Let that be a lesson to you, Rep. Ryan...

...drink beer. Always beer.



UPDATE - these two stories on Memeorandum have something in common:

One:

She was outraged that Ryan was consuming hundreds of dollars in wine while Congress was in the midst of intense debates over whether to cut seniors' safety net, and she didn't know whether Ryan or his companions was going to pay for the wine and whether the two men were lobbyists. She snapped a few shots with her cell phone to record the wine purchase.

...After ending their meal and paying the check, Feinberg decided to give Ryan a piece of her mind. She approached the table and asked Ryan "how he could live with himself" sipping expensive wine while advocating for cuts to programs for seniors and the poor.

Two:

Aaron Fielding quietly stalks his prey — Republicans — with his video camera, patiently waiting for a political moment worthy of YouTube.

At 27, he is a full-time “tracker” for American Bridge 21st Century, a new Democratic organization that aims to record every handshake, every utterance by Republican candidates in 2011 and 2012, looking for gotcha moments that could derail political ambitions or provide fodder for television advertisements by liberal groups next year.

One liberal woman who accosts a conservative officeholder in a restaurant; one liberal activist whose full-time job is to follow Republican officeholders around in public, recording everything.

It wasn't that long ago that liberal activists in Madison were following Republican legislators around and posting their whereabouts on the internet, in case somebody wanted to come yell "Shame!" at them in public.

These are liberals, but conservatives can do just the same. Maybe we want to spend a moment wondering exactly what sort of people will still want to run for office in that kind of environment?"

UPDATE - Do conservatives pull the same crap? At the moment, I can't think of an occasion. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen, of course. But, well, does it?

And if not, or if not to the same extent, could this be some kind of subtle long-term strategy to prevent conservatives from running for office? Or is that giving the other side - the uber-organized Soros-funded other side - too much credit?