Former Senator Rick Santorum: Conservatives Must Battle "Toxic Tide" Of Pop Culture More Than Politics

LifeSiteNews.com reports that former "Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum last night urged leaders of the conservative movement to turn their resources towards countering the deluge of liberal pop culture, a front he considers more critical in the long-term than specific political battles. 'I will assure you that the vast majority of the American public has very little idea what is going on in the halls of Congress right now, as far as who's speaking on the floor of the Senate,' said Santorum at the 2009 Paul Weyrich Awards Dinner Thursday evening. 'But I can tell you millions are watching TV shows tonight, hundreds of millions, and we are absent from those screens.' Santorum suggested that influential conservatives have been too focused on political maneuvering, as well as economic issues, giving 'short shrift' to the effects of popular culture on America's conservative roots. 'We have always had this idea that we can shield ourselves from the popular culture, that we can protect our family from the effects of Hollywood, from the effects of the mainstream media, from the effects of the university, we just have to be careful,' said Santorum. 'Well, the bottom line is media is so pervasive, it is virtually impossible to do so.'"

"Virtues that we all as Americans honor, like integrity, honesty, courage, perseverance, these are great messages," he continued. "But they're no longer being passed on in the stories told on the front porch. They're being told by other people coming into your home, who you wouldn't let walk in the front door if they knocked, but you let them in every single day when you turn on that television, when you press that button to turn the computer on." Tweet