The gaffer.

America is still letting out an exhausted sigh from the debate two nights ago in Denver. At this point, who knows who won, and who actually cares? The best/worst part of it all, as my colleague James King pointed out, is that Donald Trump was mentioned two times in 90 minutes; that's two times more than the number of times Trump should ever be mentioned in a presidential debate.

Nevertheless, the next two meetings between Romney and Obama will likely produce more "mehs" from the begrudging national audience. Don't worry, Election Day will be over soon enough. At least we hope so.

The pointdexter.

But, Romney and Obama aside, we are forgetting a very important part of the American democratic process: the vice presidential debate. Next Wednesday, in lieu of the big boys fighting again, Paul Ryan and Joe Biden will face off at Centre College in Kentucky. The topics: domestic and foreign policy. The expectations: With last Wednesday in mind, it's evident that the VP debate will be much more entertaining then what we saw with Romney/Obama.


Especially with these two characters involved.
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The Huffington Post

Over the past two weeks, as the media buries the grave for Romney's campaign and writes its tombstone, we've heard it a million times, over and over again: the debates could change everything. The debates are going to be the most exciting television this fall. The debates will finally show the human side of Mitt Romney to America. The debates will give us a chance to really see what this election is all about. Even Governor Chris Christie said today the debates would turn the election "upside down."
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"So one of us is running for Vice President, but only one of us listened to 'Bawitdaba' on the way over here in the Secret Service motorcade," Paul Ryan said this morning at a rally in Royal Oaks, Michigan.

Miriam Coleman of Rolling Stone reported today that Kid Rock came out in support of the VP nominee to an audience of 160 people who each paid around $500 to see Detroit's gung-ho spokesperson and Ryan himself. The performance comes as a pre-game for the RNC this upcoming week, where Kid Rock, along with Lynyrd Skynyrd, Trace Adkins and Journey, will headline the family fun in Tampa.

Kid Rock's appearance rides the coat tail of the musical forces behind this election; some of which we wrote about last weekend (Paul Ryan's edgy relationship with Rage Against the Machine; Hank Williams, Jr., reminding audiences that "we all hate Obama;" etc.). 

And, to Ryan, the cowboy baby is a symbol of something that can only happen in America.

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No, pigs are not flying - this story is just too ironically hilarious to not report on.

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In Rep. Paul Ryan's 'The Path to Prosperity' budget, Medicare, the health insurance program that is loved by older Americans and hated by deficit hawks, will cease to exist some time around 2022. The program - a lasting stipulation of Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society - will be transformed into a voucher system, where anyone born after 1956 will be forced to seek private insurance instead of having the government pick up the bill. The HMO machine spurs on and, by 2033, you will have to be 67 to receive all of this good stuff.
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Paul Ryan's Workout Routine, VP Candidate

Since Mitt Romney tapped Paul Ryan's Workout Routine as his running mate Aug. 11, details have emerged that the vice presidential candidate has a grueling workout routine.

"Fresh from a workout at a hotel gym in Iowa" and wearing "exercise shorts and a University of Wisconsin baseball cap pulled down low" Paul Ryan's Workout Routine talked to Romney advisers via video-conference monitor.

Paul Ryan's Workout Routine, who's still learning the ins and outs of cross-country campaigning, will primarily be charged with fundraising.

Romney's advisers, who have "observed" Paul Ryan's Workout Routine during his morning workouts, noticed that he likes to get paper memos, "follows the grueling P90x fitness regime" and "really likes to break a sweat," according to Bloomberg News.

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Since Mitt Romney picked Paul Ryan as a running mate, many media outlets have pointed out the Wisconsin Rep's interest in Ayn Rand.

And they should -- Ayn Rand's basic schtick is that selfishness is a virtue and as such, the only ethical economic system is pure capitalism. Under Rand, any social safety net is wrong and unjust and for "moochers " and "collectivists;" true moral exemplars are ultra-rich egoists. What's important about Ryan's Rand affiliation, then, is its fiscal implications (and not-so-subtle dislike of the poor.)

Ryan might have realized that aligning himself with a pro-choice atheist might piss off GOP fundamentalists and partially renounced the pop philosopher, saying before VP talk: "If somebody is going to try to paste a person's view on epistemology to me, then give me Thomas Aquinas. Don't give me Ayn Rand."

Of course, this is complete bullshit. He hasn't abandoned his interpretation of Rand's economic policies (see first link.) More importantly, though, there's no way Ryan could read Aquinas -- and adhere to his beliefs -- without lying to himself and/or doing some serious mental gymnastics. And that's because Aquinas would have fucking hated Ryan's capitalism.

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Paul Ryan or Zach Woods? You Decide!

Yesterday, after Romney's selection of Paul Ryan to be his running mate, Michael D. Shear of the New York Times wrote, "If Mitt Romney wins in November, a Tea Party favorite will be a heartbeat away from the Oval Office." With that being said, shouldn't we know a little more about the guy? 
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