HELEN:
Margaret, when you hear a fool talking nonsense you can either call them on their bullshit or just shake your head and smile. Clearly I am the former which gets me into trouble and I need remind myself that maybe I should be a little more of the latter. It was nice to see Joe Biden has already figured that out. God love him, I thought he did well considering he had to be having a Déjà vu evening. Paul Ryan, like Sarah Palin, is difficult to suffer.
While I watched the debate, I often wished that Joe would stop smiling at Ryan and just reach across the table and slap the shit out of him. But, like I said, the Vice President is wiser than this old broad. Just like Palin before him, Ryan believes he has all the answers. Unlike Palin, Ryan is smart enough that he should know better.
Now I am sure comparing Paul Ryan to Sarah Palin is a stretch for some but when you are as old as Margaret and me you see these things a little more clearly. Nothing is more apparent to an older person than a younger person blinded by their own youth. With age comes wisdom. If you doubt me, just wait.
Four years ago, Palin debated Biden and painted the world in black and white – oil and snow. This time Ryan painted it in red and black – debits and credits. Everything gets all summed up in rows and columns where nothing matters but the bottom line. Life has yet to throw him any problem that can’t be solved with a calculator. During the debate, Ryan seemed to boil almost everything down to how much something costs. And the only thing that doesn’t seem to cost too much to Ryan is the price of war. I found that odd considering how tightly he wraps himself in his religious beliefs… which we’ll get to in a bit.
What does it say about the Republican Party that despite our being the richest country on the planet, all they can worry about is how expensive it is to take care of our elderly, our sick and our less fortunate? What kind of statement are they making when they focus almost exclusively on how much richer we could all be if we just spend a little less money on the sick and the elderly? There are more billionaires in America than in the next 10 richest countries combined. We are actually millionaires when it comes to the number of millionaires with almost 5 million Americans having that distinction – more than the next 10 countries combined. But the way Ryan describes it you would never know that the tax burden for American workers is one of the lowest on Earth… or that our defense budget is ten times greater than the next closest country.
The federal budget that Ryan apparently keeps next to his bible has a revenue line of more than $2 trillion dollars. That would be a two followed by twelve zeros. Twelve. It seems to me that Ryan should have a whole lot more than Medicare and Social Security to discuss before he gets to that last zero. We are debating the price of Medicare and Social Security but not the cost of war. I guess that’s why I am not a math person. The bottom line has never had all the answers for me.
All in all, I thought it was a good debate, but the point in the evening that had me on the edge of my seat was near the end when Martha Raddatz asked the two men how their Catholic faith affects their politics.
Ryan seemed not to understand the concept of a separation of church and state despite his infatuation with Iran – a country that clearly can’t separate the two. I think his exact words were: “I don’t see how a person can separate their public life from their private life or from their faith.” As a good Catholic he doesn’t believe in abortion or birth control and can’t separate that from his political life. Four times he has voted to defund Planned Parenthood, and his proposed budget would completely defund birth control, STD screenings, and cancer screenings for low-income women available under Title X.
Considering there are more than 300 religions practiced by Americans including 35 different Christian religious denominations a separation of church and state should make more sense to Ryan than it does. (By the way, I include Mormonism in that 35 even though many Republicans don’t.)
Compare Ryan’s answer to that of the elder statesman sitting to his right: “My religion defines who I am, and I’ve been a practicing Catholic my whole life… But I refuse to impose it on equally devout Christians and Muslims and Jews, and I just refuse to impose that on others, unlike my friend here, the — the congressman.”
I know Biden can’t exactly say what I can. That’s the curse of being a politician. So I am happy to say it here for him…
Mr. Ryan. You seem like a nice guy. Given a little time your heart might actually catch up to your brain. Until then, kindly take your spreadsheets, your bottom line and your religious intolerance and shove them up your ass. I mean it. Really.
MARGARET:
Helen, honey, at times like these I am reminded why we are friends. Bottom line for me – you’re the tops. And to smiling Joe Biden I say – my husband is asleep by 9 and the back door is unlocked.
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By: tumblr backups on May 19, 2013
at 8:30 PM
EJ2fNp bydyqtromsus
By: belchpsnp on February 8, 2013
at 4:06 PM
Absolutely–Ryan lost the election for Romney the minute he mentioned that his faith and government policy cannot be separated. Thank Gawd for VP Biden who has his own beliefs but knows it’s wrong for government to impose anyone’s religious beliefs on others.
By: fresh tracks on October 19, 2012
at 9:05 PM
Robert –
I was hoping this article would lead to some discussion. Don’t always understand what I read and have no one to discuss it with. Realized Ryan’s plan was a “set up” from the beginning if this information is correct. Obama has a plan which is encouraging after hearing so many questioning whether he knew what he was doing. What I do know this is not what I learned about how American government and democracy works from a Citizen Education class Mr. Williams taught in 1957. IMO we/me/America are f**ked if Romney gets elected and will just take a little longer if Obama wins. This is no longer about we the people. I wondered what others thought about it.
Peace.
By: Cynthia on October 18, 2012
at 9:54 AM
LOL you’re awesome, Peas!
By: JC on October 17, 2012
at 11:53 AM
Hi, Whirled – Colbert is the best, isn’t he?
Gato
http://partyandsoul.wordpress.com
By: gatodicima on October 17, 2012
at 11:33 AM
Paul Ryan:
Atlas Scrubbed
.
.
PEACE ~ Δ
By: Whirled Peas Δ on October 17, 2012
at 11:14 AM
Cynthia, thanks for the link. I read it and must say I’m still confused on what to anticipate between the two. I wish someone like Bill Moyers would have the author on his show to explain his observations, sometimes I can better understand lengthy content when the author is interviewed. I kind of get the drift that the tax cuts will be allowed to expire if Obama wins and not if Romney wins, which means if Obama wins, there’s going to be lots of money to cover the deficit and not so if Romney wins? How about you, what’s your take.
By: Robert on October 16, 2012
at 10:08 AM
IF you have not read this….you will find it very interesting.
November 7th
Though their agendas are hidden, both Romney and Obama have plans to dramatically remake the size and character of American government. Very, very quickly.
http://nymag.com/news/politics/elections-2012/obama-romney-economic-plans-2012-10/
Peace.
By: Cynthia on October 15, 2012
at 10:37 PM
Thank you president Obama for gas prices dropping 20 cents per gallon today!
By: Anonymous on October 15, 2012
at 8:05 PM
Robert, I don’t disagree wih your assessment. That is why we need election reform so that any deserving candidate can stand a chance. Right now, both sides are beholden to their contributors, yes, very true unfortunately. I still prefer the side that cares about social issues, to the me, me, and only me and mine side.
By: Easier on October 15, 2012
at 7:39 PM
Thanks, Karen – Hope I’ve got it correctly now!
Gato
By: gatodicima on October 15, 2012
at 7:10 PM
btw, Gato, I just commented to you on this account, though the “long-name-person” is also me.
Enough
By: Karen Lockert on October 15, 2012
at 6:56 PM
Gato, I respect your commentary; that’s why I am responding. Thanks for the sanity.
By: Karen Lockert on October 15, 2012
at 6:54 PM
Hi, Long-named person (Karen) – I have to wonder why “Sonia” is having such a hard time with this, despite several very courteous suggestions given to her about what “she” might do from several posters.
HTG, I’m starting to see trolls everywhere, and I think I’m right. I live in CT, and use comcast for my internet, TV, and home phone. Ten minutes after I paid my bill on line, I got some weird email asking me to re-submit my payment information or I would be shut off from their services. Yeah; right; I’m going to do that. Send my payment info to some place that has “asia” in the return address. NOT. Called comcast, and they said they’d been getting stuff like this all day. Never worse than recently.
It’s just not that hard to figure out how to stop getting emails from a blog, especially this one. It’s very well set-up, and options are always available.
Thanks, Matthew! Wish you could come by and help another senior do her job. (You already do plenty; not to worry.)
BTW, if you’d like, check out my new blog at http://www.partyandsoul.wordpress.com. I’m just jumping in here… M&H have inspired me.
Gato
By: gatodicima on October 15, 2012
at 6:02 PM
Why is a human life so special? +/-98% of humans conceived are simply the result of sex – due to love, fun, drunk, lust, incest, or rape. Humans sell children for the sex trade; force the female human into prostitution; own another human for labor. Humans kill over a piece of land, resources, color of skin, culture, religion, sexual orientation or because one feels another might threaten them. Humans design weapons – Nukes, landmines, Napalm, chemical, drones, tanks or a weapon that shoot a hundred rounds a minute all of which are capable of killing or maiming a handful or hundreds of thousands humans. Humans torture, starve, bully, beat, abuse, imprison other humans. Humans are destroying the very world they live in for money, power or greed. And all these humans began as a precious fertilized egg with brain, a heart beating, and liver producing lymphocytes. But really, honestly….what is so special about a human life?
Peace.
By: Cynthia on October 15, 2012
at 5:57 PM
Actually, what it says is “Modify your Subscription Options”. Click on that, and you will have several choices, probably adjusting the frequency of your e-mails, all the way to unsubscribe. Please DO take care of yourself, Sonia; your repeated requests don’t make sense. If all else fails, please follow the instructions.
By: karenvirginiakocherlockert on October 15, 2012
at 5:28 PM
Hi, Sonia – I think if you go to the “unsubscribe” thing at the bottom of each post, you will find it easy. A couple of other posters have suggested this, as well. If you keep asking the same question over and over again, and don’t just hit that button, I have to wonder why you’re not taking care of yourself…
By: gatodicima on October 15, 2012
at 5:14 PM
Dear M&H, and porch-sitters all…
I just have to respond to something. A fourteen-year-old Pakistani girl was shot in the head BECAUSE SHE WANTED TO GO TO SCHOOL. And she’s evidently just been flown to England for further treatment. Fourteen years old. Wanted to learn… Good god. What kind of people think that wanting to learn is a crime punishable by potential death?
Those people are among us, as well, here, today, in the US of A. Probes into vaginas; “forcible rape”; “unladylike behavior,” and so on…
I’m making dinner, and I want to throw up. I’m tired of being a good girl.
Gato
By: gatodicima on October 15, 2012
at 5:11 PM
PLEASE REMOVE ME FROM THIS EMAIL LIST. I’VE BEEN PLEADING FOR DAYS FOR YOU TO DO THIS.
SONIA FUENTES
By: Sonia Fuentes on October 15, 2012
at 5:10 PM