Considering the ease and frequency with which the Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan ticket is able to tell bald-faced lies, one has to wonder at their level of self-awareness that they are openly lying.

With Paul Ryan, there is a sense that he tends to be a compulsive liar and that his level of double-think, his ability to hold equally in mind totally opposing ideas, is fairly impenetrable. On the other hand, Mitt Romney seems fully aware of his lies and that he is committed to say whatever he has to in order to achieve his aims, essentially that his ends justify his means, not a bad way to become a multi-millionaire.

I suppose one could puzzle a bit over which form of lying is worse. Double-think runs strong through today’s American psyche, but, in Romney’s case, it should be pointed out that one’s means generally become one’s ends.

ROBERT PORATH

Boulder