So, still no hard truths. That sounds like it's just convenient truths. You know what, at this point in this speech, I'd settle for any truth.
PAUL RYAN (8/29/2012): $716 billion dollars, funneled out of Medicare by President Obama.
What? You mean the $716 billion dollar reduction in payments, mostly to providers, the exact same amount Republicans also proposed to cut from Medicare, in their highly praised — What was the name of it? — Ryan budget? I can't believe Ryan Seacrest would suggest such a... WAIT A MINUTE!! RYAN!!!
PAUL RYAN (8/29/2012): He created a new bipartisan debt commission. They came back with an urgent report. He thanked them, sent them on their way, and then did exactly nothing.
Oh right, that was the Bowles-Simpson proposal that was never officially presented to Congress in part because it was voted down by a blue-eyed dreamboat named Ryan. Ryan Gosling, I can't beli... WAIT A MINUTE!!
You know what? Maybe if you told a more personal story about an auto plant closing in Paul Ryan's district, maybe that'll contain some of these hard truths he's known for.
PAUL RYAN (8/29/2012): Right there at that plant, candidate Obama said: "I believe that if our government is there to support you, this plant will be here for another hundred years." That's what he said in 2008. ... That plant didn't last another year. ... The recovery that was promised is nowhere in sight.
Yeah, except that plant announced in June of 2008 that it would be stopping production. I mean, hold on a second. Siri, who was President in June 2008? "George Bush!" Thank you, Siri. You're the best.
....
JON STEWART: So you, obviously, you were on the floor, you saw the speech last night.
JOHN OLIVER: I did, Jon. And it really hit home for me. I guess, because my parents once owned a small business, a scented candle emporium in Akron, Ohio. In 2009, President Obama visited, and promised it would become the biggest candle company in the world. Two weeks later, it burned to the ground in a terrible, beautifully scented fire. Honestly, I still tear up whenever I smell lavender.
JON STEWART: Right, it's a powerful story. Obviously, none of that is true. Your parents are teachers in England.
JOHN OLIVER: Yeah, that's not the point, Jon. What was the theme of last night's convention?
JON STEWART: We can change it.
JOHN OLIVER: Exactly. And that is what I've just done. In keeping with last night's theme, Jon, I chose to change facts, reality, and the meaning of words, in order to make a much larger point. (wild audience cheering and applause)
JON STEWART: But you can't do that. What you need to do... you can't just ignore the truth when it doesn't support your purpose.
JOHN OLIVER: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on. You can when you're trying to save your country from a socialist tyrant.
JON STEWART: Wha... who's that?
JOHN OLIVER: Barack Obama!
JON STEWART: But... he's not!
JOHN OLIVER: Yeah, I know, Jon. And that's why the Republicans changed that. Look, look. Do you agree that they want to win the White House?
JON STEWART: Of course they do.
JOHN OLIVER: And wouldn't it be easier, Jon, to defeat a socialist tyrant hellbent on destroying the American way of life, rather than beating a kind of fuzzy, center-left likeable technocrat?
JON STEWART: Sure, I mean that's obviously....
JOHN OLIVER: Exactly!
JON STEWART: But that would be a lie.
JOHN OLIVER: Yeah, unless they changed it, Jon! (audience cheering) That's what the whole of last night was about! And for good reason. Reframing the broader debate as tyrannical Democrats versus freedom-loving Republicans is one the Republicans can win.
And Stephen had this gem from his coverage last night about Paul Ryan's lies.
But yesterday, it was Romney's running mate Paul Ryan's night, a party favorite, an electric speaker, there to highlight the night's theme, which was "We Can Change It". Either a reference to the terrible state of this country, or something convention organizers had just put in as a placeholder, and, you know. (audience applause)
Either way, the main event, ladies and gentlemen, the Jack from Janesville, the Wisconsin Wonder Boy, Mr. Paul... holy shit, that guy's handsome. Look at those eyes! I'm sorry, Paul Ryan, Aruba called, they want their pools of blue tranquil water back. Woo!
Young and fit. Has a political party ever had a greater disparity between the vitality of one of its vice presidential nominees, and the member of their party who last held the position?
I mean, that is, wow. I mean, that is... oh, wait, oh my God, what is happening?
No!! He stole his vitality!! And turned himself into Rock Hudson! How does Dick Cheney do that? Anyway, here's the good news. Ryan doesn't need to rely on his looks. The man's got game.
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY, R-CA (8/29/2012): The difference you get with Paul Ryan, you get the honesty.
FORMER SEN. ALAN SIMPSON, R-WY (8/17/2012): ... a spokesman of hard truth ...
STEVE KING, RNC SERGEANT AT ARMS: Here's a man who's not afraid to tell the truth.
BILL O'REILLY: Ryan and Romney are going to run on facts.
Paul Ryan is so honest, every time he talks, his nose shrinks. Paul Ryan is so honest, his poker tell is, "I'm staying in, but I have terrible cards." Paul Ryan is so honest, you know what he calls Honest Abe Lincoln? A dirty fucking liar, that's what he calls him! (audience applause)
All right! So I'm braced for it. Come on, Paul Ryan. I'm braced for the hard truths. Hit me.
PAUL RYAN (8/29/2012): After four years of getting the run-around, America needs a turnaround.
OK, I would've gone with reach-around, but ah... (wild audience cheering and applause) that's why I am where I am, and why you are where you are. All right, let's get to the ideas.
PAUL RYAN (8/29/2012): We will keep federal spending at 20% of GDP or less ... 12 million new jobs over the next four years ... strengthen Medicare for my mom's generation ... we'll put government back on the side of the men and women who create jobs!
Whew, that is ambitious. That is going to be hard. I'm ready for the tough truth of how it's going to get us there. All right, hit me with the deets.
PAUL RYAN (8/29/2012): We will take responsibility ... we will reapply our founding principles ... we will not duck the tough issues, we will lead.
(confused audience laughter)
Oh. "A Romney/Ryan administration will do good, not bad. For bad is the lesser of those options."
That's your speech?? You're the policy expert! What a disappointment! "Ladies and gentlemen, Aretha Franklin's going to come out, and knit for you!" I mean, come on!
All right, no details, but perhaps you'd like to expand on this week's theme, that any successful business is solely the result of individual achievement.
PAUL RYAN (8/29/2012): And I hope you understand this too. If you're feeling left out or passed by, you have not failed, your leaders have failed you.
Time out, Chiseled Chin McNicey Face — he's really good looking. Let me get this straight. So if your dry cleaning business succeeds with a Democrat in office, you built that! But if your dry cleaning business fails with a Democrat in office, the government fucked you. (wild audience cheering and applause)
So, still no hard truths. That sounds like it's just convenient truths. You know what, at this point in this speech, I'd settle for any truth.
PAUL RYAN (8/29/2012): $716 billion dollars, funneled out of Medicare by President Obama.
What? You mean the $716 billion dollar reduction in payments, mostly to providers, the exact same amount Republicans also proposed to cut from Medicare, in their highly praised — What was the name of it? — Ryan budget? I can't believe Ryan Seacrest would suggest such a... WAIT A MINUTE!! RYAN!!!
PAUL RYAN (8/29/2012): He created a new bipartisan debt commission. They came back with an urgent report. He thanked them, sent them on their way, and then did exactly nothing.
Oh right, that was the Bowles-Simpson proposal that was never officially presented to Congress in part because it was voted down by a blue-eyed dreamboat named Ryan. Ryan Gosling, I can't beli... WAIT A MINUTE!!
You know what? Maybe if you told a more personal story about an auto plant closing in Paul Ryan's district, maybe that'll contain some of these hard truths he's known for.
PAUL RYAN (8/29/2012): Right there at that plant, candidate Obama said: "I believe that if our government is there to support you, this plant will be here for another hundred years." That's what he said in 2008. ... That plant didn't last another year. ... The recovery that was promised is nowhere in sight.
Yeah, except that plant announced in June of 2008 that it would be stopping production. I mean, hold on a second. Siri, who was President in June 2008? "George Bush!" Thank you, Siri. You're the best.
I don't get this! This was the intellectual leader of the new Republican Party's big night. How's he going to spin his way out of it?
8/30/2012:
WILL CAIN: He didn't say President Obama shut down that plant, what it was was an indictment on a deeper level, which is a debate that I would love to have.
CHRIS CILLIZZA: I think he didn't provide context.
TIM PAWLENTY: Well, you know, the broader point, I think, is how's the economy doing under President Obama, and did he keep his promises.
KEVIN MADDEN: ... in broader terms about what it is that they believe ... that's the debate, I think, that the American public is going to watch very closely.
RUDY GIULIANI: Well, look, when people give speeches, not every fact is always absolutely accurate.
(wild audience laughter and applause)
Oh, yeah? What, they just take a couple of facts and just comb them over a giant area of bullshit? Here's the problem, Mr. Giuliani. If you have a fact that's not accurate, it's no longer considered a fact. At that point, it's considered — What do they call it there? — un-fact? I'm sure there's a quicker way of saying that.
JON STEWART: For more, we're joined by our Daily Show RNC Correspondent, John Oliver. John, thank you so much for being here. Let me ask you something. So you, obviously, you were on the floor, you saw the speech last night.
JOHN OLIVER: I did, Jon. And it really hit home for me. I guess, because my parents once owned a small business, a scented candle emporium in Akron, Ohio. In 2009, President Obama visited, and promised it would become the biggest candle company in the world. Two weeks later, it burned to the ground in a terrible, beautifully scented fire. Honestly, I still tear up whenever I smell lavender.
JON STEWART: Right, it's a powerful story. Obviously, none of that is true. Your parents are teachers in England.
JOHN OLIVER: Yeah, that's not the point, Jon. What was the theme of last night's convention?
JON STEWART: We can change it.
JOHN OLIVER: Exactly. And that is what I've just done. In keeping with last night's theme, Jon, I chose to change facts, reality, and the meaning of words, in order to make a much larger point. (wild audience cheering and applause)
JON STEWART: But you can't do that. What you need to do... you can't just ignore the truth when it doesn't support your purpose.
JOHN OLIVER: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on. You can when you're trying to save your country from a socialist tyrant.
JON STEWART: Wha... who's that?
JOHN OLIVER: Barack Obama!
JON STEWART: But... he's not!
JOHN OLIVER: Yeah, I know, Jon. And that's why the Republicans changed that. Look, look. Do you agree that they want to win the White House?
JON STEWART: Of course they do.
JOHN OLIVER: And wouldn't it be easier, Jon, to defeat a socialist tyrant hellbent on destroying the American way of life, rather than beating a kind of fuzzy, center-left likeable technocrat?
JON STEWART: Sure, I mean that's obviously....
JOHN OLIVER: Exactly!
JON STEWART: But that would be a lie.
JOHN OLIVER: Yeah, unless they changed it, Jon! (audience cheering) That's what the whole of last night was about! And for good reason. Reframing the broader debate as tyrannical Democrats versus freedom-loving Republicans is one the Republicans can win.
JON STEWART: But it's not the real debate!
JOHN OLIVER: Yeah it is, now they've changed it!
JON STEWART: All right, look!
JOHN OLIVER: What are you not getting about this, Jon?
JON STEWART: You're saying as long as it helps them get what they want, they're allowed to do whatever they want!
JOHN OLIVER: Let me tell you a story, Jon. Last night, I met a very attractive and very drunk girl. And, like Paul Ryan, I delivered a speech to her about my life. Now, am I a Purple Heart recipient or an Olympic gold medalist?
JON STEWART: No. You are not.
JOHN OLIVER: True. But, did she wake up next to me this morning, before going and telling her friends that she just had sex with a war hero Olympian? Yes, Jon. Yes she did. (wild audience cheering and applause) And who is to say that her truth, Jon, is any less true than mine?
JON STEWART: You lied to her to get her into bed!
JOHN OLIVER: Jon, when she saw me, she was not attracted to me. I instantly thought, we can change that. (audience laughter) So, I told her a series of facts that were not absolutely accurate, in order to realize the much larger truth that I wanted to have sex with her.
JON STEWART: That's... that's horrible!
JOHN OLIVER: What choice did I have, Jon? If I didn't say that, I wouldn't have had sex with her!!
JON STEWART: You are a terrible, terrible person.
JOHN OLIVER: It doesn't matter, Jon. I can change that!
JON STEWART: All right. John Oliver, everybody. We'll be right back.
JOHN OLIVER: That's the point!
JON STEWART: That's not the point!
to be aired at the RNC. Yes, that's Leonard Nimoy narrating. :-)
. He then noted the
Paul Ryan's speech (and the lies).
, which went long. Here's the unedited interview in two parts. Steele actually made some good points in the second segment, and did say that the RNC's treatment of the Ron Paul delegates was disgraceful. Methinks there's not much love lost between him and Reince Priebus.