Immanuel Kant, the philosopher, once said that when a man lies, he annihilates his dignity as a man. By that measure, millions of people across the country today are questioning Paul Ryan's dignity as a man. Many have reported that he said some things in his speech that may not be completely true.
Recently at the Republican National Convention, Paul Ryan gave a speech that his constituents, the Republicans around the nation, loved to hear. They clapped, they stood, they cheered, they nodded their heads. After all, we all love a good story, even if it is based on personal opinions more than fact, as are many great stories.
Ryan said a lot of things last night during his speech. Unfortunately, he was immediately feeling the sting of his words, this morning. This is because numerous fact checks were conducted on things he said during his speech. People wanted to know if he was for real, if he gave accurate information, or if he merely told a good story to woo the crowd.
Fact checking reports show a whole new side of Paul Ryan's speech. Many articles have offered the details on how he may have misspoke about how President Obama supposedly broke his promise to keep the GM plant from closing, how he told lies about Medicare, and how he wasn't truthful to the American people about the debt commission, as well as the stimulus and the debt rating of the country. And it doesn't end there, as numerous other reports have suggested other areas where he failed to fact-check his way through his speech.
First impressions go a long way. Last night, millions of people tuned in to watch Ryan give his speech. People from Wisconsin aside, it was the first time that many had laid eyes on the man running for Vice President of the country. He knew this, going into last night's speech, and yet he went ahead and lied anyway. He either simply doesn't care if the information he told people is accurate, or he deliberately misslead the audience. In any account, the first impression he has given to millions of people is one that has many people questioning him.
The Presidential election is just around the corner. We have a limited time to get to know the candidates who are running for office. But all signs point to the fact, so far, that the Republicans have someone running for office who was immediately under the microscope as people checked to see if he was telling lies. Come to think of it, the Republican party has a long history of such behavior, so this should come as no surprise to anyone.
What we have to do is ask ourselves whether the possibility of having a story teller help to run our country will matter to people, when they go to the polls to cast their vote. With his integrity as a man in question, we have to wonder what else he has done, or will do in the future, to mislead us. Then we have to mark our ballots accordingly. We simply cannot afford to put deceit in the driver's seat of this great nation!