Santorum To Scarborough: Yeah, You're Pigeonholing Me On Religious Freedom, Contraception!
A rather testy exchange on today's Morning Joe, with co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski going at it with Rick Santorum. A full five minutes of Santorum's segment were devoted to questioning him on his views on contraception and religious freedom.
Toward the end, seemingly to Scarborough's surprise, Santorum said that "yeah, sure" he thought Scarborough, like the MSM at large, was attempting to pigeonhole him on the matter. Video after the jump.
Watch how Mika Brzezinski opens the segment with a question on the subject, with Santorum forced to repeatedly make the point that the issue is not access to contraception, which he has never opposed. Rather, it is one of religious freedom and the attempt by the Obama administration to force religious institutions to do things that violate their fundamental principles--and the First Amendment in the process.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: First, since you talk about connecting with average, ordinary Americans, some analysits, including some maybe on this set, might have said that you got a tad bit sidetracked on the issue of contraception in a way that doesn't connect not only with members of your party, but across the board. Just totally off-message, off-base in terms of what plagues this country right now. Were members of your team telling you to back off?
RICK SANTORUM: Well, as you know, Mika, the issue was not contraception. The issue was government-mandated health insurance and that to me is completely on-message.
. . .
JOE SCARBOROUGH: So Rick, I certainly agreed when we were talking about the Catholic church controversy; I think we're probably on the same side there. But beyond just that I saw a video of an interview you did in Iowa back in the Fall where you said contraception is wrong and other presidential candidates didn't talk about it but you were going to talk about it. Do you regret saying that, or is that just one of those things that you said on a day that you were--because I know you also have videos where you've said you've voted for Title X. [Santorum smiles broadly.] You laugh about it--I could give you chapter and verse about it.
SANTORUM: This is all, this is you guys playing, you guys are playing a kind of gotcha politics.
SCARBOROUGH: No.
SANTORUM: I was talking about my own personal faith, and what I was saying is the issue of out-of-wedlock births and what's going on with the destruction of the American family is something I'll talk about, and I have talked about in this campaign.
SCARBOROUGH: Rick, just so you know, we have been critical, I have been critical of the focus on this issue--contraception. I brought it up to you today because we've talked about it a lot and certainly now that we have you here, we want you to respond to it. Let's move beyond --
SANTORUM: Look, Joe. Joe and Mika: hold on one second. Go and come to any of my now almost thousand town hall meetings, and let me assure you, I don't think the word contraception has ever come up, except in the context of this HHS reg. Let's just deal with reality instead of what the media tries to do, which is to pigeonhole you and tell a narrative.
SCARBOROUGH: Well, I've certainly talked about this in the past. Do you think I--you've known me for a long time--do you think I'm trying to pigeonhole you and stereotype you?
SANTORUM: Well, the fact that you continue to bring it up: yeah, sure! I don't think about this, Joe. This is not the theme of my campaign!
SCARBOROUGH: I think my record on this in Congress is the same as yours. All I'm saying is, it is a legitimate issue, we brought it up, and I was ready to move on, and you wanted to keep talking about it and said that I was trying to pigeonhole you and stereotype you. I've known you for a long time: I have no reason to be doing that.
SANTORUM: Joe, the only reason I have talked about this issue, as I said, is with respect to government mandates of people of faith. That's why this issue continued to be talked about and should continue to be talked about in the context of government forcing people of faith to do things that are against their religious beliefs, something that the federal government has never done and should never do.
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Comments
I was prepared to move on,
Submitted by PeskyDane on Mon, 03/19/2012 - 9:32am.
I was prepared to move on, (and then you criticized me). Sure you were Joe, sure you were...
See what Obama started?
Submitted by GregE on Mon, 03/19/2012 - 9:38am.
.........and the media latched onto. All planned.
Target/Walmart - 9 buck OCP's, for years, no insurance needed
Submitted by merly1 on Mon, 03/19/2012 - 9:41am.
It is a media driven issue, totally fabricated, the media even now providing cover for an administration so out-of touch, so wayward on federal spending. Why isnt the media attacking the Owebama admin for their cluelessness about the cost of OCP's. If they cant figure this out, is there any reason to believe their budgeting, and the endless trillion dollars of red ink.
The obvious media gotcha question of this admin would be: "Sir, we have researched this and we were stunned to find that birth control for entire year is often less than a cell phone's monthly cost. How does your administration not know something so basic?"
Good job Senator as you basically put the former RINO
Submitted by gmaniac1 on Mon, 03/19/2012 - 10:07am.
congressman on the defensive and silenced Mika. That was masterful and not easy to do.
Scarborough translator:
Submitted by motherbelt on Mon, 03/19/2012 - 10:21am.
Scarborough: I brought it up to you today because we've talked about it a lot and certainly now that we have you here, we want you to respond to it.
Translation: My media friends and I have talked about it a lot ever since our pal George brought it up out of nowhere, and now that we have you here, we want to bludgeon you with it.
and then
it is a legitimate issue, we brought it up, and I was ready to move on, and you wanted to keep talking about it and said that I was trying to pigeonhole you and stereotype you.
Translation: You wouldn't play by my rules; I didn't want to talk about it any more, but you insisted on clarifying your position.
"do you think I'm trying to pigeonhole you and stereotype you?"
Submitted by Marsh on Mon, 03/19/2012 - 10:20am.
It's the only conclusion a person could come to if they have watched Joe pigeonhole him for the past month.
Santorum, the lightweight social issues candidate....
Submitted by cbeyer on Mon, 03/19/2012 - 10:30am.
did this to himself. He is and will continue to be the social issues candidate and will be constantly on the defensive. Not what we need to go up against Obama in worst economic enviornment in decades.
Its the economy, stupid!
Wrong Blog
Submitted by Fredy on Mon, 03/19/2012 - 10:49am.
This site points out media absurdity.
You need to patiently read this blog for a few months to understand it. People that do read this blog will mostly ignore your sillyness.
You've fallen for the media narrative RE Santorum
Submitted by lotr on Mon, 03/19/2012 - 1:20pm.
According to Mark Levin, who knows a thing or two about the candidates, Santorum is a "solid conservative."
And Santorum has a lifetime
Submitted by Free Stinker on Mon, 03/19/2012 - 1:21pm.
And Santorum has a lifetime ACU rating of 85.
/// Sarah Palin Fan since July 11, 2007 /// خال
Santorum, the lightweight social issues candidate....
Submitted by cbeyer on Mon, 03/19/2012 - 10:28am.
did this to himself. He is and will continue to be the social issues candidate and will be constantly on the defensive. Not what we need to go up against Obama in worst economic enviornment in decades.
Its the economy, stupid!
You've fallen for the media
Submitted by lotr on Mon, 03/19/2012 - 1:20pm.
You've fallen for the media narrative RE Santorum.
Santorum, the lightweight social issues candidate....
Submitted by cbeyer on Mon, 03/19/2012 - 10:28am.
did this to himself. He is and will continue to be the social issues candidate and will be constantly on the defensive. Not what we need to go up against Obama in worst economic enviornment in decades.
Its the economy, stupid!
You've fallen for the media
Submitted by lotr on Mon, 03/19/2012 - 1:20pm.
You've fallen for the media narrative RE Santorum.
Santorum, the lightweight social issues candidate....
Submitted by cbeyer on Mon, 03/19/2012 - 10:28am.
did this to himself. He is and will continue to be the social issues candidate and will be constantly on the defensive. Not what we need to go up against Obama in worst economic enviornment in decades.
Its the economy, stupid!
You've fallen for the media
Submitted by lotr on Mon, 03/19/2012 - 1:20pm.
You've fallen for the media narrative RE Santorum.
Santorum, the lightweight social issues candidate....
Submitted by cbeyer on Mon, 03/19/2012 - 10:28am.
did this to himself. He is and will continue to be the social issues candidate and will be constantly on the defensive. Not what we need to go up against Obama in worst economic enviornment in decades.
Its the economy, stupid!
~You're not just a spammer
Submitted by Wrathful Brunette on Mon, 03/19/2012 - 10:32am.
You're bad at it. As in, galactic-scale suckitude.
He's 5X bad.....
Submitted by almostacowboy on Mon, 03/19/2012 - 10:53am.
Bru.
cbeyer, Nah, you are right,
Submitted by Liberallies on Mon, 03/19/2012 - 11:44am.
cbeyer,
Nah, you are right, what we need is your typical, run of the mill, slicked hair, flip-flopper politician whose "morality", whose stands on all issues is based on where the political winds blow.
Why are your Romneybots such blind individuals?
Yes, it is the economy, and the HHS mandate and the Obama administration mandating that the Roman Catholic Church, the Mormon Church and all religions which are 100% against contraceptives pay for them.
You are a blind fool if you believe that the only issue is the economy. It is an issue, a very important one, but your candidate will be eaten alive by Obama. Don't worry, as I have said in other forums, so will Newt, Ron and Santorum.
AND...it has been the media, not Santorum, who has made moral issues, which you obviously do not care about, RINO, a main part of his campaign. He did a great job pointed this out to the sell out Joe and crazy Mika. Did you fail to see how crazy Mika opened the interview? Of course you did, RINO.
You've fallen for the media
Submitted by lotr on Mon, 03/19/2012 - 1:21pm.
You've fallen for the media narrative RE Santorum.
double post
Submitted by almostacowboy on Mon, 03/19/2012 - 10:50am.
OMG! (Obama Must Go).
I won't use the proper name of a female weasel.....
Submitted by almostacowboy on Mon, 03/19/2012 - 10:56am.
But, when one listens to how Mika frames this statement, "female weasel" was all I could think of:
"....including some.... maybe on this set..... might have said that you got a tad bit sidetracked...."
To paraphrase a great orator [sarc]: But weasel we much… and we will much… about… that… weasel.”
OMG! (Obama Must Go).
I gave up on that show, and
Submitted by ray johnson on Mon, 03/19/2012 - 11:44am.
I gave up on that show, and don't bother watching anymore. It's not a fair analysis...ever.
Joe, you're a hypocrite!
Submitted by CobraMan on Mon, 03/19/2012 - 12:26pm.
Joe, you're a consummate hypocrite. Immediately after stating that you've been "critical" of all the attention brought to this "issue," you question someone about that same "issue," and use the excuse of "we've been talking about this a lot" as a means of justification!
"All I'm saying is, it is a legitimate issue, we brought it up, and I was ready to move on, and you wanted to keep talking about it and said that I was trying to pigeonhole you and stereotype you. I've known you for a long time: I have no reason to be doing that."
Joe, I know you were once a Senator and that experience has affected your ability to reason, but how in the name Edward R Morrow can you asked someone a question and then claim that THEY "wanted to keep talking about it?" Be honest with us, Joe: YOU want to "keep talking about it." Why do you continually bring up a subject you claim is overstated, one may ask? The answer is simple: ratings!
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
Joe Scarborough reads MediaMatters?
Submitted by OxyCon on Mon, 03/19/2012 - 1:08pm.
Where is Scarborough getting these anti-Santorum videos he is talking about?
By his description of them, "chapter and verse", it sounds like an anti-Santorum attack generated by MediaMatters.
That would explain alot about Scarborough, wouldn't it?
Santorum
Submitted by amyshulk on Tue, 03/20/2012 - 9:33am.
Puts all the pieces together, rarely acts whiny, {compared to at the beginning of this process} and *gasp* stands up for himself! Joe is spineless, a bully, and leans on Mika to make him seem the conservative in conversation. Of COURSE Joe is attempting to create the narrative here!!!
I've said it before - I was never religious, and I bought into the left's narrative that religion is/was the root of all eeeeeeeeeeeeevil. Then I started to pay attention - you know, living. And I saw patterns emerge that I found disturbing. Then I'd experience something IRL and later on read an oped that validated how I connected the dots.
I remember in the 90's hearing about how they had reformed welfare. After being active duty, and studying pay scales/benefits and concluding you got the same amount whether you had 2 or 10 dependents, then learning {from an unmarried friend with kids} that welfare moms got a bump per child, *no* limit, I was aghast.
I celebrated the fiscal sanity of The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 and was worried that O's first act was to repeal all or part of that act, or circumvent it somehow - it got barely any notice!
Santorum needs to tie that in to the whole - that the msm/left *celebrates* Clinton and his BIG accomplishments, yet nary a peep when O lays waste to it? O is the antithesis of Clinton, and the left is insane to back him, when he does MORE damage in 3 years than Bush did in 8!!!
Ronald Reagan