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The Republican convention was a pathetic showcase of war-mongers, gun-toters, aging-Hollywood-icons-I-used-to-love-but-now-feel-sorry-for and religious fanatics rattling sabres and espousing all sorts of extremist rhetoric to their rapacious, Kool-Aid-drinking base. To be sure, they're certainly giving voters a clear choice for November.
Now add liars to the cast, as Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney's running mate and the GOP's Boy Wonder, took to the stage Wednesday night and shamelessly and smugly lied his way through an awkward, angry speech. The Washington Post reported that out of eleven subjects he discussed, just two were truthful, six were false and three were misleading. But remember, "We're not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact-checkers," as Romney pollster Neil Newhouse asserted this week, bringing to mind Tina Fey's brilliant Sarah Palin who opined, "I just hope the lamestream media won't twist my words by repeating them verbatim."
In regurgitating the standard Republican propaganda, Ryan hopped from one disingenuous, deceptive attack on President Obama to the next. The two biggest outright lies: (1) he blamed Obama for a December 2008 GM factory closing in his hometown of Janesville, WI which obviously shut down before he took office; and (2) he absurdly blamed Obama for the failure of the Simpson-Bowles bipartisan debt-reduction commission when in fact it was Ryan, who as a member of the commission, was the lone Republican "no" vote... essentially killing it. He failed to mention this little factoid when accusing Obama of "doing nothing" with the Commission's plan.
Ryan was also guilty of perpetuating the "You didn't build it" lie even as he had the hypocritical audacity to say a few minutes later that when businesses fail it's not the fault of the owners but rather the government for not doing enough. That's right, he said the government didn't do enough. Confusing, right?
Ryan championed college students and lamented their financial struggles, yet it is he and his soulless party that seeks to cut most college tuition assistance programs while also raising student loan interest rates.
Ryan implausibly portrayed himself and Romney as the great protectors of Medicare from the Great Raider Obama. This coming from a guy whose position on Medicare is to annihilate it. He also called Obamacare a "government takeover of health insurance" even though it puts 30-million new customers in the hands of private insurance companies. C'mon, what kind of cockamamie Socialism is that!?
Ryan again beat his small government drum despite that fact that as a Congressman he voted for TARP, the auto bailout, Bush's prescription drug plan and two wars -- all unfunded -- as he voted for massive tax cuts for the wealthy... all of which added trillions to the national debt.
Ryan accused his opponents of being "silent about their record" yet it's his boss who's running like Usain Bolt away from his taxes, offshore investments, Mormonism, years at Bain Capital and record as Massachusetts governor.
Notwithstanding the above, the Ryan... er... Romney ticket is doomed to fail not because of Ryan's radical positions or pathological aversion to the truth but because the man at the top of the ticket, as his lackluster, uninspiring, 'unhumanizing' speech Thursday night demonstrated, lacks character, principles and vision, and is still viewed by voters, despite the GOP's Tampa Smoke and Mirrors Show, as unlikable, untrustworthy and incapable.