Think Progress catches Santorum's.....uh, let's go with odd lack of memory

By Lee Russ

Saturday, January 28, 2006 at 08:10 AM

Rick Santorum, now running for his political life, is developing a habit of making public statements that can be easily disproved with rudimentary searching of the public record.  For example, he's recently been disclaiming any real connection to Grover Norquist's "K Street Project" to ensure that lobbyists hire Republicans only.

Think Progress tracked down a different set of facts from a 2002 newspaper report.

They found a Philadelphia Inquirer piece from from Aug. 12, 2002 discussing Santorum's role in Republican lobbying.  Interesting points from that piece (follow Think Progress's link):

The meetings [hosted by Santorum] sometimes carry a partisan edge. Grover Norquist, a conservative activist, has appeared before the group and sought help with an effort to push lobbying firms and trade associations to hire more Republicans.

The so-called K-Street Project got the attention of the Senate Ethics Committee, which is concerned that the project could be used to deny access to Democrats.

'He [Santorum] has gotten me in to talk to all those guys,' Norquist said. 'I can do that on my own. I understand the Democrats want to make a big stink about the K-Street Project.'"

Santorum said he merely allowed Norquist to speak to the group, though he said he supported the bid for more "transparency" as to the political background of Washington lobbyists.

[end excerpt]

You have to ask whether people whose memories are this bad should be allowed to hold public office.  Or private office--remember the head of AARP who couldn't recall if he was a Democrat or Republican?  And Bill O'Reilly, who also couldn't remember whether he had registered with the Democrats or Republicans?  In both cases, it was the Republicans, of course.  

Maybe their amazing collective lack of memory is why the Republicans seem so totally unable to govern a country.