Thrashing Paul Ryan

THE EDITORS at Esquire really, really don't like Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI), one of the GOP's so-called rising "young guns." The reports of Ryan being a sure sign of the Apocalypse are greatly exaggerated.

Esquire's assessment is unduly harsh if not unfair. It is offered here only as food for thought since it contains grains of truth. It's also a reminder of the maxim: You get what you vote for.

"And, in the Congress, there is Congressman Paul Ryan, who is angling right now to make a career out of political sadism. Make no mistake: Ryan is a thoroughgoing nutball, as bug-house crazy on economics as Peter King is on Muslims and Steve King is on anyone swarthier than himself. He is a lifelong adherent to the doctrines of Ayn Rand, which ought to disqualify anyone from ever being taken seriously enough to park cars by anyone over the age of fifteen. In terms of their connection to actual human reality, the difference between the doctrines of Ayn Rand and the doctrines of L. Ron Hubbard is not substantial, and the fervor of their acolytes is almost exactly the same. Picking Paul Ryan to handle your political economy is tantamount to electing Tom Cruise to be pope.

Like I said. Harsh. Time's Joe Klein has a more useful take: "Ryan is smart, sincere and suicidal. He's tilting against some of the most popular programs out there: 80% of the American people don't want Medicare to be changed. It probably needs changing--or funding, through higher taxes--but not with Ryan's pickaxe. His budget proposal, released today, is about as popular with his Republican colleagues as malaria."