This absolutely sickens me. It is the lowest of the low. Liberal Alan Colmes mocks Rick Santorum for treating his dead son with dignity.
Colmes was suggesting that voters would shun Santorum once they “get a load of some of the crazy things he’s said and done, like taking his two-hour-old baby when it died right after child birth home and played with it so that his other children would know that the child was real.”
Notice the word “it.” Colmes said the Santorum’s took “it” home. My goodness, even a child that is born is still an “it” to these lunatics.
National Review’s Rick Lowry responded to Colmes by saying, “To take something that is that personal and that hurtful as losing a child and mocking it like that … that is beneath you, Alan,” said Lowry. “What you’re saying is contemptible.”
In one of the great heartbreaks of Rick Santorum’s life, his wife Karen gave birth to a baby who lived for only a short while. Not allowing the medical staff to take the baby from them, they held the baby and brought the baby home so their other children could say goodbye.
To Rick Santorum, every child should be treated with dignity. For Alan Colmes, a dead child is a punchline to be used for political gain.
Update: Rich Lowry shows a tweet from Colmes saying:
@AlanColmes just spoke to @ricksantorum. He and Karen graciously accepted my apology for a hurtful comment.
I am glad that Colmes apologized but for me it speaks more of the Santorum’s that they didn’t make political hay of this and just accepted his apology.
HT The Blaze
January 3, 2012 at 2:27 am
Can't imagine that Colmes won't win Slimeball of 2012 for that comment.
January 3, 2012 at 10:07 am
Unfortunately, Fr. Eric, it's still way too early in the year to award that one. There will be plenty more to come.
January 3, 2012 at 12:08 pm
So, Colmes won't "judge" others when it comes to sex, but he will judge someone for treating their dead child with dignity. K. Glad we cleared that up.
January 3, 2012 at 12:09 pm
This shows the real heartlessness of liberalism.
January 3, 2012 at 12:20 pm
This is indecent. Only sins against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
January 3, 2012 at 10:32 pm
I witnessed this disgrace live. I have never liked Colmes, but his performance was detestable. Brought to task by Lowry, Colmes was unrepentant. He slouched back in his chair, crossed his arms and shook his head. He was crass. His apology must have forced upon him.
January 3, 2012 at 11:50 pm
After John Kennedy was assasinated, Jaqueline Kennedy moved the body of their stillborn son, Patrick to be in the same gravesite. Respect for human life, compassion, and the milk of human kindness.
January 4, 2012 at 4:57 pm
Misrepresent much? He didn't mock the dead infant, he commented on the bizarreness of the parents' behavior. And yes, spending the night in the hospital cuddling a corpse, then taking that corpse home for your children to cuddle IS BIZARRE BEHAVIOR. Even if you can understand the emotional response, the behavior is bizarre, macabre and has the potential to be emotionally damaging to the living children. Good grief… handing a dead baby to your children to cuddle? Really? I can understand that the parents were grieving their loss, I can even understand their need to hold the baby…. but taking him home to be passed around amongst their living children is nothing less than bizarre…. whether you like that reality, or not.
January 4, 2012 at 11:05 pm
placidair- If the baby had been born at home, as babies used to be, would you think it strange if the children waiting for their new brother and sister had each been allowed to hold the baby and kiss it goodbye? I think that is what I would have done, if one of the babies I gave birth to at home had been born clearly dead and past any assistance.
People who deal with neonatal loss on a regular basis say that the best thing is for both parents to be able to hold the dead child as long as they want, to dress it in the clothes they had chosen for their newborn, to take pictures and handprints; anything which will help them remember that their child was real and did live. I don't see any reason not to extend this to siblings.
When death usually occurred at home, and people, including children and babies who died, were waked at home, I am sure children saw their dead siblings. If this was explained to them carefully, they felt grief, but they were not emotionally damaged.
I understand perfectly why the Santorum's did what they did. I think you are mistaken in your take on it. I would say that if their behavior is bizarre, then there is something wrong with the norm.
Susan Peterson
January 9, 2012 at 10:03 pm
you don't understand anything, would you put your dead parent if their dead at the dinner tabke. that is sick I say!
January 9, 2012 at 10:07 pm
he is going the same way as newt gimgrich and pizza, 999 guy.