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Memo Pad

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Paul Ryan: Marathon Man

September 4th, 2012 8:22 pm Gene Lyons

Back in my college days, a fellow from my hometown went around telling people he’d been an all-state high school football player. In reality, he’d been a benchwarmer. He was a big strong kid, but you could watch him walk down the stairs and see he was no elite athlete.

People asked me about it, and I never knew what to say. We hadn’t particularly been friends in high school, but I had no wish to humiliate him. He was doing that all by himself. Oddly, most of our mutual friends were college football jocks who never believed his story for a minute.

Was it more funny or sad? I never decided. Other improbable tales followed. He eventually left school under a cloud, and I never learned how things turned out for him. Alright, I hope. We were nineteen, for heaven’s sake.

Maybe you can guess where I’m going here. Is it more laughable or embarrassing that the Republican nominee for Vice-President of the United States is a 42 year-old guy who made inflated claims about his athletic prowess in the seeming belief that nobody would know the difference?

Rep. Paul Ryan’s boast was no idle slip of the tongue. It came during an extended interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, who asked about his distance running. Here’s the transcript:

HEWITT: But you did run marathons at some point?
RYAN: Yeah, but I can’t do it anymore, because my back is just not that great.
HEWITT: I’ve just gotta ask, what’s your personal best?
RYAN: Under three, high twos. I had a two hours and fifty-something.
HEWITT: Holy smokes!…
RYAN: I was fast when I was younger, yeah.

Faced with an interlocutor who knew that he’d claimed an elite time, Ryan should have backed off immediately. Instead, he doubled-down. It wasn’t until Runner’s World documented that his actual recorded time was four hours and change, that the candidate had to admit he wasn’t so fast, but distinctly average.

It was, of course, an accidental “misstatement.” His brother was said to be teasing him about it.
I’ll bet he was.

I wonder if they also talked about their hometown GM factory whose closing was announced before President Obama’s election?

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  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_7DKWSXHQIDBW5PUAPZ2HZAYYUY Baron Cormac

    Ah, yes. The republicans have selected a Veep candidate who wouldn’t know the truth even if it stuck in his throat.

  • old_blu

    I know people like him, he is what we call around here as a liar and a fat mouth.

    I hope his numbers are better for the budget plan.

    Obama/Biden 2012

    • neece00

      Obama/Biden 2012

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Joseph-Ogunrinu/100001433199569 Joseph Ogunrinu

    This young boy Ryan is not only unfit to be President even something were to happen to Mitt Romney,he will be 43 years old, he is incompetent period. And who is going to be his Vice President? Mr. No body. America cannot afford these GREED ONLY PARTY. They will BLEED the country as Dick Cheney attempted under G.W BUSH. Every one knew of the incompetence of this DUO for 8years. 2000 election was RIGGED and that made GWB an ILLEGITIMATE president. Then we had a DISHONEST WAR. 2004 boiled down than to RIGGING OHIO and the WAR escalated. This political Party is NOT good for America and should be replaced with people that are descent HUMAN BEINGS. I have never met a REPUBLICAN with any KIND of BRAIN. Any political party is better than GOP/ TEA PARTY. Off course, every body knows TEA PARTY are jokes and they are POISON to the GOP. This is the way we like it. Let GOP with their poison and hatred go to hell and stay there.

  • ExPAVIC

    VERY CLEAR

    Paul Ryan is RoMoney’s gutter snipe.

    While they both criticize Obama, neither one has comes up with any reasonable solutions to the multitude of problems Bush couldn’t deal with during his administration and left for the current POTUS to solve.

    Remember, RoMoney wins and we all loose.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_OAT6GEIDI5HWY2H6KOUAJXKLY4 AliciaSolis

    There’s no lies these two won’t spread or no low they won’t stoop…The only thing these two have going for them is: A great hair gel for Romney and P90X for chicken lips Ryan…

    Not one solution to the economic woes for those unemployment,just a constant hate-mongering of the black president,as somehow not one of them/us..Hogwash…

  • 10Northgate

    I was a runner for about 30 years. I was never fast, but I was diligent. I never ran a marathon, but I did run just over twenty 15K races in Jacksonville, FL. Real runners never lie about their times. Ryan ran one marathon and couldn’t remember his time? This is not a person of integrity. This is not a new kind of politician. This guy is a fraud.

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_B6RROC4IUESHT322QS5VJVPYRM Lynda

      I was a runner in high school back in the 1950′s. One thing I’ve never forgotten is my best times. It is my experience that runners remember such things since they are a record of achievement. Certainly some folks forget, but if I had only one race to remember I would surely not take an hour off my time. This is just another sure sign of a flawed character.

  • http://www.facebook.com/dominick.vila.1 Dominick Vila

    Hopefully Ryan’s marathon abilities – time notwithstanding – will take him all the way to Greece and keep him there.

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/D74NI3DDVMLCI6AOZNLPKTVFDA Sadie Hawkins

    BIG ROMNEY TALKING POINT:
    “Obama lacks business experience.”
    Romney’s VP Pick:
    A “Wiernermobile” driver for one summer in college — Huge business experience.
    Was Ryan a “self defense” selection. On the chance, the car-top dog hauler should get elected, he would be safe from danger, because noone would want to risk Ryan in the Wite House.
    His Ryan Plan has been reviewed and declared a bad joke by every competent economist in the nation. He had a free ride through college thanks to Social Security payments from his late father’s account. He refused to support the final Simpson/Bowles report because it did not destroy Medicare and Social Security.

  • jcbsdriver

    Ah, the tangled webs we weave….
    When at first we lie and decieve.

    Looks like Paul got caught in his own web!

  • SaneJane

    High Twos rather than High Fives.

  • reinaldok

    How many liars can there be? Ryan’s are so obvious and plain ridiculous. I find those of some upstarts much more dangerous. Their lies are much more subtle and are swallowed whole by the more ignorant. I am thinking of the senator from Florida, Rubio. At the convention he told that very tear jerking story about how his family fled Cuba to be able to take advantage of the American dream. Any person without true knowledge would certainly wonder how did they ever get out from under the Castro’s rule? Inner tube – swam – quit a sports team? Easy answer,.They left Cuba way before Fidel Castro ever came to power. I would think that little omission should be looked at in the same light as Ryan’s now famous three hour marathon Of course there are many more.

    • adler56

      Rubio is another Republican who used a Republican party credit card for personal
      expenses- when he finally admitted he did he claimed he just got confused and used the wrong card- did he mean that every time he used the card he thought his name was Republican Party.

  • desertdustoff

    It is simple…if his lips are movin’, he’s lyin’ryan. I am retired military with 25 +years in the military, and now run a “rap” group (treatment center ) for service men and women suffering from PTSD. I have encountered men who claim they spent combat time in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, or claim to have Purple Hearts, or claim to be Navy Seals; however, when we check their records…most were never in combat, never were wounded and definitely were not Navy Seals. These “wannabes” were out of touch with reality, were as insecure as a middle school student, and almost always as immature. “If his lips are movn’, lyin” ryan fits in this same category. Someone who would lie about accomplishments like this, canl never be a leader in anything but name. Repugnicans…you want someone this immature and insecure to be the president of this country?Wow…what does that say about your level of stupidity.
    “Ignorance is not bliss; it is a gop (greedy old perverts) voter!!!!!!!!”
    Repupugnican women…you are as repugnant as your “lord” husbands for allowing them to legislate your body, tell you what to think, and tell you how to vote. Shame on you…you are a disgrace to your gender!! You can see where the term “rethuglicans, the American taliban” comes from. Don’t forget to don your burkas before leaving your houses. You don’t want to make those white, bigoted, fun dumb a mental ist husbands of yours’ angry.

    • grammyjill

      can I get some advise about your group?

    • Dave_dido

      It is my understanding that the Ryan Budget would cut $ 9 billion out of benefits for veterans. How about that? He’s willing to give the Pentagon more than they have asked for, but he wants to give less to the men and women who return to the U.S. with serious physical and mental wounds resulting from active duty service. Once again the GOP shows they only care about the big boys at the top and don’t give a darn about the plebes. The GOP has absolutely nothing to offer the working class, the middle class or the poor.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Ford-Truck/100003735221640 Ford Truck

    Why is it so unbelievable that Ryan ran “Under three, high twos. I had a two hours and fifty-something” marathon. After all, the former North Korean leader Kim Jong Il said he shot an 18 in a round of golf!

    PS: Look at the picture that accompanies this article. Anyone else notice the conehead alien standing behind Ryan?

    • old_blu

      I noticed that, he don’t look like he is none to happy with Ryan either. LOL

  • chuck677

    Lyan Ryan. He lies about everything. How can this man be trusted to lead our country?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000903186691 Suzanne Flowers Flannery

    I wonder if this guy ever took those pre-employment, psychometric assessment tests and ever passed? If not, he and others like him should take these tests in the first place.

  • howa4x

    This is what happens when you choose a person representing a district in congress and not a state. They are in safe districts and are used to shading the truth. On the house floor they can say anything because who is watching? Very few sit through hours of C-Spann. All of a sudden they are thrust onto the national stage, and everything they ever said is dredged up from file footage. They can’t just play to a sympathetic crowd anymore, and have to play to independents and leaners. Ryan is seeing that up close now. He is being challanged by what he has said, did and wrote. Ryan is back peddeling frantically, trying to remove himself from himself. We are seeing the Ryan makeover and there is not a lot of time. Romney figured it worked for him and he turned from a pro-choice , gay friendly, enviornmentalist into a strict red meat conservative, disavowing the past Romney. Who was that guy anyway? Ryan has to over come his co sponsor ship of anti abortion bills with the deraded Akin, did I hear forcible rape? He also spoke about SS privatization ,and voucherizing medicare, all on tape. Romney claims he made his transformation over time, but Ryan has to do it overnight. This is why he gets caught. Hey didn’t you say this just a few days ago, is what he is hearing during questioning. He sounds disengenious at best or lying at worst. Romney needed to get to the middle but also had to shore up a leaky base. Ryan was chosen to do the shoring up, but now Romney has to still get to a middle that he right wing dosen’t care about. He is in a party of true believers and they want him to stay the course. They don’t want to see Ryan become Romney. Be the protector of Christ’s words that you always were is what they want from Ryan. So the tug of war begins over him, with Mitt trying to drag him to the center and the base wanting him to be their champion. We will see a lot more shades of he truth from Ryan before this is over.

  • http://www.facebook.com/maggie.croft.92 Maggie Croft

    “Trust me, I will save you.” said the fox to Chicken Little. Now the fox says to Chicken Little’s grandmother, “Trust me, I will save your Medicare and Social Security.”

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/JMT6C3LHLJDD4RX4NB4KY5ICAE gargray

    Ryan should run away – He is fast, run run don’t come back, stay away.

  • sachfoxo

    The Republicans always pick the WRONG person for Vice President , Who kills it for the Front runner , Palin, Ryan……Number 4. post on Ryan 7 to follow . Just the Truth!
    Paul Ryan
    Paul Ryan, reared as a Roman Catholic, says his greatest mentor and life teacher was an Atheist named Ayan Rand, who had a pro-rich, anti-poor pholosophy, that basically says, “Screw My Neighbor The Poor – ” – this world belongs to the rich”. He is on taped recordings explaining his love for this Atheism teachings. He went as far as to say he demanded all his understaff read her book. This guy is a “Twisted Sister”. Catholic or Atheist? What are you Paul Ryan?

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Joan-Maurer/100000910841619 Joan Maurer

    Most of Ryan’s claims are false. He may be a runner but he is Not a Runner. He is also not a “economy wonk”. He has a BA in economics and political science from a university nobody has ever heard of. Over and over he has ‘reworked’ truth and history . He claims to be Christian yet he elevates selfishness and greed to virtues.

    All the calamaties that were visited on America came about partially thru his own vote and actions. The failure of Simpson -Bowles, the downgrading of our credit rating and the mushroom that is our debt.

    He and Romney cannot fix our economic problems because they are part of our economic problems.

  • http://twitter.com/DylanRobnett Dylan Robnett

    I’ll take Ironman triathlete and former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson over the rest of these clowns any day. He has never lied about his times or anything else of greater import.

  • rosebartok

    The only difference between a brown-noser and an a** kisser is the persepective. Poor guy just can’t open his mouth without “misspeaking” (lies in less genteel circles) and his running partner has to keep reminding him that he’s (Romney) is the one running for President. Shows great
    promise for things to come. Let the scandals begin…

  • sisterH

    At least he didn’t lie about his birth place to get into a university.
    He didn’t lie about basket ball skills.
    He didn’t lie about being poor as a young man traveling the world.
    He didn’t lie about caring about the poor and making them false promises.
    He didn’t lie about his views on gay marriage to get some votes and Money
    He didn’t lie about his relationships with ayres or soros
    He didn’t have to lie about his grades even now…incomplete

    • grammyjill

      Please check before you spew your hate. We are all getting tired of correcting you.

    • patuxant

      You must really get a charge looking at yourself in the mirror!

  • patuxant

    Just goes to show you..birds of a feather flock together, just like frauds and fools! Notice that all the digs on the President are conclusionary and have no substance or any basis in fact, or really, have no relevance. When hate is the prime motivator, this is the kind of garbage you can expect to hear.

  • http://www.facebook.com/leroy.crume Leroy Crume

    Ryan can’t stand the truth !!!

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/6KFMTNX5Z3K7PA3SHM74LP636Y Fred

    I am trying to figure out if the pseudo jock was anyone I knew. On the jock issue I think we can cut Paul some slack. Remember Hillary dodging bullets in some third world hell hole last election cycle. Fact are not important to our Republican budget warriors as long a they can do still more for their beloved 1%. We are all familiar with trickle down it is another term for being p####ed on. That crowd only gets upset about class warfare when the bottom 99% starts fighting back. Thanks for the well written and entertaining commentary. Fred B

  • rebProle

    I used ave’t get up in’t mornin alf an hour before I went bed ave two andfuls o cold gravel go to work down’t pit on a 24hr shift pay’t pit owner fer permission’t come t’work an when we got home our mum an dad’d slice us in two wit’t bread knife, kill us an dance about on our graves singin ” Halleleuya ” You try an tell that to the kids nowadays an’ they won’t believe yer…. Bloody romny and ryan two lying pigs with their snouts in the trough… Disgusting.