No 'fake' good deed goes unpunished - Paul Ryan's charity begins at photo ops
Posted on Sunday, October 21, 2012 at 10:02 AM
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| Atlas scrubbed, or no 'fake ' good deed goes unpublished |
I've been thinking about him off and on all week because he found himself reluctantly catapulted into the national spotlight last week by the uninvited visit of GOP Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan.
Hijack, would have been a more accurate word. In the Romney/Ryan's campaign's desperation to lull the public into forgetting that they're two pomaded multimillionaire's out to gut the New Deal to pay for unnecessary tax cuts for the super rich, they decided to 'soften' Ryan's public persona with a bit of charitable malarkey, shot live on camera.
Ryan, as we know, invited himself to wash the already clean dishes of the St. Vincent De Paul Society's soup kitchen. That took some heart - or stones, as Bill Clinton likes to say. But Mahoning County is in Ohio and there is no stone that Ryan plans to leave unturned, or photo opportunity abandoned, regardless of the cost to others, in that state.
Ryan came into the soup kitchen without permission on Monday and 'did nothing,' Antal told the press. He was not at the soup kitchen when Ryan visited and would have turned him away had he known - the bylaws of the society expressly forbid political grandstanding of that nature.
But no fake 'good deed' goes unpunished though. The Society has been hemorrhaging donations since the story broke. The losses have been big. 'It appears to be a substantial amount,' Antal said. 'You can rest assured there has been a substantial backlash.'
Antal said that the campaign had 'ramrodded their way' inside for their charity on stilts performance.
But aren't mid-westerners famously repulsed by people who make a great show of their own charity? Isn't making a great show of your charity a contradiction in terms anyhow?
Antal want Ryan to go away and to take all the damage he has done with him. It's too late for that, but not too late for an apology that will doubtless never come. Ryan has made it clear he knows what's good for the nations poor and he certainly knows what's good for himself.
But this story deserves to be told over and over because it mirrors the main weakness of the Romney campaign itself: they make shameless gestures toward the middle class to lure them into voting for them.
But before you turn around you'll find that you're strapped for cash and they haven't left you with a forwarding address or an explanation.
54 comments
eiriamach | Oct 22, 2012, 12:25 AM EDT
"But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you" (Matt. 6:3-4) Or call in the photojournalists for a nice spread in the newspapers, TV soundbites, and You Tube videos, and maybe gullible voters will reward you-- your choice.
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Tom Mo | Oct 21, 2012, 09:57 PM EDT
They just wanted to take photos of the Prima Donna in her 650 dollar sneakers with their new free i phone cameras. They could care less about the soup. Wake up man for Chrissake.
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Tom Mo | Oct 21, 2012, 09:37 PM EDT
Hey Cahir. Nothing wrong, of course, with first Lady Michelle Obama serving food at a food kitchen while wearing $650 dollar sneakers. And,get thishavibg the recipients of the soup taking pictures with their cel phones. Google it. Asstard!
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Frosty38 | Oct 21, 2012, 09:32 PM EDT
Remember when the Pres work painting and i think a soup kitchen did he get this much attn?
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olovely | Oct 21, 2012, 09:01 PM EDT
I do all my dish washing in a spotless Brooks Brothers shirt and tie and a gleaming white apron. Why's everyone saying this is 'fake'?
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GerryMaine | Oct 21, 2012, 08:58 PM EDT
Spare me, BigDaddy. You're ridiculous.
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BigDaddy | Oct 21, 2012, 06:57 PM EDT
Gerry, I will save the sarcasm and go straight to the facts. If you did Google DiLulio, you will have seen that he also told the truth about some Republicans and was forced to recant, just like Antal was, after someone explained to him the cost of telling the truth. Now I could care less if you believe the truth; I am used to talking to conservative apologists for a dozen years now. But the fact that you would resort to looking so stupid in public just to avoid talking about the truth is very telling.
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GerryMaine | Oct 21, 2012, 06:51 PM EDT
I googled John Dilulio and found nothing related to St Vinc.de Paul and Paul Ryan.. or doing dirty dishes.
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shuvonn | Oct 21, 2012, 06:36 PM EDT
This is not about who has done this before this is about the fact that Ryan did this and some of you just cannot admit it even when faced with facts that is more disturbing than anything else!!
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BigDaddy | Oct 21, 2012, 06:33 PM EDT
Piper, I would bet Obama has had his share of "photo ops" but how many times ahs the person been forced to recant after they told the story of what happened? Do you have any stories about such a thing? And the question you should be asking is "Why is it that Republicans cannot look human"? We know what happened, why the fuss over clean or dirty trays? Why can't Ryan be like other politicians? Why must people PAY for telling the truth about a politician?
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BigDaddy | Oct 21, 2012, 06:29 PM EDT
Gerry, how is it that you only understand what has happened since Antal first told his story. He told the truth and was forced to retract the truth due to pressure exerted by "benefactors". If you had any ambition, YOU would have Googled John DiLulio and then you would have known what I was referring to. You read the part that says he washed dirty trays (as if that matters) and you are willing to look foolish in public. Why? Why would anyone argue against reality in public?
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PiperMac52 | Oct 21, 2012, 06:21 PM EDT
Jeez, it's called politics my friend and I know Obama has never taken advantage of a photo OP disguised as a good deed!
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seanomelb | Oct 21, 2012, 05:58 PM EDT
Ryan needs to put some soap in his mouth to wash the bullsh#t away.
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pilib04 | Oct 21, 2012, 05:33 PM EDT
This has been all over Ohio. "Lyin" Ryan actually washed trays that were already cleaned and put away. This man is beneath contempt.
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