OPINION:
Democrat Rep. Tim Ryan, Ohio, in recent comments on national television, said socialism is not the way America should go. Did you catch that? He’s a Democrat. And he kind of denounced socialism. Publicly. This is one of those hurrah moments in political times.
Let’s be clear: Not saying he deserves the White House.
Am saying: It’s about freaking time a Democrat seeking the high office came out and said something sane about socialism — that it’s insane for America.
On CNN’s “New Day,” hostess Alisyn Camerota asked Ryan if he thought Democrats’ seemingly increasing embrace of socialism over capitalism was a “dangerous” political trend, Breitbart reported.
And Ryan, to his credit, said, umm, kind of, yeah.
“I’m concerned about it because if we are going to decarbonize the American economy,” he said, “it’s not going to be some centralized bureaucracy in Washington, D.C., that’s going to make it happen. It’s going to be part-targeted government investments that do need to be robust, but it’s going to be the free market that at the end of the day is going to make that happen.”
A Democrat who speaks favorably of the free market?
The heck you say.
“You can be hostile to concentration of wealth,” he went on — like the kind of concentration of half-a-million in wealth Bernie Sanders accumulated in income and from his best-selling book sales? Indeed. Ryan didn’t say, but that’s an example that would seem to apply.
Anyhow, he went on: “You can be hostile to income inequality, you can be hostile to greed. We can’t be hostile to the system. That’s how we get past China.”
Oh my, a positive painting of the free market and a reference to the need to beat China, all in one small set of remarks. Ryan sounds almost like a Republican.
He’s not, of course.
He’s a heartland American congressman who happens to know A) his base ain’t playing socialism, no way, no how and B) well — see Option A.
Whatever the motivations — finally. A Democrat who openly bucks the socialist tide sweeping the party. It may be all for politics, for show, for media attention. But whatever; finally. The cooler heads in America are turning toward Ryan right now and saying, welcome to the galaxy, buddy.
Now about those borders …
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter @ckchumley.
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