Krugman: How the press paints Ryan

[hfojvt]

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/13/romneyryan-the-real-target/

"...many commentators want to tell a story about US politics that makes them feel and look good — a story in which both parties are equally at fault in our national stalemate, and in which said commentators stand above the fray. This story requires that there be good, honest, technically savvy conservative politicians, so that you can point to these politicians and say how much you admire them, even if you disagree with some of their ideas; ..."

"The trouble, of course, is that it’s really really hard to find any actual conservative politicians who deserve that praise. Ryan, with his flaky numbers (and actually very hard-line stance on social issues), certainly doesn’t. But a large part of the commentariat decided early on that they were going to cast Ryan in the role of Serious Honest Conservative, and have been very unwilling to reconsider that casting call in the light of evidence."


As Somerby points out, this is a script that even those who criticize Ryan will follow, like Nocera of the NY Times.

http://dailyhowler.blogspot.com/

"NOCERA (8/14/12): Ryan is, in many ways, the perfect Tea Party standard-bearer. He is likable, engaging, wonkish and smart."


What a great guy. "likeable", "wonkish", and "smart".

Nocera continues

"Ryan, however, means it. What sets him apart is that he is the rare politician who has been willing to put meat on the bones so that everybody can see what he has in mind."

Ryan is sincere, and honest. The rare politician who will tell you what his plan is.

Even his critics puff him up.

Is there really meat on Ryan's bones. I have skimmed his "roadmap for America". It is a black box. It calls for sharp reductions in government spending, without saying what, exactly, is gonna be cut. It calls for huge tax cuts for the wealthy, but also for increases in tax revenue - without specifying where the extra revenue is gonna come from. In other words, Ryan's plan calls for tax increases on the middle class. Tax increases that Ryan does not specify - at all.

Yet Nocera paints him as wonkish, smart, sincere, and straightforward. Sprin from the M$M.

[JHB]

1. Ryan is their Johnny Bravo. He fits the suit.

"There's a lot of bread in those threads, man!"

[hfojvt]

5. he's been getting praised by "our side" for a long time

http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh040611.shtml

"We return to this theme today because the conduct is just so odd. According to Klein, Ryan wants to take from “the poor and vulnerable”—and he wants to exempt millionaires. He wants to slash Medicaid; his proposal would leave even more people uninsured than we have at present. His proposal is driven by “funny numbers,” some of which are simply “outlandish.”

But so what? Ryan is full of courage. Ryan is the kind of pol Ezra fundamentally likes.

We have no earthly idea why Ezra Klein said these peculiar things. But the vouching for Ryan has been quite general in the past few days. This vouching will seem especially odd to those who can recall the way major Democrats, like Gore, had their character savaged, for years, often by the very same liberals who thunder at you on the TV today. We’d be better off if they’d swore off their novelized character tales altogether. But it’s hard to deny that these novelized tales seem to favor pols like Ryan, even among many “liberals.”"

[JHB]

6. Ezra digs the matador look

[Douglas Carpenter]

2. this is an excellent short article worth sending to people and posting on your social media sites

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/13/romneyryan-the-real-target/

.

[66 dmhlt]

3. Ryan: Like Sarah Palin, With A Little Bit Better PowerPoint Presentation

Paul Ryan’s Budget Plan is neither “bold” nor “courageous”!

There is nothing – nothing at all – “bold” or “courageous” about destroying the social safety nets that Medicare and Social Security provide to our nation’s elderly.

Those programs – Medicare and Social Security – are NOT “entitlements”. They are our Earned Benefits as part of the social contract we Americans enter into when we joined the workforce.

Do NOT let the mythic “liberal media” get away with trying to frame it any different.

[hfojvt]

4. it OUGHT to be courageous

because he should be facing angry mobs wherever he goes.

This goes back to Reagan.

Back when Reagan was elected President, he had this radical new theory he was gonna try - called supply side economics. Or as Bush Sr. Called it - voodoo economics.

However, it turned out that voodoo was very popular with the voters.

Now everybody, including Democrats like Clinton and Obama, are praising the greatness of tax cuts.

One editorial cartoon showed Democrats complaining about Reagan, saying "How dare he come forward with a radical new theory" and behind them was a picture of FDR. The obvious point being that FDR had come forward with a radical new theory.

Yet look at the results of the experiments. After Roosevelt we had prosperity, growth, reductions in poverty.

Now, after Reagan, we are being told "the country is broke". We cannot "afford" to help the poor or the elderly. We cannot afford to invest in infrastructure.

Never mind that the rich have more money than ever before. We do not dare tax the "job creators". If we do, they will just shrug, and kill us all, just like they did in the 1950s when the top tax rate was 90%.

[WCGreen]

10. Twenty years after Roosevelt left office the country was humming along....

Twenty years after Reagan, the bubble burst.

That's how to rate your administration.

[WCGreen]

9. Especially if it doesn't impact him or anyone he knows or ever will know...

He's like the guys piloting the drones in war, far removed from the consequences, sanitized for your viewing pleasure...

[TwilightGardener]

7. "Likeable"--who likes him? He's trying to steal my future Medicare. How is that likeable, any more

than the little thugs who stole my solar landscape lights are likeable?

[spanone]

8. that's our media.

those glowing words probably came directly from the rnc