Joe Biden, vs. Paul Ryan—A Shattering Revelation
Joe Biden often broke into a helpless grin--can I believe my ears?—while Ryan repeated far right dogma. But the grin vanished when he spoke, while Ryan listened with a tight-lipped half smile, looking both defiant and cornered.
Except for one shattering revelation (below), it was all predictable; Paul Ryan’s theories—he says said he’s influenced by the Russian-American novelist and screen-writer, Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum, aka Ayn Rand—cover all bases. As a late teen I read her Atlas Shrugged, which struck me as pretentious junk, yet know a bright couple—husband and wife—who evoke it with verbal thumps, as if it were the Holy Bible. Where faith enters, reason flees, which is fine for faith but deadly for public policy. Whatever facts Joe Biden flung into Paul Ryan’s path, he leapt them with a single theoretical bound. It did not elevate the debate, which at one point degenerated into playground repartee:
“It’s worked before.”
“It has never worked before.”
“It has worked before.”
“No, it hasn’t.”
The shattering revelation came in response to the admirable Martha Radditch’s question on how each man’s faith—both are Catholics—would influence their policy, particularly on abortion.
Faith had been a major issue when John F. Kennedy was running for office. Amid cries (from types now in the Tea Party) that electing him would “put the Pope in the White House.” he calmly insisted that he would never allow his faith to dictate American policy.
Joe Biden said that his faith defines him and that Catholic social doctrine demands we care for those who cannot care for themselves. But in the Kennedy mold, said he would never impose his faith on others, and where abortion was concerned, would never put himself between a woman and her doctor.
Paul Ryan said he could not separate his faith from his public life. A man running to become Vice-President of the United States openly denies a basic American tenet—separation of church and state. This from a party that deplores government interference in people’s lives. Clearly it’s only their financial lives, not their intimate personal lives.
Paul Ryan is ready to impose his economic theories via Ayn Rand and his religion on the American people. It revives the concerns of those who worry that electing the wrong party could put a foreign and profoundly un-American entity into the White House.
*****
(TO SEE "MITT ROMNEY RAP," CLICK HERE)
Joe Biden often broke into a helpless grin--can I believe my ears?—while Ryan repeated far right dogma. But the grin vanished when he spoke, while Ryan listened with a tight-lipped half smile, looking both defiant and cornered.
Except for one shattering revelation (below), it was all predictable; Paul Ryan’s theories—he says said he’s influenced by the Russian-American novelist and screen-writer, Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum, aka Ayn Rand—cover all bases. As a late teen I read her Atlas Shrugged, which struck me as pretentious junk, yet know a bright couple—husband and wife—who evoke it with verbal thumps, as if it were the Holy Bible. Where faith enters, reason flees, which is fine for faith but deadly for public policy. Whatever facts Joe Biden flung into Paul Ryan’s path, he leapt them with a single theoretical bound. It did not elevate the debate, which at one point degenerated into playground repartee:
“It’s worked before.”
“It has never worked before.”
“It has worked before.”
“No, it hasn’t.”
The shattering revelation came in response to the admirable Martha Radditch’s question on how each man’s faith—both are Catholics—would influence their policy, particularly on abortion.
Faith had been a major issue when John F. Kennedy was running for office. Amid cries (from types now in the Tea Party) that electing him would “put the Pope in the White House.” he calmly insisted that he would never allow his faith to dictate American policy.
Joe Biden said that his faith defines him and that Catholic social doctrine demands we care for those who cannot care for themselves. But in the Kennedy mold, said he would never impose his faith on others, and where abortion was concerned, would never put himself between a woman and her doctor.
Paul Ryan said he could not separate his faith from his public life. A man running to become Vice-President of the United States openly denies a basic American tenet—separation of church and state. This from a party that deplores government interference in people’s lives. Clearly it’s only their financial lives, not their intimate personal lives.
Paul Ryan is ready to impose his economic theories via Ayn Rand and his religion on the American people. It revives the concerns of those who worry that electing the wrong party could put a foreign and profoundly un-American entity into the White House.
*****
(TO SEE "MITT ROMNEY RAP," CLICK HERE)
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