Perhaps the absurd idea that Paul Ryan is some kind of serial liar has finally worn out its welcome now that prominent Democrats are comparing him to Joseph Goebbels. If you find yourself comparing anyone in contemporary American politics to a Nazi propaganda minister, it’s time to step back and reassess. But to paraphrase Goebbels, if you actually believed the tsunami of dubious media reports cited by Democrats following Paul Ryan’s convention speech, you can see how we arrived at a point of where when Democrats hear the phrase “fact check” and start reaching for their revolvers, rhetorically speaking.
In this week’s issue of THE WEEKLY STANDARD, Stephen Hayes has an article that’s well worth reading that delves into why the complaints against Ryan are weak. But I think it’s worth discussing a bit more, particularly insofar as the complaints against Ryan are not just largely baseless, but are a perfect encapsulation of how vociferously media groupthink can be roused to defend a left-of-center consensus—regardless of how far removed that consensus is from the facts. In fact, Democrats and allied media were pretty clear about telegraphing their intentions here. At 11:27 pm last Wednesday, barely a half hour after Ryan had finished his convention speech, Howard Fineman tweeted:
