Santorum’s Laughable Lie on Iran

This particular line from Rick Santorum during one of this past weekend’s debates didn’t get a lot of press, but it’s worth noting. And I have to admit, I literally laughed out loud when this came flying out of his pie-hole.

During the NBC/Facebook debate, moderator David Gregory posed this question to the former Senator from Pennsylvania and self-professed “Jesus candidate”:

“Why is it we cannot not live with a nuclear Iran? And if not, are you prepared to take the country to war to disarm that country?”

Santorum’s immediate response:

“Iran is a theocracy that has deeply embedded beliefs that the afterlife is better than this life. When your principal virtue is to die for Allah, then it’s not a deterrent to have a nuclear threat. It is in fact an encouragement for them to use their nuclear weapon.”

No, he didn’t stutter, and yes, this from a man whose singular goal is to see the laws of the United States circumvented in favor of his Biblical worldview, which holds to the belief that you will be granted everlasting life in the hereafter.

Hello, Pot. I have a Kettle I’d like you to meet.

So, Mr. Anti-Theocracy went on the rampage, doing what he does best: disparaging all who disagree with his ideology and who, apparently, aren’t Western in origin, as Mother Jones reports:

As a first-generation American himself, his black-and-white position had nothing to do with a lack of empathy or compassion, he explained, but merely his belief in justice and law and order. He stressed that he certainly had no antipathy towards our neighbors to the south.

Then he launched into a curious tangent: “I thank God for America that our southern border is Mexico,” he said. “And it’s not Libya, and it’s not Tunisia, and it’s not Iran. Mexican culture and American culture is Western civilization, and the basic values and understanding of our laws and our government are based in those Western civilization traditions. That is not the case in Europe, and you’re seeing the effects of it. I have nothing at all against people in this hemisphere who want to immigrate.”

But, you know, in Santorum’s world, the game of “my God could kick your God’s ass” is still a pretty fun pastime, and Santorum thinks Iran’s supposed nukes are just a big, fat, religious conspiracy:

While talking about Iran—whose nuclear facilities the former Pennsylvania senator recently said he would bomb if they weren’t opened to international arms inspectors—Santorum noted that one of the regime’s enrichment facilities is located near the city of Qom, home to the Jamkaran mosque, which houses an ancient well considered sacred to some Shia Muslims. According to local belief, Santorum said, the Mahdi—”he’s the equivalent in some respects to a Jesus figure—was going to come back at the end of times and lead Shia Islam to the ruin of the world and peace and justice. That’s what their end of times scenario is.” He continued:

Well he comes back at a time of great chaos. So there are many who speculate that there are folks over in Iran who wouldn’t mind creating a time of great chaos for religious reasons. And the fact they built this nuclear program in the city next to where this man is supposed to return leads one to the think that there may be more to it because they could have picked anywhere else in the…country…to do so…

Geez, that story sounds oddly familiar…

Oh, right! I think Santorum and his ilk hold a similar belief about a certain figure named Jesus Christ, and some might argue that it’s their adherence to this belief and their desire to speed up his return that has gotten us into the warmongering mess we’re currently in in the Middle East…

But I’m sure that’s just a freaky-deaky coincidence…

Yes, it scares me to think of the United States nuclear arsenal in the hands of a bigoted zealot like Rick Santorum.