Paul Ryan Washed Clean Dishes For Political Photo-Op At Soup Kitchen
There must have been at least one aide nearby, with enough oxygen getting to the brain, to understand this was a massive blunder.
One–just one aide?
Paul Ryan and his wife Janna wash pots at St. Vincent De Paul dining hall. (Associated Press)
The head of a northeast Ohio charity says that the Romney campaign last week “ramrodded their way” into the group’s Youngstown soup kitchen so that GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan could get his picture taken washing dishes in the dining hall.
Brian J. Antal, president of the Mahoning County St. Vincent De Paul Society, said that he was not contacted by the Romney campaign ahead of the Saturday morning visit by Ryan, who stopped by the soup kitchen after a town hall at Youngstown State University.
“We’re a faith-based organization; we are apolitical because the majority of our funding is from private donations,” Antal said in a phone interview Monday afternoon. “It’s strictly in our bylaws not to do it. They showed up there, and they did not have permission. They got one of the volunteers to open up the doors.”
He added: “The photo-op they did wasn’t even accurate. He did nothing. He just came in here to get his picture taken at the dining hall.”
Ryan had stopped by the soup kitchen for about 15 minutes on his way to the airport after his Saturday morning town hall in Youngstown. By the time he arrived, the food had already been served, the patrons had left, and the hall had been cleaned.
Upon entering the soup kitchen, Ryan, his wife and three young children greeted and thanked several volunteers, then donned white aprons and offered to clean some dishes. Photographers snapped photos and TV cameras shot footage of Ryan and his family washing pots and pans that did not appear to be dirty.
Wow, the charity official exercised his right to vote! Nothing he says can be believed! He musta set the whole thing up, enticing Ly’in Ryan to stop over for the photo op. Ferrell’s post reeks of a repugnant talking points memo. I voted in the repug primary last April. I consider myself an independent. Does that mean if I see a dem politician doing something wankerful, my statement doesn’t count? Oh yeah, only in Fond du Lac county and you see ex-senator, current sleazebag Randy Hopper weaving in traffic and crossing the center line after 4 hours as a Packer game, then how you vote and what petitions you sign discounts your eye-witness testimony and a cop doing his sworn job. Here’s another thought on this episode:
Matthew 6
King James Version (KJV)
1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues
Let’s try this again shall we?
Townhall
(1) Ryan’s aides did, in fact, seek permission in advance for Ryan to appear at the kitchen. They were given the green light by someone who turned out to be a volunteer, and was therefore unauthorized to make those sorts of decisions. A miscommunication, and nothing more:
The head of the charity said a campaign aide who had sought permission for the visit prior to Ryan’s visit was granted access by a volunteer, rather than any person of authority at the soup kitchen. The volunteer, Antal said, had no authority to allow or deny the Republican vice presidential candidate’s stop.
(2) Paul Ryan did, in fact, exert some elbow grease by washing dirty dishes during his visit. The organization’s president was forced to rescind what turned out to be a false, second-hand account:
Amid questions and criticisms related to Paul Ryan’s visit this weekend to an Ohio soup kitchen, the charity’s president said the Republican vice presidential candidate did, in fact, scrub dirty dishes…The question of whether the Wisconsin congressman cleaned dishes that were actually dirty – as opposed to re-washing already clean dishes so as to get a good photo opportunity — Mahoning County St. Vincent De Paul Society President Brian Antal clarified that Ryan did clean soiled dishes. This differs from what Antal had told the Washington Post Monday. Speaking Tuesday morning with NBC News, Antal said he was not on-site when Ryan was at the soup kitchen and attributes his earlier comments that the dishes were clean when Ryan washed them to hearing the details second-hand from a volunteer.
(3) Mr. Antal is not the “independent” voter he claimed to be. Surprise:
Brian J. Antal, president of the Mahoning County St. Vincent De Paul Society, described himself as an independent voter when telling the Post that vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan came into the soup kitchen without permission on Monday and “did nothing.” But records from the Mahoning County Board of Elections show that he has voted in Democratic primaries since at least 1995.
Interesting that Ryan and his family came after the food service was over. It’s one thing to clean a few dishes that weren’t dirty in the first place to show their “down home compassion” . If they actually had to eat or even sample the food that was served, I’m certain they would have had their own domestic staff come in to “volunteer” that day……
Yo Dude! Quit raggin’ on my brah, Pauly Ly’in Ryan. You’re not supposed to question him or his Daddy Willard.