Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Paul Ryan - A Blast From The Past In A Younger Package

Conrad Schmidt / AP (Ryan surrounded by new fans in Iowa)

It's quite illuminating to see how the left is reacting to Paul Ryan.And it brings back some memories.

Look at these headlines:

How Obama Will Cash In on Paul Ryan: Medicare, Taxes, Education & More - by Bob Shrum, no less, who claims that when the left is finished with Paul Ryan, even his own children will boo him.

The next frontier in the case against Paul Ryan - From Greg Sargent, George Soros' man at the Washington Post.

When Cruelty is Cute - Ah, how could you leave out the incoherent ramblings of Pravda-on-the Hudson's Maureen Dowd!

Paul Ryan: Poster Boy Of Todays' Extreme GOP - Huffington Post, of course...

Ryan Is Cruel, Not Courageous - by the ever reliable Katrina vanden Heuvel, the editor of the far left Nation, writing in the Washington Post

There's plenty more I could cite, but for the most part, it's pretty much the same bolshoi. Ryan is evil. He's cruel, hiding his evil behind that attractive exterior. He's an extremist. He hates poor people, he wants to end the social safety net, he's Ryan the slasher, he wants to take away grandpa and grandma's medical care and social security and have them eating cat food. And not very good catfood at that. But Barack Obama, Warrior for the Middle Class is there to save the day!

None of it has the least shred of truth, but it's the narrative that matters, and it will be repeated ad nauseum in an effort to hide the truth and replace it. Given Barack Obama's record, it's really the only way he can possibly win. Not on ideas or issues, but, as Mitt Romney said earlier, on anger, division and hate.

All this reminds me of exactly the sort of rhetoric, bogus polls and overheated insanity directed at someone else...this guy, remember?




Even the name calling and the wordage could be taken from 1980. All you have to do is take out the references to 'a grade B, failed actor' and replace the -eagan with -yan. And oh yes, you'd have to switch out 'President Carter' for 'President Obama'. trust me, that's a no brainer.

Ryan, of course has differences with Ronaldus Maximus. He lacks his Hollywood polish and charisma, but he makes up for it with a charming regular guy demeanor that appeals to people after almost four years of being lied to and condescended to:



And he shares two things with President Reagan that are of the utmost importance; his renowned affability and his self-knowledge of whom he is, where he came from and where he wants to go.To put it more simply, like President Reagan, he's comfortable in his own skin.

That comes not only from self-knowledge, but from self-honesty, qualities not much in evidence in the current occupant of the White House.

One of my favorite maxims of Ronaldus Maximus is his saying that there's no limit to what you can accomplish if you don't mind who gets the credit. That's something I could see Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney signing on to, since it's essentially how they've lived their lives.

Barack Obama, not at all. Everything good that occurs must be about him, qnd everything bad someone else's fault.

It's no accident, I think that the rhetoric of the Left is so redolent of 1980, since we face a similar, dire situation at the hands of another abysmally incompetent president.

By that, I don't mean to suggest that this year's election is like 1980's. The country has changed.

But the issues we face are quite similar, if even more pressing.

In this election,as in 1980, there is a choice to be made between two very different visions for our country. As the American people ask themselves if they are better off then they were four years ago, and whether character in those who hold public office still means anything, they will make that choice.

-selah-

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