Why the Left's attack on Paul Ryan's 'racist' comments --- and his response --- matters

The defamation of Paul Ryan as a racist for noting the multigenerational persistence of joblessness in troubled neighborhoods is more than just another episode of hysterical name-calling by the Left. The episode represents, in microcosm, the Left’s intellectual bankruptcy.

Ryan’s comments were not just true and well-intentioned; they were obviously so. Even if Ryan were not already known for his lifelong commitment to anti-poverty efforts for all races, even if he had not regularly accompanied Rep. John Lewis on his annual pilgrImage to the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., and even if he had not agitated to do more 2012 campaign events in minority neighborhoods, the words he used on Bill Bennett’s program tell the story.