by Adam Mill
In March 2018, then-House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) took to the lectern to announce he had received “assurances” that President Trump was not considering firing special counsel Robert Mueller. “We have a system based upon the rule of law in this country.” A month later, Ryan announced his retirement from Congress.
In July 2018, Ryan refused to permit an effort to impeach then-Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein for obstructing congressional inquiries into the Russian collusion hoax. Ryan’s protection of Mueller and his untimely retirement helped tip the 2018 midterm elections against his party and Nancy Pelosi has held the speaker’s gavel ever since then.
Mueller should have been fired and Ryan should have urged Trump to do it. Mueller proved himself to be a fumbling and doddering fool unable to grasp the basics of the investigation he supposedly led. The real directors of the witch hunt, Trump haters led by Andrew Weissman, abused the powers of the special counsel to leak, smear, and harass the sitting president. It was, from the very start, a political operation intended to deny Trump the full freedom and powers an elected president normally would enjoy. It wasn’t quite a coup because power didn’t change hands. But it added to the continuing loss of confidence Americans have in achieving political change through elections.
As speaker of the House in 2018, Ryan had tremendous power to expose and stop the Russian collusion hoax. Just a month earlier, in February, Representative Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) had released a memorandum revealing that the FBI did indeed use its powers to spy on the Trump campaign to include illegal surveillance of Carter Page. At a point of maximum need, Ryan watched passively as the political jackals in the media and government leveraged Mueller’s bogus investigation into a political win in the 2018 midterms.
Fortunately, Ryan is out of power. If he had had his way, he would have empowered another sprawling political witch hunt in the form of the January 6 commission. As George Will noted in the Washington Post, “on Jan. 6, when a mob sacked the U.S. Capitol, Ryan wept.” How about a few tears for the political prisoners who are being held without bail for nonviolent crimes?
Will captured this quote from Ryan regarding January 6, “it was horrifying to see a presidency come to such a dishonorable and disgraceful end.” Ryan further warned against basing conservatism on “the populist appeal of one personality, or of second-rate imitations. . . . Voters looking for Republican leaders want to see independence and mettle. They will not be impressed by the sight of yes men and flatterers flocking to Mar-a-Lago.” While nobody endorses the January 6 incursion of the Capitol, we don’t need more grandstanding politicians’ crocodile tears to lubricate the pretext for political prosecutions.
Will describes Ryan as the heir to Ronald Reagan, comparing the former speaker to the Gipper throughout the piece. It’s not hard to understand why the Washington Post would publish such a glowing puff piece: Media has already started thinking about 2024 and it wants to manage the Republican primary.
The media successfully meddled in the 2016 Republican presidential primary. None of the non-Trump candidates could get any coverage. The media waited until after Trump secured the nomination to spring its October surprise: the 2005 “Access Hollywood” tapes. The media could have released the audio recording during the primary before the Republicans put all of their eggs in the Trump basket. But they held it for political effect. Nobody believes their official explanation that NBC forgot about the tape until the fall of 2016.
So instead of casting about for another candidate with an “Access Hollywood” Achilles heel, the media is instead looking for a politician who won’t challenge their allies in the intelligence community if and when a Republican next gets a turn at the White House. Ryan fits the bill perfectly. Ryan uncritically parrots the mainstream media’s political hits on Republicans.
What happened to George Will? Twenty years ago, I considered myself an admirer of his witty political commentary. Like Ryan, he’s been infected by Trump Derangement Syndrome and has become just another NeverTrumper who pathetically seeks the approval of the leftist media.
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Adam Mill is a pen name. He works in Kansas City, Missouri as an attorney specializing in labor and employment and public administration law. He graduated from the University of Kansas and has been admitted to practice in Kansas and Missouri. Mill has contributed to The Federalist, American Greatness, and The Daily Caller.
Photo “Paul Ryan” by Paul Ryan.
