Urgh. It really doesn’t get much worse than this, folks. This is one of those things that’s just so debased and boneheaded you really have to wonder what the thought process was. Early yesterday pictures circulated of Vice President Nominee, Paul Ryan, and his family, washing dishes at a soup kitchen in northeastern Ohio. Late yesterday the head of the charity confirmed the rumor that it was all a lie, and Ryan “did nothing” while there.
Brian J. Antal, president of the Mahoning County St. Vincent De Paul Society in Youngstown, told the Washington Post that not only did Ryan do nothing, but that he also didn’t have permission to be there, as the faith-based organization has bylaws barring it from hosting political candidates.
“They showed up there and they did not have permission,” he said. “They got one of the volunteers to open up the doors.” Antal added that Ryan and his family “did nothing” while on the premises.
“He just came in here to get his picture taken at the dining hall,” he said.
The pictures show Ryan and his family donning aprons and washing dishes. Oh, yeah. The dishes were already clean, which didn’t stop Ryan from telling his son how he spent a summer washing dishes and how he’d get calluses on his fingers because the water was so hot — all done while virtually pantomiming cleaning a pot next to the sink. Really, Paul? Was this at the summer job working at McDonalds, or when you drove the Wiener mobile? But, really, what we take from this statement is that he hasn’t washed a dish since.
Apparently when he arrived on site without invitation, the kitchen was clean and the dining area was empty, but this didn’t stop the photo op from proceeding, or the cameras from rolling.
You know, we get it. Politicians often participate in photo ops. This is part of the political machine — shaking hands and kissing babies — but when you go so far as to completely stage a supposed act of good for the blatant reason of somehow trying to convey that you give a damn about the 47%, well, that says a lot about your character. It also says a lot about the campaign you’re running. It seems that the ultimate goal here and probably in general is to fool the American people into thinking that the Romney-Ryan ticket would ever deign associate or lower themselves to be in the presence of the underserved, or that they care. No, the lazy way in which this was produced shows just the opposite — that they couldn’t care less — not even if you see through their ruse.
The Romney campaign released this statement about the appearance:
“Our campaign and Congressman Ryan were pleased to bring attention to the meaningful charitable contributions the St. Vincent De Paul Society makes to people in need.”
And we think the president of the society sums it up best:
“Had they asked for permission, it wouldn’t have been granted. … But I certainly wouldn’t have let him wash clean pans, and then take a picture,” Antal said.
What an embarrassment they are.
Take a look at the video, and see if you can determine what the endgame was here. Because seemingly there is nothing that doesn’t scream bullshit. The minute he picks up that clean pan, he looks like a none-too-bright self-serving jackass. And if Mitt Romney had done this, he’d be back to being viewed as the insensitive rich businessman who has total disregard for much of the nation.
Oh, and Paul. Ahem. This is how you do it.
