I started skimming headlines today and noticed that an above average number of people were talking about Rick Santorum. (Some may contribute this to the "Santorum Surge" but I know better than to believe that). My eyes read over the words "dead baby" and I did a double take.
Unlike many that I know involved in politics, I'm in my twenties. I know plenty about the candidates that I like, but very little about the past of the politicians I consider below my radar. Rick Santorum is one of those I had considered below my radar. I am not ashamed to admit that I don't know everything but I can do a Google search.
So, I decided to find out more about the "dead baby" that I was reading about.
Rick Santorum has 6 children. He had 7, but one, Gabriel Michael, was born prematurely at 20 weeks. The baby lived for 2 hours outside of the womb and then died. Rick and his wife Karen decided to take Gabriel Michael home instead of to a funeral home.
"Upon their son's death, Rick and Karen Santorum opted not to bring his body to a funeral home. Instead, they bundled him in a blanket and drove him to Karen's parents' home in Pittsburgh. There, they spent several hours kissing and cuddling Gabriel with his three siblings, ages 6, 4 and 1 1/2. They took photos, sang lullabies in his ear and held a private Mass."
He and Karen brought Gabriel's body home so their children could "absorb and understand that they had a brother," Santorum says. "We wanted them to see that he was real," not an abstraction, he says. Not a "fetus," either, as Rick and Karen were appalled to see him described -- "a 20-week-old fetus" -- on a hospital form. They changed the form to read "20-week-old baby."
Although I personally think that his toddlers may not have understood the lesson Rick Santorum was trying to teach them, I think that I can understand why he and his wife chose this action. It must be difficult to lose a child. I think that unless you have lost a child, this is probably not the issue you should use to attack Rick Santorum. We all face grief differently. I think this action was unorthodox, and it is not behavior I think I would partake in, but again, I have never lost a child.
I would prefer to attack Rick Santorum on the issues. He supports the Patriot Act, that's a great place to start. Check out where he stands on the issues (I really like this New Hampshire 9/12 guide), pick an issue, and start there!
I realize, though, that many people may want to share how they feel about the "dead baby" story though. What do you think? Sick? Sad? Or both?
Alan Colmes brought this up today again:
And then there is this little known tidbit: “I’m a pretty tolerant guy, but beyond his ideology, some of Santorum’s behavior is just a little bizarre. For example, Santorum has six children. In 1996, he had son born prematurely who lived for only two hours. He and wife brought the child home and introduced the dead infant to the rest of their children as ‘your brother Gabriel’ and slept with the body overnight.”
Watch this fiery exchange, and afterward, let us know if whether you think Colmes took his remarks too far, or if he had a valid point
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