Rebel Yellow
Thinker
- Joined
- May 26, 2012
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- 159
He's a big fan of Ayn Rand (an atheist!!)
They're not supposed to know this; stick to the script.
He's a big fan of Ayn Rand (an atheist!!)
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/11/live-blog-mitt-romneys-v-p-announcement/7:07 a.m. ET: Mitt Romney's campaign sent an official announcement on their smart phone app announcing Ryan as the vice presidential pick. "Mitt's choice for VP is Paul Ryan. Spread the word about America's Comeback Team #RomneyRyan2012," the message read.
ETA2: No matter what, thanks to hgc for continuing the tradition of candidate vetting threads.
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We'll find out what his weaknesses are very soon.
This could be a fiasco of Palinesque proportions!
... Then there's this from former Bush speechwriter David Frum:
Paul Ryan: Romney's (Near) Worst VP Choice

Romney has officially picked Ryan.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/11/live-blog-mitt-romneys-v-p-announcement/
So Romney has named his entire cabinet, too?The new administration is now ready...America will begin it's recovery in November.
So Romney has named his entire cabinet, too?
It's pretty easy. Romney wants somebody to energize the Tea Party and to deliver Wisconsin. Like so much of the Romney campaign, it's about damage control.Seriously, I don't understand this move by Romney. How many people who weren't already voting for you is Ryan going to bring to the table? I think he sadly misunderstood the dedication of his 'base' and severely underestimated his need to appeal to moderates and independents, who (as always) will decide this election.
Naw. What he's done is set the platform going forward. Romney always looked and acted like just another big government socialist republican, even though he's repeatedly said he'd axe Obamacare by executive order.It's pretty easy. Romney wants somebody to energize the Tea Party and to deliver Wisconsin. Like so much of the Romney campaign, it's about damage control.
There was no Tea Party in 2008. IIRC the first events were Feb 2009. Unless you include the Ron Paul stuff.Yup, I think Frum nailed it. Romney is caving to the Tea Party, and he's making the same mistake McCain made in 2008. So much for going with the "safe" candidate who won't eclipse you.
Ryan will fire up the Tea Party, but he'll alienate moderates and independents. And Romney will parrot the Tea Party line from now until November 5th.
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“I reject her philosophy,” Ryan said this year. “It’s an atheist philosophy. It reduces human interactions down to mere contracts and it is antithetical to my worldview. If somebody is going to try to paste a person’s view on epistemology to me, then give me Thomas Aquinas…Don’t give me Ayn Rand.”
. . .
But there is evidence to show a period when Ryan had a deep interest in Rand’s writings.
In 2003, the Wisconsin Republican told The Weekly Standard’s writer Katherine Mangu-Ward, now at the libertarian Reason magazine, that he gave out Rand’s books as gifts and tried to make interns read it.
“I give out ‘Atlas Shrugged’ [by Ayn Rand] as Christmas presents, and I make all my interns read it. Well… I try to make my interns read it,” he said.
However, even then, Ryan pointed out that while he “looked into” Rand’s philosophy, Objectivism, he is a Christian and reads the bible often.
In 2005, he said before the Objectivist organization the Atlas Society that, “[T]he reason I got involved in public service, by and large, if I had to credit one thinker, one person, it would be Ayn Rand. And the fight we are in here, make no mistake about it, is a fight of individualism versus collectivism.”
In 2009, in a multi-part video series posted to Facebook, Paul Ryan said that “what’s unique about what’s happening today in government, in the world, in America, is that it’s as if we’re living in an Ayn Rand novel right now. I think Ayn Rand did the best job of anybody to build a moral case of capitalism, and that morality of capitalism is under assault.”
“Ayn Rand, more than anyone else, did a fantastic job of explaining the morality of capitalism, the morality of individualism, and this to me is what matters most,” he said in the second part of the series.
That's because that's what Mitt was as governor of MA...except replace the word "socialist"" with "moderate". I know a lot of folks on the far right get those two words mixed up a lotNaw. What he's done is set the platform going forward. Romney always looked and acted like just another big government socialist republican, even though he's repeatedly said he'd axe Obamacare by executive order.
Of course, Obama's been driving the right nuts for almost four years (in the birthers/transcripters case, literally). It's been a lot of fun, and may we have four more years of it!The candidates, Romney and Obama are not the same. Now they are complete opposites. Should be interesting. And Ryan will drive the left absolutely nuts, of course, which is always fun to watch.
You mean to insinuate that he understood Atlas Shrugged wasn't an instruction book for how politicians should run government?
Gee, I never would have guessed....
I don't see this. Romney had already endorsed the Ryan plan so putting the man himself on board changes nothing.Naw. What he's done is set the platform going forward.
I don't see this either. Romney is not a sharing kind of guy (in terms of power or information) so Ryan is likely to turn out like most VPs, namely White House wallpaper.Now what he's done is set the general philosophy of what admin he may have if he wins - it is to be a serious effort at fixing the economic problems of the country.