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    Former Senator Says Santorum 'Least Tolerant' Person He Ever Worked With

    This story comes from the Yahoo! Contributor Network, where individuals publish their unique perspectives on some of the world’s most popular websites.
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    COMMENTARY | Does former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum seem a bit too extreme and intolerant for your tastes? You're not alone. In fact, former Wisconsin senator Russ Feingold told Buzzfeed this week that the presidential hopeful was the "least tolerant" individual he has "ever dealt with."

    Ever.

    That's saying something from a man who worked as a lawyer for private law firms for six years, was a member of the Wisconsin state senate for ten years, and was a member of the U. S. Senate for 18 years. Among all the disgruntled clients and lawsuit participants, all the reporters and the pundits, all the political rivals and opponents he met, worked with, and engaged in various associations over the years, Feingold sees former senator Santorum as the most intolerant he's had to deal with.

    Ever.

    "Rick Santorum is possibly the least tolerant person I've ever dealt with," Feingold said. "His attitude towards people who are different from himself is shocking."

    Not that America hasn't been given ample indications as to Santorum's extreme views on how or what he believes. He's very anti-gay, totally against same sex marriages, and thinks gays should not be allowed to serve openly in the military. He believes that using contraception is wrong (a reflection of his Catholic beliefs) and has stated he would like to see individuals criminally charged for using contraception. He is so adamantly opposed to abortion that he sees no exceptions to providing the medical procedure, even in cases of rape, incest, and in extreme cases where the mother's life is in danger and/or the child has little to no chance of survival. And he recently stated that he believes that females serving in the military should have limited duties, preferably far from the front lines. But, then, Santorum has historically noted that women working outside their homes has been a drain on the traditional American family.

    So it should not be much of a surprise that a former senator who served alongside Santorum during his twelve years as a senator from Pennsylvania should find him disagreeable, although it must be noted that Russ Feingold is President Obama's new co-chair for his reelection committee. However, to diminish Rick Santorum to the lowly state of the "least tolerant person" that he has ever had to deal with -- well, that must have taken some doing.

    Or simply Santorum being true to himself.

     
    • .  •  2 mths ago
      Just imagine the drain on the traditional American family if women DIDN'T work outside the home. Imagine trying to live on one $10 an hour salary with no benefits. Imagine how the kids would eat on that. Imagine the living conditions they would be forced to endure. What century is this guy living in? You need two people working two jobs just to exist in America.
      • JudyR 2 mths ago
        Maybe someone should ask him if he will be willing to raise the salary of every married man in America? If everyone is making the kind of money he makes, then everyone could afford the dozens of children, he thinks they should have.
      • . 2 mths ago
        For real Judy. The GOP let all the good jobs to go to China, they cut every single social program then make you pop out kids you have no money to deal with. Crazy. I hope someone asks him about that at the next debate.
      • ghostie 2 mths ago
        While I agree with this, I do stay at home with my kids, but then again I am going to school full time and work freelance on the side.
    • My Word....  •  2 mths ago
      If you want the goverment to stay out of your religion....Keep your religion out of the goverment..........
      • MarkB 2 mths ago
        Agreed-100%.
      • Russ 2 mths ago
        duh.. seperation of church and state was to keep state out of the churches affairs...read some history
      • rustybucket55 2 mths ago
        duh russ, you better read some history. It was to keep religion from hijacking the government like the catholic church did in europe for 500 years!! duh
    • James Dogue  •  2 mths ago
      I suppose Santorum has a fundamental right to his beliefs. However, we citizens have a fundamental right to vote against him.
      • Michael 2 mths ago
        I will vote for him.
      • A Yahoo! User 2 mths ago
        Well said!
      • bob 2 mths ago
        I won't
    • Run TeL DAT  •  Brussels, Belgium  •  2 mths ago
      I'm an avid Christian, but I have been studying the history of Europe, and it doesn't take any rocket science to figure out that mixing religion into government is dangerous (i.e. Holy Roman Empire). Just let the Divine be the Divine and the United States be the United States. We the people are smart enough (or not) to make the right moral decisions. No need to make it law. Thats the beauty of democracy. As long as we take care of the poor, take care of the widows, the elderly, and not "shed innocent blood"(domestic & foreign), God will allow all grace to flow to us, individually
      • tomas 2 mths ago
        Yes, one wonders when exactly religious groups decided to abandon the major goal of providing people spiritual help rather than trying to be politicians and influence all sorts of hate legislation?
      • Y'know 2 mths ago
        Yo Tomas: When Exactly was when it was determined that a Male-centered monotheism like Christianity was optimum for concentrating wealth and power in a few male individuals, rather than spreading the same throughout society.
        And Dat was figgered out a Long Time Ago.
      • Rocketman1945 2 mths ago
        You are a walking paradox Run. The religious right does not take care of widows, orphans or the elderly. They want to remove Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and make people live on the pensions Skilling and Madoff stole from them. The 401-k's that the big banks made worthless.
    • Rosa  •  2 mths ago
      Matthew 6:1-34

      “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.'
      • I 2 mths ago
        God bless you. :)
      • ad v 2 mths ago
        I've often thought this in regards to Tebow!
      • Steve Irberg 2 mths ago
        This in one Bible verse you will never see on Tebow's face paint.
    • SanJuanKid  •  2 mths ago
      "Santorum was the least tolerant individual he has ever dealt with." No surprise there, but thank you for reinforcing what many people suspected already.
    • Michael S  •  Needham, Massachusetts  •  2 mths ago
      It's not his level of tolerance that scares me... It's his level of intelligence.
    • Jaspertheghost  •  2 mths ago
      Democrats PRAY that Santorum will be the GOP candidate.
    • Frustrated expate  •  2 mths ago
      The saying goes that "it takes all kinds." Well, there's an exception here. The USA does not need this kind of leadership...a man who thinks he should call the shots on all levels of adult privacy, in a nation of many diversified people and cultures, but all Americans. This is not the "kind" of leadership any modern nation needs. This kind of thinking and attacks on other citizens, who he does not deem worthy of the same rights as himself, is a very perverted version of arrested development.
    • T  •  2 mths ago
      This is absolutely no surprise at all. He is America's version of the Taliban.
    • Ell  •  New York, New York  •  2 mths ago
      So...he wants to ban the use of contraceptives, but also deny women the opportunity to abort an unwanted fetus even if they were raped or if the pregnancy is highly detrimental to their health. Doesn't he realize that this will make the number of young, single mothers and abandoned babies skyrocket like crazy?
    • Franklin  •  Framingham, Massachusetts  •  2 mths ago
      Would anyone want Santorum to be the POTUS and CiC as the US tries to handle the situation with Iran and try to pull out of Iraq and Afghanistan?
    • bertha fay  •  Austin, Texas  •  2 mths ago
      Surprise? Not - this whole lineup of Republican candidates is putting their focus on the WRONG things - their personal views on the personal issues of the American public. We, the voter, have our own opinions on religion, marriage, gays, abortion and birthcontrol we do not need or want some far right politician's views as part of a political agenda.

      Candidates - want to win in November, just SHUT-UP about the "smokescreen" issues religion, marriage, gays, abortion, birthcontrol AND FOCUS on today's REAL ISSUES - jobs, the budget, the economy and the deficit.
    • Sam  •  2 mths ago
      Just because you carry a Bible does not mean people will blindly support you...... unless they are idiots.
    • ChrisG  •  2 mths ago
      I wish Santorum had the same character our Founding Fathers did. Many of the men who established our nation and created the documents which serve as its guiding principles (namely the US Constitution) were religious. Many believed in Christianity. But none of them went so far as to insist that the laws of this nation should reflect Christianity, or any one religion, because they recognized that to do so would be to undermine the very ideals of freedom and tolerance that spurred the war for independence.

      You can be religious, and you can live your faith in your own life. But you may not govern according your faith - not in America, anyway, because the Founding Fathers themselves knew that is not what America should be. Unless you are willing to allow ALL religions an equal measure of influence in US law, then NO single religion can be promoted or supported by our laws. Santorum should have the good sense to realize this, and if he doesn't, he isn't qualified to be president of this land of liberty.
    • Biff  •  Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania  •  2 mths ago
      I am a christian and I believe that the church has no business in government. I believe that most Christians agree with me. The radical right is not indicative of our belief system.
    • Leon P Quant  •  Pleasanton, California  •  2 mths ago
      All these republican candidates have very serious faults, romney is a flip-flopper, big ego and does not care about regular folks, santorum should not be a politician he should be a nun, only scalia is worse than him, gingrich is gingrich enuf said and ron paul is too old and should be in a retirement home telling stories about wwi or ii.
    • j B  •  2 mths ago
      "His attitude towards people who are different from himself is shocking."

      Not a news flash to anyone who has been paying attention. He is a walking embodiment of xenophobia. In his world Christian fundies are the in-group and everyone else is the out-group. End of story.
    • Renee J  •  2 mths ago
      Repubs: God has given u the gift of life...live yours and not mine!
    • Mary  •  Charlotte, North Carolina  •  2 mths ago
      I love it when someone says "It's a FACT!". And the next comment someone else says, "It's a fact!". Two diametrically opposing FACTS. Interesting.
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