Rick Santorum’s fear of freedom

The American Conservative

Those suspicious of Santorum’s commitment to individual rights need look no further than Santorum himself for confirmation. As he told NPR in 2006,

“One of the criticisms I make is to what I refer to as more of a libertarianish right. … This whole idea of personal autonomy, well I don’t think most conservatives hold that point of view. Some do. They have this idea that people should be left alone, be able to do whatever they want to do, government should keep our taxes down and keep our regulations low, that we shouldn’t get involved in the bedroom, we shouldn’t get involved in cultural issues. You know, people should do whatever they want. Well, that is not how traditional conservatives view the world and I think most conservatives understand that individuals can’t go it alone. That there is no such society that I am aware of, where we’ve had radical individualism and that it succeeds as a culture.”

Santorum reveals no antipathy toward unfettered state power at all; in his world taxes are tithes, not theft. For the rest of us, his own nephew has a more realistic take in his endorsement of Ron Paul:

“If you want another big-government politician who supports the status quo to run our country, you should vote for my uncle, Rick Santorum. America is based on a strong belief in individual liberty. My uncle’s interventionist policies, both domestic and foreign, stem from his irrational fear of freedom not working.”