The Clone Team

by Ruth A. Sheets

Well, Mitt has done it.  He chose a running mate who is just like him.  Paul Ryan is “attractive.” (They're saying  he looks like Romney’s own son.  How much more alike can you get?) 

The two of them will try to out compete each other to see who is more conservative and who can slam the middle class most thoroughly.  And, their speech writers will help them to couch this middle class assault in terms that will make many of the less thoughtful and careful voters believe it is a good thing.

I have heard that both men are pretty smart.  It seems that their intelligence is directed toward making them money and fame with as little pain as possible. 

Both men believe they are crusaders for the American way, yet both are so unaware of what ordinary Americans need and want, that their idea of the American way is only addressing the desires of the wealthiest few, those whom they wish to court.

Both Romney and Ryan are PWGs-- Priviledged White Guys--who, of course, completely understand what will work best for women, minorities, disabled persons, the poor, and everyone else in the United States (not).  They become very angry when voters suggest that they are not in touch with anyone outside their sphere.

Paul Ryan had a lawyer father which put him in the upper middle class while Romney started out in the upper class and stayed there.  Both were born on third base and truly believe in their hearts that they actually hit triples.  What is more, they believe they “earned” everything they got.  Anyone who did not attain their heights has simply failed to work hard enough.  Their arrogance and self-righteousness ring out in every speech.

Paul Ryan is only 42 years old, with little experience beyond the budget.  He is seen as some kind of shining star in the Republican Party.  When one looks at the rest of the field, it is not hard to see that Romney’s selection was limited.  Picking a polarizer may arouse the very conservative, the one-issue crew who are so sure of their own righteousness that they will drag themselves to the polls for their new guy, the one who will take care of those freeloading poor folks who are draining the resources of everyone else.  .

In a nation where the first amendment to the Constitution clearly calls for freedom of religion, Ryan has the gall to claim that any law we have is from God.  It makes me wonder what his god is like.  His budget is not an appropriate response to the Christian gospel which calls for us to care for the poor, the widows and orphans, those in prison, the hungry--you get the picture.  Where are those people’s needs in his tax and spending cuts?  Oh, wait, private organizations and companies are supposed to do that caring thing.

Commentators have been remarking that Romney and Ryan are very close to and comfortable with each other.  Of course they are comfortable.  They are just alike.  There is no new learning that has to take place.  There is no real culture divide.  Romney is Mormon and Ryan, conservative Roman Catholic, but their positions on social and “religious” issues are nearly identical.  They both wield fear with great skill despite their claimed deep faith.

So, Mitt chose his clone for the ticket.  The clone has a bit more personality, but is that enough?  I suspect that for a lot of PWGs and their supporters it will be plenty.