It's almost as if Ryan has staged an elaborate tribute to Ayn Rand, whose philosophy denigrates people who help the needy; people like Antal, who told the Huffington Post that his job does not come with a salary. But David Gibson, writing on Commonweal, makes the great point that the entire sorry episode actually undermines one of the main tenets of Ryan's other religion. The VP candidate's interpretation of the Catholic social gospel, notes Gibson, is that faith-based groups and individuals should be the needy's safety net instead of government. As Gibson writes, the exodus of donors from the Ohio food bank shows just how misguided that is in the real world:

People, even people of faith, don’t consistently fulfill that responsibility. They — we — are flawed human beings who nurse grudges and lash out when angry. We can go blithely on our way, to the next task, the next meal, the next campaign stop — and the vulnerable suffer. Private charity is not a safety net. Government support is indispensable. The parable of Paul Ryan and the soup kitchen should demonstrate this if nothing else.