Rick Santorum or Satanic Heavy Metal: The Quiz

Can you tell the difference between Santorum quotes and Megadeth lyrics? Nope, you probably can’t.

heavy metal Santorum: Photo illustration by Dave GilsonHouses of the Holy: Rick Santorum rocks out. On his rise to the top of the Republican charts, Rick Santorum has picked up plugs and plaudits from media and entertainment luminaries including Glenn Beck, the Duggars, Pat Boone, and Dave Mustaine. Wait, what? Dave Mustaine? The heavy-metal ex-warlock is an admirer of Rick Santorum?

In a recent interview with MusicRadar, Mustaine—the Megadeth frontman, former Metallica guitarist, and pillar of the 1980s thrash metal movement—said that Santorum possesses some truly presidential qualities: 

Earlier in the election…when the dude went home to be with his daughter when she was sick, that was very commendable. Also, just watching how he hasn’t gotten into doing these horrible, horrible attack ads like Mitt Romney’s done against Newt Gingrich…I’m hoping that if it does come down to it, we’ll see a Republican in the White House…and that it’s Rick Santorum.

 

When you consider the contrast between the Christian right and—oh, you know—the satanic symbolism and violent sexuality associated with heavy-metal music, Mustaine’s pseudo-endorsement* might seem born out of a slight cognitive dissonance. But when you think about it more, is there really anything more metal than a guy who talks obsessively about sex, the devil, and the imminent destruction of all that is sacred and holy?

Take our short quiz to find out if you can tell the difference between Rick Santorum quotes and things Dave Mustaine has said and sung. Share your score in the comments. (We’ve heard that some Chrome users are having technical difficulties with the quiz. We’re working on it. In the meantime, please use another browser.)

 

* For the record, Mustaine used to support Democrats. He has previously expressed admiration for JFK and Bill Clinton, and was also harshly critical of the Reagan administration. So basically, Dave Mustaine is the Zell Miller of heavy metal.

Image credits: Wikimedia Commons (Santorum, heavy metal dude, pentagram), Mr Theklan/Flickr (fire)

 

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We'll also be quite transparent and level-headed with you about this.

In "News Never Pays," our fearless CEO, Monika Bauerlein, connects the dots on several concerning media trends that, taken together, expose the fallacy behind the tragic state of journalism right now: That the marketplace will take care of providing the free and independent press citizens in a democracy need, and the Next New Thing to invest millions in will fix the problem. Bottom line: Journalism that serves the people needs the support of the people. That's the Next New Thing.

And it's what MoJo and our community of readers have been doing for 47 years now.

But staying afloat is harder than ever.

In "This Is Not a Crisis. It's The New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, why this moment is particularly urgent, and how we can best communicate that without screaming OMG PLEASE HELP over and over. We also touch on our history and how our nonprofit model makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there: Letting us go deep, focus on underreported beats, and bring unique perspectives to the day's news.

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