Paul Ryan claimed he ran a sub three-hour marathon and later dismissed the small, innocuous white lie in the Toledo News Now by explaining, "I literally thought that was my time. It was 22 years ago. You forget those sorta things." I will go to my grave remembering my 3:05:15 marathon in New York in 1983. That was 29 years ago. As convenient and narcissistic as it would be to lie about a measly ol' five minutes and 15 seconds and claim the veneration of a sub-three hour marathon, I would never be that kind of athlete, err, man to disrespect those who ran with me. And by "those," I'm writing about the woman with a limp that I thought would never finish the race until she passed me at mile 22.
The miles are the same in every marathon. The clock is the same in every marathon. The athletes are the same. There are good ones, mediocre ones, elite ones -- but all with one purpose in mind: to finish and do the best that we can. Yet, we're only running a marathon, we're not running for the second highest office in America. Whether in a wheelchair or with a limp, none of us will "kind of forget" that day's accomplishment for as long as we live. And if we do benefit from a desirable fib and ego-maniacally "forget those sorta things," should that disqualify us from being honest, powerful public servants, a heartbeat away from possibly becoming the President of the United States?
The American Dream was once described by a work ethic and the ability to buy your family a house. Now the American Dream seems to be a lack of ethics while being bankrolled by Citizen's United and the Koch Brothers who buy the already rich The Whitest House of all. What irony that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have colorized a sepia Hollywood vision into a Technicolor, Capra-esque America that never was. Instead of discussing policy and issues, Romney and Ruiz's platform is as gooey and ambiguous as crude oil.
While the Democrats actually discuss problem solving, our country is being bombarded with TV ads that make intelligence an ominous word; facts are our new enemy and a down-home Scott Brown finesses the word professor as an attack on Elizabeth Warren. An investigation into our potential American leaders has led us to a fracking expedition where we have hit the mother load of Paul Ryan's natural gas. A small 'white' lie has exploded in Ryan's moral essence and behind the clean shaven, sincere faux-policy maker, the revelation of a fabricated sub-three hour marathon is the only authentic certainty we know about a man who could be a heart beat away from Commander-In-Chief. This voter wonders, what other "sorta things" could Paul Ryan choose to forget if elected vice president? Mitt Romney and Rosie Ruiz. Yeah, that's the ticket!