Our Very Serious Media
Tonight, Politico hands Paul Ryan its award for Health Care Policymaker of the Year.
Because inside the Beltway, actually crafting useful policy that helps people is meaningless. No doubt it’s only matter of time before James Inhofe wins Environmental Policymaker of the Year and Michelle Bachmann walks home with a prize for GLBT Issues Policymaker of the Year!
…..Link fixed!
Link broken.
This is probably for the best.
Depends on what they mean by “of the year.” I can certainly see Paul Ryan being the Health Care Policymaker of the Year in the same sense that, say, Adolf Hitler was Man of the Year in 1938. Paul Ryan’s health care proposals shaped the news this year in a big way. As a matter of the historical record, Paul Ryan was an important person, even if he was also a bad person.
Problem being, of course, that Ryan didn’t actually make any “policy.” His proposed plan was voted down. Even the Insane Clown Posse version of the Republican Party circa 2011 couldn’t muster enough votes to pass it.
That just proves how right he was!
Honestly, sometimes I wonder if you people have any idea how this game is played.
Well, 2011 wasn’t a very productive year in terms of actually passing things. The sort of irrational extremism of the Paul plan definitely shaped the sorts of things that Congress tried to do, though.
Although someone in the Obama administration working on the implementing of the ACA might be end up being more influential on net.
Charlie Pierce did something on this today too, and the link he had seemed to not go to where it was intended. Nothing on their homepage about the award, wither. Politico may have shot its load a bit early, perhaps, or else all all of the negative feedback from the blogoshpere is causing them to reconsider doing something as flat-out stupid as this.
Doesn’t “policymaker” suggest Ryan actually MADE something? This should go to the Heritage foundation of Politico really loves the bill that much.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s noticed, but ever since the Cain sexual harassment story broke Politco, founded and run by Ronald Reagan’s chief of staff!, has been referred to by righties as “the left-leaning Politico” or “the liberal Politico.” I guess with this they’ve now achieved “Even the liberal” status, even though unlike the New Republic they’ve never even pretended.
Watch Andrew Klavan invoke a handy “law” that says all organizations become left-wing unless they’re
truly Scottishexplicitly right-wing.2007 was a long time ago and the sociamalist rot has set in.
Looking into the minds of conservatives is a scary thing. Breibart is an important stalwart for the truth? Colbert’s truthiness act is as good a satire of these people as you are going to find.
He’ll definitely have a slot in a Gingrich administration. They’re both “big thinkers.”
It shouldn’t be “Health Care Policymaker of the Year”, it should be “Health Care Politico of the Year”. He proposed disastrous ideas which the media took seriously and weaseled his way into the popular discourse.
I think it is safe to say that Paul Ryan made the most political hay out of the health care issue in 2011. That’s all “Politico” values.
Y’know, in fairness to Politico…I know, why???…do we know for a fact the award is for a positive policy? They could simply be judging this based on the amount of traffic that gets driven to the site.
But it never became policy. So what, exactly, did he make?
That’s what I’m saying: traffic to the Politico website.
You may recall the history of this award. Benito Mussolini received the first one for his innovative mass transit solutions.
Herman Cain: Feminist of the Year, for bringing sexual harassment to the national spotlight
Andrew Breitbart: Journalist of the Year, for causing discussion about the necessity and nature of journalist ethics
Pol Pot, for his unique contributions to education and population control.
Nathan Bedford Forrest’s civil rights work was something to remark upon, assuming one had a tongue left afterwards.
Hitler: Winner of the Internet Argument Brevity Award.
sp. mention: Godwin
Henry Kissinger, for promoting peace by waging war.
Oh, wait, that actually happened.
rep. bachmann will be unable to attend the ceremony. she’s still lying on the fainting couch, after that 8 year-old had the temerity to tell her his gay mommy didn’t need fixing.
This really should happen in real life if there is any justice in the world.
I read Slate and found out this incident really did happen. Its really sweet. What a great kid.
Are we not going to see an obituary for David Montgomery? Or is he too left wing for this liberal blog? http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jon-wiener
Inhofe? A man of many talents- I understand there’s a vacancy at FAA.
Paul Ryan also made Foreign Policy‘s list of Top 100 Global Thinkers for 2011 (#40 to be exact) for “Putting America’s debt problem on top of the agenda.”
What a polymath that Ryan is!