The Verdict
by digby
This morning David asked if Santorum was stupid or crazy. As far as I'm concerned this tips it way over into the stupid side:
“What they have done? And I referred to it the other day and I got criticized by some of our, well, less-than-erudite members of the national press corps who have a difficulty understanding when you refer to someone’s ideology to the point where they elevate Earth, and they say that, well, men and humanity is just of a variety of different species on the Earth and should be treated no differently.”
He continued: “Whereas, we all know that man has a responsibility of stewards of the Earth, that we are good stewards and we have a responsibility to be good stewards. Why? Because unlike the Earth, we’re intelligent and we can actually manage things.”
“It’s so funny that this party that criticizes the right for being anti-science, but when it comes to the management of the Earth, they are the anti-science ones!” the candidate declared. “We’re the ones who stand for science and technology and using the resources we have to make sure we have a quality of life in this country and maintain a good and stable environment.”
Santorum added that there was “obviously a role for government to play” in environmental regulation, but it was best left to state and local government.
“Freedom isn’t to do whatever you want to do, it’s to do what you ought to do,” he opined.
Uh huh. Any idea what the hell he's talking about there? I'm beginning to think Sarah Palin deserves more respect.
My favorite dumb remark in that word salad (and there are many) has to be the idea that environmental protection is best left to local and state governments. After all, the air and the water are all confined within the arbitrary lines on the 50 state maps. In fact, they're confined to the arbitrary lines on the maps of each individual town, village and home. If your little berg wants to belch smoke into the air 24/7 it's none of my bidness. And there's no reason for you to be involved if I dump raw sewage into the river that runs through mine.
Why do we have a nation again? I can't remember.
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