In his robocall to Michigan voters, Rick Santorum is saying, “Romney supported the bailout for his Wall Street billionaire buddies, but opposed the auto bailout. That was a slap in the face to every Michigan worker.”
For almost 60 years now, National Review has worked against this kind of crudity — crudity of thought and crudity of expression. And this is our guy? Santorum is the conservatives’ guy?
Many conservatives supported the bank bailout and opposed the auto bailout. You can look up arguments within NR editorials. Conservatives all over the country, in all sorts of forums, made arguments for and against — for and against either bailout. Those arguments continue now, retrospectively.
But is there any thinking or respectable conservative who uses Rick Santorum’s language — the bank bailout was for Mitt Romney’s “Wall Street billionaire buddies” while Michigan workers got their faces slapped? (Santorum opposed the auto bailout, too. Was he slapping workers’ faces?)
Ladies and gentlemen, this isn’t conservatism. It’s more like street-corner Marxism. What a strange and tragic pass we’ve reached.
P.S. If you want a clue about who’s a conservative — certainly a Reagan or Buckley conservative — and who’s not: Normally, conservatives don’t use the phrase “Wall Street billionaire buddies.” You’re more likely to hear that on Olbermann’s show.
P.P.S. Santorum also says that Romney is “an Occupy Wall Street adherent.” 1) It’s odd for such an adherent to have Wall Street billionaire buddies. 2) Campaign hyperbole is one thing; the language of the nuthouse is another.