Santorum Promise War on Pornography If Elected

My, my. Rick "Frothy Mix" Santorum has apparently missed the studies that show the biggest users of Internet porn are those among his Christianist base - especially in the Bible Belt. Otherwise, why would he be promising a "war on pornography" if elected to the White House. Doesn't he realize that the "godly Christian" set loves to meddle in the sex lives of others but truly loves to watch Internet porn. Maybe it's how they bring excitement to their outwardly prudish, Puritan like unhappy lives. But I digress. This declaration will only serve to underscore Santorum's religious extremist image and ought to signal to voters outside the Kool-Aid drinking crowd that Santorum's own subliminal obsession with sex - especially gay sex - will push him to try to control their sex lives as well. Huffington Post looks at this latest batshitery from the (in my view) mentally disturbed Santorum:

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum has promised to initiate a war on porn if elected. “America is suffering a pandemic of harm from pornography. It contributes to misogyny and violence against women. It is a contributing factor to prostitution and sex trafficking,” the former Pennsylvania senator wrote in a statement posted on his campaign website.

Santorum has chosen the porn industry as his latest target in his effort to be viewed as the most conservative candidate in the GOP primary, ahead of opponent Mitt Romney. He believes that current obscenity laws should be more stringently enforced.

The statement also took the opportunity to slam the Obama administration and its handling of the issue so far, stating that the president has “refused to enforce obscenity laws” and that the Department of Justice "seems to favor pornographers over children and families."

Not everyone agrees with Santorum's analysis of how the industry affects Americans. Steve Chapman, a writer for the Chicago Tribune took issue with Santorum's claims, which he describes as "just wrong."

"Santorum doesn't seem to notice that as porn has become ever-more available via the Internet, the prevalence of rape has plunged. Since 1991, the national rate has fallen by 86 percent -- compared to a decline in overall violent crime of 65 percent," Chapman wrote.

The porn industry is a billion-dollar-a-year business nationwide, and with the rise of the internet and technology it has become one of highest-grossing industries in the world.

The cited Chicago Tribune piece goes on to look at just how off base some of Frothy Mix's claims are in fact. Not that Santorum lives in a reality based world where hard facts and data matter. For Ricky, it's all about his Catholic upbringing induced bizarre views of sex (I know of what I speak - it took me years of therapy to undo the damage done by the priests and nuns). Here are some column highlights:

I can understand if Rick Santorum wants to prosecute pornographers on the grounds that explicit fare encourages non-marital sex, promotes the use of birth control or saps vital fluids. I would think he's off-base, but he'd at least have a plausible case.

When he claims that pornography "contributes to misogyny and violence against women," though, he's just wrong. All of the evidence argues the opposite.

Santorum doesn't seem to notice that as porn has become ever-more available via the Internet, the prevalence of rape has plunged. Since 1991, the national rate has fallen by 86 percent -- compared to a decline in overall violent crime of 65 percent.

A state-by-state study by economist Todd Kendall of Clemson University found that "the arrival of the Internet was associated with a reduction in rape incidence. However, growth in Internet usage had no apparent effect on other crimes." He concluded, that "in contrast to previous theories to the contrary, liberalization of pornography access may lead to declines in sexual victimization of women."

Santorum, however, is one of those people who just knows pornography has bad effects, because he finds it morally offensive. But when reality contradicts your ideology and religious assumptions, it's wise to reconsider them.

Of course, another explanation could be that Santorum wants to eliminate temptation for himself. If there's no gay porn, then he can't be day dreaming about watching it.