Sunday Morning Papers: Missing the Good Ol' Days

I've never really wondered what living in a theocracy would look like, but the Santorum campaign appears to be giving me a glimpse.  He was interviewed on Face the Nation this morning (Bob Schieffer is a badass, by the way), and brought out the G word early and often.  A little snippet of how this went, after questioning whether environmentalists had bothered to read Genesis:

Santorum: "What I'm talking about is the belief that man should be in charge of the Earth and have dominion over it and be good stewards of it."
Shieffer: "I don't want to just spend the whole program on this."
Santorum: "Good!"

Let's put it this way, if Santorum would have been allowed, he would have continued to dig himself into a hole by narrowly defining Christian beliefs to the point that only Evangelical Republicans are Christians.  I'm very glad that this guy has no say in whether or not I am Saved or not.  Truthfully, if he is living the narrow path that leads to salvation, I'm thinking that I'm going to hell for not wanting to have a vengeful God of bloodlust, but following a be-sandled Hippie carpenter instead.

Santorum is appearing to be running for Preacher-In-Chief.  A rundown of his platform planks as detailed on Face the Nation this morning:

• Prenatal testing is only used to screen for disabilities that result in abortions.
• Public schools is "anachronistic".  (That's the term he used.  Probably incorrectly, but we were just given one line out of context.)
• Theologies not based on the Bible are phony.  This idea was presented in a political context, not a religious context.
• Those who want to protect the Earth and prevent Christians from extracting resources from the Earth are radical environmentalists thwarting God's will.
• Global warming is not scientifically proven.
• The environmental movement is part of a conspiracy to consolidate power in the government. 
• I concede that the President is a Christian.  It's just that his world view, policies, and outlook are not Christians.
• Free prenatal testing in every health insurance program will lead to more abortions.  It's better for a woman with a fetus who will die shortly after birth to go through the whole nine months of pregnancy and be blindsided with this defect in the delivery room vs. being able to make the decision as to whether she will CHOOSE to bring this life into the world.  (Think of the power of that CHOICE vs. having no other option.)
• Amniocentesis will be outlawed in a Santorum Administration.  It only serves to increase abortions.
• Public schools are the result of industrialization.  They are factories. 
• Federal and state governments should not offer public schools.  They have no clue what students need to be educated.  That's best left to parents and local communities, who know a lot more.
• Also, Ford builds each car custom, because no one has ever gone to a Ford dealer and bought a car off the lot.
• States can fund public schools, but they shouldn't have any say about the education that goes on in that school.
• One in three children drop out of school.  (Despite being reported as 8% by the Department of Education.  Sorry, the unnecessary bureaucracy that is probably hiding something by reporting actual statistics because they just love to waste your tax money.)
• Those who graduate from public schools do not have the values necessary to work hard and build communities.

This was only a 15 minute interview.  Could you imagine if he was given time to talk about the economy?  It's the kind of that that as a well-educated graduate of public schools and colleges, who is only here because prenatal testing discovered a problem that was easily corrected in utero, who likes science wants her head to explode rather than believe that the Republican base wants this guy to be President.  Remember what the world was like before health care, education, and technology?  If you've ever wanted to live in the 1880s, here is your chance.  Can't wait to play Russian roulette and see if I'll be the 1 in six women to die in childbirth!  Cholera epidemics for everyone!  Getting kids ready for engineering and technology jobs by having a strong science and math curriculum in schools?  F- That!  Creation-based homeschooling should be the gold standard.

This could get bad, people.