Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., seems to be doing his best to convince the general public that he -- hmm, how to put this politely? -- just isn't very smart. On Wednesday, he attacked President Obama for ignoring the deficit-reducing recommendations made by the president's fiscal commission. But Paul Ryan was on the commission, as Jonathan Chait points out, and he voted explicitly against endorsing the commission's proposals. That makes no sense, to put it mildly.
On Thursday morning Ryan topped that headscratcher with a real doozy: He compared the protests currently raging in Wisconsin over Gov. Scott Walker's plans to crush public sector unions to the upheaval that brought down President Mubarak in Egypt.
From the National Journal:
"State workers who have extremely generous benefits packages,
asking that they contribute 12 percent to their health care packages. It's not a lot, it's about half of what private-sector employees pay, and he's getting riots. It's like Cairo has come to Wisconsin," Ryan said. "People should be able to express their way, but we've got to get this deficit and debt under control in Madison."
http://www.salon.com/technology/how_the_world_works/2011/02/17/paul_ryan_cairo_comes_to_wisconsin/index.html