Stuck in the Middle

Here's my problem with politics: Candidate ideologies are like wind vanes. They blow in whatever direction the current breeze points them.

Take Rick Santorum. (Please, someone take him. Zing!) He recently said, "It's no wonder President Obama wants every kid to go to college. The indoctrination that occurs in American universities is one of the keys to the left holding and maintaining power in America. And it is indoctrination. If it was the other way around, the ACLU would be out there making sure that there wasn't one penny of government dollars going to colleges and universities, right?"

He went on to say, "If they taught Judeo-Christian principles in those colleges and universities, they would be stripped of every dollar. If they teach radical secular ideology, they get all the government support that they can possibly give them. Because you know 62 percent of children who enter college with a faith conviction leave without it."

Let's forget that his statistic is wrong. (You can read the whole article here.) What really annoys me is that I do not believe for one minute that Santorum actually believes what he said. He was addressing a conservative base that probably never attended college, thinks the elitist liberals are out to destroy America by taking away our guns, and ate up every word.

Of course, Santorum earned his BA from Penn State, his MBA from Pittsburgh, and his JD from Dickinson School of Law. But college is evil, right, Rick? Wink, wink.

There isn't one politician in this country that believes skipping college is a wise decision, but Santorum essentially said just that. Why would he do such a thing? Because he believes it? No way. Because he was pandering to an audience? Obviously.

Stupid.

I believe most of what Ron Paul says is brilliant. A small percentage scares the crap out of me. (And that small percentage will keep him from winning the presidency.) But I respect Paul for being consistent. His message never waivers. Agree or disagree, at least I trust the man.

Santorum? Mitt? Newt? They would gnaw off appendages to win votes. And yet, the American public falls for it every time. We'll take the liar who tickles our ears over honestly, thank you very much.

And Barack isn't much better. Stop fooling yourselves, my liberal friends. Same old story, different side of the aisle. I voted for Obama in 2008, and I don't regret that decision. But with Ron Paul fading, I'm forced to choose between the puppet on the left and the puppet on the right in 2012. Good times.

Clowns to the left of me; jokers to the right. Indeed.