Christian Science Monitor ridicules Paul Ryan workout photos: Do they send the right message?

[powergirl]

". . . we suspect that <cut> others will find the Ryan photo shoot – hmmm, how shall we put this – bordering on hilarious. There’s the backwards baseball cap. "

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"The way Ryan locks eyes with the camera as he’s doing his bicep curls. "


"Our personal favorite is the one where he’s reaching an arm out and pouting in a pseudo-homeboyish pose."

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"Maybe he meant it ironically?

"It’s reminiscent, on some level, of the famous photo of Michael Dukakis in the tank. Or those John Kerry windsurfing shots. Those, too, were pictures intended to show off the candidate’s tough, manly side, but they ended up unintentionally reinforcing a very different message."

<cut>

"Back in 2007, when he was running against the older John McCain, Mitt Romney devoted an entire ad to footage of himself jogging. This time around, however, he hasn’t really emphasized his sporting side as much (other than those also-questionable shots of him riding on the back of Ann Romney’s jet ski).

<cut>

"Frankly – even putting aside the questions about Ryan’s odd exaggerations – we’re not sure voters really want a candidate who seems too into his own fitness. Most Americans fall more on the sedentary side of the ledger, and while they may not want a couch-potato candidate, they also don’t want to feel bad about themselves by comparison. And they tend not to warm to people who repeatedly boast about how in-shape they are.

"But, clearly, Ryan believes his fitness gives him an edge. Who knows, maybe at the debate tonight he'll challenge Vice President Joe Biden to an arm-wrestling contest? Or maybe he’ll drop down and do some one-armed pushups, like Jack Palance at the Oscars?

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/DC-Decoder/Decoder-Wire/2012/1011/Paul-Ryan-workout-photos-Do-they-send-the-right-message-video

[Blue Owl]

1. Look at the dumbbell in those photos -- and also, the weights...

n/t

[BlueCaliDem]

5. Hah! Good one!

[lumberjack_jeff]

2. These photos wouldn't be quite so ludicrous if they were in an actual gym.

And of a person doing an actual workout.

[Quantess]

24. If they had been snapped in a real gym,

we would all say "oh... it's THAT guy".

[aletier_v]

3. The US Army had a solution for that cap...

if you wore it Gomer-style (cap turned up), you got dropped for ten pushups.

If you wore it sidewise, you got dropped for twenty pushups.

And if you wore it Ryan-style (backwards)....


"You don't even want to know how many pushups you get" - My drill sergeant.

[MountainMazza]

4. ....and he's asking to be one heartbeat away from President ???

[Angry Dragon]

6. He looks like Goober in the first picture

Looking for the Mayberry vote

[HereSince1628]

7. Did Time leave out the next dozen shots?

It certainly looks like the lead-in to a porn sequence...

[powergirl]

10. I am laughing out loud

But it is a disturbing visual

[kysrsoze]

8. The message I got was that he's a complete douchebag. What's the problem? :D

[JBoy]

9. Dude never works on his legs.

[MADem]

11. He looks like a complete and total LaRouche-bag. A moron. A Mittwit. A buffoon.

I think he looks like Goober Pyle in those pics...



He should be EMBARRASSED. Terribly.


And look what I found on The Youtube!! Mittsy JOGGING~!!! Someone with some voice over talent ought to take this video and make an ad about Mittsy RUNNING AWAY FROM HIS RECORD IN MASSACHUSETTS!!!!

[ret5hd]

14. dammit, you beat me!

[MADem]

15. I added the Mittsy "running away" ad, too....nt

[Botany]

12. what a putz

holding the dumbbell so his bicep looks bigger ..... strike that pose when you are
not holding the weight ..... a 40 + year old man went to a photo studio to pose as
a tough guy I see this behavior with 16 to 25 year old kids @ my Gym.

BTW People laugh @ guys like Ryan @ my Gym

[ret5hd]

13. somebody photoshop this hat onto him:

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRdh6CpKQFrSNlhzaAvUqnu_5A795RahXhxLM-zggDh9_rw2b7qewqVqxKs

[powergirl]

16. The MEMEs have begun

[Ztolkins]

17. These are real?

I sincerely thought that these were photoshopped

[powergirl]

18. They are 100% real

He posed for those pics for Time magazine.

http://lightbox.time.com/2012/10/11/paul-ryan-all-pumped-up-for-his-closeup/#3

[VWolf]

23. Same here. Holy shit.

What a doofus.

[lolamio]

19. It's Mr. Two Fifty Something Marathoner looking like a tool. eom

[magical thyme]

20. the exaggerated facial expressions just make him look phenomenally stupid

Seriously. He looks like a 12 year old pipsqueak attention whore.

But to answer the CSM's question, yes, they do send the right message. "Grownups: Do NOT Vote For Me."

[HopeHoops]

21. He looks like the fucking Sham Wow moron.

[flamingdem]

22. This "dude" a heartbeat away from POTUS?

America don't fail me plz

[bushisanidiot]

31. He's in love with himself.

i bet his facebook profile picture is of him
looking in his bathroom mirror.

[NYC Liberal]

25. When I saw these, I thought for sure they were a good Photoshop job, perhaps from The Onion.

Then I found out the doofus actually did this...

[yellowcanine]

26. Anyone would pose like that is either joking around or a narcissist.

And it doesn't appear that he is joking around.

[Doctor Jack]

27. Haha, I thought those were fake

[powergirl]

29. I can't imagine Obama

posing for ridiculous pictures like this. Do the Repubs like this sorta stuff?

[kestrel91316]

28. These photos simply SCREAM "juvenile and unprofessional".

[bushisanidiot]

30. Ryan is such an egomaniac, he doesn't realize how STUPID he looks in those pictures.

his "guns" are little scrawny pee shooters.

seriously.

we're not laughing WITH you Paul.
we're laughing AT you.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

32. Wait. You mean this shit WASN'T Photoshopped?

This is the real thing? He's that fucking stupid?

[MjolnirTime]

33. Scumbag Paul is born!

http://cheezburger.com/template/5514646