Willard's Choice

Soon-to-be Rethuglican nominee and shambler extraordinaire Willard "Romney Hood" Romney picked his running mate today, and boy, did he double down on the steal-from-the-poor-and-give-to-the-rich nature of his campaign by picking Social Darwinist and Eddie Munster look-alike Rep. Paul "Lyin'" Ryan as his running mate. As the architect of the radically right wing "Ryan Budget" proposal, Lyin' is the poster boy for upward income redistribution from the middle class: large tax cuts for higher incomes, deep cuts in middle class programs, shoveling money to defense contractors, and turning Medicare into an inadequate voucher system. It's classic far right wing boilerplate (even righty Poot Gingrich called it "right wing social engineering," before he was made to walk back that moment of honesty).

Of course, the Dems will have a field day not only on Lyin' Ryan's radical proposals, but also on his hypocrisy: he voted for two unpaid for wars, for the deficit-blowing Medicare Part D prescription benefit, for TARP, and for significant increases in the defense budget that the Pentagon doesn't need. He's also been in Congress for 14 years, spending the sum of his whole professional career in Washington, casting votes that need to be defended. Think Progress has 12 things voters should know about Lyin' Ryan, and it ain't pretty unless you're the ultimate tea bagger.

We an expect a few news cycles of Beltway media love for Lyin' -- just watching the CNN panel of "experts" this morning was nausea-inducing as they gave Lyin' tongue baths for "bold vision," "smarts," etc. But listening to him spout his cold "let him / her die" philosophy, distilled from crackpot Ayn Rand's novels, until November will wear on most voters.

BONUS: Read Michael Tomasky's hard-hitting analysis of the Rethug VP choice.