Santorum angry at NY Times reporter's poor telepathy skills

[Video Link] Watch Rick Santorum get frothy with this NY Times reporter for not being able to read Santorum's mind.

Earlier, Santorum said in a speech, "Pick any other Republican in the country. He is the worst Republican in the country to put up against Barack Obama." Any good telepath would know he meant something different, but this foolish reporter took Santorum at his word!

Santorum Gets Frothy With NY Times Reporter

Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

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http://www.facebook.com/people/Jeffrey-L-Deltano/100000025183024 Jeffrey L. Deltano

Christ, what an Asshole!
http://profile.yahoo.com/Q7W75QFWGNR4LKG422ZSXROVXA Paulson Paalsen

Politicians accusing journalists of distortion always strikes me as white-hot panic.
EH

“Those aren’t the words you used, you fucking liar.”
flickerKuu

I dont think Klantorum is ready for big boy politics. Also, he doesn’t act very Christian.
- chgoliz
  
  There isn’t a single Republican nominee for US President who is a follower of Christ’s teachings. Instead, their values are: What would Jesus do? We’re going to do the exact opposite.
  
  But then again, they’re not conservative either. Reactionary is the blandest term I can think of for what they really are.
  - Antinous / Moderator
    
    Pish. They overturn the tables of the money-changers. Right into their own pockets.
    
    And some of them have outdone Jesus by cursing not just a single fig tree, but all of nature.
    - chgoliz
      
      Nicely played, sir.
      - cowbell
        
        Both of you rock!
- hymenopterid
  
  “Acting Christian”, means dramatically different things to different folks.
- EH
  
  He’s just a guy, and in politics a guy has to have a gimmick. This is why all politicians are perfectly, you know, “personable,” in person, they have the people thing down and so just have to pick a trajectory. There’s a great scene in Oliver Stone’s “Nixon” that illustrates the horse trading and standpoints-taking in political ascension, and Reagan proved you only had to be an (intelligent-ish) actor. You vote who’s most your bro, you know?
http://thebrainpolice.blogspot.com microdot

Looks like Little Mr. Cranky Pants must have missed his nappy nap again….
http://twitter.com/kpkpkp Kevin Pierce

Santorum ’s ”Romney is not qualified to run against Obama on healthcare” item is part of his standard stump speech - he’s probably sick of saying it – so, while I don’t like him, I can see how he would be concerned that it’s being misconstrued / truncated / whatever.

How he chooses to be concerned, is a different matter – beating up on reporters is not the way to go about it.
- nobodyman
  
  Agreed – the reporter said “You said that Mitt Romney was the worst republican ever, care to elaborate on that?”, which is taking the statement out of context. Santorum did needlessly flip out though — an indication that the reality of losing is starting to sneak up on him.
  - asterios9
    
    Honestly, I would be very irritated by such a puerile question from a professional journalist, myself. (I mean seriously, who heard the first five seconds of the clip and thought “wow, that’s a good one!”) But, I obviously don’t have the patience to run for any office.
    I’m no fan of the guy (and normally a fan of the Times) but I think he wins this one, especially when you think of how the conservative base will eat it up. Net gain for Santorum.
    
    (I also think he won with the “Obama would be better than Romney” argument of last week as well. It’s a more thoughtful and creative argument than Mitt’s “Are you kidding Republicans are always better no matter what.”)
  - Quiche de Resistance
    
    It’s more a planned flip-out than a needless one. The rightwingers love going after journalists for their supposed left-leaning bias. Sarah Palin’s been milking that liberal media outrage goat for years.
    - http://scavenger-ethic.blogspot.com/ scav
      
      I would love a pet liberal media outrage goat. It could keep my lawn nicely trimmed, and I could chill out on a summers evening watching its crazy antics.
      - Alan Wexelblat
        
        I generally agree with this thread – that wasn’t a flip-out so much as a calculated “make the story be about how the press is abusing me” ploy. It’s part of the standard conservative/Republican playbook and shouldn’t surprise anyone.
mtdna

I guess we know what Jon Stewart’s talking about on his show tonight! Of course, that rat Colbert will probably try to defend him…
- rydewnd2
  
  You do know Colbert’s show is satirical right…?
  - Sean Nelson
    
    Did mtdna really need to put a /s in there for you?
  - http://twitter.com/MartianEmpress Rezeya Montecore
    
    You do know mtdna is being satirical, right? *facepalm*
  - zieroh
    
    Oh, the irony.
    - oasisob1
      
      Oh, the satirony.
Brainspore

This is just like that time when Obama flew off the handle in the White House Press Room and called all the reporters present “a bunch of s***-eating, motherf***ing c***suckers who aren’t worthy of licking my balls.” Of course you never hear about that story because of all the LEFT-WING MEDIA BIAS.
- http://twitter.com/bazimmerman Brad Zimmerman
  
  That’s too bad because I’d be really cheered up if he said that.
- TheKaz1969
  
  now if you told me Biden said that, I’d believe you…
ahecht

I loved the secret service guy in the background trying his hardest not to laugh.
- http://twitter.com/void_ptr void_ptr
  
  Went back and rewatched. Yay.
- benher
  
  All that Santorum on my screen… I missed it the first time, thanks!
Samsa

Is this a joke? Santorum’s a jackwagon of the highest order, but he’s repeatedly said again and again that in relation to Obamacare, that Romney is the worst Republican opponent. You can understand his ire when jackwagon journalist says “so you just said Romney is the worst Republican?”
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  So, it’s appropriate to start screaming obscenities rather than correcting the reporter? Would he do that with Putin?
  - Samsa
    
    eh, when your politician calls “bullshit” you think it shows fire and passion, when the other guy does it, it’s suddenly “screaming obscenities”. What the reporter did was your textbook example of bullshit, so good on Santorum.
    - Antinous / Moderator
      
      Perhaps he could have cemented his moral vigor in your mind by flinging some feces as well.
      - TheKaz1969
        
        he’s just doing that for the primaries. come the general election, he’ll shake his etch-a-sketch and behave himself.
http://twitter.com/eviljim Jim Reardon

I hate Santorum but he actually has a point here — if you watch the speech you do not need telepathy to know what he was talking about. The context is incredibly clear.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/26/santorum-romney-worst-republican-to-run-against-obama/
- GatticusFinch
  
  I can’t believe I would ever say this, but…I have to defend Rick Santorum on this one.
  
  I watched the whole thing on Hardball (not exactly a show for GOP hardliners) and it was fundamentally clear he meant that Romney is the worst candidate to run against Obama on the issue of “Obamacare,” because Romney basically invented the pre-cursor to “Obamacare.” Not only is his point 100% true, as Obama will likely destroy Romney on that issue, but anyone watching the entire, unredacted speech would make that connection.
  
  Santorum might have been a dick with his response, but the reporter’s question was awful. “You said Romney is the worst Republican in the country?” Please. Let’s not give the GOP prime examples of legitimate “gotcha questions, from the LAMESTREAM MEDIA” to distract from their clown car of presidential candidates who do not have answers to actual quetions.
Jonathan

Blatant out-of-context quote by the reporter.
Shinkuhadoken

Since Obama’s healthcare plan was, shall we say, “inspired” by Mitt Romney’s healthcare plan in Massachusetts, it’s really not a stretch to consider Romney is the worst out of all Republicans to go up against Obama on this issue if you don’t believe in Obama’s healthcare plan. I don’t think telepathy is required to figure out this is what Santorum meant all along (maybe he flubbed his lines a little and omitted Romney by name this time out of all the times he’s given this speech) and it’s understandably upsetting to insinuate he meant something much more sinister.

There’s plenty to hang Santorum with on the issues he clearly and decisively stands for without trying to create these petty “gotcha” moments in the style of Fox News. We’re better than that, aren’t we?
mypalmike

In the first 10 seconds of the video, the reporter says, “You said Mitt Romney is the worst Republican in the country. Is that true?” It wasn’t, and Santorum set the reporter straight. Good for him. There are plenty of reasons not to vote for Santorum, but this is not one of them.
Cowicide

Imagine this hothead idiot as the President of the USA. The horror…
yeahyeahwhtever

That was DICK Santorum. So frothy!
jimh

He has a point about being taken out of context, but there’s no need to get in such a lather.
teapot

“If I see it – it’s bullshit”
Don’t look Santorum directly in the eye or he will turn you into bullshit.

Also for the people who think Santorum got this right: If the quote at the top of the article is correct then the NYT reporter’s question was legitimate.

“Pick any other Republican in the country.”
Okay….. Mittens Romney

“He is the worst Republican in the country to put up against Barack Obama.”
So, Mittens Romney is the worst republican in the country (to go up against Barack Obama)?

“THATS NOT WHAT I SAID YOU LEFTWING MOTHERFUCKER! DON’T YOU CARE ABOUT THE TRUTH?”
All I did was follow the instructions in your speech and now I’m being called a liar.

Was the reporter being a jerk? Hell yeah – but their job is to bait people with this crap and Santorum swallowed it hook, line and sinker. A simple “don’t twist my words” would have sufficed instead of a lengthy tirade which we all get to laugh at.
- ymendel
  
  A reporter’s job is to report the news, not to bait people with crap. Or at least I’d hope that’s the job description in use at the New York Times. Things get a little different at The Daily Mail.
  - catgrin
    
    Normally a reporter’s job isn’t to bait people, but during an election year, there are those in D.C. who would disagree with you. They believe that the act of campaigning is a test that shows your weaknesses and exposes just what kind of a candidate you really are. (They feel the media’s job is to test your mettle.)
    
    The fact that Santorum was unable to simply correct the reporter and say, “you’re generalizing. I said Romney was the worst Republican on the issue of Obamacare,” shows that he’s got two major problems as a candidate.
    
    1. He can’t control his temper, and is argumentative. Not good when the President is sometimes needed to resolve issues between the two parties, and they’re currently at war.
    
    2. He can’t ad lib. No candidate who is incapable of calmly speaking without a prepared speech is a good candidate for President. This is because the President’s duties include visits of State (dinners, summits, presentations, and other functions). They include one-on-one encounters, and require an ability to communicate freely and away from prepared material.
  - Antinous / Moderator
    
    A reporter’s job is to report the news, not to bait people with crap.
    
    That makes it sound like the reporter’s job is to regurgitate press releases, which frankly is mostly what they do. But that”s a bad thing. A very bad thing.
Daniel Smith

It’s not the stuff he says when he’s all excited that bothers me, it’s the stuff he says when he’s calm and what passes for rational with him. I find it incredibly disheartening that this flake is among the best the repubs have to offer.
ashabot

Sadly the reporter let Santorum run all over him. He should have fired back.
- mynameislove
  
  I think it was the more clever move to let S. do the talking. He reminds me of a little puppy, whose new shiny toy was stolen. By reading through the comments I suppose there was some distortion on the side of the reporter. BUT if you want to be a politician you need to deal with stuff like this without becoming a maniac.
  
  I won’t mention, that S.’s views on certain issues, particulary homosexuality or abortion are coming straight from the Dark Ages…oops I did it. Would he call me a liar if I was a reporter and asked him about this?
Mike Norman

There’s a lot of frothy Santorum love in here. For myself, I think Santorum’s rage was entirely inappropriate. Yes, the question left out some context. Which could have been an error. It could also have been a softball question to allow the candidate to make a clarification that would go into the Paper of Record. It could also have been a careless omission due to a moment’s inattention.

For example, instead of saying, “BULLSHIT-YOU-LEFTIST-LYING-LIBERAL-LEFTIST-LIAR,” Santorum could have calmly and maturely said, “I think I was clear in my remarks that I was referring to Romney being the worst candidate to run on the issue of healthcare. Did I misspeak? I’m sorry if I did, but I think a review of my speech will show what I actually said. As an aside, this seems like a persistent pattern in the media. Is that what’s going on here, or did you not hear the rest of my remark?” The latter case would have been classy and would have shown that he has the intelligence, collection, and calm necessary in all those who seek the Office of the President.

I do have to give him credit for one aspect of his reply, though. He attacked a reporter and so successfully made him appear to be a member of a hated out-group that many presumably Liberal or Democratic commenters in here have rushed in to defend him. What a surprising benefit of taking the low road!

Well played, Mr. Santorum. Well played!
http://twitter.com/digitalArtform Joseph Francis

It’s still okay to “quote” Al Gore as claiming he invented the internet, though. Right Rick?
sugarsails

I already don’t like Santorum for every reason, and listening to him talk down to that reporter makes my skin crawl with rage. How did that reporter keep himself from decking Rick in his stupid sweaty face?
- catgrin
  
  Simple. In his head, the reporter was listening to the sound of nails pounding into a coffin – he knew the outburst did Santorum more damage than any misquote could have, and so he just let him rant.
imag

I despise Santorum and almost everything he stands for.

But if you think you could stay calm through a year long election where you are getting no sleep and where people are trying for ANY tidbit of an inkling of a set of words that they can use to present a different picture of what you said, you are crazy.

The reporter was wrong. He knew he was wrong. He heard a set of words he could put together in a way that would rile people up and become the “next big quote” and wanted to use it. I don’t blame Santorum for getting angry about it. It is absolute BS.

I do blame Santorum for his proposed policies and xenophobia, but that’s a different story. This is wrong, and the BoingBoing headline is wrong too. The meaning is clear to anyone who watches the original speech – no mind reading necessary.
- http://www.facebook.com/bshur Brad Shur
  
  I couldn’t stay calm, but I’m not running for president. I also couldn’t perform open heart surgery on little sleep, but I damned well expect the surgeon opening me up to be able to. We expect things of professionals that we cannot do ourselves. It is why we have professionals do it.
  
  Doing the job of president is just as stressful, with just as high stakes as running for it. A qualified candidate needs to be above letting his emotions run the show even in far more extreme situations than this. Any politician might get angry inside, but the ones at all qualified for the job will communicate that anger (or choose not to) in a controlled and deliberate manner. Obama would have kept his cool, Clinton would have, and lest you think I’m too partisan, Reagan would have too.
- catgrin
  
  Santorum’s job description as President would include, “Is able to stay calm under insane pressure.” Remember, this is the person who can call in nuclear strikes on other countries if they’re simply having a bad day. Yes, there are safeguards, and we can remove the President for “health reasons” if he cracks under the pressure, but why elect someone who can’t hack it in the first place?
  
  The BoingBoing title may not be totally wrong – we don’t know what the journalist’s source for his quote was. I regularly update friends about poorly reported on news. Badly checked facts, links that aren’t followed, etc. The reporter may have seen only part of the quote, and read that part back to Santorum. If you check Jim Reardon’s CNN link above, and look at the headline, you’ll see the beginning of what I call Internet News Operator. Two links from there, and the title may just read, “Santorum Says Romney Worst Republican”. It doesn’t take long for the theme of stories to change on here, and on the road journalists are getting their news from the net. So, it may be that the journalist made an honest mistake by himself taking words out of context – it does happen. Santorum made the assumption that the journalist watched his speech in full, and so would have no excuse for misinterpreting its content – doubtful, when the journalist is covering multiple candidates and they ALL make speeches!
  - http://www.facebook.com/charles.vestal Charles Vestal
    
    This was immediately following the speech that the reporter attended.
HowieFeltersnatch

He sounds frothing mad.
http://profile.yahoo.com/XW3WTVX7NWXO6WH3CH7Q426XJA Jade

since he didn’t say what he meant….oughtn’t Santorum be using a teleprompter?
eviladrian

Given that Obama has the incumbent’s advantage, had a huge win at the last election and is doing at least a decent job with the economy, it seems likely that whoever runs against him will lose.
Does this mean that any Republican who really wants to be president would be sitting this one out and we’re just seeing the B-team this time around?
- IronEdithKidd
  
  Your theory is as good as any. My own posits that currently there really is no A-team.
Neil Soloman

Am I the only one looking at his mortified daughter? She actually grabs his arm and says “that’s enough” at 1:08 then proceeds to bite her nails. Right or not his own family knew he had blown a gasket…
- jaypee
  
  Heh, she had that look on her face. The look that says, “Oh shit, daddy’s gonna blow”.
  
  Also, is that the crybaby one? She’s all growed up!
Bad Juju

U mad bro?
Petzl

I’m surprised we don’t hear more politicians (justifiably) snapping at fox news’ agitprop mongers. Maybe that isn’t news, however.
http://theladyfingers.blogspot.com/ Ladyfingers

Santorum doesn’t deserve to live, but I can’t say I have any problem with his response. I respect people who confront agenda-driven media for what they are. I actually wish politicians on the left would respond the same way to right wing media, but they don’t because they’re so concerned about reaching across the aisle. If politics wasn’t such a winner-takes-all affair, I think you’d hear more forthright opinions from politicians.
Jim Davison

Oh Boing Boing, why do you put me in a position to defend Santorum, even a little? I saw that part of his speech not included in the clip above, and it was clear that Santorum meant “on the issue of Obama care”. Yes, Santorum’s reaction to the reporter was disproportionate, but nonetheless not completely unwarranted.

And now to go take a shower so I can feel clean again.
- benher
  
  It’s hard to get all the Santorum off after just one washing.
  
  I often find that I need to dry off, burn the towel, bleach my bathroom, draw ANOTHER bath, and then wash again. It seems to just creep, seep, and stick in all the worst places.
Jonathan

Anyone know the reporter’s name? I wonder if he has a history of poor telepathy.
Emo Pinata

It’s scary how correct everything Santorum did int hat video was, and how asinine it is for people here to mindlessly back him for thing they’d applaud people they like doing. He clearly explains the mistake to the reporting before getting angry, and by the time he curses he’s completely justified. He’s even right in saying “you don’t care about the turth by asking the question”, because the reporter was there solely to troll the guy.

What the hell is wrong with people in this country and politics?
- joeposts
  
  What the hell is wrong with people in this country and politics?
  
  Bigoted religious loons running for office.
hantz

when somebody uses the word “truth” so often I start not believing him.