Thou Shalt Not Lie

Whichever Commandment the "no lying one" is, both fundamentalist Jesus-loon Michele Bachmann

Some readers might question why we are checking a statement by Bachmann for a second day in a row. We concede that it might seem a bit much, but her assertions often reflect comments that have bounced around, unchecked, in the blogosphere.

& pseudo-Catholic Paul Ryan have been judged & found wanting. Says quite a bit about them, their religion & their gawd that both of them feel they can violate "His" "Commandments" w/ impunity, doesn't it?

And what is w/ the people of Minnesota & Wisconsin (at least the districts that keep returning these two liars to Congress)? They're fucking morons just like the rest of you is what's w/ them.It's hard to think of populations outside the Confederacy more deserving of black helicopter visits to Federal Educating the Morons & Assholes camps than those two districts. And not for reëducation, but for the primary education they were deprived of. It should probably start w/ math. Or reading comprehension.

Bachmann made two key errors here. First, she misinterpreted Tanner’s point. Then, she blithely assumed the ratio was applicable to the Food Stamp program when budget data show she’s off by more than a factor of 10 (or a factor of 200, if you just count salaries.) So Bachmann yet again earns Four Pinocchios. But there really aren’t enough Pinocchios for such misleading use of statistics in a major speech.

Some social norms can't be left to the schools; that whole truth/lies deal, for example. So what did Rep. Ryan's Catholic family & religion teach him?

It's not just today, either. Ryan keeps reinforcing suspicions that his memory is alarmingly bad.

Ryan doesn't remember that he used to refer to his own plan to end Medicare as "vouchers."

Ryan doesn't remember taking credit for the sequestration policy he later condemned.

Ryan doesn't remember learning about Democratic alternatives to the sequester.

Ryan doesn't remember what happened with the 2011 "super committee."

Ryan doesn't remember Bill Clinton's tax increases.

Ryan doesn't remember the times he condemned social-insurance programs as "taker" programs.

Ryan doesn't remember all of the times he appealed to the Obama administration for stimulus funds for his congressional district.

Ryan doesn't remember his marathon times.

Ryan doesn't remember how much he was inspired by Ayn Rand.

Ryan doesn't remember his own speeches.

Everyone can be forgetful once in a while, but the Republican Budget Committee chairman seems to forget rather important details and developments so often, it's rather unsettling.

The alternative, of course, is that Ryan's memory is fine and he shamelessly lies when it suits his purposes, but why be uncharitable? Let's instead just assume that the poor congressman suffers from a terrible memory.

We suppose that this consistency in his stated policies & unwavering dedication to the truth are why the conventional wisdom throughout the punditocracy is that Mr. Ryan is very serious & principled.

Our conclusion is that it's perfectly alright if you're a Republican, it's equally OK if you're a Christian, Commandments be damned, & if you are both Republican & Christian it's probably obligatory to lie through one's teeth.

They're as two-faced as Mormons.