PAUL Ryan, as the vice presidential choice of presidential candidate Mitt Romney, is a young, ambitious and ultra-conservative politician. Maureen Dowd stated it the best in her NY Times column, entitled: “When Cruelty is Cute” (Aug. 15, 2012). She wrote, “He’s the cutest package that cruelty ever came in.”

Congressman Ryan may look and act like a “Boy Scout,” and at the same time appeal to the Rush Limbaugh-types, but his politics seem extremely rigid and downright heartless. Perhaps these are the very characteristics observed by Mitt Romney when he made his running mate decision. After all, astute observers have pointed out Mr. Romney’s issue changes. Mitt has been addressed as “the mystery box” candidate.

Paul Ryan, in my view, is a Tea Party type; with his published "budget" of several years, he just confirms the view that the GOP mainly supports the rich and Wall Street interests. Ryan’s budget structure provides for cutting more taxes for the 1 to 2 percent at the top at the expense of the working and middle classes, not to mention privatizing Medicare. He proposes dropping Medicare for all those under 55, giving everyone a healthcare insurance subsidy instead. Also, the Ryan budget does not really address a solution for the huge national debt, which he calls the “debt bomb.”

Regarding the national elections coming Nov. 6, the GOP is, again, appealing to the lower-end fears that keep the NRA gun nuts, the evangelicals, and other ultra-conservatives voting for Tea Party Republican candidates. Combined with their traditional "dirty tricks" – the GOP is conspiring to limit and prevent citizens from voting. Pennsylvania and Ohio are the best examples of this kind of partisan demagoguery. It would seem by now that voting is an established basic civil right; it's so fundamental to democracy, right?!

There are voices today that desire a discussion around the very recent massacre at the Sikh Temple in Wisconsin, and many other killings of various groups and individuals over the past several years. The Southern Poverty Law Center has recorded dozens of these criminal incidents over the period since Sept. 11, 2001. These attacks mainly are hate crimes and are categorized also as “right-wing terrorism.”

Years ago, we had left-wing fanatics: Remember the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) and the Weather Underground (WUO)? We certainly were not slow to identify those groups as criminals and terrorists. For some reason, conservatives today are reluctant to discuss recent brutal acts as right-wing terrorism; is it because most of the perpetrators are overwhelmingly white Christian men?

When the Family Research Council and Family Planning employees, doctors and medical practitioners are attacked, bombed and murdered, there needs to be an outcry and condemnation of these right-wing fanatics by all elements of the political spectrum. And we need to find the means and ways to bring it to an end.