Not quite, Shayna. Slick Rick is couching his racism very, very cagily. Note the use of the code word “culture”, which permits him to insinuate a racist hot-button while simultaneously allowing the “target” of the racist appeal to deny the nature of his sympathy. Racism has been more or less repudiated as a social norm. No one will admit to himself that he is a racist, and no one will admit that a racist appeal might sway him. It has to be carefully couched to permit plausible deniability.
In a way, John, you illustrate my point. With all due respect, mind you.
Is Rick Santorum a racist? Probably not, certainly not in an overt sense. A politician publicly embraces racism, might as well nail his pecker to a tree and set the tree on fire.
But I ask you to ask yourself: if you were an utterly cynical manipulator of the public mind, and if you wanted to appeal to voters who are, shall we say, uneasy with Latin input…wouldn’t you phrase such an inherently racist appeal in precisely these terms? So that you could appeal to the darker nature and yet retain that deniability?
The culture of…um…stealing what we like best about other cultures and then claiming it as our own?
The …um…trailer trash culture?
The lemming culture?
The obesity culture?
Prozac Nation?
I know we have one, dammit.
NASCAR and Slim Jims.
I’ve almost got my new website up, and my lead article supports Sen. Santorum for re-election. All I need is a name for it.
I’ve narrowed it down to either www. hizbolla.com or www. osamah.com
Maybe I should take a poll in IMHO? 
samclem, is alkeda.com taken?
No, idiot, I said I wouldn’t discuss illegal immigration. Discuss Santorum’s racism all you want – I said that. Learn to read.
I vote for the latter, without precluding an additional catch-all thread, which is bound to emerge anyway – more than one, I’m sure. (And any Pubs accusing Dems of mendacity will please to keep their tu quoque remarks out of those and start their own fucking threads.)
P.S. Hi 'luci! I wasn’t ignoring your post, I promise. I’m so glad you’re back. 
None of it matters one iota to me. Come “judgment day” I plan to vote against every Republican I find on the ballot - I never ever voted stratight ticket before, but it’s time to clean house.
P.P.S. John Mace, I apologize for calling you an idiot. You just got on the one last nerve I have left after dealing with a string of idiots all day today. Clearly I shouldn’t’ve tried to reply to you after having just been threatened with legal action by one tenant because another tenant inadvertantly signed for a package that belonged to her because UPS handed it to her with one of her own, stacked hers on top so she couldn’t see that the other one wasn’t actually for her, and didn’t notice it until the end of the day. And that wasn’t even the most petty thing I had to deal with today!
You still need to learn to read better, though.
The refusal to own up to their mistake - if mistake it was - and admit that the “al” that endorsed Casey has little to do with the Middle East is despicable. Very crummy and underhanded on Santorum’s part.
Santorum can’t beat Mike DeWine (R-OH), when it comes to blowing smoke.
I would hope Republicans would be sufficiently disgusted with candidates who accuse their opponents of aiding and abetting terrorism that they vote the other way.
No problem.
Well, you were equating his stance on illegal immigration with racism, and since the former was the only evidence you brought up wrt to the latter, then I took it to mean that you didn’t want to discuss racism. So, do you have any other evidence to support the idea that he’s a racist? I don’t claim to follow Santorum all that closely, so maybe I’ve missed his obvious racism in other contexts.
elucidator: I believe you are using what is called a “just so” argument. Lots of people are opposed to illegal immigration for lots of different reasons. Some of those reasons are racist, but many are not. And that includes support for English as an official language.
Anyway, no need to derail this thread with a discussion about illegal immigration or racism. As I stated in my first post, I agree with the OP that Santorum is using a pretty slimy tactic-- guilt by association. Looks like a sign of desperation, and he seems to be on his way out. The US Senate will be a better place without him. From what I know about Casey, he seems like a decent fellow even if I may disagree with some of his politics. I’m not shedding any tears over any Republican losses in the nect election-- there’s a good chance they’ll be booted out of power, and they deserve it.
It gets better!
(by way of Daily Kos, which has further documentation, etc.)
Hallelujah, brothers and sisters! The Tighty Righty have seen the light, and are rushing to lend thier support to Gaia!
Ya know the first time I read this I thought, well gee, if the Klu Klux Klan decides to endorse Santorum, I guess that would make him a racist, right?
But then I had a better idea. I’m goning to call up Dan Savage and ask him to organize homosexual support for him. They should all come out (ahem) to his rallies and speaches and show their support…so we know what side he’s on.
It would totaly screw him (and without the lube).
Wait a minute…!
Are you talking about THE Bob Casey Jr. who:
*Favors a reversal of Roe v. Wade and a ban on most abortions
*Supports President Bush’s restriction of stem cell research
*Is in favor of permitting pharmacists to refuse to sell birth control pills
*Supports capital punishment
*Opposes gun control laws
*Supported confirmation of Samuel Alito
*Says we need to “finish the job” in Iraq
*Opposes legalizing pot
*Supports posting the 10 commandments in Government buildings
*Supports the Patriot Act
*Endorses Stricter employment rules and enforcing the borders
*Etc.
*Etc.
This guy sounds more right of center than most Republicans in that part of the country. He sounds like Santorum Light to me.
The handful of center/left positions this guy has seems shadowed by his strong opinions on the conservative ones.
Since when do Democrats, especially Democrats in the east, accept so many of these positions from the same candidate? And since when does the likes of Diogenes the Cynic accept so many right leaning positions that he actually begs for the candidate to be elected?
Dio and Hentor pwned. Nicely done, sir.