The Ryan Role  —  Mark Kleiman points us to a lamentable but revealing column by William Saletan, which illustrates perfectly how the essentially ludicrous Paul Ryan has gotten so far - namely, by playing to the gullibility of self-proclaimed centrists, who want to show their “balance” by finding a conservative to praise.

Paul Ryan Used His Office To Profit From the Financial Crisis  —  Republican vice presidential candidate Rep. Paul Ryan, left, wipes away tears as he and presidential candidate Mitt Romney greet supporters during a campaign event on Sunday in Waukesha, Wis.  —  Let's put this in the “the real scandal is what's legal” file:

Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan - and their Wives!  - Open Up to PEOPLE  —  However tough and tight the race against President Obama gets this fall, Janna Ryan predicts that her husband Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney can count on one thing: fun.  —  PEOPLE was first to sit down with the freshly minted …

Understanding the Ryan plan  —  The striking thing about Paul Ryan's ascent is the gulf between his proposals and the way the media have characterized them.  Since Mitt Romney named Ryan to the ticket on Saturday, the news has been filled with talk of the “ fiscal conservative ” (NPR) " …

Multiple people shot near Texas A&M University  —  (CNN) — Police took a man into custody Monday after “multiple people” were shot near Texas A&M University, a police official said.  —  Several law enforcement officers were among the people shot, Rhonda Seaton of the College Station Police Department told CNN.

Paul Ryan's Iowa Speech Opens With Hecklers Getting Dragged Away And They Just Keep Coming  —  This Mediaite writer was in London for the past week (I was actually winning a bunch of medals.  Most people don't realize that “Jon Bershad” is a pen name.  I'm really an athlete.