What Type of Liar is Paul Ryan (poll)

[Dalai_1]

Poll : The CentristWord

http://thecentristword.wordpress.com/2012/09/02/what-type-of-liar-is-paul-ryan/

[BlueStreak]

1. I would have gone with "continuous", but "sociopath" also works

and is the leading result so far.


Here's a hint:

A sociopath is typically defined as someone who lies incessantly to get their way and does so with little concern for others. A sociopath is often goal-oriented (i.e., lying is focused – it is done to get one’s way). Sociopaths have little regard or respect for the rights and feelings of others. Sociopaths are often charming and charismatic, but they use their talented social skills in manipulative and self-centered ways.

[loyalsister]

5. Sociopaths do not put themselves on public stage

Using serious medical terminology to insult people we don't like is juvenile. These guys are not Ted Bundy\Jeffry Dahmer, or even Bernie Madoff materiel.
They tell self serving lies nothing new in politics or civil society in general. "No I didn't eat the blueberry pie."

In order to be elected to public office a person must be able to use their social skills to manipulate voters to support them. They also happen to commonly be charismatic.

I so wish we could get off of this sociopathy meme.. it is a sad display of ignorance of psychology, serious mental health issues, as well as criminology.

[BlueStreak]

6. All of these phychological disorders are general diagnoses

It is not like a tumor. You can see the tumor and identify it. There is no question that there is a tumor.

Sociopaths exist on a continuum. At one end are people who have what we consider a normal amount of concern for others but just lie a bit too easily. At the opposite end are serial killers. But in between are people who are not likely ever to be serial killers, but are not normal either.

It is not normal to lie the way Paul Ryan does. Not even for a politician. And the tip-off is that he cannot make the distinction between lies necessary for him to accomplish the ends he is driven to (that is normal for a politician), and lies about matters inconsequential (the marathon e.g.). That inability to turn off "the lying machine" when it is not necessary definitely earns him a place somewhere on that sociopath continuum.

[loyalsister]

10. That may be

But, these guys are not as different from politicians of the past. They inflate themselves and manipulate facts in order to get people on their side. The marathon lie comes across to me as old fashioned machismo.

[BlueStreak]

13. I would agree, except that

when given a day to walk this back, he continued to lie about it. It was not until Runner's World put the hard evidence in his face that he admitted his lie.

That was EXACTLY the same pattern when confronted with his record on asking for stimulus funds. He denied it when he had every chance to walk it back gracefully. The next day, letters bearing his signature proved the lie, and then he admitted it.

My point is that a normal person fighting for a political goal of high stakes might do exactly that. simply because he had to keep fighting for it. But a normal person does not stick with a lie of the machismo gross exaggeration type when pressed on it. A normal person starts to walk that back as soon as it looks like the lie is unraveling.

The fact that he can't stop lying about the inconsequential stuff indicates a serious disorder to me. It is not just braggadocio. The last thing a "jock's ego" wants is to be humiliated in a claim like this. The normal braggart looks for a way to slip out of the lie before getting exposed so directly.

[loyalsister]

16. How many times did Anthony Weiner defend his lies?

Both strike me as guys who were a little nerdy when they were younger then did well professionally, got in shape physically, and still knows that deep inside they are out of their league in one way or another. Both are adolescent men who panic when they get caught. Ryan is out of his league on a national stage. He is longer commanding a comforting district where no one questions him.
They are both clueless and desperate when anyone questions them. I bet Ryan was coddled by his mom because his dad died early. Mitt clearly is not challenged by his wife, sons, church "flock," or people who work for him.

[BlueStreak]

17. I think he has serious problems too

Maybe not a sociopath in that case. That seems more like a wildly out-of-control ego, and we really didn't see a pervasive pattern of lying in Weiner's case. He got caught in one big lie that was career- and marriage-threatening, and he didn't think very clearly about his options. He obviously made matters much worse by hanging onto his lie.

I most certainly would not want Weiner to be Vice President.

[BlueStreak]

19. And right on cue, Krugman with a Rosie Ruiz reference

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/03/opinion/krugman-rosie-ruiz-republicans.html?_r=1

[williesgirl]

2. done & rec'd

[malaise]

3. Vote DUers

Rec

[thecentristword]

4. Sociopathic is definitely in the lead

[warrior1]

7. That's what I went with

before reading this entire thread.

[Quixote1818]

8. Me too. His ego is out of control. nt

[Aerows]

9. Compulsive

He reminds me of my cousin that would lie about anything that was in the conversation just to make himself look better, no matter how big or small. Cook dinner? He trained under a 5 star chef. Walk down the street? He walked across the United States with a backpack. Listen to music? He was either a classically trained pianist or in a heavy metal band and wrote the songs for it depending on what you were listening to.

Doesn't matter what it is, he did it, better than anyone else ever did, and he has absolutely nothing to prove it, much like Ryan. I doubt Ryan even bow hunts. He probably just takes the pictures after the kill and says "look, I'm a bow hunter". That's the sort of crap my cousin does.

[progressivebydesign]

11. Ryan lies for sport. He's narcissistic and thinks he's above it all, and wants to deceive people,

out of vanity and laziness. He wants to get to the White House without doing the work. Unlike Romney who has some sort of twisted sick ambition that seems to fuel his lies, Lyin' Ryan is more complex. A guy like Romney is more dangerous because of his blind ambition, and willingness to say anything to achieve his goals.

Ryan is a liar because it suits him at the moment, AND it makes him feel good ego-wise 1) that he inflates his role in things, makes himself seem more imporant 2) because he gets off on getting away with it.

He's the kind of vain person that would lie about his body fat.

Vapid and Vain.

[madokie]

12. Sociopath 44.64%

I laughed when I seen the option of a good christian bla, bla, as I've been lied to by so called good christians many a times thought out life

[Liberal_in_LA]

14. sociopath.

[Change has come]

15. I voted sociopath.

http://thecentristword.wordpress.com/2012/09/02/what-type-of-liar-is-paul-ryan/

[99Forever]

18. These days being a sociopath is a prerequisite to running as Rape-publican.