Originally Posted by
PlatyPius
Ya know, the more I've been thinking about Ryan and his priorities on this trip, the more pissed I've gotten. As an Obama supporter, I had to hear all of the crap during the campaign about him being an elitist and how all of the poor people will get free money, feel entitled, etc.
Ryan is the epitome of someone who feels he is entitled to something. He's the quintessential elitist. He decides he's going to ride his bike across the US. He decides that everyone else should pay for it. He wants a camera to document the journey, so he begs for a $4500 camera. IF I were in the position of begging for donations to ride a bike across the country, I would set my standards a little lower. Like, the $100 cameras from Wal-Mart, or a used version.
He has (allegedly) embarked on a 4000 mile journey with a bike and a rack-top bag. No panniers, no sleeping bag, no tent.... do any of his brain cells actually communicate with each other? I am just completely dumbfounded by his lack of planning, lack of judgment, and lack of humility.
The anger I feel that someone such as Ryan is "representing" Obama is beyond words.
While I don't have quite the anger you feel, I agree with most of your points, PlatyPius. The sense of entitlement that Ryan has displayed is appalling. His inability to plan is amazing. His comments about "welfare queens" and "whiteness" were outrageous. If Barack Obama had been as disorganized and arrogant as Ryan, he would never have gotten beyond the Iowa caucuses.
I'm also getting tired of all of the subtle and not-so-subtle attempts to censor on the two Ryan threads. We've been told me must not be "naysayers". Why not? The naysayers were right. We've been told we shouldn't say anything when Ryan fails. Why not? This has been very instructive for learning how not to do a bike tour. And now these ridiculous "stop the hate'" posts. Again I ask, what 'hate'?
A better question is why were so many people saying "Go for it!" when Ryan was proposing something that was obviously unworkable. He had too little time, lacked the proper equipment, lacked sufficient funds, lacked experience, had unsuitable weather, insufficient daylight, and on and on.