Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

Derrick_Mur t1_j4an720 wrote

And yet all Ryan managed to do with it was pass a shitty tax cut bill and enable a moronic psychopath with his finger on the nuclear launch button

365

-domi- t1_j4anltf wrote

Not just you, Ryan. All the other politicians, too.

27

Nagger_Luvver t1_j4ao80n wrote

Weird that republicans can't grow a spine until they retire.

761

farbekrieg t1_j4aqa5c wrote

and yet he didnt go all super saiyan once

10

essray22 t1_j4avhid wrote

I randomly came upon him while he I was mountain biking at John Muir. He didn’t have enough power to make it up the punchy hill climbs.

1

charaznable1249 t1_j4b1tu8 wrote

I had no problem then, but now that I'm out and it's someone else

8

Rosebunse t1_j4b3kvg wrote

He was real hot with the beard...

Like, it was an evil beard, but he rocked it.

I think as Trump's power wanes, he is vying for a come-back. The GOP is clearly in a bit of a tizzy and you can bet we are gonna see people wrestle for control of it.

16

baddfingerz1968 t1_j4b3tpz wrote

Agreed. He was the biggest heartless Repugnican sociopath in the Congress at the time. Except for Moscow Mitch.

9

BloodTypeBourbonRye t1_j4b4bgu wrote

A lot of the more reasonable moderate Republicans dipped out in the middle of Trump's term when it was obvious they were going to lose a primary to a Trump-endorsed candidate if they didn't become lapdogs like Lindsey Graham did. I don't like Ryan but I'd rather have a House full of Republicans like him.

17

Rosebunse t1_j4b4mmx wrote

We would actually get stuff done that wasn't insane.

We are gonna see some weird shit out of the GOP. Normally, I would say that Biden's document drama was a career killer. But the GOP make it quite possible that it will be forgotten in a couple of weeks. They're disorganized, too obsessed with pleasing an insane base.

7

an_african_swallow t1_j4b4nbs wrote

Is this guy attempting to crawl his way back into politics now that trump doesn’t have as much of a spotlight as he used to?

65

Pusfilledonut t1_j4b6g5h wrote

He was only able to shill for a fascist and a media baron.

12

aidan8et t1_j4b7u8d wrote

>any elected government official

FTFY.

There are countless people in "hired" positions that are not power hungry monsters... I mean... Politician.

Anyone with enough arrogance to run for a political office automatically loses some of my respect.

26

EaterOfFood t1_j4b84cf wrote

Did you ever think you’d miss John Boehner?

596

PartyYogurtcloset267 t1_j4b9wuj wrote

He's only "growing a spine" because the speaker is now a Democrat. Then again, what does "growing a spine" even mean? He toed the party line to great profit to himself and his donors. What exactly do you think he should have done with his time in congress?

−30

spotolux t1_j4bb0o2 wrote

I don't believe Ryan and his like would do anything. When he was coming up he was promoted as a policy wonk with convictions, the new face of the Republican party who would usher in a new era of modern Republicans. Instead all he did was cut taxes and flee from Trump despite knowing exactly who and what Trump was. He didn't do shit when he supposedly had too much power and I don't think he'd do anything if he made a comeback.

17

scorpion_tail t1_j4bb0qj wrote

Yeah, probably from those oiled-up guns and bitchin abs. Paul Ryan gets in the gym, twists his ball cap backward, and it’s like flipping a switch. A switch that takes him…

Over The Top.

2

tackle_bones t1_j4bcrv3 wrote

“Get stuff done that wasn’t insane.”

This is the guy that for years tried to organize the killing of social security and other social safety nets. He definitely has insane ideas and promotes them.

12

psilocin72 t1_j4bdt68 wrote

Unfortunately this is true. We need to change our government of ethics and morality matter to us at all. An ethics committee that is not a part of the group it oversees would be a start. If they get to grade themselves, they will get an A+ every time.

0

PacJeans t1_j4beqhp wrote

What are you talking about? The US was at war during the entirety of Trumps term. A war which the Biden administration ended. It's literally the opposite of what you're saying.

11

ATribeOfAfricans t1_j4bfpyr wrote

Well, that could very well be true but it certainly doesn't help that he is an objectively massive piece of shit

1

Nokomis34 t1_j4bg5fk wrote

Despite everything else, this is why George Washington is a big deal.

"When told by the American artist Benjamin West that Washington was going to resign, King George III of England said "If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world."

Edit. Ok, so I found this regarding that quote.

Quote #1

"If he does that he will be the greatest man in the world!"

  • George III to Benjamin West after learning George Washington was going to resign his commission as Commander of the Continental Congress and return to Mount Vernon.

George's Commission

You'll find this quote on the Fount of All Knowledge sometimes with a description of a meeting where King George asked his then-court painter, Benjamin West, what George Washington was planning to do now that peace had been agreed to. Benjamin replied (we read) that George was going to resign his commission. Then King George made his famous exclamation.

Certainly a great quote (and it also appears in some bonafide, albeit relatively recent, history books) it is indeed a "reconstruction". Its source is a memorandum book of Rufus King, the now-forgotten Founding Father who later served as minister to Britain. The book contained a letter written May 3, 1797 where Rufus wrote about a recent conversation with Benjamin West. The letter is (with modern spelling and punctuation added):

Mr. West called on me. We entered into politics after speaking of the Dinner at the Royal Academy and of the annual exhibition

Mr. West said things respecting America had changed very much, that people who could not formerly find words of unkindness enough now talked in a different language, that the King had lately spoken in the most explicit manner of the wisdom of the American government and of the abilities and great worth of the characters she produced and employed. He said the King had lately used very handsome expressions respecting Mr. Jay and and that he also spoke in a very pleasing manner of Mr. Gore.

But that in regard to General Washington, he told him since his resignation that in his opinion "that act closing and finishing what had gone before and viewed in connection with it, placed him in a light the most distinguished of any man living, and that he thought him the greatest character of the age."

So there was no record of any meeting with George III and Benjamin right after the Revolution. And the letter recording the conversation itself was written only in 1797 and is secondhand at best.

Still although King George may not have said exactly what is in the famous quote, certainly the sentiments were there.

Source: The Life and Correspondence of Rufus King , Charles King (Editor), Volume III, 1896

https://www.coopertoons.com/merryhistory/quotes/theydidntquitesaythat.html

54

The-friar t1_j4bhium wrote

Ryan is just saying this to give some cover for Kevin McCarthy, who was forced to make embarrassing concessions to the far right to win the gavel that made the speakership much, much weaker. Indeed it was probably better that the speaker was so powerful, so that they could still make deals and work around the extremes of the party

233

vivahermione t1_j4bhwat wrote

I quite agree, which is why he shouldn't be given a second chance in the future. "When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time."

31

tackle_bones t1_j4bieb4 wrote

I’m not sure. I always thought they picked him, in part, because I believe he was raised partially on welfare. So of course, who is a better person to fight against it than someone that directly benefitted from it?!

4

trucorsair t1_j4blali wrote

Too much power but failed to use it, the definition of a blowhard coward

2

Brewing_Tea t1_j4blick wrote

Wait, you can actually do LESS useful stuff than Paul Ryan???

0

poboy212 t1_j4bm7q7 wrote

Him and fucking Boehner enable all sorts of ridiculous bullshit for years while in office and then do all this hand wringing after they leave. Go fuck yourself, Paul.

192

passwordsarehard_3 t1_j4bmicq wrote

And why is that? Pelosi is the exception that proves the rule, it’s impressive she got them to tow the line because dems usually don’t. When was the last time you were impressed every republican voted for a bill? That’s because they always all vote for the bill.

0

poboy212 t1_j4bmj8t wrote

No, enough if this ‘both sides are bad’ shit. The GOP has become a fucking menace and it isn’t even close. Zero interest in actually governing. Their sole goal is to just troll the left.

16

MajorOrMinor t1_j4bmt8n wrote

He should go back to “sleeping” in his office. We don’t need another 6 years of utter hatred paddled. Go away maggot

2

finevcijnenfijn t1_j4bo2hw wrote

>Despite everything else, this is why George Washington is a big deal.
>
>"When told by the American artist Benjamin West that Washington was going to resign, King George III of England said "If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world."
>
>Edit. Ok, so I found this regarding that quote.

He's gonna try to be pres if trump kanyes out.

6

BartholomewBandy t1_j4boigp wrote

This is the answer. McCarthy has no room to negotiate, he has no control of the crazy right and is very likely to fuck up our credit rating as a country, here in the next few weeks. In chaos is opportunity, and here he is, the previous weakest speaker in our times… He should have gone into the cannabis business, like that hypocrite Boehner.

93

yosoydorf t1_j4bp3ot wrote

Weird.

So why didnt the supposed Monolithic GOP give all of their votes to McCarthy from the get go, as you would expect from a. group that you claim votes party line every single time. Why did they need to go 15 rounds of voting to get it done?

Meanwhile, every single DNC member voted for Hakeem Jeffries.

You seem very, very confused.

−1

mymar101 t1_j4bri33 wrote

Maybe the house speaker should have no power at all to do anything. Sarcasm.

0

sealmeal21 t1_j4bsc05 wrote

They all do. They're all too disassociated with reality and not looking to the interests of the people. The whole system is garbage.1 term maximums, minimum wage the whole time, bank accounts monitored the whole time, no charitable donations or campaign donations allowed, any attempted "donations" go to a fund that fuels each politican equally for their campaign and each politician gets the super basic healthcare benefits while in office. Also any criminal act is automatically moved to max sentencing allowable for an elected official. They all need to fear the power they yield, find it fiscally irresponsible to stay in office, and work their fingers to the bone trying to help the people they represent.

3

Rickshmitt t1_j4bvlzs wrote

I think he was one of the smart ones who got out. He knew his party would be sucking that orange ass and said naaah ive got enough money. Which is scary hes resurfacing. Hes evil but smart.

0

Llenette1 t1_j4bwrda wrote

I legit wonder about this guy every so often...like. He's definitely Conservative, but even he saw how batshit crazy things were getting and said "fuck this". And it's sad I feel the desire to give him credit for that. Smh. Lol.

277

Hermit_Lailoken t1_j4bxj20 wrote

Is that why you left after setting up a sweetheart deal for yourself?

0

MediocreDungeonMastr t1_j4c0e3q wrote

> Paul Ryan despises the fanfare he supported during his career

And this is why Paul Ryan always has and always will be a worthless twat

0

poboy212 t1_j4c0w1z wrote

It really isn’t. The left doesn’t worship its politicians. It isn’t a cult. The left politicians aren’t perfect and they get criticism. There aren’t people driving around with giant Biden flags on their pickup trucks.

4

snewz404 t1_j4c5etk wrote

Hey Paul Ryan, nobody wants to hear from you.

Sincerely, The US

2

tinacat933 t1_j4c742e wrote

I feel like this guy keeps popping up again now for a reason- and it has to do with “entitlement “ cuts- he always had a raging boner for this shit

1

TatonkaJack t1_j4c8rhc wrote

That’s weird cause that congress didn’t really get much done even though they had the house, senate, and presidency.

1

notreal088 t1_j4caz7r wrote

And this is why I believe we should fight to also give congressmen and senators term limits. Holding on to power for so long only encourages corruption and prevents progress and innovation in thoughts since we can have the same person in office for over 30 years

1

DizzyAmphibian309 t1_j4cb60z wrote

They don't want to kill it off, they want to make it so that every X years you need to have a vote to extend it. Democrats will always vote yes, but Republicans will use it as leverage to get concessions. Because they're assholes.

3

omgFWTbear t1_j4ci32j wrote

No. Any time a senior official or corporate type “steps down,” it’s to protect their resume. They didn’t quit, they didn’t vote for the bad thing, they didn’t lose, they didn’t oversee a 10% YoY decrease in sales in steak as veganism overtook the country, whatever - it’s entirely a calculation to keep a resume that is only associated with success.

And I’m not saying that to be partisan here - I’ve seen politicians on both sides escape scandal, as well as some corporate officers avoid litigation, by “taking time to spend with family,” etc.,. I am not suggesting PR was facing scandal - AFAIK his maneuver was just staying ahead of headwinds.

86

Sandman1031 t1_j4ckhiv wrote

Yeah, he was one of the 1st bunch of rats to jump ship to preserve their political future. He has enough separation to come out relatively unscathed from MAGA. He looks like he wants to be a key leader in a post-MAGA GOP if that actually becomes a thing.

1

coolluck33 t1_j4ctocp wrote

How odd that the dishonorable Paulie didn't bring this issue up while he was Speaker ...

1

The-friar t1_j4cz0mx wrote

There was a compromise at the end of the last congress, where McConnell and the democrats got a spending omnibus through, which angered the Freedom Caucus. Which is why the reforms that Ryan is defending here were championed by the likes of Lauren Boebert and Matt Gaetz.

−14

Arcades_Samnoth t1_j4cz94d wrote

Stopped clock moment for Paul Ryan..... man things are getting wierd

−1

TldrDev t1_j4czm90 wrote

That's not what happened, you're giving him far too much credit. He became a weed spokesperson. He's a fucking hypocrite. He was "vehemently opposed to Marijuana legalization" during his time in the house, got paid $20m, dropped out of congress, and became a lobbyist for a cannabis investment group. He's a fucking twat.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/03/us/politics/john-boehner-marijuana-cannabis.html

270

Sweatytubesock t1_j4da3a0 wrote

You got your bullshit huge tax cut to your wealthy owners, you enabled every action of a criminal president, you retired rich, so be happy, and go fuck yourself with a chainsaw, Paul.

2

joeyl5 t1_j4dculg wrote

I remember him as a spineless coward

1

farbs12 t1_j4df5zh wrote

Say what you want about him, but for 52 he looks damn good. Testament to exercise routine.

1

dayison2 t1_j4dmhso wrote

Funny how he says that now that he's no longer...

1

LurkethInTheMurketh t1_j4dnyxi wrote

All economic downturn short of societal collapse can be turned to billionaires’ benefit. Do not forget that a significant subsection of their donors either are or are aligned with literal enemies of the state a la Russia and China, among others.

7

95blackz26 t1_j4dswab wrote

I saw Paul Ryan is a liar carved into the door at a rest stop the other day

3

ZeroM60 t1_j4dw6fo wrote

You know Paul Ryan looks like a more put together version of Jake Gyllenhaal character from Nightclawler.

2

Gilgie t1_j4dwpx0 wrote

Did he do anything as speaker?

1

Ragnakak t1_j4e1hg4 wrote

Remember when Paul Ryan said his favorite band is Rage Against The Machine?

3

bayoubuddha77 t1_j4e8gn5 wrote

The Paul Ryan self-rehabilitation tour continues. Don't buy it

4

Eddiebaby7 t1_j4eblxh wrote

Actually yes. He was the last Republican House Speaker who believed in a functional government and had no problems working across the aisle to keep the country going. His ouster signaled the end of the Republican belief in compromise, the beginning of GOP obstruction for obstructions sake, and a steady stream of incoming performative lunatics.

6

printers_rock t1_j4ej9r1 wrote

Well if we give a shit at all about being right specifically, not just generally... Deficit by year:

Year Deficit (in Billions)
2016 585
2017 665
2018 779

Accuracy matters, otherwise you're not helping. You're one of those people where a lot of us end up in a position of "I agree with your overall point but I fucking hate the way you made it"

Not a good person to be, imo.

A better version of that general argument would be to simply ask why deficits rose during his speakership. Should also lump in 2015 at $442B and 2019 at $984B, to make the point even more obvious. You could, of course, make a very concrete form of that argument by laying out the premises that he is both a fiscal conservative as well as acknowledges directly himself that he wielded a tremendous amount of power. But we're not exactly interviewing him, so that's a bit unnecesary.

9

ElectricMan324 t1_j4ek0mw wrote

They both literally said that they "compromised" with the lunatic fringe of the party in order to keep them under control, in their opinion. Remember Michelle Bachmann? Old Boehner said that he knew she was nuts but tried to work with her because he was afraid of her growing power.

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/546142-boehner-on-bachmann-right-wing-media-made-people-who-used-to-be-fringe/

If they had acted differently and worked with Dems to box in the crazies when they were a minority, maybe things would have turned out differently. People like Ryan and Boehner were worse than the tea party/MAGA people in my opinion. They KNEW there was a problem but decided that the party was more important than the country.

That decision directly led us down the crazy train to Trump and 1/6.

30

squidvalley t1_j4ewcfx wrote

Remember when he passed corporate tax cuts and the Koch Bros gave 500k to his campaign the next day, despite him not running again?

1

HarlequinMadness t1_j4ezprj wrote

Funny how people never think they have too much power, while they're in power.

2

morahman7vn t1_j4f1pa5 wrote

We need a greatest hits of madness compilation reel of examples to further drive this point home.

Because honestly at once point I just sort of tuned out of politics. A refresher would be greatly appreciated.

1

Crichton1987 t1_j4f2hi7 wrote

Where has this spineless clown been for the last few years???

3

sulla_rules t1_j4f30q8 wrote

And. Couldn’t wield it, he is a huge disappointment

0

CrawlerSiegfriend t1_j4fbj7i wrote

So I've been seeing increasing Paul Ryan coverage. Is he back now or something? I thought he quit.

1

bozitybozitybopzebop t1_j4fenu5 wrote

His favorite band is Rage Against the Machine, and he very specifically starred in congress as the Machine.

But seriously, I have my own pet theory.

Remember when Republicsns were opposed to Trump? Remember too when they all met with Trump and emerged lije docile puppies? Remember further when the word on the street was that Republicans were afraid of Trump?

Finally, do you remember that, when the Russians hacked the DNC and Assange leaked the contents, the Russians also hacked the RNC and never leaked anything?

My theory is that Putin handed Trump damning contents from that leak which he revealed to them in that meeting. Trump then threatened to expose them if they didn't cooperate.

Paul 'Rage Against the Machine' Ryan finishes the meeting by saying they're all family and drops out of politics ASAP.

Trump is holding seriously damaging info provided to him by Putin and using it to manipulate the GOP.

Bill Barr says Trump's election claims are bullshit but thst he's still voting for him? He says that Trump will destroy the Republicans if he doesn't get the nomination?

Trump is going to reveal something devestating if he loses the nomination or gets imprisoned.

5

SugarSweetSonny t1_j4fi2wa wrote

This requires Trump to be able to keep secrets for more then 10 minutes.

Considering that every person who has been close to him, winds up turning on him.

I can't imagine him having dirt and not having it leaked or talking to people about it.

6

SugarSweetSonny t1_j4fia4q wrote

There is a long held belief that not only should government officials have power but they need to preserve it (for "the institution") so thats it there even when they no longer are.

Its a weird thinking. Like instead of thinking "hey one day my enemy will have this job", they think, we must make this office/job MORE powerful all the time.

Even the courts are getting in on the act now (and giving themselves more work as a result).

1

SugarSweetSonny t1_j4fk9jh wrote

Yea but that still requires Trump not to blab to people about dirt.

Its a pretty big stretch that he wouldn't be telling people around him.

Its almost antithetical to everything he has done for decades.

He's even been known to divulge information damaging to himself in public (regarding business dealings in the past) despite his own lawyers telling him not to.

Its not totally unfeasable IF you can find a way to take Trump himself out of the equation (i.e. use someone else without trump).

3

puckerbush t1_j4fpy61 wrote

What an incredibly absurd statement from a bona fide failure.

1

PityFool t1_j4g6wdc wrote

The Speaker has two kinds of power. One based on the rules of the House and one based on their political capital. Ryan may have had a good amount of the former, but possessed none of the latter. We’re long past the days of Joe Cannon who ruled the house with an iron fist with both types of power but after the members essentially revolted, the powers of the speakership were drastically cut back. A generation later, Longworth should have been another weak Speaker because of the rules, but he was a master politician who managed to rule the House by force of will and skill even though on paper he wasn’t very empowered.

All that’s to say that when we fast forward to recent history, Gingrich was probably the resurgence of what it looks like to have a Speaker who was truly powerful for both reasons… until he wasn’t, after some political blunders. But he handed a very strong speakership to his successors but with each passing Speaker they gave up more and more of their power until you get to Ryan who was a sniveling weakling of a Speaker who had neither political capital to spend nor much power on paper to wield. Pelosi was clever, deft, adaptable, and skilled enough so that she got her way on legislation, but the Republicans have no one with anything close to resembling her skill. And Ryan is one of the last people with anything valuable to say on the subject given his abject failure of a speakership.

1

Yunofascar t1_j4gmew9 wrote

Ah, of course. He only says this when he's out of the seat and there's a new appointment going on where he can hope to sway opinion on the topic.

Just like how George Washington freed his slaves... Yet only in his will. Eat the cake and have it, too. Fucking politicians.

2

lazyfacejerk t1_j4hyiuc wrote

"Hey, I used to scream about responsible spending, but when I got the chance, I cut taxes for the ultrawealthy (including my family) and created a several trillion dollar deficit. Once I cut that shit passed, I peaced out, yo."

-Paul Ryan, fucking asshole

2

sealmeal21 t1_j4yk9n8 wrote

Not when there is legislation such as Trump has to sign to turn over his assets to another person while in office and when the offices held are only going to cause financial hardship for them they really aren't going to show up. They're going to try to bribe those in those seats with a living wage instead of billions to do their bidding. Well until they get caught and it's treated as a felony much like attempted treason.

1