Enough!

“What was proposed yesterday is not what this party stands for, and more importantly it’s not what this country stands for. Not only are there many Muslims serving in the armed forces, dying for this country, there are Muslims serving right here in the house, working to uphold and defend the constitution.” (Regarding the President’s Executive Order temporarily halting immigration from several countries)

“If a person wants to be the nominee of the Republican Party, there can be no evasion and no games. They must reject any group or cause that is built on bigotry. This party does not prey on people’s prejudices.” (regarding Trump’s first “less than aggressive” denouncement of former KKK leader David Duke’s endorsement)

These were just two of the many negative statements by Paul Ryan about Donald Trump leading up to the 2016 election.  Paul Ryan — Wisconsin Congressman, Speaker of the House, and leader of Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives, who was charged to not only support GOP House members in their bids for re-election, but to lead the charge for the Republican candidate for President to defeat Hillary Clinton at the same time.  Paul Ryan — Mitt Romney’s Vice Presidential running mate in 2012.  He intimately knows the election process, what it takes to win, and how easy it is to lose.  He has not only seen what makes losing national elections possible, he was the subject of one of the most needless and misunderstood losses in a Presidential election in my lifetime.  Romney/Ryan should have eliminated a second Obama term.

Ryan NEVER really supported Donald Trump.  He is a member (and, yes, a leader) of the GOP Establishment that has had a choke hold on the Republican Party since the Reagan Administration.  Other members of that exclusive club are Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConell, Jeb Bush, both Presidents Bush 41 and 43, Mitt Romney, Governor Rick Perry, Congressman Daryl Isa (CA), Senator John McCain (AZ), Senator Orrin Hatch (UT), Senator John Cornyn (TX), Marco Rubio (FL), Senator Charles Grassley (IA), Senator James Inhofe (OK), and others whose names we’ve heard for years.  And many others part of this “club” are not elected officials — many just control campaign and Super PAC dollars.

You may remember all the hoopla about Ryan accepting the leadership of the House when John Boener — the previous Speaker — resigned.  He made out he didn’t want the position and would accept it only under strict conditions.  But that was all a charade.  He really wanted it….he got it….and he has used it to his advantage pretty much exclusively…and he has NOT used it to lead the Republican Party inside or outside of the House of Representatives.  And he certainly did not lead in the fight to defeat Hillary Clinton.  No matter what he says:  he does NOT like or support Donald Trump.  By his actions — not his “post election” verbal praises of the President — he saw this President as only a necessary evil to keep a third Obama Administration from happening through Hillary.  Short of that, I dare to say he hates Donald Trump.

Obviously the above paragraph is totally my subjective opinion and nothing more.  But let’s look at facts regarding the misses by Paul Ryan since January:

• Donald Trump made multiple pledges in his campaign of things he would do if elected.  He was elected.  He as a businessman with success as a “do-er” and NOT a politician  set out to fulfill those promises.  That process has been shocking to the GOP Establishment, (especially the Speaker) because the GOP political machine has never done that.  Done what?  Follow through on campaign promises!  Because voters elected Trump, (and NOT the GOP Establishment) Speaker Ryan found himself not knowing what to do.  How could he get the men and women in that group to follow him if he led the charge to help the President — who many in that group hate also — to accomplish all those campaign promises?  He knew his leadership there would be viewed as his betrayal of the “Good Old Party.”  So what did he do?  NOTHING!
• He missed on repeal/replace Obamacare.  Don’t get me started on political parties and caucuses.  I think both are stupid.  But they exist.  And what real leaders do is pull various factions together finding enough common ground on important issues to reach consensus and get things done.  Ryan didn’t even try to pull those factions together in the GOP to support a repeal/replace plan.  Voters were told for 6 years the GOP had such a plan ready to immediately after the election pass for the President to sign into law.  Donald Trump believed them!  Where’s that bill they had created and approved among themselves they all talked about in every one of their elections to get voters to send them back to D.C.?  THERE WASN’T ONE!
• Have you seen the Ryan Budget Plan that he put together to present to Congress?  No you haven’t.  It doesn’t exist!
• I Googled today to see all the comments made by the Speaker to his House members about plans to secure the southern border including the wall that voters overwhelming approved the building of with the Trump election.  I couldn’t find a single comment from the Speaker.

The definition of a leader?  “A leader is the one in the charge, the person who convinces other people to follow. A great leader inspires confidence in other people and moves them to action.“

I see none of that definition of leader in Speaker Paul Ryan.  He has inspired no one to any specific action.  In fact, instead of calling him a leader, I have termed him a “drive-by shooter.”  You know what those guys are, don’t you?  Instead of getting involved in issues, talking through problems, their sources, possible solutions, and convincing others to agree to realistic solutions, they just drive by and shoot at those that are really part of the issue.

I am about to say something that may surprise you — no shock you:  I think Paul Ryan accepted the role of Speaker not to lead the House, but to make certain that none of the “radical” policies promoted by Donald Trump would be enacted.  Why?  Because the Republican Establishment wants one thing and one thing only:  no waves.  They want Americans to believe everything they promote is genuinely designed for the  betterment of all Americans.  But history says something different — THEIR history.  The GOP wants to maintain power over the federal government.  It’s not about money — only about power.  They know that with power they control money and everything else.  And they know Donald Trump does not care at all about obligations, quid pro quo, or paybacks to anybody for anything.  He genuinely cares for the lives of Americans and his life demonstrates that.  And he scares them to death.  I really thing Speaker Ryan wants President Trump to fail.  And I think someone has convinced him that with a Trump failure, Ryan himself has a real shot at selling the story to Republicans that he knows how, and has the ability to, pickup the GOP reigns and lead the Party back into the White House…..himself — in 2020.  I believe he has a personal agenda and not an American agenda.

Whether or not my opinion about his future aspirations is true, he needs to go.  There are others in the House far better suited to lead than he.  We need one of the real leaders to do just that:  lead.  Ryan has failed to do so.