Sick Rick
It's no secret that Senator Rick Santorum, from my home state of Pennsylvania, habitually confounds "principle" with "idiocy." This time, having somehow decided that "Boston liberalism" is to blame for the Catholic church pedophilia scandal, it might cost him--but what really amazes me is the cultural and media context that allows him to make such a foul claim in the first place. A little background:

"Priests, like all of us, are affected by culture," Santorum wrote in a July 12, 2002 article for the Web site Catholic Online. "When the culture is sick, every element in it becomes infected. While it is no excuse for this scandal, it is no surprise that Boston, a seat of academic, political and cultural liberalism in America, lies at the center of the storm."

Since Santorum wrote those words, the scandal has spread from Boston to almost every diocese in the country, has forced three bishops to declare bankruptcy and has cost the church close to $1 billion. In a study for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the John Jay College of Criminal Justice reported last year that 4,392 priests had been accused since 1950 of abusing more than 10,600 children.

Asked by the Boston Globe this week whether he stood by his remark, Santorum said he did. "I was just saying that there's an attitude that is very open to sexual freedom that is more predominant" in Boston, the Globe quoted him as saying Tuesday.

Massachusetts Senators Kennedy and Kerry ripped into Santorum on the Senate floor yesterday, commending the patriotism of Massachusetts natives who have fought and died in Iraq and elsewhere. Santorum's spokesman responded with a disingenuous claim that the remarks were "taken out of context" and referred to the swingin', sexually liberated '60s and '70s which were somehow worse in Boston than elsewhere.

Bizarre, but probably not surprising. It's worth wondering, though, what the reaction among Santorum supporters would be if, say, Kerry or MA Rep. Barney Frank blamed the higher incidence of executions, violent crime, low educational standards, or gap between white and African-American incomes on the "political and cultural conservatism" of the southern states.

Santorum will be Democrats' number one target in 2006--okay, maybe he'll share that distinction with Tom DeLay--in a year shaping up to be dangerous for Republican incumbents. He's already trailing likely opponent Bob Casey Jr. by 50 to 39 percent in opinion polling, and obviously, every ignorant, mean-spirited statement out of his mouth is catching the notice of his opponents.

Santorum will get a lot of help from national Republicans, but he's also providing a lot of help to Casey's fundraising and opposition research efforts. It's almost enough to get me wondering if he wants to lose.