How is Paul Ryan an Intellectual ?

[JI7]

Doesn't that show what a joke the republican party has become ? And this isn't just about someone being conservative as they did use to have people who we can disagree with but still be seen as intelligent. And referring to him as a numbers guy ?

Can someone point to just an article he has written which might show this ? I'm not even asking for scholarly work his own education. But just an op ed ?

Maybe it's a result of what the rest of the party is with the Gomerts, Bachmanns ,Palins, Trumps etc.

[Cha]

1. he's an ayn rand disciple and a granny/grandpa/people/kids..

starver

[Hassin Bin Sober]

8. You beat me to it.

Basically, he read a book.

[Hortensis]

43. Or even two! But the extremists I've known over my life

seldom seemed to read anything electively except to mine them for those parts that supported their views. It was one of their defining characteristics.

I don't doubt he read the the Ayn Rand book he recommended so highly, but those hundreds and hundreds of pages must have pinged like crazy for him to be one of the smallish percentage who actually made it all the way through.

[nocalflea]

18. Exactly- though I cant figure out

why people equate Ayn Rand with intellectualism ?
Her ideology sucks and her novels were pure torture to read - terribly written.

[Oneironaut]

23. And she was a massive hypocrite. She did not follow her own philosophies.

She was dependent on the government, just like everyone her works vilify.

John Galt was always an impossible character. He's the embodiment of the Conservative pipe dream. The Darwinist, Anarchist society proposed by Rand and her followers would quickly disintegrate into disorder and war. A true "John Galt" in a society like this would be a true king of the ashes.

[dawg]

48. She wasn't a hypocrite.

Her philosophy was selfishness, and she selfishly did everything she thought was in her own best interest.

Not hypocritical, just assholish!

[Caliman73]

2. He is obviously not an intellectual, but he was made into one by the media

In their effort to portray an "unbiased" profession, they appeared to elevate Republicans to a level of discourse suggesting an intellectual. If you think about it, who was the last conservative intellectual? One who actually could, without using platitudes like, "freedom" and "choice" and other buzzwords with little actual meaning, explain the underpinnings of conservative ideology?

As you said, compared to other Republicans, yes, he would appear to be more articulate. He is however, an inch deep and a mile wide.

[Jonny Appleseed]

5. Bobby Jindal?

All I remember is that he said that they need to "stop being the stupid party".

[Caliman73]

20. I actually do not have the answer. I do know Jindal is not the answer.

Jindal was set up to be the conservative "intellectual" and he certainly did say that they need to stop being the party of stupid, but then he denies climate change, he supports some kind of immigration reform but only after we "secure the border" which is the same conservative circular logic that can never be fully realized. He also repeated information from right wing news sources about "no go" zones in Europe set up by Muslims.

The problem is that once you scratch the surface on any of these guys, all you get is the same talking points. Taxes are bad, defense spending good, social spending bad, immigration bad. Jindal is no different.

[JI7]

19. the media tried to do the same with Rubio but it was exposed with the rehearsed lines in the Debate

and Christie called him out on it .

he had nothing besides the rehearsed lines.

[Cosmocat]

41. THIS

He is "intellectual" because that is what republicans made him out to be, and their obedient media whores obediently parrot.

He is a vessel - a seemingly mild mannered guy with bookish good looks who doesn't stammer when he talks.

[Initech]

3. Every time I see him posing with those dumbells, I think of this:

"At Globo Gym, we're better than you!"

[pinboy3niner]

16. The one with his outstretched hand makes me think of this...

The gif is Jamie Kennedy as a wannabe white rapper from Malibu in the comedy, 'Malibu's Most Wanted.'

[flamingdem]

44. Is this from a movie, it's hysterical

[Initech]

47. It's from the movie Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0364725/?ref_=nv_sr_1

[Solly Mack]

4. He can spell his own name?

That could be the high bar within the GOP.

[Aristus]

6. If he is an Ayn Rand worshipper, than he is the de facto opposite of an intellectual.

Determinism, or whatever the fuck she called it, means checking your brain at the door...

[AJT]

9. Objectavism

[Aristus]

11. Thank you...

[AJT]

12. I only remember it because I find it so objectionable.

[Aristus]

13. Well done...

I agree...

[procon]

7. He's the only Republican who knows how to make a PowerPoint presentation. nt

[potone]

10. He isn't.

None of them are.

[AJT]

14. He wrote the GOP budget proposal so they called him

a numbers guy. The numbers didn't make any sense, but nobody's perfect.

[dalton99a]

21. So he knew how to use Excel and the other gang members went, "It's clearly a budget. It's got a lot

of numbers in it!"

[AJT]

34. Exactly. And remember he is one of the republican

"Young Guns".......remember that silly book with a bunch of middle aged men on the cover?

[dalton99a]

35. Yep. Good thing Cantor got canned by voters.

[AJT]

38. And another got caught frolicking in a Nazi uniform.

[dalton99a]

15. He is _PROBABLY_ smarter than Rick Perry.

[3catwoman3]

17. My cats are...

...snarter than Rick Perry.

[smirkymonkey]

22. He's not.

But if you are a republican, anyone with a triple digit IQ is an intellectual. Paul is probably hovering just above average. It's amazing how low they set the bar.

God he just has the most punchable face I have ever seen. Besides Trump, I mean.

What a fucking joke he is. Such a dork!

[genxlib]

24. It is all relative

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king

[Yavin4]

25. He knows PowerPoint.

All smart people use PowerPoint.

[Vinca]

26. He's not. I've always found that claim stunning.

The most recent evidence is that he doesn't understand the basic way in which insurance works.

[gademocrat7]

27. He isn't.

He is a smarmy, greedy weasel.

[cwydro]

28. I still remember when he lied that he ran a sub 3 hour marathon.

That's a big effing lie to those of us who run.

He's not even run one under four hours. Asswipe.

[Trust Buster]

29. This is when I came to understand that Ryan was not so smart.

He wants to turn Medicare into a voucher system because he claims the government cannot keep up with the healthcare cost curve. So he wants to cap the government's liability thinking that a senior on a fixed income can handle the healthcare cost curve better than the government can. OF COURSE, HE WANTS TO START WITH THOSE 55 AND YOUNGER. Ryan knows that if he asked current seniors to sacrifice, then his little plan is DOA. Here is the stupid part. Those 55 and younger will be a large voting block of seniors very soon. Those folks would either force the government to increase the voucher amount to keep up with healthcare inflation or force a return to the current Medicare system. Ryan's plan has "stupid" written all over it.

[Donkees]

30. Republicant Code-Speak for Big Head-No Heart

Link to tweet

[kydo]

31. He claims he read ayn rand once. Big words. Long rambling sentences.

Of course the writer never made sense. Type writer abuse if you ask me.

[underpants]

32. Just consider how highly Mark Levin is regarded and that Stephen Moore is employed

as an economics advisor (to Trump) and writer.

The fact that a lunkhead like Sean Hannity is taken seriously let's you know how low the bar is for them.

I think Ryan's big asset is that he doesn't say "okay(?)" at the end of each sentence.

[randome]

33. He graduated #1 in a class of 1.

[hr][font color="blue"][center]“If you're not committed to anything, you're just taking up space.”
Gregory Peck, Mirage (1965)[/center][/font][hr]

[Drahthaardogs]

36. He is not. When you owe your career to living on the dole,

Then vote to take away the dole, you lose the right to be an intellectual.

As a dog man, let me assure you when I go clean kennel runs - they know enough not to shit where they eat.

Can't be an intellectual if that concept escapes you.

[Cognitive_Resonance]

37. Textbook example of an "empty suit". He's never held a real job outside of politics,

wealthy Wisconsin family made their fortune on government construction contracts, paid for college with Social Security benefits...Ayn Rand disciple obsessed with destroying public institutions...poster child for Republican hypocrisy

[dalton99a]

45. Yep.

[jodymarie aimee]

39. Every single one of our Wisconsin Rs

are pigs, Koch puppets.

[Gothmog]

40. Paul Ryan is not a policy wonk and is really somewhat stupid

[DFW]

46. Compared to a garden slug, maybe?

A fairly young garden slug, that is.