Santorum makes me want to throw up

Posted on March 2, 2012

By Bill Press

Tribune Media Services

Here’s a good idea. Let’s say you’re a former senator. You’re running for president of the United States. You want to appeal to blue-collar, middle-class voters.

So what do you do? You attack President John F. Kennedy! Not only that. You assert, and repeat, that JFK’s 1960 speech to Baptist ministers made you want to “throw up.” If that’s not the dumbest move made by any presidential candidate ever, I don’t know what is. Welcome to the latest outrage from Rick Santorum.

Smearing Kennedy was bad enough. Despite his flaws, he’s still one of our most revered presidents. In the latest CNN poll (January 2011), 85 percent of Americans approve of his handling of the presidency — making him the most admired former president of the last half-century. Bill Clinton’s in second place. Ronald Reagan ranks third.

… Continue Reading

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Rick Santorum’s American Dream: No right to a college education

Posted on February 28, 2012

I don’t know about you, but neither of my parents graduated from college. Neither did any of my grandparents. Which doesn’t mean they didn’t work hard. They did. One of my grandfathers was a commercial fisherman, the other was postmaster. One of my grandmothers was a nursing aide, the other owned a small grocery store.… Continue Reading

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Santorum’s Misplaced Loyalty

Posted on February 27, 2012

As a Democrat, I’ve never had so much fun in my life…as I’m having this year, watching the Republican Party self-destruct. In this insane primary season, they’ve ended up with four finalists – one of whom is a terrible candidate, and the other three of whom are crazy. The craziest of all is Rick Santorum… Continue Reading

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Is Santorum running for president or pope?

Posted on February 17, 2012

By Bill Press Tribune Media Services Headline from the Detroit Free Press website: “New Polls Show Rick Santorum Leading Mitt Romney in Michigan Primary Race.” That’s the welcome Romney received when he returned to campaign in his home state. The Free Press reports that an MRG Michigan Poll, conducted with Lansing-based Inside Michigan Politics, “showed… Continue Reading

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Rising Gas Prices: Don’t panic, just deal with it

Posted on February 14, 2012

Here we go again. Panic over the price of gas. It’s already started for 2012. Cable television warning the average price of regular gas could soon top $4 a gallon. My question is: Why do we fall for the same con game every year? Isn’t it clear by now that oil companies will collude to… Continue Reading

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Catholic bishops cry wolf on contraception

Posted on February 10, 2012

By Bill Press Tribune Media Services I love protests, and have taken part in many of them. My first was picketing in front of Safeway in San Francisco, urging shoppers to support California farm workers and boycott grapes. But there are real protests and there are phony protests. And one of the phoniest we’ve ever… Continue Reading

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Catholic Bishops are wrong on contraception issue

Posted on February 9, 2012

Judging from the cries of outrage coming from Catholic bishops, you’d think President Obama had shut down Catholic churches, sent all nuns back to Ireland, and dropped an atomic bomb on the Vatican. Accusations of “Catholic bashing” and “infringement of religious freedom” are being heard all over the media. But here’s the truth. All the… Continue Reading

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Koch brothers driving anti-Obama hate machine

Posted on February 7, 2012

By Bill Press Tribune Media Services “If not now, when?” It’s one of the most famous maxims of history, attributed to the great Rabbi Hillel, who’s also credited with a down-to-earth version of the Golden Rule: “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. This is the whole Torah; all the rest… Continue Reading

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“I’m not concerned about the very poor” is exactly what Romney said

Posted on February 2, 2012

It was supposed to be his victory lap after a big win in Florida, but for Mitt Romney it turned into another public relations disaster. In an interview on CNN, Romney told Soledad O’Brien: “I’m not concerned about the very poor.” Quote, unquote. What a disaster. What was he thinking? Now, to be fair, in… Continue Reading

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The three big lies of Newton Leroy Gingrich

Posted on January 27, 2012

By Bill Press Tribune Media Services Political junkies like me have never seen anything like it: Running 20 points behind, just a week before the South Carolina primary, Newt Gingrich catapulted to the top of the pile and ended up defeating Mitt Romney by 12 points. It’s almost enough to make a believer out of… Continue Reading

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