"Paul Ryan: Grow Up" by James Zogby at the Huffington Post

[applegrove]

Paul Ryan: Grow Up

by James Zogby at the Huffington Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-zogby/paul-ryan-grow-up_b_1774324.html

"SNIP...................................

Rand's philosophy holds a particular appeal and is especially attractive to the developing adolescent mind. It is self-centered and certain -- traits appreciated by adolescents. And Rand's heroic individualists could be angry and dismissive of others, seeing them as burdensome and obstacles to be overcome on the way to self-fulfillment -- again attitudes quite compatible with adolescent behavior.

While it appears that Ryan never got over his fascination with Ayn Rand, referring to her work in recent years as defining "what my value systems are and what my beliefs are"; I did get over her -- or better put, my mother knocked some sense into me.

At one point in my late teens, after listening to me spouting off about government controlling this or that and infringing on the rights of individuals, my mother sat me down, wagged a finger in my face and reminded me that if it were not for Social Security benefits and the New York State Regent's Scholarships, I wouldn't be able to afford to go to college. "Don't deny to others, what you have benefited from," she said.

My mother, who passed away in 1998, was a devout Catholic and the daughter of Lebanese immigrants who came to the U.S. at the turn of the last century. Her family came to America, like most immigrants, seeking freedom and opportunity. And they found it -- but not without difficulty. They worked tirelessly, overcame hardships, started businesses, and educated their children.

..................................SNIP"

[1StrongBlackMan]

1. Posted to for later reading. n/t

[progressivebydesign]

2. Ryan is essentially those LaRouche guys with the card tables that you'd like to smack.

Oh, well I'd like to smack them, anyway.. or at least tear up their signs.

[DCKit]

3. Then she married into money (not to denigrate that in any way, it's just a fact). nt

[indepat]

4. Should it not be perfectly clear to all that Paul Ryan's mind has never developed past

the adolescent stage? Vague, simplistic, and ideological idiocies solve nothing.

[meow2u3]

5. Now we have a working definition of modern tea party conservatism

Tea Party Conservatism: the selfish practice of denying to others what you have benefited from yourself.