The Right Gets Its Man: Paul Ryan

This was first published in August 2012


The American right wing now has its man, Paul Ryan, as the number two pick on the GOP ticket. Since the economic collapse of the Great Depression and the resultant relatively mild attempts to rein in certain business practices, and the attempts by government to provide basic protections for America's elderly, sick, disadvantaged and poor, the political right has fumed at how to return things to a society totally committed to greed and survival of the fittest. Little by little over the decades they have succeeded in getting laws changed and programs modified to accomplish their goals, at times with complicity from some Democrats. Shame! Shame! One of the major bugaboos of the right has been Social Security since its inception in the 1930s. Why well to do people are so obsessed with Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid is beyond me. I understand the desire of many Americans, including some of the very wealthy, to keep these programs solvent, but there has been a desire by the hard right wing in this country to destroy these programs, then giving themselves control over a vast new source of income, as if they didn't have enough money already. Don't be fooled by the right wing propaganda that without their proposals being enacted, these programs will go under. Let me tell you, if these programs ever go under, we won't have a country anymore. The idea of privatization and insurance vouchers should scare the absolute hell out of you, no matter your political affiliation. Some members of the GOP are finally bailing out, like one of our local more moderate Republicans, Cleveland area Congressman Steve LaTourette. Understand, these programs are not perfect and they will require adjustments, but whom do you want in charge of the surgery, Doctor Kildare or Jack the Ripper? Remember folks, the wealthiest Americans are NOT hurting. Many are making more money than EVER, and in an economy that is growing moderately, at best. They are working and spending huge sums to convince YOU to effectively dismantle programs that can help YOU at some point in YOUR life. Don't let them get away with it!
 
Now one Paul Ryan, a congressman from Wisconsin, has been picked by Mitt Romney as his running mate. Polls show many Americans, perhaps you're one of them, don't know who Ryan is, but let me tell you something, they're about to find out; hopefully not the hard way; that is, if these two win the election. Democrats need to spell out what Ryan stands for, plain and simple, no exaggerations or falsehoods. Just tell it like it is. The man has a long record in Congress and in speaking engagements and interviews, and his budget ideas are well known to people who follow politics to any degree.Political parties and philosophies tend to eventually go too far, and the political right, financed by wealthy interests, is at that point in my opinion, having dodged a bullet with the severe economic downturn coming so late in George W. Bush's term. They were then able to shift the focus of a part of the country away from themselves, and onto the new President, Barack Obama, who provided them with a new angle of attack, RACE! Criticizing Obama does NOT automatically make a person a racist or bigot, but it gave the right a floor of political support at a time when their own money grubbing itself was under attack. I personally know a couple of people who were Democrats, but who voted Republican for the sole reason (by their own admission) that Obama was a man of color. The charges against Obama of "socialism" are almost comical, coming from a bunch that bet on mortgage-backed securities. Why? Because they wanted the profits for themselves, but when the thing blew up, the losses then became something to be shared by EVERYONE; "government help;" that is, the very "socialism" they claim to detest.* "Too big to fail" became the new slogan to garner support.

I've noted here before, "if" the climate ever dramatically changes and Americans turn on these greediest of the greedy, it will not be pretty. Reason and common sense go out the window in such circumstances. The potential irony is, the wealthy interests have used "globalization" to extract more wealth for themselves, but unlike years ago, they will have nowhere to hide. Popular movements have sprung up all over the world in support of a fairer society in their respective countries, and in reaction to their own monied interests. Once events shift, where will the wealthy be able to run for protection? China? That would be THE ultimate irony, but China is not exempt from popular movements either, as events since the late 1980s have shown, and my guess is, there is a seething volcano of popular discontent in China. Still, what an irony! The wealthy right wing running to Communist China! Hm, I'll bet Romney would say he's been for Obamacare all along, and that it's real name is "Romneycare."

* This is "socialism" in the sense that everyone (taxpayers) would pitch in to help save their rotten asses.  

WORD HISTORY:
Rise-The origins of this word are uncertain, but Old Germanic had "risanan," which meant "to go up, to stand up." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "risan," meaning "to rise, to stand up." This then became "risen" (long "i" sound), before the modern form. The noun form, most common in the topographical "elevated terrain," developed from the verb. The Old Germanic notion of "stand up" gave many of the modern Germanic languages the meaning "travel," from the idea of "rising from sleep to make a journey." German has "reisen" (to travel), Low German Saxon "raisen" (to travel), Dutch has both "rijzen" (to rise, to climb) and "reizen" (to travel), West Frisian has "reizgje," East Frisian "risa" (rise, arise), Swedish "resa" (to travel), Norwegian "reise" (to travel), Danish "rejse" (to travel) and Icelandic "risa" (to rise, arise).