Poor poor Rick Santorum. You try to keep America on the moral straight and narrow, and then it all blows up in your face. Like when you fight for the appointment of a tough-as-nails conservative judge who reverses your home state's ban on gay marriage.

Dave Weigel caught the sweet, sweet man-on-man irony:

Gay marriage is legal in Pennsylvania today, following a ruling by U.S. District Judge John Jones. Pennsylvania had gotten into the pre-emptive-ban game early in 1996, and that ban is now gone—Pennsylvanians with gay marriages recognized in other states can set up shop in Pittsburgh or Philadelphia or (if it's what you're into) Braddock.

Who saw this coming? I'm going to guess "not Rick Santorum." Twelve years ago, in his second and final term as the U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, Santorum urged the Senate to confirm Jones and Kit Connor.

Weigel goes on to quote from slick Rick's sweet platitudes about the judge who would later sanction the Keystone State nuptials of all the Adams and Steves:

Attorneys Jones and Conner are highly qualified to assume the important role of Judge and the duty of protecting the Constitution and ensuring the effective operation of our judicial system.

Of course, Santorum has proven not to be the best judge of character before, like when he hired a sexy-anime to manage his wholesome family-movie production studio.

Unless... hang on...

[Photo credit: AP]