Why Paul Ryan endorsed Donald Trump

Wails of disappointment greeted House Speaker Paul Ryan's endorsement of Donald Trump, tucked anticlimactically inside his Wisconsin hometown newspaper.

For legions of anti-Trump conservatives, Ryan was not only the last member of the Republican congressional leadership holding out on endorsing the billionaire who vexes them so. To #NeverTrump, Ryan was the last honest man. Now that Ryan has clambered aboard the Trump train, they can only make common cause with the backbenchers and blue-state Republican elected officials.

Among the less magnanimous Trump supporters — though, it should be noted, not Trump himself — Ryan's conversion was almost too little, too late. The voters have spoken, Mr. Speaker. What took you so long to get with the program?

Despite Ryan's delicate — and to many conservatives, disappointing — dance, the outcome was not a surprise. Barring another interview in which the billionaire gave a bizarre response to a question about David Duke, Ryan was always going to endorse Trump eventually.

Newt Gingrich may have made the most insightful observation so far, as reported on the Fox Radio web site:

"“I don’t think of Trump as a traditional conservative but I think what Trump is, is an anti-left, anti-political correctness, anti-stupidity American nationalist. I think he may do more to break up the left than any conservative in our lifetime except maybe Reagan.” - -Newt Gingrich on if Trump is a conservative

Further, prior to the 2012 election fiasco, one of my FreeRepublic posts concerning the Romney campaign contained this prediction:

"Romney will lose to Obama, because he fits right into the narrative of the so-called "progressives" and becomes their perfect opponent.
If these "GOP establishment" types, using the Left's tactics, force a Romney candidacy, then they must be held accountable for the consequences, including the loss of liberty for their posterity.
The Fall campaign will be a battle of ideas. Romney is no ideas warrior.
Obama understands the foundations of his ideology, and he understands how to frame those ideas in a manner that is misleading and appealing to those whom he wishes to enslave to government.
Romney shows no capacity for understanding nor articulating the ideas essential to liberty, and the way he frames what he does understand does not excite passion.
Oh, how we need a Jefferson or an Adams!

Sadly, that prediction proved to be true.

Even sadder, however, is the fact that now, in the Year 2016, the very man (Romney) who failed to inspire America's citizens to reject false ideas of progressive oppression and political correctness of the Administration, along with Paul Ryan, who, likewise, did not use his elected office effectively to halt or stop the Obama programs which have now degraded our freedom--those two men till now, have rejected taking responsibility for the consequence ("the People's" choice of Trump) they and the rest of the GOP-E brought about by their failure to act courageously to act on their voters' mandate .

Gingrich, in his comments (above), was on to something. Perhaps "the People's" visceral reaction to the loss of freedom and national standing their elected GOP representatives and Senators allowed to happen has become so strong that, without focusing on the philosophical ideas underlying that freedom, "the People," disgusted as they are, have chosen a potential nominee who will shake up the status quo and force their representatives to bend their will to that of their real bosses, "the People," just as the Founders and Framers of the Constitution intended.

Many individuals have claimed the banner, "conservative", since Reagan.

Problem: Ronald Reagan had studied and "marinated" himself (thanks for the term, Laura Ingraham) in the Founders' ideas of liberty and the seedbed of ideas which preceded them: many recent "conservatives" have not, and have, therefore, sullied the name "conservative" because they have not exhibited that "visceral" reaction to a President and Party who describe themselves as "progressive and "servants" when they are, in fact, regressive and masters.

Ryan and the rest of the so-called "conservatives" of the past 8 years, need to show their "conservatism" and prove their devotion to liberty by seeing that the nominee holds "fast" to the Constitution--which is the only means by which America can become "great" again!

“Perhaps “the People’s” visceral reaction to the loss of freedom and national standing their elected GOP representatives and Senators allowed to happen has become so strong that, without focusing on the philosophical ideas underlying that freedom, “the People,” disgusted as they are, have chosen a potential nominee who will shake up the status quo and force their representatives to bend their will to that of their real bosses,”

You hit the nail on the head.

Traditional pols - particularly of the RINO variety, have proven themselves to not just be incapable of changing the status quo, but UNWILLING to do so - as in “the SOBs have been lying to us since Day ONe.” Soooo, the only solution that I can come up with is to burn the whole place down (figuratively speaking, at least for now). What that means is a guy like Trump - and if he didn’t exist, we’d have to invent him.

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