Wednesday's Janesville Gazette front-page headlines read, Republican star on the rise with a picture of Paul Ryan pasted in the middle.
No argument here. It's true. Even though the writer seemed puzzled and stretched a bit to find mainstream reasons for Ryan's rising star within his party, the hard truth is the republican party is a party of extremists. That's for sure. Ryan is so far right, that anybody even slightly right of center no matter how moderate or conservative could be painted as a Socialist. Heck, Ryan voted for TARP because he feared Socialism would have taken root if he hadn't. What Tea Partier could argue with that? No TARP equals socialism. Argue the point amongst yourselves! The slippery congressman has a knack for disarming nearly anyone with any lame excuse he can think of. Some have respectfully referred to his slippery-ness as "charisma."
Ryan, like Rand Paul, Ron Johnson and a host of other radicals flying under the dirty GOP banner espouse the retarded ideology of Ayn Rand. This is where they believe, among a string of other bizarre thoughts, that at least 95% of Americans are parasites leeching off of the so-called producers. They're mostly afraid that a government comprised of the people and by the people might actually be "for the people." The parasites that is, the 95 percenters. The Randers are running for public office not because they give a rat's ass for the will of the people's constitution, but because they want to protect the privileges their collective wealth policies have bought. How they have been able to leverage the few at the expense of our representative democracy is the trick. Paul Ryan not only excels at this exercise, he does it with an almost natural innocence.
Just as disheartening is when Democrats claim they need a candidate with boatloads of stupid money to defeat a premier crony capitalist like Paul Ryan. But it is a testament to the reality of just how deeply entrenched money has become in our government. That's what it comes down to in politics nowadays. So you want to run against an incumbent? Either party will endorse anyone who can BYOB (bring-your-own-bling). Just ask a sucker like Ron Johnson.
To the average citizen class, these BYOB candidates should look like one rotten egg trying to displace another. But those days of silly American idealism appear to be long gone. Even with a viable non-moneyed grassroots candidate with the right message, I fear the local democratic parties just don't have the thousand man army to work door-to-door delivery for twenty weeks for any candidate in the 1st Congressional District. Because that's what it would take to have any chance to defeat a machine politician like Ryan. Even then it would be close.
In fact, I would go as far to say that if you're a candidate who honestly wants to separate corporate influence from government, publicize that notion, and reject corporate or PAC money to support your campaign - you've absolutely positively doomed your chances for public office. This is the number one reason why Republicans expect to win big in November. They (and some democrats are on board) have successfully painted anyone who opposes the moneyed influence of corporate-state partnerships as anti-business, and since you oppose corporate-state partnerships, then you must obviously be anti-job. If you're still lucky enough to be standing after that, you'll finally be taken down as a parasite or a commie socialist. Even your family might disown you.
So, I don't blame Paulette Garin one bit when I read she hasn't committed to run against Ryan. Against all odds, corporate representatives like Paul Ryan have captured the electability market and those odds appear to be growing better. When only millionaire businessmen and ideological extremists that coddle Washington insiders and corporate interests are the only candidates deemed electable by the parties, and the media and eventually the constituency lay down, it's too late.
We're not in the process of losing our country - we've already lost it. Probably for good.
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