Dear Commons Community,

With all of the pundits and columnists  weighing in on Mitt Romney’s pick of Paul Ryan as his running mate, it was just a matter of time for Maureen Dowd to cast her barbed opinion.  In her New York Times column today entitled, When Cruelty is Cute,  she comes out with both barrels firing.  In her introduction, she characterizes Ryan as:

“He’s the cutest package that cruelty ever came in. He has a winning air of sad cheerfulness. He’s affable, clean cut and really cut, with the Irish altar-boy widow’s peak and droopy, winsome blue eyes and unashamed sentimentality.

Who better to rain misery upon the heads of millions of Americans?

He’s Scrooge disguised as a Pickwick, an ideologue disguised as a wonk. Not since Ronald Reagan tried to cut the budget by categorizing ketchup and relish as vegetables has the G.O.P. managed to find such an attractive vessel to mask harsh policies with a smiling face.

The Young Gun and former prom king is a fan of deer hunting, catfish noodling, heavy metal and Beethoven. He’s a great dad who says the cheese, bratwurst and beer of Wisconsin flow in his veins. He’s so easy to like — except that his politics are just a teensy bit heartless.”

She goes on to discuss his positions on supply-side economics, abortion, health care and social security.

Her conclusion:

“Ryan should stop being so lovable. People who intend to hurt other people should wipe the smile off their faces.”

Maureen has hit the nail on the head, again!

Tony