I don’t know whether Sullivan is right about this, but if he is, it only increases my contempt for Ol’ Blue Eyes. I’ll take cynical career operators over Ayn Rand’s teen-age fan club any day.
I don’t share some Obama-supporters’ contempt for Paul Ryan. That’s in part because he comes across as a sincere, decent, fine fellow – whose Randian worldview has produced a reformist zeal known most intimately to an adolescent male. Indeed, he reminds me most of all of myself in my teens – dreaming of how to cut government in half, relishing schemes to slash taxes and slash spending and unleash revolutionary growth which, in itself, would render all other problems more manageable. There is no libertarian quite as convinced as a teenage libertarian. And it’s the adolescent conviction of Ryan that shines so brightly.
Honestly, though, it doesn’t matter whether Ryan is a True Believer in the People’s Glorious Libertarian Revolution or just some shmuck who wants to ride the wingnut gravy train. His numbers don’t add up and he has no record as a “fiscal conservative” or “reformer”, so fuck him.
The same for Romey. Who cares if he’s moderate who has to act like a wingnut for political reasons or a wingnut who acts as a wingnut because he is a wingnut.
(h/t reader S)
Update. Per the comments, Sully’s piece is good. But it plays a bit too much into the “you may not agree with him, but he’s pure or heart” meme that establishment media uses with every Tiger Beat Conservative Hunk of the Month.
dr. bloor
Some things just defy classification in the old DSM-IV, eh?
kansi
And by his deeds shall you know him.
Violet
Typo: right.
Bobby Thomson
Right, damn it. I realize they don’t teach homonyms anymore but if you want to pretend to “write” you have to know this stuff.
ant
lol
matt
He’s not a teenager, he’s a grown man. He is responsible for his beliefs and the consequences of his beliefs.
Kathleen
The “adolescent conviction that shines so bright”. That must explain “The Paul Ryan Hey My Mom Is Old But I Haven’t Starved Her. Yet.” Tour.
cervantes
Just to be clear, Sullivan’s post is a (very well written, BTW) crush, kill, destroy job on Ryan. He’s saying yeah, it all makes sense when you’re a teenager, but Ryan is a case of arrested development. I often find Sully intensely obnoxious, but this was a good post.
People might misconstrue from your reaction . . . He is not excusing Ryan, he is mocking him.
tommyspoon
But most of us grow up, Andrew. I’m guessing you haven’t yet.
kc
What conviction? Hasn’t Ryan already denounced Ayn Rand (on account of she didn’t love the Baby Jesus)?
Punchy
@Bobby Thomson: they dont teach gay words in school?
reflectionephemeral
“Who cares if he’s moderate who has to act like a wingnut for political reasons or a wingnut who acts as a wingnut because he is a wingnut.”
Yep. The reason we care about the government is because it implements policies that affect people’s lives. It doesn’t matter what’s in Mitt Romney’s heart of hearts; what matters is the policies he’s proposing (to the extent any such things exist) and the people he’ll appoint to important positions.
I happen to agree with the “hopefully Romney’s lying about everything!” contingent that Romney doesn’t personally care whether Dennis Kucinich or John Bolton makes decisions on Iran policy. But it’s Bolton who’s his adviser, and who’ll have influence in a Romney cabinet. That’s what matters, not the unknowable, “What does Mitt really think?” parlor game that all centrist pundits love.
Hunter Gathers
Imagine what he could have been if he had gotten laid when he was younger. He’d still be an insufferable douchenozzle, but perhaps a bit less pompous.
If my son starts to obsess over the size of government in his teens, I’m sending him to a psychiatrist.
Spaghetti Lee
It’s ‘Sully’ this and ‘Sully’ that and ‘Sully, you disgrace,’
But ‘Let’s hear out Mr. Sullivan’ when Paul Ryan joins the race.
The Other Bob
@tommyspoon:
Came here to say exactly this!
greennotGreen
The second one.
SATSQ.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Everything wrong with American politics in a nut shell. He may be a dishonest, fanatical ideologue who wants the poor to go die quietly in a corner, but he seems like a sincere, decent, fine fellow (“fellow”?). A twin idea to, “I’ve known Joe Lieberman for thirty years, so in spite of X, he has my support” or “John McCain may have wanted to put Sarah Palin a heartbeat away from the presidency, but he’s not the sort of fellow who would put Sarah Palin a heartbeat away from the Presidency”
SenyorDave
@dr. bloor: I spent most of my teens, especially high school, daydreaming about getting laid, being rich and getting laid.
Valdivia
In the Village you can be the equivalent of Savaranola and on top of that lie through your teeth but as long as you seem sincere and calm you are a moderate–this is why Ryan gets a pass.
John O
When I was about 13, Mom had to write an Ayn Rand paper for post-HS class she was taking.
I became a serious devotee. Probably read it 5X or so over 10 years.
Than I got old enough to understand life was a team sport.
Left Coast Tom
If he’s a teenage adolescent then he can’t be qualified for the office of Vice-President, which is constitutionally limited to people 35 and above.
Violet
The Dems need to be hanging Akin around Ryan’s neck like an anchor. Make Ryan answer “what is forcible rape?” over and over.
f space that
Ryan is a phony, he is Todd Akin in another physical form. His proposed direction for our country would devastate people who are not in the 1%. He is a monster, he is not a nice guy, nor is he sincere.
Soonergrunt
ANY teenager running around with such thoughts in his head for more than the couple of hours he decided to hang out with the other losers who went stag to the kegger and stood around solving the world’s problems all night probably needs some serious social skills training. I’m talking the kind of people who make Asperger’s kids look suave and sophisticated.
PZ
This bothers me much more than whether or not Ryan is sincere. Where were conservatives when Bush and Reagan ran up the deficit? Where were they in the aftermath of all the financial crises of the 80s and 90s? Where were they when the national security state was given more and more power?
In every single instance when conservative principals of limited government and not rocking the boat were put up against helping out special interests and helping Republicans get elected, the latter always beat the former. All the VSPs had no problem backpedaling on the conservative ideas they championed to help out Republicans and their interests. Those who called out Republicans on their bs were outcast from the movement. Until guys like Sully recognize this, there is no hope for them…
cathyx
Wow, when I was a teen, I dreamt of boys and making the varsity softball team.
John O
@f space that:
Disagree. Ryan is a Happy Hypocrite, is sincere in his belief in his own genius and moral compass, and is (so far) a good family guy.
(I agree he is policy phony, though.)
Heliopause
Ryan reminds me of the people who have made it a certainty that I never have and never will attend a high school reunion. So I sort of get Sullivan’s point.
SatanicPanic
I miss Palin. Ryan is just so creepy and dull I can’t even really enjoy mocking him.
Spatula
PLEASE.
This is all about the quivering desires of Sullivan’s indiscriminating loins.
He is giving Ryan a pass on motive because he finds him to be SEXAH.
Understanding this tendency toward crushing is key to grasping why Sullivan is never worth reading.
John O
Ryan wins no matter what.
Evinfuilt
You can not want to starve grandma and be a nice guy. Paul fail, and sullivan fail for saying it. Ones deeds count more than their words, his deeds are that of a very naughty boy.
scav
Have we wandered onto the set of Build-A-Boy-Band? Have we been mishearing that shadowy institution all these years?
maven
And Bears. I know Andy was thinking about bears when he was a testosterone riddled teen.
jwb
@SatanicPanic: Ryan is just so damned earnest in an Eddie Haskell kind of way.
Spaghetti Lee
Har har, Sully was a nerd in high school! Nerd!
The Other Chuck
“He seemed like such a nice fellow” is what the neighbors often say about serial killers too.
Schlemizel
Fer chrisss sakes Doug, its Sully – its long been established that means its not right and it sucks up hard to the worst elements of the the right.
WereBear
Quite true; because the former is only a CYA for the goals of the latter.
I sense they are tired of the pretense; it’s like the bigots who long to yell slurs and are angry they can’t any more.
By all means, they should drop the mask and let us know what they really think.
srv
I think it’s the right time to ask Ryan if he enjoyed the rape scenes in Shrugged.
K488
I do think (in honor of the title) one could imagine that if growing up were awfuller than all the awful things that ever were, we’d still get the likes of Paul Ryan.
Oh, and I think it’s “parrot”, not “puppet,” at least as I remember Mary Martin’s singing…
burnspbesq
@Spaghetti Lee:
Spaghetti Lee for three … nothin’ but net!
Loonesta
Doesn’t the title of this post quote “I Won’t Grow Up” from the musical “Peter Pan”, whose lead role was made famous by Mary Martin, the mother of Larry Hagman? What has this post title to do w/ Francis Albert Sinatra, who is the only “Ol” Blue Eyes”, ever? (Ryan is far too young to be “Ol” ” anything, not even “Ol’ Yeller”.) I also cannot understand the left’s interest in stodgy British-born conservative Andrew Sullivan. His views are about as mercurial and informed as Romney’s.
MCA1
Agree with the others above rather than DougJ (for once?): any “I think he’s a decent person and sincere and means well” blahblah is completely buried by the “by the way, this guy’s the intellectual equivalent of a pimple-faced 15-year-old who jacks off to the turgid love scenes in ‘Atlas Shrugged'” angle. I came away with the impression Sullivan’s calling him a lightweight, teenaged douche who has no idea how the real world works despite really believing whatever he believes with childish conviction. That’s a pretty damning thing to say about a VP candidate.
DougJ
@Loonesta:
The Sully quote is about how Ryan is an arrested adolescent. I referenced the song “I Won’t Grow Up”. I really need to explain?
burnspbesq
@Schlemizel:
False.
Donald G
To paraphrase the noted philosopher Walter Sobchak, say what you will about Paul Ryan’s Randian bullshit, at least it’s an ethos. :)
pragmatism
i just figure that sully is hedging just in case he needs to escape the mob in our potential galtian future. same way i figure that k. drum is just hedging when he gets the vapors about tone.
Monkeyfister
“[H]e comes across as a sincere, decent, fine fellow…”
Mmmm Hm.
You know who else came across as a sincere, decent, fine fellow??
Eddie Haskel, that’s who.
SatanicPanic
@jwb: Maybe I just need to get to know him more and then I will take more joy in mocking him. At this point, it’s pretty pro-forma on my part. I’m totally being shallow here, but I want some better human drama. Maybe the neighbors will notice the smell coming from his basement before election day, or the media will uncover a kooky, new-age mistress or something.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@matt:
Not to mention he is part of the government and gets exposed to competing ideas and sees the messy reality in action.
gogol's wife
@jwb:
I object to this the way I object to comparing Romney to Thurston Howell. Ken Osmond and Jim Backus are just great actors, and I see no resemblance between them and these creeps with their soulless eyes.
Maude
We had Bush the teenager and now we are supposed to want Ryan?
I am sick of the Romney campaign treating everything like a little game. The country has serious problems and the Rep party has a lot to answer for.
Obama said that Romney was throwing spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks.
This is the year of the lie.
AdamK
The lyric from Peter Pan is “Just to learn to be a parrot and recite a silly rule.” Puppets don’t recite.
Steeplejack
@DougJ:
I don’t get that from Sullivan’s piece. He says Ryan comes across as a “sincere, decent, fine fellow” but then says:
That’s pretty damning.
And then this may be the most lucid thing Sullivan has written in years. It’s a pretty good, concise statement of the way things stand now.
(I apologize for the long quote, but I know a lot of people won’t click over to Sullivan’s site to read this, and I think it is really good.)
Dennis SGMM
@Maude:
After having seen Bush re-elected, I would not be at all surprised to see Romney win. It wouldn’t even surprise me to see Ryan elected after him. The Short Attention Span Theater has become our politics and whoever can shovel the bullshit fastest and deepest has a distinct advantage when running for elective office.
jwb
@gogol’s wife: Actually, Ryan has bright eyes, sort of off the charts bright, which is no doubt what sets off all those star bursts among the Villagers. But your point is taken. On the other hand, Ryan is exactly the kind of guy who will talk all pretty and earnestly and then promptly insert the shiv the second you turn your back.
Mnemosyne
Yep. That’s the line we’ve been getting with Akins, too — sure, he’s completely wrong on the science and would do great harm if he managed to get public policy passed on that false science, but he really believes it.
I don’t give a shit how sincerely someone believes something if that something is factually wrong.
chopper
just because I was a teenage libertarian doesn’t mean I’ll vote for one. in fact it means I wouldn’t go near that ideology with a 10 foot ple.
Atticus Dogsbody
Decent, fine fellow ≠ Randian worldview.
Roger Moore
@Steeplejack:
Well, we’ve said for a while that the Republicans want to bring back Zombie Reagan, so it’s no surprise they’re touting Zombie-Reaganomics.
Maude
@Dennis SGMM:
Except it’s a different time than 2000 and 2004.
People still say that Bush took down the economy. The poll numbers on this have held steady for over three years.
That is more awareness than there used to be.
azlib
Ryan is dangerous precisely because he is “nice”. Being “nice” is his way of disarming his critics. It is an old tried and true ploy. He is not “nice” for what he wants to do to Medicare. He is not “nice” for proposing a fraudulent budget. And what is really not “nice” is the way the Beltway pundits think he is a serious budgetary and fiscal thinker.
arguingwithsignposts
fixed that for him, and fuck sullivan, that tory prick.
arguingwithsignposts
@John O:
stolen for future use.
El Cid
He only comes across as a fine, honest fellow if you don’t care whether or not someone is lying and if you’re more concerned about your own preferred fantasy world of politics than you are reality.
Like if somehow I weren’t some biased librul I’d hear Paul Ryan talking and just melt because he spouted ideological crap produced by his betters about how he’d like gubmit to be.
This is the stupidest reaction — like I’m supposed to live in some world in which all it takes to get my implicit respect is to have a serious tone and speak aspirational dreams and urge those struggling to work harder; thus I’d be soberly impressed by any number of corporate press releases, ’cause, gosh, they sound so sincere and the company has a mission statement about excellence and stuff!
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Dennis SGMM:
While a Romney win is not improbably, I serious doubt there will be a president Ryan. Between his dumb ideas and negative fallibility Romney is just a disaster waiting to happen and I bet we won’t even make it to 2014 for a second economic crash.
hep kitty
Good God, he says that with such a sense of pride. What a fuckwad. impressed not
hep kitty
@dr. bloor: Here’s your internets
hep kitty
that made me feel icky just for reading it
Dennis SGMM
@Maude: @Enhanced Voting Techniques:
I hope that you’re right and that I’m completely wrong.
Rafer Janders
Umm, that’s precisely why I DO have contempt for Paul Ryan.
Rafer Janders
What a sad, twisted little fellow the young Sullivan must have been.
Rafer Janders
@Bobby Thomson:
Maybe it’s my homonymphobia, but the concept of two words that sound so similar to each other just doesn’t seem right to me. It’s against nature.
Rafer Janders
@azlib:
“Broadcast News”, 1987, James Brooks to Holly Hunter:
Aaron Altman: I know you care about him. I’ve never seen you like this about anyone, so please don’t take it wrong when I tell you that I believe that Tom, while a very nice guy, is the Devil.
Jane Craig: This isn’t friendship.
Aaron Altman: What do you think the Devil is going to look like if he’s around? Nobody is going to be taken in if he has a long, red, pointy tail. No. I’m semi-serious here. He will look attractive and he will be nice and helpful and he will get a job where he influences a great God-fearing nation and he will never do an evil thing… he will just bit by little bit lower standards where they are important. Just coax along flash over substance… Just a tiny bit. And he will talk about all of us really being salesmen.
Argive
“Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the government’s purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.”
-Justice Louis Brandeis, Olmstead v. United States (dissenting)
rikyrah
Paul Ryan is a Zombie-Eyed Granny Killer.
fuck Sully.
I can hate Ryan all I want to.
Chris
@John O:
This.
The 1% sure as shit understand that life is a team sport – witness the Chamber of Commerce, their armies of paid politicians and lawyers, the cartels they form between themselves, etc. The fact that the rest of us haven’t been able to team up like that is key to why they’re winning.
SoINeedAName48
Sully ROCKS!
Get the FUCK over it!
Kurzleg
Not only don’t I agree with it. I don’t understand it at all. “Purity of heart” is another name for “true believer”, and we all know nothing bad could come of true belief in something, damn the evidence.
Starlit
His purity of heart has nothing to do with it: you can do just as much damage with good intentions and bad performance as you can with the adjectives reversed. More, in fact…because some idiots think if friendly fire killed you, you’re somehow less dead.
John of Indiana
” Indeed, he reminds me most of all of myself in my teens – dreaming of how to cut government in half, relishing schemes to slash taxes and slash spending and unleash revolutionary growth which, in itself, would render all other problems more manageable.”
OK, I must have been really weird, because in my teens I was dreaming about girls, sex, sex with girls, Harley-Davidsons, and a 70-foot tower with a Cushcraft tribander beam antenna for my Ham Radio station…
El Cid
Imagine you weren’t at all political, or paid too much attention to these matters, but you were overall somewhat perceptive and thoughtful.
What about Paul Ryan wouldn’t strike you as bland and unconvincing?
If someone told me he had ‘serious’ budget plans, I’d want to have some sort of reference for whether or not it was that serious.
After all, you see all sorts of people making claims and talking smoothly, on TV, in sports, in class, in sales.
No, Paul Ryan strikes you as convincing and serious only if you want to believe that in the first place.
gex
It’s funny how many of Sullivan’s “sincere, decent” fellows’ policies would results in thousands of dead people. I’m not sure he knows what those words mean. Or rather to him, like the aristocracy has always had it, “decency” is decided by whether or not something makes them uncomfortable, and not by what the rest of us think of as “decent.”
Mnemosyne
@John of Indiana:
Actually, it makes perfect sense once you remember that Sully was probably spending all of this time thinking about slashing the government to try and suppress all of those dirty, nasty, sinful thoughts he was having about the other boys at school.
Bob2
You guys realize Sullivan originally went gaga over Paul Ryan’s plan right? The Internet and Cole had to beat him into the ground to realize Ryan was a fraud and he still kept hanging onto calling the plan brave and courageous.
https://balloon-juice.com/2011/04/07/i-cant-help-myself/
LAC
Great…another article by another man that wants to bang or be banged by Ryan. Ryan shouldn’t even bother with a speech at the convention. Just start stripping to “You can leave your hat on” and be done. The amount of jizz flying will add that special touch.