I'm a PITT fan, good lord! And Ben Carson overtook Trump in Iowa, the GOP is officially in Bizzarro world. By the time they start trying to campaign for the general election they will have already given every Democratic attack ad the sound bite they needed. I guess the adults in the GOP have given up trying to explain the demographics that sunk Mitt to the GOP base.
If Paul Ryan is a moderate
- Thread starter Keyser76
- Start date
Standby for all the talking points from the whack-jobs.....and you know who they are.....as to why Ryan not only isn't moderate, but actually Left-wing. You also realize that Ryan only needs to have been photographed speaking to a Democrat to be identified by the whack-jobs as a Liberal.
What they need to do is come up with a new scale. At the far left are liberals, then left leaning, then moderate, then right leaning, then at this point create a whole plethora of categories of whacko.
A far more accurate scale would be socialists, liberals, establishment Republicans and conservatives.
What does "moderate" mean these days? He seems pretty practical to me. Did you see the recent Frontline on Immigration? That and a few "inside" books really paints him as someone wanting to get things done, even through *gasp* compromise.
You know, bama, I myself think "whacko" is a perfectly fine (and approrpriate) catch-all name for that "whole plethora of categories". Besides, unlike Left-wing whack jobs who tend to tend to focus their own wackiness on individual issues, those from the Right seem to be wacky about pretty much anything and everything from the opposite side of their fence line.
All these labels are confusing and depending on who is assigning the label, it could also be very wrong.
Ryan has never shown he is a moderate on fiscal matters. He is more moderate on social issues and I have no idea his stance on foreign relations. Overall, I find him to be very right wing on fiscal matters. However, even though I disagree with him on fiscal matters, I find him to be a quality individual.
Ryan has never shown he is a moderate on fiscal matters. He is more moderate on social issues and I have no idea his stance on foreign relations. Overall, I find him to be very right wing on fiscal matters. However, even though I disagree with him on fiscal matters, I find him to be a quality individual.
Is this one of the "talking points" that a previous commenter said was coming from the "whack- jobs"? And no, I don't consider you a whack- job.
Not sure I understand. I didn't read all the previous comments but I did read the first and responded with my opinion. Nothing more than that.
I don't know who's calling him a moderate. About the only "non-conservative" point is immigration, and that is debatable. I would think most would support immigration as long as we don't give away free benefits to those who do come for a period of time, etc. H1B's need overhauled to limit those quite a bit to keep business from killing off US IT workers for cheaper foreign labor on our soil.
About the only thing negative about Ryan is that Republican establishment wanted him. That's close to a death sentence in this environment right now.
Hey bornan, you go right ahead and call me out by name rather than refer to me as "previous commenter". When I'm taking written shots at what I consider to be "whack-jobs"......which is a description I frankly think you occasionally meet, while other times not (which I consider a fairly significant departure from the other half dozen or so Right-wingers who post here on a regular basis).....I have no problem if someone calls me out.
Meanwhile, maybe BRU knows more about Ryan than I do; most of my "knowledge" of Ryan stems from his VP run, which means I know essentially nothing of him over the past 3 years. To be honest, he might be the most thoughtful, level-headed, moderate guy on Capitol Hill; but I wouldn't know since CSPAN isn't among the Top 3......or Top 33.....cable channels I watch. But the guy I saw glaring (though not-quite-barking) at the camera last night certainly brought back memories of the GOP candidate for VP back in 2012.
Still, if he's got the gravitas to get elected.....and at the same time, reign-in the loudmouths down the foul side of the GOP's right field line (actually, I think they're all off the field and well up into the upper deck).....then he's the kind of guy I'd like to see running this House.
PS: When I used the term "whack job" in that context above, I was honestly thinking more along the lines of Airport and neilmont and 3:16 (and maybe THE) rather than yourself.
I certainly don't know more than you. We are both offering a personal opinion is how I see it. Some individuals have a hard time just accepting another's personal opinion because their feelings get hurt. I find that happens a lot from the conservative members on this board.
One last thing, my definition of a moderate is one that isn't an ideologue and can have opinions that can lean to the left and others that can lean to the right. But most important, on issues he is willing to be a pragmatist (sp?) and is willing to negotiate for the best of the country. Other people may define moderate differently.
There are certainly whack jobs on the left, true socialist types. But there are so many different types of conservatives from the tea party who were all about fiscal conservatism and could careless about social agendas (religion, abortion, etc) to the Jerry Falwell types who put god in the forefront of their platform. And each of the conservative groups claim the other conservative groups are moderate.
I made that comment with sincerity; you (and perhaps everyone else around here) may indeed know more about Ryan in 2015 than yours truly.
I freely admit I don't pay a whole lot of attention to the battles between Left and Right-wingers in a general sense. In fact, if it weren't for the fights I see around here on a daily basis, I actually wouldn't be exposed to them all that much (even though I happen to reside in John Boehner's blood-red Congressional district with a very active Tea Party contingent).
I also watch essentially zero political opinion-based TV; so whatever Fox and MSNBC are moaning about today is something I probably don't know much (or care) about......unless it was a subject on the evening news last night or perhaps the early morning shows today. I freely admit I tend to watch the broadcast networks; so I presume that makes me, buy this Board's standards, a Left-winger.
And if so, that's A-OK with me.....whether it happens to be true or not.
Abortion-rights types have never cared about conservation......who have never cared about the inner cities.....who have never cared about corporate taxes. But while there may be legitimacy to your claim that Tea Partiers don't care.....at least officially (or publicly)......about social issues, I'll bet the overwhelming majority of them will be more than pleased to fight with you all night about them..
So, while I won't discount the general point you're making......and think I do, in fact, agree with that about how conservatives groups grade one another......I'm not sure I agree with it in a practical, real-world sense.
I have avoided lumping you in with some others who post here because you usually don't paint with as broad a brush as some do and I frankly thought you were more open minded. You say I meet the "whack-job" description on occasion, feel free to give me an example regarding any issue. I doubt you can come up with even ONE example. If you consider me a "whack-job" because I post a lot about the senseless slaughter going on in our cities and the total lack of public comment and action by your fellow Democrats, I'm guilty as charged. Let me know of some other examples.
No offense, but you actually think Trump will "destroy" Hillary in a debate. (I'm not a Hillary fan). That's hilarious.
He might verbally assault her but in the bed it will make him look like an ***. IMO, but I also think the last 2 debates he has looked like an *** yet went up in the poles
Whats hilarious ....you saying "I'm not a Hillary fan" when all the evidence says otherwise? You and others have also inferred that Trump would be long gone by now. That prediction has turned out to be hilarious. If you think that Hillary can withstand the onslaught that Trump will unload at her in a debate, you are very naive. If it turns out that I am wrong about this, I will admit I was a "whacko" and ask for your forgiveness.
Last edited:
Again, my opinion but I think Trump has done horrific in both debates. He is way worse in that environment as he is out of his league in terms of what is actually needed from a President and Presidential candidate. He is excellent when he is alone on a sttage throwing BS out into a microphone and not getting challenged on anything.
I believe most objective people will think Hillary will be the winner by a landslide if the two ever get in a presidential debate. We might get to see but personally, I hope the GOP will nominate a serious contender instead of that buffoon.
When was the last time we had a brokered convention. The reason I have been saying Trump will destroy Clinton in any debate is because he will attack her at every turn and he couldn't care less about debate rules.
yea...she'll eat him alive. Trump is clueless in areas like foreign policy and although he's gained traction in the right, I don't see him gaining much ground beyond that. I blame the GOP for this.
Last edited:
What do you want the RNC to do? Can they ban him from running or ban him from debates? I also don't get your notion that Trump is the darling of the right. Last time I checked, things like single payer health insurance were not far right ideas .
This is a world however where elections are won with talking points and personality. If he tempers the inner-******* he can possibly out do her on the talking points, especially if she's saddled with questions about her foolish use of the personal email server.
To the original point. I find Ryan as moderate as I do Hillary.