Paul Ryan and Republicans will stop at nothing to try to destroy Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Just because he's retiring doesn't mean he's done sabotaging our health care.https://t.co/QZSSdAFSYt
— Nancy Pelosi (@TeamPelosi) April 11, 2018
I don’t know Paul Ryan and don’t really care whether he is a “ good guy “or not. He is third in line to the Presidency. Why is he being infantized and talked about like he is the outgoing Rotary Club President. He failed to stand up for civility, decency and impt US institutions
— Steve Schmidt (@SteveSchmidtSES) April 12, 2018
Standing up to Trump’s lies, delusions, cruelty, divisiveness and constant assault on the Intelligence community and the Justice Dept should not have been a “ hard call” for Ryan. He should have understood it was his duty and obligation as Speaker of the House.
— Steve Schmidt (@SteveSchmidtSES) April 12, 2018
I assumed Ryan would resign his seat if Democrats took the House in November but to walk away seven months before the midterms when your party’s majority is in such peril is remarkably spineless … even for Ryan
— Michael Cohen (@speechboy71) April 11, 2018
Congress approval rating stands at 12% in new Quinnipiac poll just released.
— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) April 11, 2018
Paul Ryan goes out on top https://t.co/russf0l5VI
— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) April 11, 2018
Ryan names "normalizing entitlement reform" as one of his political achievements
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) April 11, 2018
Paul Ryan rose to prominence by weaponizing Obama-era deficits and winning plaudits from centrists for his austere math.
He leaves office mere days after a CBO report finds GOP govt has, in a matter of months, increased deficits in the 2018-22 period by more than $1.2 trillion.
— Derek Thompson (@DKThomp) April 11, 2018
Will Paul Ryan go out as the worst Speaker in American history? I'm not a historian. Was anyone worse? Is that possible?
— Topher Spiro (@TopherSpiro) April 11, 2018
Well, Dennis Hastert was a serial child molester who then went to prison, so I'd say he's certainly the worst *person* to be Speaker
The person who did the worst *job* as Speaker? Yeah, Ryan's definitely a contender. https://t.co/BNvj3QRHoO
— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) April 11, 2018
Payl Ryan will be remembered in history for two things: ramming through a tax cut that served none but the wealthy (like himself) and corporations, and utter cowardice in the face of Donald Trump’s flagrant abrogations of decency and civic norms. There will be no accolades.
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) April 11, 2018
“Paul Ryan was never comfortable in Trump’s party. The only way to loosen Trump’s grip on the party is for Republicans to lose.” https://t.co/9t3t9mTc2o
— Paul Beckett (@paulwsj) April 12, 2018
But not so uncomfortable that he’ll stop Devin Nunes from making a mockery of the Intel committee mission, which is literally the least he could do. https://t.co/2B2WcQ3dPM
— Schooley (@Rschooley) April 12, 2018
Even if Trump doesn't fire Rosenstein, @DevinNunes is trying to impeach him.@SpeakerRyan could put an end to this assault on the rule of law now:https://t.co/AzjhynWYHq
— mieke eoyang (@MiekeEoyang) April 12, 2018
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
By all rights, every decent person in America should shun this creep for the rest of his wretched life.
NotMax
Write-in campaign (well funded by out of state money, of course) for Ryan as WI governor in the offing?
debbie
Amazing how far boyish good looks can get a person.
Omnes Omnibus
@debbie:
Geh?
Feebog
Ryan’s constant targeting of the social safety net that millions of Americans rely on to survive will be the blackest mark on his legacy. Doubly so since he used Social Security benefits to get through college.
Barbara
@debbie: This has always been my verdict.
Mike in NC
Paul Ryan — like so many who went before him — will forever have unlimited access to the news media and the wingnut welfare circuit. The Beltway media will revere him forever as a policy wonk and intellectual.
NorthLeft12
And there are still some people foolish enough to believe that Paul Ryan will change course and summon up some kind of courage and integrity to do the right thing for the US and stand up to Deadbeat Donald.
Lyin’ Ryan sold out every shred of his soul long before The Orange Idiot was elected President. There is no there, there.
Major Major Major Major
@debbie: until you start losing your hair, cf. Rubio
Mary G
He’s as much a sociopath as Trump is. He’s just much, much better at hiding it. He won’t do a damn thing to help this country.
Mary G
@Mike in NC: Sunday shows for the next 35 years.
Major Major Major Major
@Mike in NC: I think a lot of people who got wonk starbursts from him had their bubble popped by last year’s multitude of magical budgets, healthcare bills, the tax bill, etc. I say this because I’ve read it. Saletan at slate has a piece about his own journey today I think.
dmsilev
@NorthLeft12: Yes, of course there are people who are that stupid. Unfortunately, a large swath of them hold positions as political pundits and journalists.
Mike in NC
@Feebog: Ryan infamously complained that the so-called safety net was a “hammock”. One that apparently tens of millions of American losers and moochers constantly take advantage of to the detriment of right wing billionaires.
Omnes Omnibus
@NorthLeft12: What soul?
lollipopguild
Just imagine what the public verdict will be about Ryan when it comes out that he and most other elected GOP members knew about the Russians throwing the election and they did nothing to stop it and also took millions of dollars from the Russians to finance the rigging of the election.
debbie
@Mary G:
NPR ran a segment this afternoon with a slew of audio clips of Ryan opposing Trump’s candidacy again and again, up until the moment tax reform came up. Whore.
Calouste
I wouldn’t be surprised if the reason for both Ryan’s retirement and his lack of spine in the face of the shitgibbon is that he had an affair and the Russkis blackmailed him. Remember that his wife has the real money.
Yutsano
@debbie: I cry foul dear lady! Whores perform a vital and necessary function in our society. Paulie Boy does no such thing.
Amir Khalid
@lollipopguild:
I imagine that a considerable segment of that public will ultimately be okay with any Republican action, however corrupt and/or illegal, that leads to a Democrat losing, or that mocks Democratic values.
Sm*t Cl*de
Never lend money to Republican politicians. When you remind them of the repayment you expect, they will relabel it as “entitlement”, something to be reformed.
khead
Maybe a bit OT, but even Shrub wasn’t bonkers enough to give Scooter a full pardon.
Yutsano
@khead: And Dick never forgave him for that betrayal.
rikyrah
Go Nancy Smash ?
MomSense
@Calouste:
My guess is that it’s financial. He is a big fundraiser for the Republicans. Wouldn’t be surprised if foreign money made it into his Super PAC.
Omnes Omnibus
@MomSense: Me, I hope it is an inoperable something. He is from my state, and he was in my fraternity (different schools).
The Moar You Know
As I expect from her these days, Nancy Smash sums up the situation with deadly accuracy.
MomSense
@Omnes Omnibus:
He would probably thrive in prison. He’s already into body building and the lack of empathy will be helpful. I’d like to see that.
Gravenstone
@NotMax: That would be undercutting his good buddy Snotty Walker.
Gravenstone
@Mary G: I’d prefer Supermax for the next 35 years. YMMV
Amir Khalid
@khead:
Maybe Shrub did want to pardon Scooter like Darth did, but judged it was too soon and risked backfiring on the party.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
That’s almost funny. Joe Klein and Tom Brokaw were wagging their “liberal” fingers about “getting serious about entitlement reform” when Paul Ryan was about as famous as Justin Amash.
OTOH, promising not to touch Social Security and Medicare (and Medicaid, if only because he doesn’t know what it is) was key to trump winning the nomination and the EC. When Conor Lamb gave his speech the night he won, he didn’t celebrate bipartisanship– much less bash Nancy Pelosi– he talked about Social Security and the New Deal
ETA: @Amir Khalid: I suspect he just didn’t give enough a fuck about anyone not named Bush to generate more bad press. And if anyone missed Nick Kristof mewling about how he has no problem with this on the O’Donnell show, trust me: Nick Kristof can go fuck himself.
catclub
@Mike in NC:
Yep. previous example: Newt Gingrich is still polluting the airwaves
Omnes Omnibus
@NotMax:Okay, explain how this is even possible. Or likely. You know nothing about current WI politics. Why be an asshole?
Aleta
He couldn’t even do what he said he would do, and he didn’t even do what he now says he did. His contribution to the US is a few fake photo ops and a projected deficit over $1 trillion by 2020.
Ruckus
@NorthLeft12:
Don’t know if he was born an asshole but he’s been practicing at it for a very long time. He is the epitome of the rethuglican party/conservatives. Their goal is to steal every thing they can, to fuck over anyone and everyone who isn’t rich including their supporters, and laugh all the way to the bank. They are a plague on humanity.
JR
@MomSense: maybe he would need protective custody
JohnO
Paul Ryan didn’t know what insurance is/how it works. “The problem with [ACA] is that healthy people are paying for the sick.” That anyone (ANYONE!) can consider him in any way a “wonk” after this and his Rand worship is why I think I was born at the perfect time in the arc of American history.
LOL What a moron/asshole (the distilled definition of the modern Republican).
The actual quote, according to the Great Gazoogle: “The whole idea of Obamacare is…the people who are healthy pay for the…sick. It’s not working, & that’s why it’s in a death spiral.”
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Aleta
@Ruckus: + a bunch of plaque in the arteries of justice or something.
NotMax
@Omnes Omnibus
Lighten up, Francis. Just goofin’ around. Ryan is primed for mocking.
khead
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Yeah, I understand that it’s about this.
Still a bit bonkers though. Even with a fuck Nick Kristof thrown in. The somewhat non-political folks I know are all kinds of WTF? because they have the attention span of a gnat and can’t remember Scooter Libby.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@khead: hell, non-political folks barely remember who Dick Cheney was. Which is why the studied, self-congratulatory and precious high-mindedness of Nick Kristof– our justice system is too punitive, he’s paid a high price, he didn’t enrich himself– makes me want to feed him to a herd of snapping turtles
Steeplejack (phone)
@Amir Khalid:
Nicolle Wallace, who worked in the Bush administration and was closely involved in the media planning around the Libby affair, said on Rachel Maddow’s show tonight that Dubya was adamant about not pardoning Libby.
burnspbesq
On a much happier note, Princeton forward Leslie Robinson, niece of the Obamas, was selected by New York in the third round of the WNBA draft.
danielx
@Mary G:
Purely as a matter of curiosity, does anyone know how much your average pundit is paid? I realize it’s a large range, but if you had to pick a number out of the air?
Steve on St. Simons Island
@Steeplejack (phone): WAIT WHUT?
Sorry, wrong thread.
Steve on St. Simons Island
@danielx: define “average pundit”—from what I’ve seen, almost all are well below average
Yutsano
@burnspbesq: Craig’s kid? SWEET! She had some really good training growing up then.
Steeplejack (phone)
@Steve on St. Simons Island:
I’ve never seen this place get so hysterical. And over Scooter Libby?! WTF.
There needs to be a “Thanks, I needed that” slap emoji.
ETA: ✋✊?
Amir Khalid
@Steeplejack (phone):
That does sound more like Shrub. I remember that, as Governor, he took malicious delight, or seemed to, in refusing to commute death sentences.
Mike in NC
Maddow’s covering the juicy stuff that will come out of James Comey’s book, while he’s being attacked by the usual suspects.
Mnemosyne
@Steeplejack (phone):
Remember, Pappy Bush ran the CIA before he was Reagan’s VP. There used to be some residual feeling that blowing a CIA agent’s cover for partisan political reasons was a bad idea.
Used to be, that is.
Geeno
@Omnes Omnibus: seemingly – yes, teh Geh
Major Major Major Major
@danielx: a lot of the c-listers are just happy to have the publicity of an op-ed or a ten minute spot.
danielx
@Steve on St. Simons Island:
Well, I am in no doubt that they’re paid a damn sight more than they are worth. Just wondering…though if there is one thing in this uncertain world of which I am tolerably certain, it is that David Brooks (an egregious example) has been paid millions in the last decade. Realizing that most of his money comes from the FNYT, he’s certainly not spending his Sunday mornings wearing a pound of makeup for free.
ETA: Yeah, I know, Brooks should be living in a cardboard box under an overpass in Wheeling WV or some such. It should only be so….
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
@Mike in NC:
The Beltway media needs to be rendered irrelevant then
Barry
@Calouste: 9f-Ingalls IPad won’t copy)
It’s not an affair, it’s that Ryan doesn’t have the guts to fight as minority leader, like Pelosi. He’s gotten his tax cuts and will be richly rewarded. All that awaits him in Congress is hard work.
Uncle Cosmo
@JohnO: Most of yinz overlook the fact that the term wonk was coined at Hahvahd at least 2 generations ago (FTR I know this because I heard it as an undergrad at another school) by simply – wait for it –
And that’s about right for ZEGS: Everything he “knows” is ass-backward. Bastard.
@Calouste: Big blue eyes, workout “wonder” – my money’d be on “live boy.” And Vlad the Paler has the vids.
Raven Onthill
My influential Democratic Senator, Patricia Murray, tweeted:
Always good to see honest, competent, effective opposition leadership.