Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., is facing conservative and pro-life criticism for his new book against community values entitled It Takes A Family — the title being a snide twist on Sen. Hillary Clinton’s pro-community-values book It Takes A Village.
Liberal pro-life blogger In Today’s News assesses Joe Feuerherd’s article about the book in National Catholic Reporter.
ITN finds Santorum repeatedly creating false choices and mischaracterizing liberal viewpoints in order to make his own extreme proposals seem more palatable than the supposed sole alternatives. ITN also finds Santorum sounding a constant theme of ridicule toward those who seek to reform society for the better: Santorum implicitly identifies gays, blacks, Jews, and union workers as “elites” while overlooking his own community of billionaire Washington GOP power brokers. Instead of seeking common ground, Santorum practices cultural warfare to divide communities and deride community-based interests.
Meanwhile, National Journal writer and Independent Gay Forum contributing author Jonathan Rauch finds Santorum not only denouncing but de-legislating the individualism of modern conservative icon Ronald Reagan. (Link via Jonathan Rowe.)