rick santorumI -- along with the majority of Americans (hopefully) -- keep wondering when Rick Santorum will make such a fool of himself that his supporters will fiiiiiinally see that the wannabe-emperor wears no clothes. It could have been when we heard that he considers birth control "dangerous" and thinks sex should only occur within a marriage to procreate. But it wasn't. This past weekend, the guy dissed higher education ... Could that have been the final straw?

One would think/hope so! In case you missed it, Santorum was speaking to more than a thousand activists at the American for Prosperity forum in Troy, Michigan. He said, "Not all folks are gifted in the same way. Some people have incredible gifts with their hands. President Obama once said he wants everybody in America to go to college. What a snob.” Words that, while widely lampooned since Saturday, Santorum said he still stands by. Ooookay.

He's still convinced that colleges are "indoctrination mills" and are somehow brainwashing kids to become leftist "big government"-loving drones. Rrrright. Because placing a premium on education is such an elitist concept. Not like it might be the key to actually qualifying young people for a variety of career tracks and helping boost employment numbers or anything like that!

And to make it seem as though President Obama doesn't understand or respect that not everyone is meant to attend a "traditional," four-year liberal arts college or university is ludicrous. Clarifying his stance yesterday, Obama told the National Governors Association:

I'm not only talking about four-year degrees. I’m also talking about going to community college to get a degree for a manufacturing job where you have to walk through the door to handle a million-dollar piece of equipment.

While clarification is helpful to those who might have been confused by Santorum's twisting of the President's values, it's also just plain sad that Obama has to waste his time reiterating something like this. It should go without saying that higher education in all its forms is a priority to Americans. Especially when you look at countries like China and India that are beating us -- whether or not we (or especially the GOP) like to hear that, it's the truth -- in the global economy, because they emphasize lifelong learning.

The bottom-line is this: Santorum's extreme stances on copious issues -- from sexuality to education -- defy logic and just boggle the mind. But maybe he's onto at least one thing: Getting Americans to "dumb it down" might be the only way for a guy like this to get elected!

Here's Jon Stewart's brilliant riff on the whole thing at around 4:57 ...

 

Can you believe this guy?


Image via Marc Nozell/Flickr