At a basic level, what bothers me about politicians who lie, especially at a national level, is that the deceptions are insulting. A candidate who knows the truth, but makes a deliberate decision to deceive, is working from the assumption that Americans are suckers.
And last night, Paul Ryan made painfully clear that he thinks we're all profound idiots who'll believe an endless string of lies, so long as they're packaged well and presented with conviction. Jonathan Cohn suggested last night's address may have been the "most dishonest convention speech" ever delivered, and I can't think of a close second.
It was a truly breathtaking display of brazen dishonesty. Paul Ryan looked America in the eye and without a hint a shame, lied to our face.
Ryan lied about President Obama's auto-industry rescue, blaming the administration for a plant closing orchestrated by President Bush. Ryan lied about Medicare, falsely accusing Obama of undermining the system. Ryan lied about the debt downgrade, falsely blaming the president for a downgrade caused by Ryan and congressional Republicans.
Ryan lied about the Simpson-Bowles commission, falsely accusing Obama of walking away from debt reduction, and ignoring the fact that Ryan himself fought to ensure the Simpson-Bowles commission never even released a report. Ryan lied about his plans for the safety net, saying he intends to "protect the weak" when he budget plan intends to gut public investments that benefit the poor.
Ryan lied about the debt, saying Obama "has added more debt than any other president before him," when the truth is, that was George W. Bush -- who added over $5 trillion to the debt thanks in large part to congressional votes cast by Paul Ryan.
Ryan lied about the Recovery Act, calling the stimulus "a case of political patronage, corporate welfare, and cronyism at their worst," when reality shows the exact opposite. Ryan lied about small businesses, accusing Obama of raising their taxes, when he actually cut their taxes.
Paul Ryan, the man the media and Republicans celebrate as a bold truth-teller, told one lie after another, demonstrating a near-pathological disdain for honesty. His speech presented no substantive ideas, no policy solutions, and no bold positions on any key issue, but it included enough falsehoods to choke a fact-checker -- all because he assumes you're a fool and journalists are too incompetent to separate fact from fiction.
Is he right?
Dan Amira called the speech "appallingly disingenuous and shamelessly hypocritical," but added this gem:
Most of the millions of people who watched the speech on television tonight do not read fact-checks or obsessively consume news 15 hours a day, and will never know how much Ryan's case against Obama relied on lies and deception. Ryan's pants are on fire, but all America saw was a barn-burner.
CNN's Wolf Blitzer said he counted "seven or eight" claims that "fact checkers will have some opportunities to dispute," but concluded the lies didn't matter because it was "a powerful speech" that gave Republicans what they "were hoping for."
CNN's Erin Burnett added, "There will be issues with some of the facts, but it motivated people."
Let that sentence roll around in your brain for a moment, and ponder what it means for our country.
Ryan lied uncontrollably, but that's not terribly important. It undermines our democracy and the basic norms of the American political system, but no one seems to care anymore. Ryan thinks we're idiots, but his cynicism matters less than the electoral implications.
The United States is better than Paul Ryan's dishonesty. It has to be. Our future depends on it.
Leave a Comment:
Maybe the only way to convince the American public that the Ryan-Romney economic plan will be disasterous is to let them win the election and watch the country fall back into a major recession or possibly depression.
Albert Einstein defined insanity as: Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
i have written a book called the war on the american people which is a fact check of republican lies it highlights the lies being used at the republican convention and it needs to be made public its on amazon.com
Look, lying is as American as apple pie! How many times, do you think, John Hancock had to lie to British authorities when questioned about his many smuggling operations off the coast of North America?
Lying to effect an outcome is as old in our land as the dust of Machiavelli!
Although, media complicity in the spewing of these current lies is quite unfortunate! -Kevo
You *KNOW* it's gotta be a really bad set of lies if FOX NEWS called him out on it...
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/08/30/paul-ryans-speech-in-three-words/
I wonder how many of the RNC attendees, as they cheered Ryan, thought about their household wealth, that has increased, in total, under Obama, by 8.6 trilion dollars as a result of the 90% return in the markets since the 2008 downturn. How many have looked at the economic indexes, all of which are better than at the 2008 lows, especially PMI, ISM, const and manufacturing, only recently have we seen a downturn in these numbers, a result of the current global slowdown, especially Europe. Basically it was a speech about trickle down, supply side economics, in other words, a rehash of past failed policies of the republicans.
The high light for me yesterday was the interview Chris Mathews had with Christine (I'm not a witch) O'Donnell and another teabag lady.
O'Donnell told Chris, the reason queen Palin wasn't at the convention was because what the GOP needed now was, NEW blood and insinuated it was best for Palin to step aside!! Fox cancelled all of Palin's interviews that were scheduled!
O'Donnell's comments can be translated as follows... "Look, Palin's has made millions sucking in the teabaggers with her book deals/ book tours. It's MY turn now...I'm the NEW blood!"
Too funny
The Des Moines Register's headline this morning: Ryan sets goal of 12 million jobs
Nowhere in the article does it mention that economist predict that the economy will produce that many job on its own in the next four year, without anyone doing anything additional. When, oh when, is the mainstream media going to call these guys out on their BS?
Ryan is an inveterate liar and that won't change. It's sad to see his mother so proudly looked up to her son from the audience blithely unaware of his lack of ethics and integrity.
But what has been bothering me this election season is that the press as represented in the big TV channels, CNN, ABC, NBC and CBS, have largely given up their responsibility to check for the truths and presented them to the American people.
In the name of fair and balance, they constantly downplay the blatant lies that the Romney team put out in their ads and speeches as your examples of Burnett and Blitzer showed. They are unaware of how stupid they sound. I am disgusted with these so called journalists. They are nothing but news hacks and beggars for eyeballs!
He lies because the media lets him get away with it. Nobody asks these guys real questions and makes them answer. In the 60's and 70's no candidate could get away without being asked what their strategy was for winning the war in Vietnam, how were they going to end the war. With these guys, nobody asks what the strategy is for the "War on Terror". It's been going on for over ten years and can conceivably go on for a hundred more. Neither side has a strategy.
Good on you, team Rachel! WTG not letting up on your moment to question Walker on the floor @ RNC! This was the most blatant illustration of schoolyard "I'm covering my ears and chanting the same phrase touch blue make it true" nonsense that we have endured from the GOP - now broadcast to millions! What a load to blame Obama for the closing of a plant before he was even in office (but maybe if I say it loudly and convincingly, it will magically become TRUTH!)
I watched those who spoke at the convention in Fla and compared them with those who will speak at the Dem. convention. Sandra Fluck will be a keynote speaker there. What qualifications does she have? She has never accomplished anything in her life but please Obama by promoting free contraceptives for the immoral. Just so she knows, they will not be free. Somebody has to pay. Does she (and obama too) realize that America was founded on good moral principles and individual responsibility? Apparently not according to Obama's "you didn't build that" statment. Obama came into office with the intention of bringing America down a notch or two. What he mistook for "arrogance" was actually patriotism ot Americans. He is the only president in the history of our nation who didn't view America as an exceptional nation. We've now lost our prestige with other nations. They no longer view us as the greatest nation on earth - And he promised Russia to bring us down further after if he wins the next election. According to him he would have to wait until after the election to do certain things - in other words, if he does it now the people want like it and he wouldn't get reelected. I thought presidents were in office to do the will of the people - when did all that change? Apparently after Obama became president
"You didn't build that" - wasn't meant to disparage entrepreneurs. It pointed out that there is infrastructure and people who help others to realize their potential.
"'Arrogance' was actually patriotism" - I'm patriotic, I love my country, it's an amazing place, but I also recognize that other countries have merit. Too many Americans are xenophobes who chant "USA USA" without knowing that there are other democracies that are just as free and productive. Smaller, yes, superpowers, no.
"Contraceptives for the immoral" - did you reeeeelly say that? So a married woman (I'm assuming that sex, to you, is immoral anywhere outside marriage) taking contraception is immoral? Oh, no wait, she's supposed to have a gazillion kids and not work outside the home.
This is an opinion, not a fact
First and foremost whether or not you find something moral or immoral is your subjective opinion. It is not objective fact. Don't obfuscate the two. Secondly she never promoted free contraception. What she asked was that contraception be included as part of insurance premiums which is what Obamacare does. You still have to pay for your insurance in order to gain the coverage for contraception. This is like saying diabetes medication is free because of Obamacare. No, it's included as part of your insurance coverage. YOU are still on the hook for paying your provider. Don't pay your provider? Then you don't get the coverage.
These are both subjective terms that you are presenting as though they are objective. What is or isn't moral or what quantifies as a good moral principle (by the way these 3 words are wicked redundant) are dependent on your personal views and are not objective realities. Individual responsibility is also subjective. In my mind a person paying their insurance premium to cover their healthcare instead of going without insurance is personally responsible. In your mind they apparently are not.
First explain what you mean by this and second provide evidence for this claim
What are you talking about?!
What are you talking about?! Obama stated specifically that only in an exceptional nation could a black person be elected president of his country after the torrid history that very same country has had with someone of his race. But furthermore how would you know that he doesn't believe America is exceptional and what does it mean to be exceptional? You say these things as if they are facts- they are not FACTS they are YOUR opinions about other people. You have no evidence for any of these assertions
What are you talking about?! He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize by the international community. And for the record who cares whether or not other nations care if we're the greatest nation on Earth. Part of being great is that you're not so insecure with yourself that you constantly worry about what other people think? America is supposed to answer to other nations now? Isn't that the opposite of what you as a conservative want to have happen?!
Yeah this never happened
If you're referring to his conversation with the Russian President then you are wrong. What he said is that he cannot pass treaties with regards to nuclear control until after the election because of the climate of American politics. Our Congress won't allow us to discuss anything serious until after the election is over with. As far as I can tell this is a factually correct statement and would be true of any US President. But even more so you do realize that you're fear mongering here now not on the basis of what HAS happened but on the basis of what you FANTASIZE will happen.
All elected officials are put into office to do the will of the people. I think, however, you're confusing losing an election with tyranny (as Jon Stewart so eloquently put it). Obama hasn't thwarted anyone's will, save for maybe Osama Bin Laden and other terrorists. He hasn't ignored or thwarted the will of the people.
The democrats should debate this speech at their conventions with footage of ryan doing the exact opposite. This pathological lying has to end.
Keep grunting to clear your voice of all the lies you are spewing,..Government healthcare he said... obvious he was not in the military and did not serve his country who by the way take`s care of it`s soldiers..the Government Dose
You caught those noises too? That was really freaking me out!
Politifact:
The document record from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is a little more nuanced. Here's my blog post with the actual archived articles.
www.politywonk.wordpress.com
Clearly shows that both sides have a grain of truth to claim, and neither will solve the problem with name-calling and simplicities.
The below statement by Pual Ryan blames Obama for the closing of a plant that closed in 2008.
Ryan wrote a letter to GM in June 2008 urging them not to close the plant. He knows he is lying.
This not a "both sides do it" type issue.
Ryan is lying about whose policies are responsible for the plant's closing and he's lying about Obama making the "promise", as I show in my above post.
Paul Ryan on 8-16-2012:
http://blogs.e-rockford.com/applesauce/2012/08/17/ryan-blames-obama-for-janesville-plant-closing-that-happened-on-bushs-watch/
Video:
http://ed.msnbc.com/_news/2012/08/17/13339118-lyin-ryan-blames-obama-for-hometown-gm-plant-that-closed-under-bush?lite
I've read that the shut down started in December, 2008 and was completed in summer, 2009. By then, there was nothing Mr. O could've done, the processs started under Bush's watch.
Identifying liars as such is not "namecalling" and it is obvious that those on the right are inveterate liars.
Get a clue o-bots
“I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits — either now or in the future.”
(Remarks by President Obama to a Joint Session of Congress, September 9, 2009)
LIE LIE LIE LIE LIE
And the Lies are obvious
If you like your plan you can keep your Plan. If you like your doctor you can keep your doctor.
And this is true.
More lies from the community organizer:
Senator Obama crossed the country promising that his campaign, and administration would be the most transparent in history. He promised that he wouldn’t allow lobbyists in his staff, or money in his funds. That was in 2007, as it stands today the President has accepted millions of dollars from lobbyists and special interest groups. The President even took it one step farther by appointing many of those lobbyists into positions of power and influence. The President knows how to put together an attractive campaign, but when the time comes to act on those promises he falls short.
I'm sorry, I don't speak tinfoil hat, can someone translate the word vomit of Un-American for me?
Basically he (?) is saying "Get that (Nbomb) out of our WHITE HOUSE!!!" over and over again.
when the folks at the FictionalNews call you out for lying, you know it's bad. http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/08/30/paul-ryans-speech-in-three-words
Rachel, i dont have a deeply intellectual, fact based comment. Im coming from my gut. As a Black, 61 year old female...the entire specter of the GOP is one of total mis-trust and my Grandmother taught me...the eyes never lie! These ppl have no qualms about driving this country n2 chaos, but they 4get...when the ppl get desperate enough, those gated communities they believe will shelter them, will become the same fodder as the everyday community. Maybe being fair game will gain their attention. Ryan's eyes are demonic and Romney's r just beady! Incredible liars they are! I only pray the MSNBC coverage reaches epic viewing!!! Its where the truth lives!!!
What happens to a dream
deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the
sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like
rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it
explode?
By Langston Hughes
Love that quote ER.
I can't even get past the first 90 seconds. These Rovian tactics are just getting old.. and 100% disgusting.
Rachel great job at the convention. I cannot remember anyone doing a better job of keeping things moving and not letting anyone dominate the time. Love your getting back at Scott Walker.
TAMPA/NUREMBERG....UNSETTLING SIMILARITIES
In Nuremberg Germany in 1936 thousands of frantic zealots responded with mad joy to speaches by Hilter and his henchmen espousing exclusion, the end of labor unions, putting a stop to immigration, keeping women pregnant and kitchen-bound, and a peculiar philosophy of racially charged political manipulation. Sound familiar? It should. It's the platform of the Republican Party's Convention, now happening in Tampa.