Paul Ryan to Tea Party: "You are the problem"

WP ^ | 2/3/2016 | Paul Waldman

[DeathBeforeDishonor1]

Today, Paul Ryan gave a fascinating speech at Heritage Action, a tea party-allied organization that has fashioned itself as the guardian of conservative purity. The speech called for unity. “To quote William Wallace in Braveheart,” he said, “we have to unite the clans.”

But his speech was actually a repudiation of everything the tea party has done. Not only that, Ryan also took shots at the congressional Republican leadership, and even the current GOP presidential candidates. He didn’t call anyone out by name, but if you understand what’s happening now and the conflict that has roiled the Republican Party for the last seven years, the critique was hard to miss.

Not surprisingly, for much of the speech he blamed conservatives’ own sins on progressives, Democrats, and Barack Obama. That has become a familiar refrain — It’s their fault that we’ve become such monsters! — but when you say that, you’re still acknowledging that the sins exist. Let’s start here:

“My theory of the case is this: We win when we have an ideas contest. We lose when we have a personality contest. We can’t fall into the progressives’ trap of acting like angry reactionaries. The Left would love nothing more than for a fragmented conservative movement to stand in a circular firing squad, so the progressives can win by default.

[Georgia Girl 2]

Paul Ryan is a loathesome RINO.

[snooter55]

Blow it out yer ass ryan !

[MomMcGraff]

Is that you Donald?

[doldrumsforgop]

The Tea Party supported the GOP to owning the Senate and House, and he says that?

He would be just another money-grubbing political hack from Wisconsin if the Tea Party was not around.

Come to think of it, he that anyway even with them.....

[justa-hairyape]

The Titanic is sinking and some of the staff refuse to admit the obvious.

[Mastador1]

American Conservative to Paul Ryan, KMLWA, both cheeks!