(image) 11 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerry® ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@pjwaldron
    Peter Waldron    BREAKING: Rick Santorum drops out of presidential race; cites shortage of both funds and hillbillies.(image) 12 minutes ago via WitStream ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@ChaseMit
    Chase Mitchell    Glad Santorum stepped aside so Newt can finally win this thing.(image) 13 minutes ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@NotBillWalton
    The Bill Walton Trip    In suspending his campaign, Rick Santorum ends not only his bid for the presidency, but any hopes of bringing back the Spanish Inquisition.(image) 13 minutes ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

  • Rick Santorum To Suspend Republican Presidential Campaign

    Rick Santorum today announced that he is backing out of the hotly contested race to be the Republican Presidential nominee. Citing things such as dwindling popularity and the health of his daughter, Rick Santorum is pulling out essentially giving the Republican Nomination to Mitt Romney.

    The nomination and the fight to take out Barak Obama will now fall to only man that has a realistic chance anyways, Mitt Romney. Romney had essentially wrapped up the nomination last week. The only way Santorum would have won was to get 100% of all the remaining electoral votes. Near impossible.

    Mitt Romney had out spent, and outclassed Santorum on nearly every front and in a lot of ways Santorum never really had a chance once he switched from a centrist point of view to a hard right wing point of view. His stances on birth control are what seemed to finally put the nail in the coffin.

    “We made the decision over the weekend that while this presidential race for us is over for us, for me, and we will suspend our campaign effective today, we are not done fighting,” Santorum said at a press conference. “This race was as improbable as any race as you will ever see for president.”

    While he was nearly mathematically eliminated from contention, his daughters sickness this weekend “did cause us to think in the role that we have as parents in her life.” He said that “this was a time for prayer and thought over this past weekend.”

    (image)@jeffemanuel
    Jeff Emanuel    Let’s be serious, folks: Rick Santorum was never going to be president of the United States, and that’s a very good thing.(image) 2 minutes ago via TweetDeck ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@TinaKorbe
    Tina Korbe    Rick Santorum deserves SO much respect for the generally honorable way in which he has conducted his campaign.(image) 6 minutes ago via TweetDeck ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@chrisgeidner
    Chris Geidner    “The Twitterverse went wild, and said, ‘It must be the sweater vest.’” – Rick Santorum(image) 2 minutes ago via TweetDeck ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

  • SOPA Gets a New Name, Still Terrible

    SOPA Gets a New Name, Still Terrible

    So long, SOPA. It’s been real, and it’s been fun, but it hasn’t been really fun. It’s time to celebrate because SOPA’s dead, right? But wait, what’s this CISPA thing RT.com is talking about? Well, if your answer includes something along the lines of “SOPA’s new name” or the “SOPA’s new clothes,” you’re on the right track.

    Simply put, CISPA–the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (H.R. 3523)–is yet another attempt from a largely clueless U.S. Government to take control of the Internet. Sure, it’s wrapped in a pretty bow of anti-piracy and the prevention of theft, but you might want to take a closer look at who’s backing these attempts. Yes, elected officials bring these bills and acts into being, but not without the monetary influence of the entertainment industry.

    Again, take a look at Lamar Smith’s list of financial benefactors, and start connecting the dots. This is, and has always been about control. The entertainment industry is deathly afraid of the Internet, if, for nothing else, the forced adaptation of a new method of content delivery. Unlike physical media, the entertainment industry’s control over the distribution of electronic media is not the same. And so, like always, the industry is fighting to get some of that control back.

    Apparently, the best way to go about that is to finance corruptible government officials, who will be more than willing to support your cause even though they don’t understand anything about the technology their being asked to regulate. For a perfect example of this, the following video features a segment of Rick Santorum discussing Internet regulation (at the 3:49 mark). If, after that, you think Santorum’s equipped to even discuss Internet regulation, let alone enact the necessary legislation, then you deserve what you get:


    While Santorum’s segment stands out for obvious reasons, the information offered by both Lis Wahl and Kendall Burman is awfully revealing. Furthermore, as the Burman effectively points out, the laws for effective Internet regulation are already in place. If you doubt that, ask Kim Dotcom how the past couple of months have treated him, while keeping in mind his takedown occurred without SOPA or PIPA even surviving the hearings stage.

    As for the new CISPA version of Internet regulation, the video’s YouTube page features an important nugget of information, something that should confirm your opposition to these kinds of bills:

    The SOPA-like bill would give companies the power to collect information on their subscribers and hand it over to the government and all they have to do is request it.

    Isn’t your privacy worth more to you than that?

  • Gingrich & Santorum Bashed By White House Advisor After Obama Comments

    During a press conference on Friday, President Obama expressed his concern for the parents of Trayvon Martin, the 17-year old boy who was shot and killed last month and whose killer has yet to be arrested. Obama said when he thinks about the boy, he thinks about his own kids, even going so far as to say that if he had a son, he would look like Trayvon.

    Those comments were enough to spark the ire of Republican primary candidates Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, who spoke out against the president in two separate radio shows on Friday.

    “Is the president suggesting if it had been a white who had been shot, that would be OK because it wouldn’t look like him?” Gingrich told Sean Hannity. “That’s just nonsense. I mean, dividing this country up, it is a tragedy this young man was shot.”

    Santorum spoke similarly, saying, “And then, this, it is – again, politicizing it. This is, again, not what the presidents of the United States do. What the president of the United States should do is try to bring people together, not use these types of horrible tragic individual cases to try to drive a wedge in America.”

    White House senior advisor David Plouffe said yesterday that the reactions of the two politicians were uncalled for.

    “I don’t think there’s very many people in America that would share that reaction,” Plouffe told CNN. “You know, this is – this Republican primary at some points has been more of a circus show, a clown show. And those two comments are really irresponsible. I would consider them reprehensible. I think the president spoke movingly about this tragedy, as a father, made it clear that there’s an investigation going on.”

    Twitter users had reactions similar to Plouffe’s:

    (image)@lmdapper
    Linda Dapper    Obama adviser smacks down Gingrich’s comments on Trayvon Martin – http://t.co/7f3AB76c || Gingrich needs to think before he speaks!(image) 6 hours ago via bitly ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@LexLuther4
    ?Luther™?    Am I surprised Newt Gingrich had something negative to say about Obama’s comments concerning Trayvon Martin? No.(image) 53 minutes ago via Echofon ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@cguthier
    Christian Guthier    Obama playing politics with Trayvon’s name? Now that you tell me Newt, it must be true… #Trayvon http://t.co/b5Q8obPf(image) 1 hour ago via Twitter for Mac ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    Gingrich tweeted his feelings about the president yesterday:

    (image)@newtgingrich
    Newt Gingrich    To be clear, I believe any GOP nominee would be better than @BarackObama.(image) 20 hours ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

  • Internet Porn Might Be Banned In Egypt

    Internet Porn Might Be Banned In Egypt

    Rick Santorum riled up Twitter last week when he announced his intentions to ban Internet porn if he were to be elected president. Even if he were to win the presidency, the plan would be met with too much resistance. Too bad the same doesn’t apply to Egypt.

    The Egypt Independent is reporting that the government is taking the first steps to ban all online pornography. The ban is being instigated by Minister of Telecommunications and Information Technology Mohamed Salem. The first step is to create a National Telecommunications Regulation Authority that will discuss how they can control porn sites.

    Salem must have a good reason for wanting to ban access to porn sites, right? He says that the issue of porn is becoming “persistent and worrying to families.” I think that porn has always been “persistent and worrying” to anybody who has children. That’s why families install filters or keep a close watch on their child’s Internet usage. That’s apparently not good enough for the People’s Assembly Transportation and Telecommunications Committee as they asked the government in February to ban access to all porn sites within the nation.

    The Next Web reports that a similar law was almost passed in Tunisia. That one didn’t make it through because critics found that it would allow the government to block any Web site that was deemed immoral or offensive. The Egyptian courts might throw out the law or they might pass it. Either way, the Egyptian people will probably see it as an affront on their freedoms and protest again.

    From Santorum’s speech on porn to these new attempts to ban it just go to show you how far people will go to protect families and children. Yes, porn should be kept out of the hands of children, but governments shouldn’t punish an adult’s individual freedom in the name of protecting children. There are ways to protect children from offensive content than just an outright ban. This also puts the responsibility to protect children on the parent’s heads and I know that’s so hard these days. The government shouldn’t be your children’s parents as that leads down the road to them becoming big brothers.

  • Santorum Fires Gun, Woman Yells “Pretend It’s Obama!”

    It’s well known that Rick Santorum has a lot of fans in Louisiana, whose primary will be held on Saturday. But an incident involving a suggestion for Santorum to pretend he was shooting President Obama has people wondering about those fans and just how hardcore they are in their political stance.

    While on a tour of the state, Santorum stopped at a firing range and used paper targets to fire rounds into. Of course, there were various members of the press present, and during the shoot an unidentified woman yelled out, “Pretend it’s Obama!”

    “It’s absurd,” Santorum said of the woman’s outburst when reporters told him about it. “No we’re not pretending it’s anybody but shooting pistols. It’s a very terrible and horrible remark and I’m glad I didn’t hear it.”

    (image)@lolpacorg
    lolpac.org    Just when you think the Republicans can’t get any lower- Woman Yells http://t.co/EFc92GoA via @toxichominid Unreal. #p2 #Decision2012 #ff(image) 1 hour ago via Tweet Button ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@jussomeinfo4u
    just some info 4 u    What a sic, vile person this is exactly Y the World is the way it is bcause of ignorant, senseless hatred of others? http://t.co/WOLJtILC(image) 1 hour ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

  • #SaveThePorn Started In Response To Santorum’s War On Porn

    We reported yesterday that Rick Santorum, one of the three major GOP candidates gunning for the White House this year, announced his intentions to ban online pornography. His reasoning is that the consumption of pornography leads to “profound brain changes” in children and adults.

    His plan is to enforce obscenity laws in regards to online porn. This would make it illegal to produce hardcore content that many users currently enjoy for 12 minutes a day. There are many problems with this approach, however, which we highlighted in our previous article.

    Regardless, Twitter, in a campaign spearheaded by Anonymous, has started a campaign called #SaveThePorn. They know that Santorum can’t really do anything about Internet porn, but the campaign is more about being funny and poking fun at the morality crusaders in our culture.

    (image)@HankTwats
    Ira Lore    @RickSantorum porn is ok, ya know? #SaveThePorn(image) 19 minutes ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@kristinkerwell
    Kristin Kerwell    Is @RickSantorum REALLY talking about banning porn?? Is he fucking retarded!?!? #SaveThePorn(image) 1 hour ago via Twitter for Android ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@bitrandombit
    Hidden Name    Screw you Rick, Games, Gambling, and Girls made the internet great! #AvenueQ @RickSantorum @TeamSantorum #SavethePorn(image) 2 hours ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@Winters75
    Marco Pita    @RickSantorum why you no like porn? #SavethePorn(image) 3 hours ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@Tyshizzle
    Tyshizzle    @YourAnonNews The fact that this needs to be trending makes it certain that a revolution is coming SOON #SavethePorn(image) 4 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@mikecapps
    somewhiteboy    #SavethePorn, save the world!!! Anti- @ricksantorum @teamsantorum Name sounds like a sex position anyway LOL(image) 7 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@TenantsUpstairs
    Natasha Vo    This confirmed: @RickSantorum, product of alien experimentation or just an F-ing lunatic. Dude wants to eliminate internet porn #SavethePorn(image) 8 hours ago via Twitter for BlackBerry® ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@Jerryg_anon34
    jerryg    @ricksantorum no fap for you oh holy one? #SavethePorn(image) 8 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@BangoSkank46290
    Occupy Intelligence    @RickSantorum we gotta #SaveThePorn! Dude, I couldn’t possibly vote for a man who doesn’t crank it. Atleast #Newt‘s a #SexMachine(image) 9 hours ago via Twitter for Android ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@vanilluhbeanz
    LiLi ~    @RickSantorum wants to ABOLISH PORN! Now you may not be one to fuck yourself, but dem hoes gotta eat! #SavethePorn – http://t.co/s7mD7AMM(image) 9 hours ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@Pariah1990
    Shaun Shalendra    @RickSantorum Rule 34: If it exsists,
    there is a porn of it…u can’t break the rules!! #SavethePorn(image) 10 hours ago via Mobile Web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@AaronSkipworth
    Aaron Skipworth    I have no idea what I’d do without porn. #SaveThePorn(image) 10 hours ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@ThisIsTooCreepy
    Jarrod    @TeamSantorum @RickSantorum y would u take my internet porn away? I have no gf. So I get no bewbs. I need something to jerk to. #SaveThePorn(image) 10 hours ago via Twitter for Android ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@betoelalacran
    betoelalacran    #SavethePorn Ricky just handed romney the election on a silver platter. Happy ending included. @MexicanMitt(image) 10 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@MrMarbles256
    Chris House    @YourAnonNews @ricksantorum There’s already enough dicks in porn, we don’t need one more. #SaveThePorn(image) 10 hours ago via Twitter for Android ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

  • Rick Santorum Wants To Ban Pornography

    Rick Santorum Wants To Ban Pornography

    Since Rick Santorum has a hard time arguing with Mitt Romney about financial issues, he has become the social choice for republican candidate for the president’s office. After his crusades on birth control and gay marriage, he now has his sights set on porn. He released this on his blog:

    “America is suffering a pandemic of harm from pornography. A wealth of research is now available demonstrating that pornography causes profound brain changes in both children and adults, resulting in widespread negative consequences. Addiction to pornography is now common for adults and even for some children. The average age of first exposure to hard-core, Internet pornography is now 11. Pornography is toxic to marriages and relationships. It contributes to misogyny and violence against women. It is a contributing factor to prostitution and sex trafficking. Every family must now be concerned about the harm from pornography. As a parent, I am concerned about the widespread distribution of illegal obscene pornography and its profound effects on our culture. For many decades, the American public has actively petitioned the United States Congress for laws prohibiting distribution of hard-core adult pornography. Congress has responded. Current federal “obscenity” laws prohibit distribution of hardcore (obscene) pornography on the Internet, on cable/satellite TV, on hotel/motel TV, in retail shops and through the mail or by common carrier. Rick Santorum believes that federal obscenity laws should be vigorously enforced. “If elected President, I will appoint an Attorney General who will do so.” The Obama Administration has turned a blind eye to those who wish to preserve our culture from the scourge of pornography and has refused to enforce obscenity laws. While the Obama Department of Justice seems to favor pornographers over children and families, that will change under a Santorum Administration. I proudly support the efforts of the War on Illegal Pornography Coalition that has tirelessly fought to get federal obscenity laws enforced. That coalition is composed of 120 national, state, and local groups, including Morality in Media, Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, American Family Association, Cornerstone Family Council of New Hampshire, Pennsylvania Family Institute, Concerned Women for America, The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, and a host of other groups. Together we will prevail.”

    Now, before you go, whoa! There is no way he can do this. UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh disagrees: “If the government wanted to aggressively move against Internet pornography, it could do so,” explained Volokh. “Here’s the deal: In most parts of the country, a lot of pornography on the Internet would plausibly be seen as obscene.”

    (image)@mikescollins
    Mike Scollins    Rick Santorum just posted on his website that he plans to ban internet porn in case you were wondering if his kids are popular in school.(image) 57 minutes ago via Favstar.FM ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@pollinger
    Paul Ollinger    Rick Santorum can have my internet porn when he pries “it” from my cold, dead hand.(image) 1 hour ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@whereishawkins
    Nick Hawkins    Rick Santorum is making an issue and wanting to ban internet porn? That’s akin to banning air.(image) 5 hours ago via TweetDeck ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

  • Santorum’s Puzzling Comment About the Dutch [video]

    When Rick Santorum first started talking about how the Dutch euthanize their elderly, it elicited gasps. He said that euthanasia was legal in Holland. He told audiences that old people in Holland wear bracelets that say “Do Not Euthanize Me” and are afraid to be hospitalized because 10% of all hospital deaths are from euthanasia every year. He said that half of those are involuntary.

    Those statements have been refuted by Dutch people again and again. The Dutch government has issued statements of their own, clarifying how euthanasia a) is not “legal”, but that b) there are exemptions from prosecution for doctors who comply with a patients wishes to die. All this only happens c) after a lengthy process to prevent abuses. (pdf doc)

    A website has even been launched that sells “Dutch bracelets” as a spoof of Santorum’s outrageous comments.

    But, a Dutch reporter spoke to one of Santorum’s campaign members recently and asked why the candidate made such a statement in the first place. The answer he got was priceless campaign two-stepping. The video is trending on YouTube and should be shown in every PoliSci class.

  • Viral Video: Santorum Paid Ad Shows Brown Froth

    Viral Video: Santorum Paid Ad Shows Brown Froth

    File this in the Unbelievable category. Even given Rick Santorum’s “Google problem” (you know the one we mean), some PR firm produced a video for him featuring the candidate being shot with brown goop.

    The video has a Mitt Romney look-alike shooting mud at a cardboard cut-out of Rick Santorum. In the end, the “Romney” guy gets shot with the brown stuff himself.

    Anyone who has seen the Spreading Santorum site is familiar with the “brown frothy” image on the front page of the ad. The wisdom of using this in an ad is… suspect. Is Santorum being trolled by his own ad men? Or, is this crazy like a fox stuff?

  • Romney Has A Santorum Problem (With Search Engines)

    You can’t bottle lightning, but you can at least flick the lights on and off really quickly to create a similar albeit campier effect. That seems to be what’s happening with online activists/pranksters trying to duplicate the magnificent hex Dan Savage cast upon Rick Santorum when he codified “Santorum” to mean something other than some guy’s surname, except the new target is Mitt Romney.

    While Romney’s last name isn’t getting quite the revulsive rechristening that Santorum got, it’s still becoming a legitimate issue as far as search engines are concerned. Searching “Mitt Romney” only summons news about Romney’s election as well as many websites that support him. Search only “Romney,” however, and the third return you receive is a link to www.spreadingromney.com.

    (image)

    In case you are hesitant to follow that link, romney has been defined as a verb that means, “to defecate in terror.” The word “terror” is a hyperlink that will send readers to story on Huffington Post recounting the time Mitt Romney strapped his dog to the roof of his car while driving to Canada. The dog reportedly “defecated in fear” while housed atop the vehicle. So you see, the name Romney and the verb romney have met on the other side of the track.

    A similar wind-up is happening with Newt Gingrich’s last name, although the arbitration of what exactly gingrich will mean is a more democratic process. Currently over at www.spreadinggingrich.com, visitors can submit their suggestion for what gingrich should mean with the eventual winner becoming the adopted definition of gingrich.

    Given how boar-ish (no, I did not spell that incorrectly) and lewd Gingrich’s personal life has been, the disgusting potential for what gingrich will eventually mean could be disastrously vile and possibly rival the gag-inducing definition of santorum. Blegh.

    So far, this phenomenon seems relegated to the liberal or Democratic pranksters. However, www.spreadingobama.com is actually a registered domain but nothing live is going on with it as of today (meaning: squatters). The domain is registered to Domains By Proxy, LCC, which is allegedly owned by GoDaddy founder Bob Parsons (thanks for the tip, Internet). Last year, Washington Post reported that several potentially derogatory domains related to presidential candidates were yoinked up by Domains by Proxy but, amusingly, while Obama seems to have been spared the risk of Santorum’s fate, Romney and Gingrich have been left to fend for themselves.

    Then again, given Parsons’ disdain for elephants, maybe this is a sly political maneuver? Subtle humor for the win!

  • Rick Santorum Sees Surge in Searches, Stays Frothy In Various Search Engines

    If you follow U.S. politics at all (or at this point, even turn on a TV), you probably know that Rick Santorum had a good Tuesday night. The former Pennsylvania Senator swept the primary contests, winning Colorado with 40.2% of the vote, Minnesota with 44.8%, and Missouri with 55.2%.

    Santorum focused a lot of time and energy in these three states leading up to Tuesday night, and it appears to have paid off. Meanwhile, front-runner Mitt Romney’s camp continues to say that they didn’t really focus much attention in those contests and Santorum’s victories shouldn’t be given too much thought.

    For what seems like the 100th time, Rick Santorum is somehow rising back into the national conversation. And we all know that with renewed interest comes curiosity. And with curiosity comes internet searches.

    And the searches have come, according to Google’s new Politics & Elections dashboard. According to a Google+ post, Rick Santorum saw a surge in search traffic in Colorado, Minnesota, and Missouri in the last day leading up to voting. When you factor in the entire prior week, his search traffic increased by 262% in Colorado, 386% in Missouri, and a staggering 515% in Minnesota.

    This bested the search growth of the other GOP candidates by more than double.

    On one hand, the Santorum camp can say “awesome, people are searching for me. I’m relevant!” And on the other hand, there has to be a part of Rick Santorum that kind of cringes every time he hears that his search traffic has spiked.

    That’s because Rick Santorum has a Google problem – one that we’ve covered extensively.

    A quick rundown of the issue: A few years ago, popular gay blogger Dan Savage created a site called “Spreading Santorum.” The site defines the word “Santorum” as “the frothy mix of lube and fecal matter than is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex.” Why did he do this? Because Santorum (a staunch social conservative) had said some pretty offensive things about homosexuality, comparing it to bestiality among other things. Although Santorum maintains that his words were taken out of context – it doesn’t really matter. The site achieved prime real estate on Google searches for “Santorum.”

    It wasn’t exactly a Google bomb in the classical sense, but SEO tactics raised its visibility and now it is in the first results you see when you search “Santorum” on Google (third when you search “Rick Santorum”).

    So think about it. Every time a voter searches for Rick Santorum on Google, it’s highly likely that they see this lewd definition. And let’s be honest – a large percentage of voters searching for Santorum might not understand how or why that result is so prominently displayed.

    And as I told you back at the beginning of the year, Santorum’s “Google Problem” is not really limited to Google. In fact, Santorum has a Bing and Yahoo problem as well.

    Santorum contacted Google a while back about his problem, to which they basically said sorry, we don’t remove content from search results except in very limited circumstances. and the fact is, Spreading Santorum isn’t at the top of search result through some sort of secret agenda. It’s there because it’s one of the most relevant results out there for Rick Santorum.

    It’s impossible that voters searching for Santorum fail to see this result. But he just won based on the support of conservative voters in three states. Is it possible that the “problem” isn’t that much of a problem for Santorum? I still feel that in time, however, his raunchy result will end up negatively impacting his campaign.

  • SOPA: Twitter Weighs In On GOP Debate

    As we reported earlier, all four candidates in last night’s GOP debate in South Carolina stated their opposition to SOPA. Ron Paul pointed out that he had always been against it and waiting for the others to catch up. Newt said he ‘favors freedom’. Romney agreed. Santorum doesn’t like SOPA, as is, but still thinks that government should regulate the content of the Internet. I wonder why?

    Here’s how the Twitterverse responded to this rash of nods from all four remaining GOP candidates.

    (image)@kn0thing
    Alexis Ohanian    Dear, Congress: You finally got all the #GOP candidates to agree during this @CNN debate — against you. Ouch. #SOPA #PIPA.(image) 15 hours ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@WebProNews
    WebProNews    SOPA: GOP Candidates All Agree #WebProNews http://t.co/dLozvF2e(image) 42 seconds ago via Tweet Button · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@JustinRYoung
    Justin Robert Young    Pretty pumped to hear the GOP Debate Crowd boo #SOPA and 3 of the candidates equate further legislation with a loss of freedom(image) 14 hours ago via Twitter for Mac · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@sjvn
    sjvn    RT @JBrodkin: sweet RT @arstechnica: At GOP debate, all four candidates oppose SOPA http://t.co/Dslu0Bbi Me: They got 1 right!(image) 1 hour ago via Twitterfall · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@asteris
    Asteris Masouras    Back from Twitterjail, wondered why I stayed up so late watching this debate but the SOPA round was worth it: it is now toxic to the GOP(image) 15 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@acarvin
    Andy Carvin    Ron Paul: I was one of the first to sign up against #SOPA. The GOP has been on the wrong side of the issue; these guys are playing catch-up.(image) 15 hours ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@TheTeaParty_net
    TheTeaParty.net    Newt on SOPA—You’re asking a conservative about the interests of Hollywood #tcot #teacyber #gop #cnndebate(image) 15 hours ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@kaepora
    Nadim Kobeissi    #SOPA question was just asked at the CNN GOP Debate – everyone except Santorum surprisingly gave a non-douchey answer.(image) 15 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@mpetricone
    mpetricone    #SOPA #PIPA question @ GOP debate! Romney, Paul, Santorum, Gringrich all against. Audience boos when John King says that CNN supports.(image) 15 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

  • SOPA: GOP Candidates All Agree

    Last night’s CNN debate in South Carolina found all four remaining GOP candidates in harmony on one issue at least. They all feel that SOPA is overreaching and needs to be rethought.

    Newt Gingrich answered the SOPA question first, saying, “I favor freedom.” He said that there are already tools and avenues of recourse in place to allow copyright holders to sue and stop piracy domestically. Gingrich continued:

    “The idea that we’re going to preemptively have the government start censoring the Internet on behalf of giant corporations’ economic interests strikes me as exactly the wrong thing to do.”

    Mitt Romney chimed in:

    “I think he got it just about right… The law as written is far too intrusive, far too expansive, far too threatening to freedom of speech and movement of information across the Internet. It would have a potentially depressing impact on one of the fastest growing industries in America, which is the Internet and all those industries connected to it.”

    Ron Paul pointed out that the others were late to the party:

    “I was the first Republican to sign on with a host of Democrats to oppose this law… The Republicans, unfortunately, have been on the wrong side of this issue.”

    Rick Santorum, while agreeing with everyone else that SOPA goes too far, did have a personal axe to grind.

    “The Internet is not a free zone where anybody can do anything they want to do and trample the rights of other people… The idea that ‘anything goes’ on the Internet, where did that come from? Where in America does it say that ‘anything goes’?”

    Of course, Rick Santorum has been embroiled in his own personal fight with Google and difficulties on the Internet.