Is anybody there?

Perception is amazing. Republicans, for the most part, see Paul Ryan as a powerful congressmen, a hunk, a brilliant star on the political horizon, a possible future president. Most people I know see him as a doofus, a misguided goon, a clown, and a narrow-minded bigot. His recent comments about certain men who are inarticulate and don't value work were, as usual, inaccurate and offensive. What was really pathetic is his claiming that those comments were not racist when they clearly were. His recent maudlin tale about the little boy who didn't like getting free lunches at school and would rather have a brown-bag lunch because that meant somebody cared was so obviously fake that you would think he would blush as he told it. But no, he goofballed his way through the tale as if it were true and wore that dopey look of self-satisfaction that has become his trademark. The Republicans do not have a single man of character, a truth teller, a patriot, or an intellect. Instead they have a sad collection of liars,  snobs, racists, and unfeeling millionaires. And, of course, Stepford congressmen like Paul Ryan.