Ryan: "I just don’t understand" battleships/bayonets reference, "And, yes, the ocean hasn’t shrunk."

[highplainsdem]

Ryan's such an idiot.

From Politico:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1012/82742.html

Paul Ryan said in an interview that aired Tuesday that he “just doesn’t understand” the reference President Barack Obama made to bayonets in Monday night’s presidential debate, while Vice President Biden insisted the final face off revealed that the former Massachusetts governor isn’t fit to be Commander in Chief.

“To compare modern American battleships and Navy with bayonets, I just don’t understand that comparison,” the GOP vice presidential nominee said on CBS “This Morning,” according to a transcript.

-snip-

“Look, we have to have a strong Navy to keep peace and prosperity and sea lanes open,” Ryan said on “This Morning.” “The president’s— all these defense cuts, if all these defense cuts go through, our Navy will be smaller than it was before World War I. That’s not acceptable. And, yes, the ocean hasn’t shrunk. You still have to have enough ships to have a footprint that you need to keep sea lanes open, to keep our strength abroad where it needs to be.”

In a separate interview on “Today,” Ryan said he didn’t support a coming round of defense cuts, even though he supported the 2011 budget deal that led to the sequester.

-snip-

[liberal N proud]

1. They do want to take us back

Maybe Ryan is still living in 1916.

[myrna minx]

2. What a dolt. There are no words.

/Facepalm/

[eqfan592]

3. Further underscoring the fact that he is unfit to be Vice President. nt

[Robb]

4. Good lord. He's channeling Nigel Tufnel.

"Wot's wrong wit bein' sexy?"

[BumRushDaShow]

5. This dumbass doesn't seem to have any idea what the world was like

during "The Great War". A war that my grandfather fought in. And the arrogance of spouting talking points without even bothering to research, continues to boggle the mind.

Their whole ticket is a Palinesque FAIL.

[DinahMoeHum]

6. Obviously, history is not his strong suit.

n/t

[Wednesdays]

7. Is he Dan Quayle in disguise?

[DarthDem]

8. Goodness, He's Stupid

The Goopers' big policy wonk, ladies and gentlemen!!

[hatrack]

9. "Modern American Battleships"? Huh?

Your new boss may have sponsored your big moment on the deck of a battleship, but did you take a moment to notice that the USS Wisconsin is a museum?

Did you notice that, Ayn, er, uh, Paul?

[Frank Cannon]

11. I know. WTF?!!

I thought our last battleship was decommed back in the 90s.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

44. The Last U.S. Battleship built...

was the USS Missouri, which had its keel laid down more than 70 years ago. And as you point out, the Wisconsin is a museum. There are no battleships on the active naval registry.

What a dope...

[Ganja Ninja]

10. "To compare modern American battleships and Navy with bayonets"

Sorry Paul but the Navy doesn't have any Battleships either.

[spanone]

12. dear President, speak slower so mr ryan can understand

[Marrah_G]

13. And that is why you can never be a heartbeat away from the Presidency Mr. Ryan

These people do not understand that technology allows us to do alot more with much less hardware and manpower. Our "older" Airforce might just be the most stupid comment I heard last night. Our AF is very high tech and moving more and more towards technology based solutions.

[JaneQPublic]

14. Sure, one of today's nuclear aircraft carriers is equal to a Navy ship of 1917.

And today's Naval Air Forces are no better than the aircraft back when Naval Aviation was only 6 years old.

Both Romney and Ryan are idiots, and if they are elected, they will be dangerously so.

Instead of merely comparing the number of things the U.S. Navy has floating in the water, both then and now, as if they're all equals, a more valid comparison is Robert Gates' approach: sheer tonnage and capabilities:

"...as much as the U.S. Navy has shrunk since the end of the Cold War, in terms of tonnage, its battle fleet, by one estimate, is still larger than the next 13 navies combined – and 11 of those 13 navies are U.S. allies or partners. In terms of capabilities, the over-match is even greater. No country in the rest of the world has anything close to the reach and firepower to match a carrier strike group. And the United States has and will maintain eleven until at least 2040."

http://www.defense.gov/speeches/speech.aspx?speechid=1346

[Lucy Goosey]

15. The 'bayonets' analogy made the President's point perfectly...

...if Ryan can't understand that, he's even more stupid than I thought he was.


And to be clear, I already thought he was PLENTY stupid.


I mean, Jesus Christ, "the ocean hasn't shrunk"!?!?! Where did they find this kid?

[tsuki]

24. Actually, with global warming it is getting bigger. nt

[randome]

42. Even most conservatives, I think, understood the comparison.

So Ryan is simply broadcasting the idea that he's not as smart as the average conservative.

[Ikonoklast]

16. ONE submarine carrying nuclear missiles carries more firepower than was unleashed by

all armies, navies, and air forces in all of human history.

ONE.


Goddamit, Ryan is a fucking idiot.

I mean really, he's the male Sarah palin.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

22. I thought Mitt was the male Sarah Palin?

So much stupid, so many Republicans.

[Ikonoklast]

35. Mitt is Thomas E. Dewey.

Minus the moustache...same slicked-up hair, though.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

46. The "man atop the wedding cake" line certainly fits...

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

17. Keeping the sea lanes open?

Tell me which country, Rep. Dumbass, is currently blocking or even threatening to block commercial shipping lanes? Other than the nuisance issue of pirates of Somalia, you're trying to create a cure for which there is no known disease.

The fact is that one American Carrier Strike Group (and we have eleven right now) carries as much offensive firepower as the entire U.S. Navy did back in 1917. Given that a carrier typically includes 70+ attack aircraft and global satellite guidance systems, one strike group could have wiped out the entire U.S. Navy before the sailors in 1917 even knew what was happening to them.

The dumbshits want to be in charge of the U.S. military?

[TrogL]

38. Canada has dibs on the Northwest Passage

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

41. If the polar ice caps keep melting, that may not be a joke!

As someone pointed out, global climate change is THE most pressing national security issue.

[TrogL]

48. It's already open. The issue has already come up.

Canada, the US and Russia are all claiming it. I think Norway is even taking a poke.

[dynasaw]

18. Anachronisms

Romney and Ryan seem to be iced in a time warp.

Etch and Sketch reference: that toy was invented in 1960. Kids three and over are now hooked on electronic games. Etch a Sketch "kids" are nearly 50 years old!

Binders? Wouldn't a credible corporate executive today have had said "I'll check my data bases?"

Bayonets: Obviously R and R haven't read "Wired for War" and the robotic/techno revolution going on in war.

These guys want to lead the world's most powerful nation????

[porphyrian]

19. Thankfully, he won't be in the White House any time soon. Is he even keeping his House seat now? n/t

[Iris]

20. I guess Ayn Rand doesn't use a lot of metaphors n/t

[ladjf]

21. Ryan is just too dumb to understand. nt

[tsuki]

23. I have never understood the least number of

ships since 1916. It was a stupid talking point.

[Ikonoklast]

36. Mitt wants us to build more colliers for the fleet. Clean Coal and all that.

And doesn't understand why Mr. Obama won't seek more funding for dirigibles and their sea-going tenders to watch out for those new-fangled submersible craft near our coastal batteries.

[ProSense]

25. What's the difference between Ryan and Palin

lipstick!

Both idiots. Frankly, Mitt seems to be in the same league.

[sinkingfeeling]

26. And whose navy is trying to close sea lanes?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

27. That's Vice President Dumbbell for you.

(Jeez, why do I see Phil Dumphy from Modern Family when I see that pic?)

[mikeytherat]

31. "Where are they now? - Chandler Bing" or "Behind the Laughter: Tears of a Screech"?

mikey_the_rat

[mikeytherat]

28. Remember - Repubs think Ryan is the super-smart one. A math whiz with an Einstein-like mind.

He could be one of the Men in Black - he's the best of the best of the best. They really believe this.



mikey_the_rat

[4th law of robotics]

29. Aircraft carriers in a modern war would be like battleships in wwII

really impressive, capable of doing some damage, but invariably the main target of every enemy ship/plane.

They're too expensive to actually use. They have some advantages in peace time, or against a nation with no significant navy/airforce. But in a real fight they have major limitations.

Don't get me wrong, we could totally kick ass . . . in the last war.

Time for project Thor. Let other nations build ships, we'll shoot them from space.

[City Lights]

30. LOL!

And he wants to be VPOTUS!

Step aside, Ryan. You are out of your league!

[mikeytherat]

32. THE ocean hasn't shrunk? THE? He does know there's more than one ocean, right?

Right?

mikey_the_rat

[Comrade_McKenzie]

33. Sometimes when you've been defeated, it's best to accept that and move on, Ryan.

But if you insist on giving us more material, by all means...

[Generic Other]

34. The ocean passage between Syria and Iran "shrunk" too, i GUESS

or maybe they were thinking Moses also parted the land?

[ecstatic]

37. Watching now. He looks terrible!

Pale. Gaunt. He looks like he's been crying.

[starroute]

39. In 1917, radio was brand new and there was no radar and no spy satellites

I've just done some googling, and the utility of radio for ships at sea had become apparent even before World War I, was given a boost by the sinking of the Titanic, and made it easier for the British to keep track of the movements of the German fleet during the war.

But it seems clear that the actual size of navies was still determined by pre-radio assumptions, where the only way to let anyone know if you spotted an enemy vessel was to put in to port and send a telegram.

And in the century since -- and particularly thanks to radar and satellites -- the ocean really has "shrunk." We know what's going on everywhere, can instantly get the information to where it will be most useful, and deploy a smaller fleet more effectively than it was possible to deploy a large one a hundred years ago.

[FVZA_Colonel]

40. This isn't the era of the "Great White Fleet" you jackass.

We don't have to worry about a battleship race between the British Empire and the German Reich anymore.

[1-Old-Man]

43. The seas shrunk to a width of 20 minutes the day the first ICBM was launched

And Argentina proved that conventional Navies are more or less worthless during the Falkins war.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

45. One ballistic missile submarine has the destructive power of how many 1917 battleships?

It's probably too great to even compute. To suggest that it's strictly a matter of numbers of vessels, one hundred years later, is just insanely stupid.

[highplainsdem]

47. kick