Some people just won't go away

Take Li'l Ricky Santorum.

A press conference was held at 1:30 this afternoon at the Philadelphia Inquirer to announce that it has added former Sen. Rick Santorum to its stable of columnists....

The story in the paper today includes: "Talking about the threat of Islamic terrorism is now Santorum's main occupation, though the Republican sounds laid-back these days. He is pitching a movie idea to Hollywood and laughed off speculation about a political comeback in Pennsylvania."

The article explains that he has talked with "Hollywood producer Steve McEveety, who produced the Mel Gibson megahits 'Braveheart' and 'The Passion of the Christ,' on a movie idea that, naturally, has a terrorism element."

Yo. Ricky. If Horrorwitz and Pipes won't speak up about MEK, perhaps you should. Right, Ricky? Erm...Ricky?

***cue sound of chirping crickets***

David Sirota notes the irony of a city paper in a Dem-leaning city hiring a disgraced wingnut as a columnist.

Santorum, you may recall, isn't even from Philadelphia. He was from Western Pennsylvania (I say "was" and not "is" because he actually moved to a wealthy Virginia suburb). But beyond that, you may recall, as Editor & Publisher did, that Santorum "was soundly defeated in his race for re-election last year." In fact, he received just 16 percent of the vote in Philadelphia County - the state's most populous county and the county that is the Inquirer's customer base.

So how can a newspaper like the Philadelphia Inquirer complain about losing readership when, in a major Democratic city, it is providing news analysis from a right-wing Republican who was soundly rejected by voters, who isn't even originally from Philadelphia, and who actually decided to move out of Pennsylvania while representing the state in the U.S. Senate?