Rachel Maddow on Rick Santorum's Shameless Lying

Rachel Maddow on Rick Santorum’s Shameless Lying

Not living in the real world

PoliticsApril 2012 • Views: 20,685

Rick Santorum is not going to be the President of the US. But has there ever been a presidential candidate so totally disconnected from the real world?

In this clip Rachel Maddow takes apart Santorum’s absurd counter-factual claim that California universities do not teach American history. Why does Santorum tell such obvious lies? Because the people to whom he’s marketing himself live in a strange echo chamber, conditioned by years of Fox News and wingnut bloggers to simply accept this kind of ridiculous nonsense without even blinking.

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35 comments

lewispryor Tue, Apr 3, 2012 11:00:11am

Even more serious are his allegations about the Netherlands, and Rachel totally eats his lunch on that one too. The Santorum spokesperson's responses (well; the same response, three times) to the Dutch journalist are just pathetic.

euphgeek Tue, Apr 3, 2012 11:01:19am

re: #1 lewispryor

Even more serious are his allegations about the Netherlands, and Rachel totally eats his lunch on that one too. The Santorum spokesperson's responses (well; the same response, three times) to the Dutch journalist are just pathetic.

I wanted the interviewer to ask her, "So because Santorum is pro-life that means it's okay for him to lie?"

prairiefire Tue, Apr 3, 2012 11:02:13am

I am headed over to vote against this white supremacist wing nut running for our school board:[Link: features.rr.com...]

lawhawk Tue, Apr 3, 2012 11:09:18am

California universities do not teach American history? That's factually and demonstrably false.

Take Berkeley for example. They've got multiple professors teaching American history from 1607 and after.

They may not teach American history the way that Santorum wants them taught but that's a separate and distinct statement, but that's the implication here as well.

It's about the history Santorum wants to push, and it's a mix of revisionism and wishful thinking along with a lack of critical thinking.

Had Obama made a gaffe like that, everyone in the right wing would have been on it like moths to the flame. With Santorum, these get a shrug-off. It's nuts. And Santorum's nuts too.

Kragar Tue, Apr 3, 2012 11:12:57am

re: #2 euphgeek

I wanted the interviewer to ask her, "So because Santorum is pro-life that means it's okay for him to lie?"

"Well, yeah"

Neutral President Tue, Apr 3, 2012 11:16:05am

That's because the classes are generally referred to as "US History" rather than "'merkun histree".

Kragar Tue, Apr 3, 2012 11:17:28am

re: #6 ArchangelMichael

That's because the classes are generally referred to as "US History" rather than "'merkun histree".

I bet they barely even mention Jesus in the classes.

Shvaughn Tue, Apr 3, 2012 11:20:12am

In case you missed it yesterday, this study from the right-wing "National Association of Scholars" is the original source for what Santorum babbled. They don't quite say what he said (I think he read the WSJ opinion piece about this study), but they slant it to look like there's some crisis of "multiculturalism" destroying western values, which is their entire schtick anyway.

erik_t Tue, Apr 3, 2012 11:21:06am

The level of shameless lying is not unprecedented, but the level of stupid shameless lying is really without comparison. The fact that Santorum's statements can so often be trivially and incontrovertibly* shown to be false tells you a lot about his audience.

* I agree that eg. AGW is very rigorously supported, but less so than looking at UCLA's course website and looking at the available classes and noting the eleventy billion American History sections.

Holidays are Family Fun Time Tue, Apr 3, 2012 11:21:26am

Have a great afternoon all!

Schadenfreude 'r' Us Tue, Apr 3, 2012 11:23:19am

Tee hee. I just checked the online course catalog at UC Berkeley -- five courses this semester, one survey, two upper division, two seminars.

Maybe he means not California, but some other state of the same name?

Sol Berdinowitz Tue, Apr 3, 2012 11:24:50am

California history courses do not include Rick Santorum as part of the curriculum...

Kragar Tue, Apr 3, 2012 11:25:26am

Bryan Fischer: Liberals are conservatives but won’t admit it; moderates are conservatives but don’t know it

Conservatism is simple and instinctive. There is a God. Marriage is one man and one woman. Adultery is wrong. Pornography is bad. Murder is wrong. Lying is wrong. Stealing is wrong. Government’s role is to punish those who infringe on people’s right to life, liberty and property. Parents should direct the upbringing of their children. Etc., etc.

“When effortful, deliberate responding is disrupted or disengaged, thought processes become quick and efficient,” the researchers write in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. “These conditions promote conservative ideology.”

All this means, when you break it down, is that liberalism is so foreign to rational, clear headed, instinctive thought that you have to make a deliberate effort to convince yourself that it's true.

Liberalism is just like believing in a man who lives in the sky who sits in judgement over every living thing apparently.

erik_t Tue, Apr 3, 2012 11:25:38am

re: #11 One of the Seventeen

Tee hee. I just checked the online course catalog at UC Berkeley -- five courses this semester, one survey, two upper division, two seminars.

Maybe he means not California, but some other state of the same name?

Note that's five courses, not five sections. The total number of class sections seems likely to be in the dozens.

ProGunLiberal Tue, Apr 3, 2012 11:26:18am

Hey remember that "Forensics Laboratory" for the video yesterday?

A "Clockworx" at Something Awful found yet another problem with it:

EDIT: whose "secure forensic laboratory" is apparently Dropbox.

Slumbering Behemoth Stinks Tue, Apr 3, 2012 11:26:26am

"Does that excuse you from actually having to work in the factual world?"

Sadly, Rachel, they truly believe it does.

Neutral President Tue, Apr 3, 2012 11:26:27am

re: #11 One of the Seventeen

Tee hee. I just checked the online course catalog at UC Berkeley -- five courses this semester, one survey, two upper division, two seminars.

Maybe he means not California, but some other state of the same name?

I think he's talking about the Socialista República Popular de California that exists in the minds of wingnuts as a real place. Where every far left or ridiculously stupid thing that happens here is magnified 100-1000 fold.

erik_t Tue, Apr 3, 2012 11:27:32am

re: #13 Kragar

Fischer: Conservatism is simple and instinctive. There is a God. Marriage is one man and one woman. Adultery is wrong. Pornography is bad. Murder is wrong. Lying is wrong. Stealing is wrong. Government’s role is to punish those who infringe on people’s right to life, liberty and property. Parents should direct the upbringing of their children. Etc., etc.

Truthiness beyond all measure.

Schadenfreude 'r' Us Tue, Apr 3, 2012 11:28:15am

re: #14 erik_t

Oh, yes... the 477-person survey class has many sections, but I didn't want to be accused of (heaven forbid!) exaggeration!

Slumbering Behemoth Stinks Tue, Apr 3, 2012 11:29:49am

re: #2 euphgeek

I wanted the interviewer to ask her, "So because Santorum is pro-life that means it's okay for him to lie?"

Indeed it does.

Slumbering Behemoth Stinks Tue, Apr 3, 2012 11:32:00am

re: #4 lawhawk

It's about the history Santorum wants to push, and it's a mix of revisionism and wishful thinking along with a lack of critical thinking.

I think he meant to say that they don't teach Barton American History.
/

ProGunLiberal Tue, Apr 3, 2012 11:34:57am

re: #15 ProGunLiberal

Somebody needs to pounce on ABC for doing this shit.

Sol Berdinowitz Tue, Apr 3, 2012 11:38:20am

re: #13 Kragar

Bryan Fischer: Liberals are conservatives but won’t admit it; moderates are conservatives but don’t know it

One experiment confirmed the ancient proverb, "in vino veritas," "in wine there is truth." When people's inhibitions are lowered, the truth about what is in their hearts and minds comes out. And so researchers found that the more "wine" somebody had in him, the more likely he was to admit that, despite all politically correct pressure to the contrary, he really was a conservative.

For instance, the more booze folks had, the more likely they were to agree, for instance, with the truth that “production and trade should be free of government interference.”

Any coincidence that Hitler started out in beer halls?

The Questionable Timing of a Flea Tue, Apr 3, 2012 11:38:31am

Lucha Libre Wrestler ‘Jan Brewer’s Fake Son’ Will Kick All Messicans Butts Now

Life imitates shit I made up.

ProdSlash Tue, Apr 3, 2012 11:40:05am

re: #13 Kragar

...that's just terrifying. The essential conclusion he draws is that THINKING IS BAD.

Kragar Tue, Apr 3, 2012 11:40:26am

Two tornadoes reported in Dallas area

Rick Perry responds, "WE ASKED FOR RAIN, ASSHOLE!!!"

abolitionist Tue, Apr 3, 2012 11:41:42am

re: #26 Kragar

Two tornadoes reported in Dallas area

Rick Perry responds, "WE ASKED FOR RAIN, ASSHOLE!!!"

This weather sucks. /

JeffM70 Tue, Apr 3, 2012 11:43:05am

Yet Ricky gets upset when the media distorts what he says. Go figure.

The Questionable Timing of a Flea Tue, Apr 3, 2012 11:44:08am

re: #25 ProdSlash

...that's just terrifying. The essential conclusion he draws is that THINKING IS BAD.

More than that. He's saying liberalism is false consciousness foisted on people. It's a mandate to shout down dissent or opposition to the "natural" conservative one.

Lidane Tue, Apr 3, 2012 11:47:29am

re: #13 Kragar

Conservatism is simple and instinctive.

Critical thinking and nuance are HARD!

There is a God.

Nope.

Marriage is one man and one woman.

Wrong again. Marriage is between two people who love each other, no matter what gender they are.

Adultery is wrong.

Sure, by most standards. But there are some relationships, like polyamory, swinging, and open marriages, where people make their own rules and decide what is and what isn't cheating.

Pornography is bad.

There is bad porn, and some of it is just gross, but in and of itself, it's not bad. There's a reason it's a multi-billion dollar industry.

Murder is wrong.

And yet, many "conservatives" are defending a murderer because he shot a young black kid in what he claimed was self-defense but what is quickly looking like a hate crime.

Lying is wrong.

Our political system says otherwise.

Stealing is wrong.

Again, our political system says otherwise. So does capitalism, given the fact that CEO's get massive golden parachutes and compensation bonuses even when they run their company into the ground.

Government’s role is to punish those who infringe on people’s right to life, liberty and property.

Really? So government is only punitive? It can't do anything else?

Remember that the next time you take a government approved medicine or drive on a government built highway or drink water that isn't filled with raw sewage thanks to government regulations.

Parents should direct the upbringing of their children. Etc., etc.

To a point, yes. But all parents are not created equal, and all parenting styles are not the same. You can't impose your rules on everyone else on how they should raise their kids.

jaunte Tue, Apr 3, 2012 11:53:41am

...years of Fox News and wingnut bloggers to simply accept this kind of ridiculous nonsense without even blinking

From today's Fox Insider email, here's a fresh example of ridiculous nonsense:

O’Reilly Plays President Obama, Brit Hume Plays Reporter Questioning Him

Brit Hume posed a question to O’Reilly which he answered as he imagined the president would.

The first topic tackled in the tough questioning was the health care law with Hume asking, “You said today, sir, that it would be unprecedented for the Supreme Court to overturn your health care reform law. Yet, would it not be equally unprecedented if not more so for Congress under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution to force people under penalty of a fine to buy a commercial product?”

O’Reilly responded, “Well, no because in 1792, George Washington forced people to buy muskets. You remember that. You were alive back then.”

sagehen Tue, Apr 3, 2012 12:01:02pm

re: #23 Expand Your Ground

For instance, the more booze folks had, the more likely they were to agree, for instance, with the truth that “production and trade should be free of government interference.”

Perhaps they were talking about the production and trade of pot? Because it didn't make them throw up like the booze does?

labman57 Tue, Apr 3, 2012 12:33:26pm

What Rick meant is that the UC campuses don't teach real U.S. History -- you know, the Tea Party version which explains that all of the Founding Fathers were pious Christians who never intended for the concept of "separation of church and state" to be a constitutional tenet, along with the notion that slavery was a minor phenomenon and that the Civil War was a battle between the righteous cause of the South and the aggressors in the North, and that FDR was a Communist whose economic policies prolonged the Depression.

ProdSlash Tue, Apr 3, 2012 12:34:57pm

re: #29 The Ghost of a Flea

Yeah, you're right. It is worse. :)

Tigger2005 Tue, Apr 3, 2012 2:52:23pm

I'm sure there was a time when people thought you-know-who would never be given the post of Chancellor of you-know-where. Sure, that was a very different place with a very different history. But still, anything is possible.

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