Paul Ryan Pours Gas on Middle East Unrest at the Values Voter Summit

Last updated on February 8th, 2013 at 01:19 pm

Ignoring the danger and rage the top of his ticket already caused in the Middle East, Ryan poured gasoline on the fire today and then, like a little boy dropping the pyro’s match and running, disingenuously renamed the goal of a Romney Ryan administration as “peace”.

Video via C-SPAN:

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Transcript from the Washington Post per Ryan’s prepared remarks:

All of us are watching events closely, but we know who America is dealing with in these attacks. They are extremists who operate by violence and intimidation. And the least equivocation or mixed signal only makes them bolder.

Look across that region today, and what do we see?
– The slaughter of brave dissidents in Syria.
– Mobs storming American embassies and consulates.
– Iran four years closer to gaining a nuclear weapon.
– Israel, our best ally in the region, treated with indifference bordering on contempt by the Obama administration.

Amid all these threats and dangers, what we do not see is steady, consistent American leadership.
In the days ahead, and in the years ahead, American foreign policy needs moral clarity and firmness of purpose. Only by the confident exercise of American influence are evil and violence overcome.
That is how we keep problems abroad from becoming crises. That is what keeps the peace. And that is what we will have in a Romney-Ryan administration.

Gee, Ryan hit all of the hot points – stirred up Israel, blamed Obama’s “mixed signals” (that apparently Romney is now claiming to share, by the way – talk about leading from behind) for the “slaughter” of dissidents in Syria, the mobs storming the embassies, Iran being four years closer to a nuclear weapon — but no word on how Romney’s Russia gaffe killing Russia’s consent to our missile defense plans plays into this scenario.

Ryan never addressed Romney’s real foreign policy on Libya or any other country, but that’s understandable given how Romney changes his positions so that he is always in opposition to Obama verbally, while later often taking refuge in mimicking the President’s position in order to quell the latest storm over his untethered mouth.

Ryan never explains how Romney buying into Glenn Beck’s Muslim caliphate conspiracy would settle things in the region, or how Romney’s endless warnings that Iran is coming for us right now create peace. No one ever asks Romney why he’s been saying that for over four years and if he was wrong then, why we should trust him now. He’s just waiting to be right for once, apparently, and perhaps this too will bring him joy instead of sadness.

Contrary to Ryan’s portrayal of the situation in Israel, Netanyahu’s games didn’t work on Obama, but Obama did speak with him and Netanyahu did say it was a good talk and his defense minister did say that he does not agree with Netanyahu either. So, no, not everyone sees things through the lens of Sheldon Adelson’s money.

It’s almost surreal to listen to Romney Ryan grab hold of the exact opposite of the truth and then claim it as their value, but in this consistent behavior they have revealed themselves to be rudderless and craven. The moment of pure ironic glee was Ryan lecturing the audience about our American values (free speech was the refuge for their Libya attack on the President), while having a protester hauled out by security for yelling, “Corporations aren’t people!” Paul Ryan is no stranger to having people arrested at his townhalls when they dare to question him. This, for the freedom….

It’s also more than ironic that while speaking at a convention attended by many of the identified hate mongers against Muslims in this country, Ryan speaks of our American values and blames our President for unrest in the Middle East. Ryan does this as he is “pallin’ around with terrorists”, as Republicans would say.

Right Wing Watch points out that the conference features:

A fake terrorist who claims to have smuggled weapons into the U.S. and carried out “bloody terror” missions against Israel

The video that sparked the unrest in Egypt and Libya was created and promoted by anti-Muslim activists who have worked with backers of Bachmann’s effort to purge the U.S. government of Muslim Americans and key players in the effort to block the so-called Ground Zero mosque (e.g. ACT! for America and the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission)

In July, misinformation promoted by Bachmann and two upcoming speakers at the Values Voter Summit, Frank Gaffney and Jerry Boykin, sparked aggressive protests against American diplomats in Egypt, including Secretary Clinton, whose motorcade was pelted by protestors – Boykin and Gaffney have been the leading forces behind Bachmann’s witch hunt against Muslim Americans in the U.S. government

Former Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin, now the executive vice president of the Family Research Council, which hosts the conference, significantly set back American diplomacy in 2003, drawing a rebuke from President Bush and Pentagon investigators, when he repeatedly denounced and insulted Islam in uniform and characterized the “war on the terror” as a war in the name of Jesus

Peace? When has peace ever come from lies, intolerance, immature and inflammatory statements, bigotry, and war mongering?

Peace and unity start at home, and I see not one indication of either value in Paul Ryan or Mitt Romney. If indeed they valued either, they would not be throwing gasoline on the flames of hatred or dishing out inaccurate and divisive blame today, of all days.

As a reality check against the propaganda being heaped upon the electorate, in reality, Obama has imposed the toughest sanctions on the Iranian government according to CIA director David Petraeus. Romney and Ryan might want to make note that the “Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey warned that a military conflict with Iran could be destabilizing for the region and have potentially severe economic ramifications for the U.S.”

These global issues and challenges are not for the shallow. They require depth, intellectual curiosity and of course, good judgment.

What to make of this team of anarchist rogues with nary a courageous cell between them – swaggering tough talk when neither of them has ever served and neither of them has the backbone to actually lead their party out of the cesspool it’s fallen into?

Clowns with the ability to ruin this nation – that’s what they are. And it’s not funny any more.

Note: Video will be updated when available.

Sarah Jones

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