I'm going to spend most of this writing session on a quote by Rick Santorum on Meet the Press yesterday. At one point in his conversation with David Gregory, Gregory asked, "Is there an area, a decision that you would take as president, or position that you might adopt even in the course of the campaign, that would make conservatives uncomfortable that you think you could take and still get the nomination?"

Santorum responded, "...you're not going to see, you know, the, the October surprise, oh, Rick Santorum's for government doing something. It's just not what I believe in." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46331180/ns/meet_the_press-transcripts/t/mee...

Isn't that an amazing quote? But I felt it was worthy of being the main thing to be mentioned about the Sunday News Shows because, contrary to quotes that can easily be taken out of context and made to mean something completely different, I sincerely believe that Santorum meant exactly that.

But isn't that incredible? To actually say on a show like Meet the Press that no one will see that "Rick Santorum is for government doing something," and that "it's just not what (he) believes in." Taking that literally, if Santorum is president, we wouldn't have any public military, highways, libraries, airports, universities, embassies, and on and on. Can he be serious?

But even if he didn't literally mean what he said (and if he didn't, that comes with its whole set of questions), it's clear that he does mean that government shouldn't be doing much at all. He believes in the survival of the fittest, and if you don't have any boots to pull yourself up on their straps, then too bad - I guess. It makes George W Bush's "compassionate conservatism" look liberal!

I don't think that is what the majority of the people want. They want a government that is there to help and protect. It's not really what they are getting now, but it's what most everyone wants. If Santorum thinks that he can convince the majority of middle/working class people that they are better off with a government that never does anything, that is a serious miscalculation.

I couldn't believe that Gregory let that one pass without following up with a "are you serious?!? But nope, as happens all too often in the "mainstream media," he let it go and Santorum didn't have to explain himself. But it sure seems clear to me what he meant.