Most of Paul Ryan's new stump speech is rather boilerplate, but there was a line in his speech yesterday in North Canton, Ohio, that caused a bit of a stir.
"Free trade is a powerful tool for peace and prosperity, but our trading partners need to play by the rules. And this challenge focuses on China. They steal our intellectual property rights. They block access to their markets. They manipulate their currency. President Obama promised he would stop these practices. He said he'd go to the mat with China. Instead, they're treating him like a doormat."
The crowd certainly seemed to like this, but does it make any sense?
As a rule, when Paul Ryan pretends to know something about foreign policy, national security, international affairs, diplomacy, or the military, it's probably wise to remember that he, like his inexperienced running mate, is working from a position of ignorance.
But even putting Ryan's credibility-free arguments aside, does the argument have any merit? Actually, no. Rachel had a good segment on this in July, the last time Republicans used the "doormat" line.
"Despite the Obama administration being confrontational toward China in a way that no modern administration has ever been, Mitt Romney is calling him a doormat," Rachel explained.
Yep, and now he's equally-confused running mate is, too. They're both wrong.
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Unhinged - the only descriptor needed to explain the Romney/Ryan campaign rhetoric! -Kevo
As a rule, when Paul Ryan pretends to nothing something about foreign policy,..
He certainly does!
He nothings right off the charts.
That's rich coming from Ryan - given that he's on a ticket being funded in the tens of millions with wealth built from catering to Chinese gamblers.
"As a rule, when Paul Ryan pretends to know something..."
Run chicken little the sky is falling, everybody freak out.....Yikes....
I suggest alprazolam (extended release).. Nobody freaked out but you.
Republican claims about Democrats in general - Obama in particular - do not have to be true.
They just have to be made.
They thus become Truth.
Everyone accepts this. Why pretend otherwise? Republicans say Obama has behave despicably since the death of bin Laden, so it must be true. They say Obama made the bad economy worse after the recession (after previously insisting it was all his fault), it is thus Truth. They claim the auto bailout was a mistake, but if it has to be considered a success, then it was Romney's idea. Both of those sentiments are Truth and in no way cancel each other out on anyone's B.S.-O-Meter.
A wishful whisper from the lips from any Republican becomes Truth before anyone else even hears it.
To suggest otherwise is to hate America.
I'm a spiteful idiot who votes against his better interests...AND I VOTE.
Barf, I had to watch a Romney ad to get to the Rachel segment.
Really makes me wonder who the heck they'd choose to be Secretary of State, because those two have a really poor grasp of foreign affairs.
Realistically speaking nobody can touch China. After all GM just pledged to spend 1.1 billion of your taxpayeer money to build a plant in China to make Cadillacs. They also told GM to either share the Volt technology with them, or forget about selling the car there.
With Europe in decline as a consumer market and China on the rise, the die is already cast.
What a hypocrite Ryan is.He vote's for China as most favored nation then whine's boo hoo they're screwing us.How much has Romney invested in China?But the average conservative voter will never know,because Foxisnot New's will not tell them the truth.
Rachel,
It is amusing to most of America to watch you rant, giggle, and moan about other people's tax returns. Care to share your own? Hardly. Nobody pretends for a minute that this election is about any one person's tax returns. It is all about a man named Obama who plays the fiddle while America burns. Americans....please ask yourself if you are anywhere close to being well-off. No? Then the answer, and how you need to vote, is obvious. Please think mostly about the future of the teens and children of this nation, and not so much about yourselves and your supposed entitlements.
Mike, Rachel Maddow is not running for president, Mitt Romney is. My reason for wanting to see a history of Romney's federal income taxes is to see how rich and powerful people have created a tax code that benefits themselves.
Mike, if you want to do something for your children and grandchildren, pay attention to what the rich and powerful are doing to maintain their status. These people do not have the average America's well-being in mind.
Don't take my word for it, figure it out for yourself.
Wishing to be a politician detesting government and wanting it to be smaller is, to me, as if wishing to play professional football on a team that plays fewer games losing most of them, but in the process destroys all other teams in sight. Also, if ryan’s medicare plan is so great why not implement it right away? Could it be because today’s seniors would have their benefits cut and their costs raised right away?
OK, so I don't know where to put this...so here is where I landed.
Ryan's love for Ayn Rand is revealing yes, and probably boosting sales, however, if that is his basis for what he thinks should happen in the nation...let's take a look at Margaret Atwood's The Handmaiden's Tale if you are interested in what the results would be for the 99% who would live in the Rand world. Just sayin'