“A cancer.”

Yes, you read that right.Paul Ryan thinks the beliefs of roughly a quarter or better of the people in this country is essentially the same as a vile and insidious disease.

One of Mr. Ryan’s supposed benefits to the Romney ticket is his genial and affable nature, his common everyman touch. Well, as revealed tonight on The Ed Show, Mr. Congeniality considers progressivism to be “a cancer.” As originally reported way back on April 12, 2010 by Media Matters, Ryan joined Glenn Beck on his radio show to discuss the issues of the day. During their chat, Ryan expressed his desire “to indict the entire vision of progressivism.” Okay, not my bag of shit, but fine.

Then it gets hairy. Upon hearing Ryan’s vision of those that believe differently than he, Mr. Beck then refers to progressivism as “a cancer.” Alright, whatever. What does anyone expect from Glenn Beck anyway? He’s not exactly a paragon of the moderate tone. However, what happens next is pretty incredible…Ryan agrees. “Exactly,” he says. Okay, in my most generous of hearts, I can kind of see someone agreeing with the host of a very popular radio show of which they are guesting on and slipping up with that response as a sort of…I don’t know, strange politeness? So, let’s be that generous and give Ryan a pass–not really, but for the sake of argument. But wait, there’s more! As they continue their discussion, Ryan goes on to say some of the usual pap about the founders and Austrian philosophy like a good Randian disciple. Then he doubles down on the Beck statement with this comment: “…this really is a cancer.”

Here’s the video:

How the hell should any decent person feel about that? Forget progressives and liberals, who should be boiling mad, I’m talking about anyone who simply cares for the concept of diversity in our democracy. I’m talking about anyone who believes that another person has a right to believe something different from they and still be a decent human being, let alone an American.

Let’s even take this further. Sure, politics is a nasty business and pols say some very tough things about those they are opposed to. Usually, they save that vitriol for the other candidate in the race, not a huge swath of people in the country in which they reside. Think about it, can you imagine John McCain of George W. Bush saying such a thing? To be honest, as much as I don’t like the perspective of either of those two, I can’t even imagine them thinking it.

Paul Ryan on the other hand, has no issue thinking such a thing, but saying it too in plain Wisconsin English.

So take it in folks, the man running for the second highest job in all the land thinks that what progressives and liberals believe is “a cancer.” And if he thinks that of what you believe, what does that say about what he thinks of you? Yeah, that’s right, you are a cancer. You dare believe that people have a right to health care, unemployment benefits, social security, etc.  You dare think that the idea of a civilized society is one where a social safety net might just protect you and others should the worst befall you.

For this, you aren’t just wrong, you are a disease.

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