Moderate Paul Ryan a Good VP Choice
By RAY HANANIA • Friday, August 17, 2012
Southwest News-Herald Newspaper
Congressman Paul Ryan’s choice as vice president added a moderate edge to the right wing elitist candidacy of his presidential running mate Mitt Romney.
It might even be enough to calm religious fears. Many Christians, Muslims and Jews view Mormons with an uneducated concern. Religion is an issue despite everyone claiming it is not.
The choice of Ryan, a Catholic, is an ironic twist that might help calm voter fears.
Ryan is an anomaly, a moderate Republican heavily backed by the extremist Tea Party.
He also has a more even-handed approach to the Middle East. Whereas Romney has enraged Arabs and Muslims in the Middle East with his limited knowledge about the conflict, Ryan has declared his support for two-states for Israel and Palestine.
It is a contrast to President Barak Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, who have failed in the Middle East, even though many Americans believe Obama is a Muslim.
Obama’s liberal credentials and his unique status as the nation’s first African American to hold the office have defined his first term.
But the issue of race is behind us. It’s been done and electing a black President is not a big deal anymore. Voters should now be forced to look beyond that egalitarianism of electing an African American in a country with such a long and brutal history against blacks and honestly assess Obama’s achievements.
And Obama’s achievements are not very impressive.
He fell short on healthcare. Even though Republicans are no better, we have to ask what is better? A broken healthcare system that promises only that we know what to expect? Or a system of empty promises untested and defined more by Obama’s compromises with the health industry than his allegiance to his own campaign pledges?
America is in a recession. Yes, it was started by President George W. Bush and his stupid emotion-driven war to destroy Saddam Hussein that cost us hundreds of billions if not trillions in spending. It’s been four years, and the economy is still in the tank.
Romney doesn’t impress me. He might well be one of the wealthiest people to become president if elected. He has no idea what it is like to really work for a living. He’s a corporate robber baron who outsources jobs in his business life, which means as president he will sell out America’s Middle Class to satisfy the whims of his big corporation buddies.
How is that failure different from Obama? How is life better for Americans when Obama has not improved the economy, only help make it worse?
Obama’s biggest problem is he promised too much and failed. It’s not enough to have soothing words anymore. We need more than that, and Obama hasn’t been able to deliver.
He’s not the liberal he promised to be, doing things no different than his predecessors. When it really came down to it, he let America’s emotions override the Rule of Law and ordered the Navy Seals to turn an assault on Osama Bin Laden from what should have been an arrest and trial into an exercise in emotional vengeance and revenge.
Murdering Bin Laden made many Americans feel good. He got what he did to others.
But that’s not what America should be about. We’re better than the terrorists. And we need someone who can focus on what’s right, regardless of political party affiliation.
Ryan might be the only breath of fresh air in this entire process.
(Listen to Ray Hanania on radio Sunday on 1240 AM WSBC and 1470 AM WCFJ radio. You may also check out www.RadioChicagoland.com.) — City & Suburban News-Herald
