I have what might be considered some bad news for my friends in the dumbocratic party: I happen to like Paul Ryan a little bit. (Yeah I know he listens to AC/DC, but we can probably get past that.) I disagree philosophically with him on how to make the country better, and I probably agree with his policies five percent of the time.
Still, he seems like cool people, the kind of dude I wouldn't mind throwing back a few Red Stripes with on a Sunday evening while he cheers on his Packers and I get my holla on for #7 and Gang Green.
Which is why is has been so disappointing to hear that Paul has been playing fast and loose with the truth when it comes to his personal life. (Notice I didn't say when it comes to his politics, because I know that as a republican he has to lie to get elected. He has been telling some real political whoppers of late, but that is how politics works these days in America: tell a lie, and hope that it sticks, because the "lame street media" will ignore it, and your base will want to believe that it's true.) The other lies I can live with, but then I heard about a couple of others which kind of left me wondering about my man Paul.
First, he lied about the time it took him to run the marathon.
"In a radio interview last weekRyan claimed he ran a marathon in just under three hours, an almost unbelievably impressive time. For the record, winners of the New York City Marathon usually clock in around 2 hours and 10 minutes, while the average marathon time is somewhere around 4 hours and 30 minutes. That would make Ryan one impressive athlete.
But despite Ryan's claims that his best time was "two hour and fifty-something," it turns out Ryan's actual time was much, much higher. Runner's World delved into the matter and found several factual inaccuracies with Ryan's story.
From Runner's World: "Ryan's name does not show up in the 1991 race results provided by Grandma's. Runner's World checked 11 years of results for Grandma's Marathon, from 1988 through 1998, and found a finisher in the 1990 race by the name of Paul D. Ryan, 20, of Minneapolis. Ryan's middle name is Davis, and he was 20 in 1990. The finishing time listed was 4 hours, 1 minute and 25 seconds."
So there you have it. Ryan's best time is significantly higher than previously stated. To be fair to Ryan, though, 4 hours is still a pretty impressive time, just not nearly as amazing as his earlier record. [Source]
That is "pretty impressive", so why lie about it to make yourself look even more impressive?
Then there is the other lie. This one wingnuts should find ironic because my man Paul actually plays the race card.
"The cheerleader who Paul Ryan dated in college and helped forge his uncompromising opposition to racism says that she may not be a Republican but still supports the 'nice guy'.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Deneeta Pope said she met the future vice presidential candidate through friends at Miami University some 20 years ago.
Pope, 40, said: 'Paul is a very nice guy, a kind guy and a family guy. He's very approachable and a very likeable person.'
The relationship and the negative reaction he said he suffered from his so-called friends were a formative experience in the political evolution of the VP pick who described himself as a 'big, big fan' of Martin Luther King and is a staunch advocate of civil rights.
But Pope, an I.T. specialist and realtor living in Chicago, denies that they experienced any racism as a couple. [Source]
Oh ohh. Did she say that they didn't experience any racism? Yes, I think she did.
Well why did Paul say......
"In a 2005 interview, Mitt Romney?s future running mate said that he had been confronted with racism personally, because he had dated an African-American and also had a brother with a black wife.
?I have a sister-in-law who?s African American,? he told Milwaukee Magazine.
?My college sweetheart was black,' he added.
?I just experienced some ugly comments, some racist views from people who I thought were friends of mine.'' [Source]
Another lie? Hmm, maybe. But, to be fair to Paul, his friends at Delta Tau Delta could have been telling him to cut the jungle fever crap and get on with his life. Maybe Paul didn't tell Deneeta the ugly details because he wanted to protect her from the evils of color arousal. (Apparently it worked, because Deneeta married another guy just like Paul.) If that's the case I might have to apologize to Paul. If not, I might need a psychological profile of the guy before it's too late.
Finally, I see that the LAPD is up to their old tricks. Sadly, three very ugly incidents have us all thinking Daryl Gates, again.
They beat the crap out of a poor woman for using her cell phone while driving, the commander tried to cover it up and thankfully he was removed from his command.
Then there is poor Brian Mulligan; he must have felt like the white Rodney King after the LAPD put a serious beat down on his behind. (Check out this picture of what used to be Brian's face.)
What happened to Ms. Jordan, and Mr. Mulligan is bad, but at least they are still alive and here with us to tell of their horrible experiences. Alesia Thomas, unfortunately, is not.
"Los Angeles police are embroiled in another excessive force investigation after a mother of two died during a chaotic July arrest in which an officer kicked the woman in the groin while she was handcuffed, officials said." [Source]
If LA's finest continue to act this way we could be looking at more riots down the road. Count on it.
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