Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum made an appearance at the Oral Roberts University Mabee Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma this afternoon after a campaign stop in Oklahoma City this morning. Santorum began his remarks with encouragement for a man who had an unknown medical emergency just as the event was to start. He also spoke of the importance of the prayers offered up by the staff of Oral Roberts University when the announcement was made that a medical emergency was in progress. The exact problem has not been announced but several doctors, EMS Technicians, and firefighters worked on the victim for abut 15 minutes before taking him to an ambulance.

In his address, he spoke of the situation in Syria and the consequences of a lack of action on the part of the administration. He also addressed Barack Obama’s disdain for life and faith in his attitudes towardsreligious institutions and abortion, and his disregard of the freedoms we hold dear. Santorum spoke of the uniqueness of America, the need to return to the tenets of the Constitution, the operator’s manual of our nation. He said this nation is the cornerstone of civilized society because of our Constitution. He spoke of our founding fathers taking their inspiration from the bible to craft a document that acknowledge God as giving us our freedoms, not government. He talked about and quoted the Declaration of Independence, which says; “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness”. He reiterated that our freedoms come from God not government. If government gives us our rights then government can take those rights back. Santorum spoke of how the French Revolution had tried a similar method but chose “Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity”, a system which ended up with the guillotine.

Mr. Santorum spoke also of tolerance and the difference between conservative Christian tolerance and that of the leftists in our nation. He said Christian people accept every nationality, every religion, and every aspect of life. He told the assembled there that no other nation anywhere in the world is as tolerant of so many varied aspects of humanity as is America. He also pointed out that those on the left who claim to be tolerant have no tolerance for anyone who does not totally agree with their specific views of a subject.

Santorum covered the energy issue, and its relation to the global warming issue of environmentalists. He brought up the Keystone pipeline and the fact that there are hundreds of pipelines crossing this country, including in the area now made off limits by Obama. He told the assembled crowd that if the oil is not brought to America it would go to the west coast of Canada and be sent to China, costing America jobs and cost efficient fuel. He also spoke if his support of energy independence from the beginning, not just lately.

Santorum also spoke of the War on Terror and how it is not winnable because we can’t win a war against a tactic. He told the 5,000 or more in the audience that warring against terror would be like warring against the Nazi tactic of “blitzkrieg”. America wasn’t fighting against blitzkrieg; it was fighting against Adolph Hitler and Nazi Germany. In the same sense, Santorum said, America today is fighting against radical Islamists. He made the distinction that we are not fighting against all Muslims, but those who desire to kill all those who do not accept Islam as their faith.

In a Townhall type segment, several students of Oral Roberts University were given the opportunity to ask questions of Santorum. The first question came from a student who wanted to know what the differences were between Santorum’s foreign policy and that of Ron Paul. Santorum replied that the difference was that he had a foreign policy and Ron Paul did not. He went on to say that Paul’s ideas of pulling all of our military back into the United States would leave a vacuum that would be filled by someone. He pointed out that the void is being filled in Egypt by the Muslim Brotherhood and that has resulted in Americans being held hostage. Santorum said we need to have a presence in the world if there is any chance of many people to ever experience freedom. He pointed out that many people in Iran love America but that when they tried to stand up and gain their freedom from an oppressive regime that Obama stood by idly while they were crushed.

A student who identified himself as the president of the student Democrats asked Santorum about Obamacare. He wanted to know why Santorum was against the plan when the Catholic Church, of which Santorum is a member, accepted the plan. The student said that the Pope actually came out and said health care was a right so how was Santorum standing against it. Santorum replied that the opportunity to purchase health care is indeed a right but that government mandating that everyone buy insurance and also mandating what the policy would include or leave out was not freedom of choice, it was dictating a policy to be enforced by fining those who did not comply. He said that religious freedom must be gauged by a combination of conscience and practicality that had to be balanced for the sake of freedom.

The last questioner was a young lady who asked the candidate how he would deal with the attacks that would come from the Obama regime in the general election. Santorum stated that he had a message that would resonate with Americans and that any Republican candidate can expect the same attacks from Obama, that he would not face anything different that what is being put out now from Obama.

After the Townhall meeting Santorum stated in an interview on Tulsa’s KRMG radio that Tulsa has had the biggest and most enthusiastic crowd to attend an event so far in the campaign.

Part of Santorum’s address can be found at this link.

Bob Russell
Claremore, Oklahoma