thedailywhat:

Santorum Santorum Says of the Day: Speaking with George Stephanopoulos on this morning’s This Week, presidential candidate Rick Santorum was asked to clarify a statement he made last October, concerning JFK’s famous separation of church and state speech to Baptist ministers.

“Earlier in my political career, I had the opportunity to read the speech, and I almost threw up,” Santorum told an audience at the College of Saint Mary Magdalen.

“Why did it make you throw up?” inquired Stephanopoulos. “I don’t believe in an America where the separation between church and state is absolute,” replied Santorum. “The idea that the church can have no influence or no involvement in the operation of the state is absolutely antithetical to the objectives and visions of our country.”

Later, on Meet The Press, Santorum doubled down on his position, telling host David Gregory that the separation of church and state was “not the founders’ vision.”

Of course, the principle of church-state separation is one that has been long-held by American lawmakers, statesmen, and presidents — including GOP deity Ronald Reagan.

“We establish no religion in this country, we command no worship, we mandate no belief, nor will we ever,” Reagan said in a 1984 campaign speech. “Church and state are, and must remain, separate.”

Santorum’s most recent head-scratching comments follow a double-taker he made yesterday at a Tea Party Rally in Tory, Michigan.

“President Obama wants everybody in America to go to college. What a snob,” Santorum told an applauding audience. “There are good, decent men and women who work hard every day and put their skills to the test that aren’t taught by some liberal college professor.”

In addition to being disconcertingly anti-intellectual, Talking Points Memo also points out that Santorum’s remark contradicts his own support for universal higher education.

From his 2006 Senate campaign website:

In addition to Rick’s support of ensuring that primary and secondary schools in Pennsylvania are equipped for success, he is equally committed to ensuring the every Pennsylvanian has access to higher education.

[think / huffpo / tpm.]