General Discussion

highplainsdem

(48,993 posts) Sat Sep 1, 2012, 01:22 PM Sep 2012

Mediaite headline: World Class Liar: Runner’s World Debunks Outlandish Paul Ryan Marathon Claim

Wow. Love that headline:

http://www.mediaite.com/online/world-class-liar-runners-world-debunks-outlandish-paul-ryan-marathon-claim/

Who would have thought that Runner’s World magazine would find itself at the center of another political controversy, about another Republican vice-presidential candidate? This one, however, could really hurt. Hot on the heels of Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) Snickers™ Bar of Lies at the Republican National Convention comes the story of how Runner’s World debunked Ryan’s claim to have run a “two hour and fifty-something” minute marathon.

-snip-

Now busted, the candidate released this statement through a spokesman:

“The race was more than 20 years ago, but my brother Tobin—who ran Boston last year—reminds me that he is the owner of the fastest marathon in the family and has never himself ran a sub-three. If I were to do any rounding, it would certainly be to four hours, not three. He gave me a good ribbing over this at dinner tonight.”

This must have been the same dinner at which Ryan’s brother reminded him that he’d never actually walked on the moon, but had once done some fairly convincing mimicry of the Billie Jean video. The only person who could possibly knock over an hour off of a marathon time by accident is someone who had never actually run one.

-snip-

Even fake stories of “serial exaggeration” did serious damage to former future President Al Gore in 2000, so a story like this, on its own, has the potential to capture the imaginations of the less politically-engage voting public. Add to that the fact that it comes on the heels of a high profile speech that was characterized by its remarkable dishonesty, and you have the potential for a Lyin’ Ryan narrative that could stick, and could really hurt the Romney/Ryan ticket with the sliver of voters who haven’t made up their minds yet.

-snip-