Santorum II

My title sounds like some kind of Gregorian Chant, doesn’t it?
by Charlie Leck

Rick Santorum has an enormous problem. His mouth goes off involuntarily before his brain kicks in. He is slightly (and only slightly) more intellectual than Michele Bachman. There are so many Santorum comments out there in the public that he would like to withdraw. It is a little frightening to think that a large number of people are giving serious consideration to this guy as a possible President of the United States.

I just wonder if he thinks very much at all about some of the outrageous things he says. After accusing the President of a “phony theology” he is now saying that he doesn’t question the President’s faith. Hmm! What?

But the biggest gaffe comes from his comments about involuntary euthanasia in the Netherlands. (I really can’t make this stuff up! Santorum shouldn’t either.)

“In the Netherlands, people wear different bracelets if they are elderly. And the bracelet is: ‘Do not euthanize me.’ Because they have voluntary euthanasia in the Netherlands but half of the people who are euthanized — ten percent of all deaths in the Netherlands — half of those people are euthanized involuntarily at hospitals because they are older and sick. And so elderly people in the Netherlands don’t go to the hospital. They go to another country, because they are afraid, because of budget purposes, they will not come out of that hospital if they go in there with sickness.”— [Former senator Rick Santorum, at the American Heartland Forum in Columbia, Missouri, Feb. 3, 2012]

Mr. Santorum is clearly accusing the Netherlands of euthanizing many older sick people. His charge: 10 percent of all deaths in the Netherlands are the result of euthanasia and half of those are involuntary!

What? That’s a serious charge! I… I… I… I just can’t believe it!

How does the Netherlands react to the charge? A headline appeared in Holland quickly after Santorum made the charge: RICK SANTORUM THINKS HE KNOWS THE NETHERLANDS: MURDER OF THE ELDERLY ON A GRAND SCALE.

The facts!
Euthanasia is legal in the Netherlands under very strict guidelines. However, it is a very uncommon form of death. 2.3 percent of all deaths in 2010 resulted under those guidelines. More than 80 percent of those deaths happened in the person’s home under a doctor’s care. More than 80 percent of those euthanized were suffering from cancer.

What about the bracelet? Appears to be rumor or gossip that Santorum bought into!

Why did he make the comment in the first place? Probably because he wants government to stay out of health care. And, it leaves certain implications hanging out there for the voter to worry about.

Like Michel Bachmann, Santorum reaches for the wildest stories he can find to support his arguments and the facts be damned. He can always apologize for what he said later!

That’s not the kind of President the country needs! I just don’t know why so many people still buy into him.