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Friday, May 25, 2012
January 7, 2012

Constitution Thumper: Photographer M. Scott Brauer in New Hampshire


Photographer M. Scott Brauer is on the ground in New Hampshire for BagNews. We will be posting his images through to the primary.

One reason Rick Santorum is having a moment in the sun is because voters, still trying to get a fix on him, might tend to overlook his religious fundamentalism for his genial manner and sense of piety.

Santorum carries this well-worn copy of the Constitution with him all the time and refers to it often on the campaign trail. If you thought what you were looking at, though, was a bible (the golden pages juxtaposed with his wedding band), it’s the simplest mistake given how thoroughly he interprets this document through the other.

See the rest of this series at BagNews New Hampshire 2012 and our full Campaign ‘12 coverage here.

PHOTOGRAPH by M. Scott Brauer

MScottBrauer.com

dvafoto photoblog

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  • Philip Perdue

    At turbulent moments in history – political unrest, economic upheaval, social malaise – people, to use BO’s infamous phrase from ‘09, “cling” to tradition. As for the (visual) convergence of Constitution and scripture, let’s at least recognize that as a kind of tradition, too, at least in US history. Clinging to politico-religious tradition, as Santorum does in this photograph, should neither surprise nor trouble us. However, as pointed out in the post, it’s the deliberate mutual interpretation, and, at the level of presidential politics, the inevitable integration into national policy, that we should fend off. 

  • Anonymous

    From the era of Shakespeare, in translation:

    In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

    We give the written word an authority that quite frankly doesn’t really exist outside of our imagination. Written words can carry ideas from generation to generation (as long as we are willing to learn to read). I suspect that Mr Santorum believes that the words themselves have power, hence the ever-present printed copy of the Constitution. His observation is wrong, the words palmed in his hand get their power from his brain, from his psyche and psychology.

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