CNN Newsroom Sub-title
Rep. Paul Ryan has become popular by pushing the unpopular stance on entitlements. CNN's Gloria Borger profiles him.
No doubt about it, Ryan gave them a tube of lipstick and CNN knew exactly where to apply it.
During the interview, Ryan discombobulated as he described himself as a "messenger" and then claimed he gave up "fear" for Lent. Let me explain.
The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer — through prayer, repentance and self-denial — for the annual Christian commemoration beginning on Ash Wednesday and culminating with Easter. During Lent, modern day practicing Roman Catholics oftentimes will make a personal sacrifice such as fasting or temporarily give up a treat or habit they might usually enjoy. But here's the trick. Ryan says, "I gave fear up for Lent this year." But how does one give up "fear" as a sacrifice? Even CNN's Bolger curiously asks, "how do you do that?" In Ryan's case however, much of what he can show for in the political arena has been built on demogoguery and fearmongering. Ryan thrives and relishes in it so much that had he said he was giving up "fearmongering," people who know his bully style would understand his loss and not question his personal Lenten sacrifice.
Ryan now appears to be in the midst of re-booting his Randian-corrupted Christian morality by dropping hints of his religiosity in recent interviews. The NY Times reported that Ryan is reading the “Read and Learn Bible” to his 6-year-old son and during this CNN interview, he subtly dropped another hint by announcing his sacrifice for Lent. Beyond Ryan's purposely religious remarks, he then frames himself as a fearless "messenger" courageously defending himself against undeserved attacks by Democrats and the Left.
CNN Excerpt:
"There's sort of a shoot-the-messenger strategy these days," he added. "I'm the messenger, and you can't fear that if you are who you are." It's a pattern for Ryan, who has grown in popularity by pushing the unpopular, a fairly unconventional route.
We know who Ryan is. No one in Congress has fear mongered, mocked and demagogued our safety nets or mischaracterized the American Way more than Congressman Ryan. No one. Before he embarked on his crusade to destroy Medicare, previous messages he delivered over the past five years were...
Ryan equated American labor unions to Saddam Hussein's brutal Ba'ath Party.
He joined Glenn Beck in calling progressives a cancer.
Ryan also admitted to voting for TARP not on the nuts and bolts of the proposal, but claimed by supporting it, he was saving capitalism from a hallucinatory fascist liberal statist agenda he channeled onto President Obama. Wow, demagoguery - thy name is Paul Ryan.
Interestingly, CNN left these few minor inconveniences out of their select profiling of the congressman.
Yet, through all of these unprovoked public declarations of war against Progressives, Labor and the President, it is Ryan who paints himself up not as a remorseful perpetrator of demagoguery, but as a victim of his target's push back and then sympathetically refers to himself as the "messenger."
Masterful.
Excerpt: (April, 2010)
Ryan (R-Regressive) -- "What I'm trying to do is indict the entire vision of progressivism, and its important to flush progressives out into the field of open debate."
Beck (R-Regressive) -- "I love you."
Related:
Paul Ryan - Scott Walker With a Smile
Paul Ryan Is Not Who You Think
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