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From the Politico website:

A Google search for 'Santorum' has generated some inappropriate results since gay columnist Dan Savage organized an online campaign to link graphic sexual terms to the socially conservative senator's name.

Now, the Republican presidential candidate says he's convinced Google could do something to remedy the issue, if the company wanted to ...

He continued: "To have a business allow that type of filth to be purveyed through their website or through their system is something that they say they can't handle but I suspect that's not true."

In case you're not up on Internet lore, here's what happened. Back when Rick Santorum was ostensibly a Republican senator from Pennsylvania (but living full-time in Virginia), Savage asked readers of his sex-advice column to come up with a definition for the word "santorum."

Since Santorum has been so focused on the mechanics of sex between partners of the same gender --- comparing them to people who have sex with animals --- the winning definition was only appropriate. It defined "santorum" as the by-product of anal intercourse. Savage then launched a website called "Spreading Santorum" to memorialize the definition permanently.

Of their own free will, tens of thousands of people began linking to that website. So many have linked to it, in fact, that it's now much more popular than factual websites about Santorum.

. . .

When this happened, did Rick Santorum take any action to make himself more popular? No. Did he apologize for all of the hateful things he's said about gays? No. Did he ask Savage to stop spreading his alternative definition of "santorum"?

No. (Savage told Politico he's still waiting for Santorum to call him directly.) Instead, Santorum treated Savage as someone beneath contempt --- the same way he's treated gays, and people who support equal rights for gays, and in fact, anyone who disagrees with his narrow version of morality, for his entire political career.

As a result, people have continued to link to Savage's website, and thus made it the most popular website in Google's searches for the word "santorum."

. . .

Santorum has always been arrogant. He tried to make the Penn Hills School District reimburse him for sending his children to charter school while he (and they) were living in Virginia.

But claiming that he's a victim of a vast Internet conspiracy --- and demanding that Google filter its search results to help his campaign --- represents a new level of hubris.

Experience has taught me that bullies are often the biggest whiners about perceived slights and injustices, and in many ways, Santorum behaves like a classic playground bully.

Every day at recess, this bully has called the same kid a "f-ggot" and a "fairy" and a "fruit." Well, that kid has finally turned around and punched the bully in the nose.

Now the bully has the unmitigated gall to run to the teacher and cry, "Hey! He hit me!" Maybe Santorum's crocodile tears will work with his supporters. But the rest of us should be glad to see him getting his comeuppance.

. . .

P.S.: Frankly, I always preferred former U.S. Sen. Bob Kerrey's definition of "Santorum."

. . .

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