Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Ohio, Tim Ryan, crushes his Peter Thiel puppet and MAGA/QAnon Trump endorsed opponent, J.D. Vance, during their first debate on Monday night. Review from MeidasTouch.
The Associated Press reports, Ohio Senate debate with Ryan, Vance descends into attacks (excerpt):
The first debate between Democratic U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan and Republican JD Vance descended quickly into attacks Monday, with the candidates for Ohio’s open U.S. Senate seat accusing each other of being responsible for job losses and putting party loyalty ahead of voters’ needs.
[The two accused each other of being beholden to their party, with Ryan echoing a comment from former President Donald Trump in calling Vance an “ass kisser” and Vance saying Ryan’s 100% voting record with President Joe Biden means he’s not the reasonable moderate he says he is.
The face-off between Ryan, a 10-term congressman, and Vance, a venture capitalist and author of “Hillbilly Elegy,” for the seat being vacated by retiring GOP Sen. Rob Portman was one of the most contentious debates of the general election season so far. The race is one of the most expensive and closely watched of the midterms, with Democrats viewing it as a possible pickup opportunity in November.
Both candidates sought to tailor their messages to the working-class voters who could determine the election in an evening peppered with barbs and one-liners.
Ryan sought to paint Vance as an extremist, someone who associates with “crazies” from his party who falsely claim the 2020 election was stolen, support national abortion restrictions and contributed to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Ryan: JD Vance raised money for the legal defense fund for the insurrectionists… pic.twitter.com/G6wNyScF9L
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 10, 2022
“You’re running around with Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, who wants to ban books. You’re running around with (Sen.) Lindsey Graham, who wants a national abortion ban. You’re running around with (Rep.) Marjorie Taylor Greene, who’s the absolute looniest politician in America,” Ryan said.
Vance suggested Ryan’s focus on allegations of extremism was meant as a distraction from pocketbook issues important to voters, such as inflation and the price of groceries.
The survival of American democracy is a “distraction” to this Peter Thiel puppet and Trump insurrectionist? Once it’s gone, it’s gone. This is an existential threat from crypto-fascist authoritarian Republicans ike J.D. Vance who are the enemies of democracy.
“It’s close to Halloween and Tim Ryan has put on a costume where he pretends to be a reasonable moderate.” Had he been, Vance said, “Youngstown may not have lost 50,000 manufacturing jobs during your 20 years.”
Ryan said: “I’m not gonna apologize for spending 20 years of my adult life slogging away to try to help one of the hardest economically hit regions of Ohio and dedicating my life to help that region come back. You ought to be ashamed of yourself, JD. You went off to California, you were drinking wine and eating cheese” [with Peter Thiel.]
Vance countered that he left Ohio at 18 to join the Marines, and after working in Silicon Valley [with Peter Thiel], he returned to Ohio to raise his family and start a business.
During questioning about China, Ryan said Vance invested in China as a venture capitalist, the type of business move that exacerbated job losses in Ohio’s manufacturing base. “The problem we’re having now with inflation is our supply chains all went to China, and guys like him made a whole lot of money off that,” Ryan said.
Vance said it is Democratic economic policies that have harmed manufacturing, saying, “They have completely gone to war against America’s energy sector.” He said he could not remember investing in China.
So he is a climate change denier and a tool for the carbon monopoly who will obstruct renewable energy to save the planet. When it’s gone, it’s gone. This “hillbilly” got a college education, has he not learned about the Holocene extinction? Earth’s sixth mass extinction event under way, scientists warn. Is he one of those end-times apocalyptic fundamentalist Chrisitians who dare to have the conceit to believe that they can force God’s hand?
On abortion, Vance did not answer whether he would support Graham’s proposed national ban after 15 weeks of pregnancy, with some exceptions. Vance said he thinks different states would likely want different laws but “some minimum national standard is totally fine with me.” [Note to the reporter: that’s a “Yes” on Sen. Graham’s minimum federal standard.]
He called himself “pro-life” but said he has “always believed in reasonable exceptions.”
Ryan said he supports codifying the abortion rights established in Roe v. Wade, which was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in June. He said he opposes Ohio’s law banning most abortions after fetal cardiac activity has been detected, as early as six weeks into pregnancy, which was blocked Friday.
Vance agreed with Ryan that a 10-year-old Ohio rape victim should not have had to leave the state for an abortion, but he said the fact the suspect was in the country illegally was a failure of weak border policies.
“You voted so many times against the border wall funding, so many times for amnesty, Tim,” Vance said. “If you had done your job, she would have never been raped in the first place.”
How convenient. There are thousands of girls under the age of 14 who get pregnant, many of them the victim of rape or incest from a family member. It’s not an immigration issue. Now who is using distraction?
On foreign policy, the pair parted ways on what the U.S. response should be if Russian President Vladimir Putin were to launch nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
Ryan said the U.S. should be prepared with a “swift and significant response,” while Vance countered that the United States needs a “foreign policy establishment that puts the interests of our citizens first.” [He is a Putin simp.]
Ryan responded: “If JD had his way, Putin would be through Ukraine at this point. He’d be going into Poland.”
“If I had my way,” Vance retorted, “you’d put money at the southern border, Tim, instead of launching tons of money into Ukraine.” It echoed comments Vance had made in an interview before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying he didn’t ”really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another” because he wanted to see Biden focus on his own country’s border security.
J.D. Vance is anti-democracy in the U.S., and anti-democracy in Ukraine. He would be comfortable with a Putin-style kleptocracy of oligarchs under GQP authoritarianism. This is what his puppet master Peter Thiel envisions.
Vance said, however, that Taiwan was a “much different situation” than Ukraine because of its importance to U.S. national security. “The reason why Taiwan is different is because they make so many of our semiconductors, our computer chips. The entire modern Silicon Valley economy would collapse without it,” Vance said.
Ryan sought at points to put some distance between himself and his party, repeating his earlier comments that Biden shouldn’t run for a second term in 2024 and calling Vice President Kamala Harris “absolutely wrong” to say that the southern border was secure.
“I’m not here to just get in a fight or just tiptoe the Democratic Party line,” Ryan said. “I’m here to speak the truth.”
Ryan said Vance didn’t have the courage to stand up to people in his own party, noting that during an Ohio rally last month, Trump, who endorsed Vance, said, “JD is kissing my ass, he wants my support so (much).”
Let’s go to the video!
The Hill adds, Ryan slams Vance: ‘Ohio needs an ass-kicker, not an ass-kisser’:
The Democratic candidate invoked the remark to take aim at Vance, claiming he would do “whatever” Trump wants.
“I’m from Ohio. I don’t kiss anyone’s ass like him. Ohio needs an ass-kicker, not an ass-kisser,” Ryan added.
“I don’t know anybody I grew up with, I don’t know anybody I went to high school with, that would allow somebody to take their dignity like that and then get back up onstage.”
Yikes.#OHSenDebate pic.twitter.com/Mo9N6U2L06
— Tim Ryan (@TimRyan) October 11, 2022
Mic Drop.
Tim Ryan is being heavily outspent down the stretch by outside GQP money from Mitch McConnell’s PAC and right-wing dark money groups. Tim Ryan can use your small donor donation to fight the fascists.
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Ryan and Fetterman and dozens of other should be leading by high-double digits.
Thanks mainstream media, for hard hitting reporting like “in this Ohio diner. locals gather for the world famous pancakes, and to talk a little politics” and for things like continually misspelling “corrupt” as “moderate” when reporting on people like Sinema and Manchin.
You’re right about our pathetic media who lazily treat politics as a horse race and ignore the real world consequences of party policies or lack thereof. Then add false “both sides” equivalencies the media insists on pushing and Voila! A recipe for slouching toward Fascism.
After many years a being labeled “enemies of the people” one would think the media would think twice about continuing their wrongheaded ways. But then, an inability to learn is a pretty good definition of stupid.
Speaking of media horse race fixing:
“When I first saw this tweet Tuesday night from national political journalist Jonathan Martin about a sit-down interview with Pennsylvania Democratic senatorial nominee, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, I prepared for the worst.
“This is a rough clip for @JohnFetterman,” wrote Martin, formerly of The New York Times, “will only fuel questions about his health.”
Fetterman is recovering from a stroke he suffered in May and has been slowly working his way back into the political media scrum.
I watched the clip. Fetterman used closed captioning so he could read the questions being asked of him because the stroke affected his auditory processing. His answers were quick and crisp, no gaffes or slip ups.”
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/10/12/2128544/-Regardless-of-whether-voters-think-Oz-s-stroke-is-an-issue-journalists-decided-it-was
So our vaunted mainstream media has taken it upon themselves to create a false issue to tear down John Fetterman while giving an unearned boost to Mehmet Oz by downplaying/ignoring his massive flaws in order to produce the horse race they fervently desire. And once again, they wonder why they’re losing credibility.
Jonathan Martin also used to work for GQP-friendly Politico, speciaizing in “insider” reporting from unnamed sources. And horse race reporting.
I saw Fetterman interviwed by MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell. See, https://youtu.be/0RTXpywp3KY
Fetterman was candid about his recovery from stroke, and exhibited a quick wit: ‘I’ll Be Better In January, Oz Will Still Be A Fraud.’ He is maintaining an active schedule of campaign events. O’Donnell pointed out that two sitting senators had strokes this year, and no one has suggested that they should resign from office because a stroke means they are incapable of doing their job.
I come from a family with a history of strokes. I hate to use the term “minor stroke” – this was not a transient ischemic attack (TIA) – because it is never minor to the stroke victim. In my family it means paralysis and aphasia, or death. By that standard, Fetterman is doing remarkably well, on his way to a full recovery.
The real story here is a quack doctor/supplements con man from New Jersey (why does everyone in the right-wing sell supplements?) violating his hypocratic oath by being intentionally cruel to a stroke victim. He shoud be welcoming Fetterman’s remarkabe recovery as a triumph of modern medicine. He can disagree with Fetterman on policy issues, but it demonstrates he is a man of low moral character to attack someone for being a stroke victim. I pity his former patients.
The ableism in the media is beyond disgusting.
Stephen Hawking would like a word. Tammy Duckworth has some thoughts.
The ghost of FDR is rolling through the halls of the White House and he’s pissed.
MAGA has helped complete the MSM’s transition of politics into entertainment.
The MSM clearly thinks dog torturer and actual literal OMFG snake-oil salesman who’s a Turkish citizen in office is better for ratings.
Funny, if they brought up some co-workers use of aids they’d be meeting with HR and sent to training to be less of a dick.
“Fetterman’s use of captions is common in stroke recovery, experts say”, https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2022/10/13/fetterman-closed-captioning-stroke-aphasia/
Also the hearing impaired and the deaf use captioning. Are they less capable because they are hearing impaired or deaf?
“Disability Advocates Say The Response To John Fetterman Using Closed Captioning In An Interview As He Recovers From A Stroke Was “Deeply Upsetting” And Stigmatizing”, https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/davidmack/fetterman-nbc-closed-captioning-ableism
Disability advocates are accusing NBC News of ableism following an interview with Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the Democratic candidate for US Senate, which they say was overly concerned with the live transcription he required during the sit-down due to his auditory processing issues.
The interview by reporter Dasha Burns, which was introduced on NBC Nightly News on Tuesday night by anchor Lester Holt as “not your typical candidate interview,” was Fetterman’s first on camera since he had a near-deadly stroke in May.
Much of the brief interview that aired on Tuesday focused, in a meta way, on the interview itself, describing the need for the live transcription and discussing Fetterman’s medical state. (NBC also uploaded the full 30-minute sit-down on its website.) Burns promoted the interview on Twitter by writing that it was “Unlike any political interview I’ve ever done. Unlike any race I’ve ever covered.”
The response from some political reporters in DC further homed in on the accommodation Fetterman required during the interview. “An important interview with top Senate contender,” CBS reporter Ed O’Keefe said. “Will Pennsylvanians be comfortable with someone representing them who had to conduct a TV interview this way?”
For advocates of people with permanent and temporary disabilities, the interview and the response leaned too much on Fetterman’s condition and whether he was up to the job.
“I was stunned to see how the coverage of his use of captions was so riddled with ableism,” said Maria Town, the president and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities. “The interview was deeply upsetting to see.”
Disability activist Charis Hill told BuzzFeed News they were so upset at Burns’s questions and the editors’ framing of Fetterman’s responses — leaving in moments of silence that showed Fetterman reading, for example — that they couldn’t finish watching the interview. Hill called on NBC to apologize for “the overt discrimination they just put on air.”
“The way Burns handled that interview will only worsen attitudes and violence towards disabled people in a time when virtual accommodations are being removed left and right after they were implemented overnight in 2020,” Hill said.
Eric Buehlmann, deputy executive director for public policy at the National Disability Rights Network, said he watched the interview having himself suffered a traumatic brain injury when he was in law school. Buehlmann also has a son with auditory processing issues similar to Fetterman’s.
“As the discussion was occurring in the interview the other day, I’m like, Yeah, this happens to people and people deal with this, and this is a reality of life for a number of people,” Buehlmann said. “So it shouldn’t be used as a stigmatizing tool, or something that needs to, quote-unquote, disqualify someone from being a senator.”
Burns told viewers that Fetterman appeared to struggle to understand her during small talk before the live transcription began, but other journalists who’ve interviewed Fetterman defended him and said that was not their experience — something Burns has conceded is “completely fair.”
“That was their experience,” Burns said on NBC’s Today on Wednesday morning. “We can only report our own.”
Burns also noted on air that stroke experts had told her that Fetterman’s auditory processing difficulties were not evidence of memory or cognitive issues.
Fetterman also acknowledged the controversy around the interview on Wednesday morning, tweeting, “Recovering from a stroke in public isn’t easy. But in January, I’m going to be much better — and Dr. Oz will still be a fraud.”
[A]dvocates say requiring more health information from people with disabilities — and then placing more media scrutiny upon them — leads to unfair stigma that could have a chilling effect on which candidates choose to run for office.
“When we see persistent barriers in place for disabled candidates to run for office — whether that is ableism from an opposing campaign, ableism in news coverage, policy barriers that are in place — it reduces the diversity of the overall candidate base for both parties,” Town said. “And it also, in this specific instance, I think sends a really terrible and hostile message to anyone who might be on the fence about asking for accommodations.
“What is so harmful about seeing what’s happened to John Fetterman is that he’s actually experiencing what many disabled people experience every day when we ask for accommodations,” Town added, “which is an instant doubt of our competence and a questioning about whether, you know, ‘Can you really do this job?’”
Jennifer Rubin writes, “Tim Ryan’s debate performance shows Democrats how to beat MAGA candidates”, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/10/11/ryan-vance-ohio-senate-debate/
Ohio is a solidly red state that former president Donald Trump won by eight points in 2020. Yet Democrat Tim Ryan is essentially tied with Trump sycophant J.D. Vance in the state’s U.S. Senate race.
How is that possible? Well, consider Ryan’s performance in his debate with Vance on Monday in which the moderate Democrat gave a tutorial in demolishing a weaselly MAGA cultist.
Sure to go viral, Ryan tore into Vance for being a Trump [ass kisser].
Contrary to Republican claims that Democrats are soft on crime, Ryan also skewered Vance for promoting the legal defense fund for insurrectionists who assaulted police at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. “Can you imagine one guy saying out of one side of his mouth he’s pro-cop, and out of the other side of his mouth he’s raising money for the insurrectionists who were beating up the Capitol police?” Ryan declared.
Ryan not only tied Vance to Trump but also to the entire loony band that now dominates the GOP. “You’re running around with Lindsey Graham, who wants a national abortion ban. You’re running around with Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is the absolute looniest politician in America,” Ryan said. “This is a dangerous group!”
The overall impression from Ryan’s performance was that Vance is a smarmy lightweight beholden to extremists. Ryan took Vance to task for his nonprofit meant to combat opioid addiction, which did nothing of the sort. And he lit into Vance for sneering at support for Ukraine. As Ryan put it, “If J.D. had his way, [Vladimir] Putin would be through Ukraine at this point. He’d be going into Poland.”
On abortion, Ryan hammered Vance as endorsing a national abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest. And instead of getting forced into an nonsensical argument about third-trimester abortions (which rarely occur, and virtually always for a serious health issue), he reiterated that women should be able to make their own choices.
Yes, Vance was a highly vulnerable candidate far before the debate. And yes, Vance’s stiff and uncomfortable presence suggests that the format is not his strong suit. Nevertheless, Ryan’s performance should be mandatory viewing for Democratic contenders. They should pay attention to Ryan’s tone and demeanor. He repeatedly took down his opponent without appearing nasty. His tone was more incredulous (Can you believe this guy?) than angry. Ryan looks like a regular guy. He appeared totally at ease, often standing with one hand in his pocket. His entire persona reinforced his message that he’s part of the “exhausted middle class,” as he put it.
Ryan still has his work cut out for him, especially since incumbent Republican Gov. Mike DeWine has a solid lead at the top of the ticket. But he is running a more competitive race in a red state that is better attuned to his voters than virtually any Democrat in recent memory.
Democrats cannot afford to get pigeonholed as left-wing creatures of the national party. In that regard, Ryan is not afraid to criticize the president or vice president. And he has set himself apart from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) instead of foolishly seeking his endorsement.
[If] MAGA zealots cannot win in Ohio, it might be time for the party to course-correct.
FWIW, I thought Hilary kicked TFG’s butt during theirs, and we know how election turned out. In other words , we’ve reached the point in the election cycle where nothing should be taken for granted.
Too many folks support treasonous candidates, both here in AZ and elsewhere..