Of the ever-growing furor over the kid gloves (sorry) treatment afforded former Penn State defensive coordinator / accused pederast Jerry Sandusky, GOP Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum (above) told ABC yesterday, “it certainly looks horrible for the university, horrible for the football program and obviously people were fired, should be fired.”  Of course, no one had been fired at the time, and this isn’t the first occasion in which Santorum’s grasp on reality has been somewhat less than solid, as The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Thomas Fitzgerald explains.

Then Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum thought enough of Jerry Sandusky nine years ago to sponsor the former Penn State defense coordinator for a “Congressional Angels in Adoption” award, citing his work with a non-profit group he founded to provide care for foster children.

“Its philosophy is simple: it is easier to develop a child than to rehabilitate an adult,” read the citation in the awards dinner program from Sept. 24, 2002.

Santorum, a 1980 PSU graduate, is one of the school’s most distinguished alumni – a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination who represented Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate from 1995 to 2007. A social conservative and champion of adoption, Santorum is staking his candidacy on an appeal to family values.

Since the scandal broke into the news, Santorum has been circumspect in his comments about it.  He has said he does not know Sandusky personally.

In Santorum’s defense, Republicans have no monopoly on poor character judgement.  If Roslyn Carter hadn’t posed alongside a certain Illinois clown / aspiring painter, The Mentally Ill would’ve been shit out of luck.