Rick Santorum claims he is not one of the "elite," however I can think of few things more elitist than this.
"Not all folks are gifted the same way. Some people have incredible gifts with their hands," Santorum began. "Some people have incredible gifts and want to work out there making things."
"President Obama wants everybody in America to go to college. What a snob," Santorum said as the crowd howled with laughter and applause. "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."
Santorum said he knows the real reason Obama wants more Americans on college campuses.
"That's why he wants you to go to college. He wants to remake you in his image," Santorum said to more applause. "I want to create jobs so people can remake their children into their image, not his."
It's hard to know where to start when virtually every word uttered is ugly and wrong.
There's nothing snobbish about wanting to give everyone a chance at higher-education, however there is something distinctly snobbish about saying not everyone deserves a chance. And Santorum's rationale that those who aren't afforded the chance to attend college should be happy to work with their hands all day is incredibly patronizing. From my perspective this amounts to saying the serfs should be happy with the jobs they have been given by their rich, white overlords. Ya' know, the "job creators."
And who says all college professors are liberal? From my past experience, they aren't. With that said however, I appreciate Santorum's intimation that higher education and greater knowledge inadvertently lead one to be more liberal. Ya' know, like President Obama. I doubt that is necessarily always the case, but that is what Santorum is implying.
Lastly, not everyone wants to "remake their children into their image." Perhaps there are isolated cases of working-poor parents out there wish to see their children working at Wal-Mart just as they do, but I'm sure they are few and far between. The majority wish for their children to have a better life than they have had, and while college is not a guarantee that will be the case, it certainly greatly increases their chances.
Furthermore, in what world is attempting to "remake their children into their image" is even moral or ethical? The idea oozes with corn-ballish, bygone patriarchy. And based solely on anecdotal evidence, attempting to do so usually leads to irreconcilable differences between parent and child.