FAKE, FAKE, FAKE

Screen shot from WKBN video

The patrons were gone; the pans were clean, but Paul Ryan and his crew made their way into a soup kitchen in Youngstown, Ohio, and rewashed pans that had already been washed for a photo op.  But the opportunist congressman's plan backfired when Felicia Sonmez, a Washington Post reporter, told the story which highlighted Ryan's phoniness and faked concern for the poor.  I'm cynical enough about politics and politicians, but this staged attempt by Ryan leaves me shaking my head.  What about Ryan's children?  What did they make of the mini-drama?  

Brian J. Antag, 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,” Antag 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.”

In the process of staging the photo op, Ryan and crew could have put the charity in danger of losing funding, but then the entire operation was never, ever about the poor.

UPDATE: From Acolyte of Sagan in the comments:

I'm not saying he's dishonest,
But just like most right-wingers
If you should chance
To shake Ryan's hand
Be sure to count your fingers.

Excellent. Thank you, Acolyte of Sagan.