How Washington Enables Paul Ryan

HOME POLITICS NATIONAL NEWS WORLD ECONOMY SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT Joe Conason Carl Hiaasen Connie Schultz E.J. Dionne Gene Lyons Jonathan Alter April 02, 2012 THE BIG STORY, BY E.J. DIONNE Washington: Stop Enabling Ryan's Right-Wing Extremism Note how many deficit hawks regularly trash President Obama for not endorsing the Simpson-Bowles commission, while they continue to praise House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan -- even though Ryan voted to kill the initiative when he was a member of the commission. Here again is the double-standard that benefits conservatives, proving that, contrary to establishment opinion, Obama was absolutely right not to embrace the Simpson-Bowles framework. If he had, a moderately conservative proposal would suddenly have defined the "left wing" of the debate, just because Obama endorsed it. This is nuts. Yet mainstream journalism and mainstream moderates play right along. READ MORE FEATURED COLUMN: LEONARD PITTS JR. Why Are States Banning Words Like "Dinosaur" On Standardized Tests? The full list is said to contain 50 objectionable words and topics, which also include: "Halloween" (too pagan), "divorce" (upsetting to the child whose parents have split), "disease" (upsetting to the child whose Nana has taken ill), "home computers" (not everyone can afford such luxuries), "terrorism" (scary), "slavery" (bad), and "space aliens" (sorry, Superman). In its defense, New York issued a statement saying that other school systems also have banned words lists. It says Florida bans the word "hurricane" and California bans the word "weed" (insert stoner joke here). READ MORE ELECTION 2012 Hillary To Mitt: Dude, The Cold War's Over The Secretary of State seized on former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney's comment that Russia is America's "No. 1 geopolitical foe." She called the Republican presidential frontrunner's statement "dated" and suggested there were more pressing matters of concern in global affairs. "I think it's somewhat dated to be looking backwards instead of being realistic about where we agree, where we don't agree [with Moscow]," Hillary Clinton told CNN Sunday. "He just seems to be uninformed or stuck in a Cold War mentality," added Vice President Joe Biden. "It exposes how little the Governor knows about foreign policy." READ MORE BREAD, CIRCUS, AND RIOTS March Madness Goes Insane As Kentucky Breaks Out In Riots Police said Sunday that they are satisfied with their work to control the crowds that spilled onto the street after the University of Kentucky defeated crosstown rival Louisville, despite the images of rowdy revelers burning couches and a car that had been flipped over. While authorities evaluate how the riot unfolded as they prepare for the possibility of further celebration ahead of Monday night's Final Four Championship game, they aren't anticipating big changes to their plans. READ MORE CARTOON OF THE DAY   (c) 2012 Eastern Harbor Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 28 West 27th Street, Suite 502 New York, NY 10001