What do you think of Paul Ryan's endorsement of Donald Trump?

I think it is political suicide. But I think he was fucked either way. I bet he is kicking himself for taking on the role a Speaker of the House.

As usual, I thought Ryan did an excellent job of bowing to the political reality of Donald Trump as the Republican Presidential nominee without coming across as a total political whore.

The whole thing was as low key as it could possibly be given the circumstances. Ryan focused on policy and not personality. he neither bought in to the Trump campaign, nor sold out to it.

I found the whole thing a much needed positive incident in the American Presidential race. If he can keep from setting himself up in flames, I think Ryan is destined to lead the country.

I don’t actually see how people are getting “endorsement” out of Ryan’s statement.
Where did he say he endorsed Trump.
He acknowledged Trump and the Republican candidate and the potential for Trump to further an agenda that Ryan plans to have outlined before the next president takes office.

My synopsis of Ryan’s statement?
“Hillary Clinton does not have the potential to further the Republican agenda I’m about to set forth. Donald Trump holds that potential.”

It’s sort of like the pot calling the kettle “white”.

It’s like he’s being forced to hold a gun to his head and assuming he’ll miss.

He did what he had to do. Stayed out of the pro/anti Trump squabbles. Acknowledged Trump as the Republican candidate. If he doesn’t get caught in backblow from something Trump does, this could be the making of Ryan as the Republican candidate of the future.

As a dancer, I appreciate his footwork.

Amazing political finesse, @BellaB, I agree.
Not a wrong note yet, IMO.

I clicked the “hahaha” icon on Facebook.

They’re dangerous and horrible clowns. The real problems are that the people are willing to vote for such people, and that the news media and so many politicians are owned by the corporations, and that all of that does get all of them stopped, one way or another.

But the fact that the smart snaky establishment evil corporate pawn endorsed the wild cannon businessman TV clown who stole the® candidacy by TV spectacle baiting, is mainly to me, again, just sad commentary on the decadent and ridiculous state of politics in the USA. But the endorsement news item itself just makes me think “big whoop!” and “ok, so they probably decided to let Trump be the candidate, or at least to have Ryan keep whatever approval he has by saying he endorses Trump so the Trump voters won’t dislike Ryan as much.”

Actually worse than Kim Jong Un’s endorsement of Trump.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-usa-trump-idUSKCN0YN35S

For a few minutes there, I thought he might be a man of principle. Oh, well.

Well, he submitted to some kind of pressure, or maybe was offered something in return for playing nice. I felt like he was gritting his teeth and forcing his words out. Maybe he threw up afterwards.

@Jeruba I do not agree that Ryan in any way abandoned his principals…if anything he reinforced them and forcefully so in his speech I posted in my link above. If you read what he is saying he emphasizes his Republican agenda he is promoting and he goes on to say….” I feel confident he would help us turn the ideas in this agenda into laws to help improve people’s lives. That’s why I’ll be voting for him this fall.”

.

I read that as “Trump doesn’t care and will sign whatever we send him.”

@johnpowell I felt the same way when trying to pass Obamacare…Pilosi said…“Just pass the damn bill….we’ll read it later” lol

Yeah.. I thought that was fucked up too.

“I will vote for the Democratic candidate Oh, wait, I have to say the bit…her name here

“I will vote for Hillary Clinton

There’s no way that candidate Trump represents my values in a Supreme Court Justice so I will be vot

Ms. Clinton has my vote in November.

Did I just ENDORSE Hillary??

He had to, he was stuck between a rock and an orange place. He’s probably toast no matter who wins the election.

My opinion of him was, is, and will continue to be rock bottom.

Well, if he had to do it, he managed to do so as tepidly as possible and was smart enough to release it in written form rather than a press conference where anyone could trip him up into revealing how he REALLY felt. Yep, that’s why politics is called a dirty game.

But clearly Ryan wanted to avoid getting mud spattered on himself so held his nose and did the barest minimum amount necessary and did so quite adroitly.

@ibstubro is right. This isn’t an endorsement. It is an acknowledgement.

@ibstubro Yep you just did. Take a bow.

There is no way out for Ryan or anything else Republican. Trump renders any chance of party cohesion virtually impossible. The brighter bulbs recognize that with the Donald at its head there is no longer any sensible defense against charges of racism, misogyny and religious intolerance being key to Republican politics and the cornerstone of Trump’s appeal. Ryan is already forced into the embarrassing position of having to apologize profusely for the tactless rhetoric of his party’s nominee and the show is barely off the ground. Thinking Republicans find themselves saddled with a candidate whose public utterances are driven by his ego and and the whims of his bad temper with 5 months remaining of round the clock opportunities for gaffs and tantrums. It’s hopeless.

@stanleybmanly Your last reply is a perfect example of how out of touch, verging on total denial of the validity of Trump and his campaign. You, the glib liberals and pompous media have completely missed the mark on why Trump has not only decimated his Republican opponents, but how and why he will be our next President.

Your comment…“the brighter bulbs” sums it all up….these “brighter bulbs” are the entire reason for Trumps success. These brighter bulbs both in the Republican Party, the Democratic party and the producers of every media news cable, network and internet website are the very reason voters are gravitating to Trump. Trump is the very antithesis of the entire “brighter bulb” establishment that has ground our country into the mess we are in. These “brighter bulbs” are the very reason we have a near 20 trillion dollar debt and a stagnant economy. These “brighter bulbs” are why America is the laughing stock of the world. You and the rest of the world can make amusing remarks about Trump…but look at the entire field of Republican candidates who are not laughing anymore and pay attention to both Hillary and Sanders who are nervous as all get out over the prospect of facing Trumps bulldozer attacks. I am serious here…this presidential campaign is all about tearing down the establishment politics…Ryan is smart enough to recognize his ilk is in the cross hairs of Trump and Sanders supporters and Ryan is merely setting the table to welcome Trump and his clearly upset supporters to the table.

The proposition that Trump is the remedy to the perception of the United States as world joke seems rather a stretch.

I will grant you that this campaign IS about tearing down the establishment, and the Republican establishment is effectively on the rocks. Trump and Sanders ARE reactions to the status quo and the stresses induced by growing inequalities necessary to sustain the accelerating transfer of wealth. The difference is that the right has for decades cultivated a crowd of folks at its base that was denied an actual champion, and the result is that the inmates have now taken over the asylum. Trump
is without question a populist candidate. But his rise is beyond desperate people grasping for straws. His fans actually hope and believe as yourself that the big bloviating dummy will actually “tear all the shit up”. We’ll see in November just how dumb we are collectively.

@Cruiser
For the record, I have predicted from the beginning that americans would be stupid/racist enough to elect trump.
I was proven right, once again.

Pat yourself on your back @ragingloli for feeling giddy about your prediction….one problem is that stupidity and racism have zero to do with Trumps success. Only your narrow minded bigoted personal beliefs would paint Trumps success as based on racism and stupidity and tells me you have zero real clue as to why Trump is succeeding and how could you…you have not lived under the tyranny of a misguided nincompoop Obama for 8 years. If you did you would better appreciate why anyone and even Donald J Trump would be a much better option than Obama and especially Hitler Clinton. ;)

See, that is why I can not take you seriously.

Ditto @ragingloli

One caveat, @Cruiser.
I don’t believe Hillary is “nervous as all get out over the prospect of facing Trump”.

She doesn’t get it either, IMO.

Did he really say he was going to endorse or say he was going to vote for him. I find it amusing that he said he was going to vote for him. He didn’t come straight out and say, I’m endorsing him.

I agree, @Pandora.

I think Ryan was simply responding to the “never Trump” movement led by Romney, which is, IMO, stupid.
What kind of politician says they’re not going to vote?
Ryan essentially said he will cast his vote against Clinton in the fall. As I will cast mine against Trump.

@ibstubro Yep! And there really is no way of knowing who he will vote for when he’s in a private booth. He may vote a 3rd party. I’m sure Ryan has already figured out that having Trump for a Republican President will be like trying to teach a pet rock to roll over on it’s own. Not because Trump is so clever as he thinks he is and so much wiser than everyone else in Washington, but rather because Ryan doesn’t speak moron 24/7.

@Cruiser, I see that this question is not about seeking people’s thoughts but about disputing the views of those who don’t agree with you.

It’s principles.

@Jeruba Please re-read the question. It was specific in asking others thoughts on this and I even mentioned I have my own thoughts on this. I asked this because I am truly curious as to others and specifically the other side of the equations thoughts on this question. IMO it served it’s purpose as it did reveal a broad spectrum of perceptions on this dilemma that Mr. Ryan has himself in. My thoughts are he handled it the best he can. If that is in opposition to your own opinion than I would offer we take a deeper look into the situation as it is. I say this because I am certain the mass media has done all it can to avoid doing just that. Mr Ryan has made heroic efforts to make his position clear. He is not endorsing Trump’s racist and inflammatory rhetoric, he is simply acknowledging the will of the voters of his party who as a majority, elected Trump as the Rep party nomination for President. Obviously that choice makes a lot of people very uncomfortable, but people need to recognize and remember why it is he was and still is so popular….it is because the establishment main stream politicians have failed miserably under Obama and even Bush. They have put their own interests before the citizens of this country and a LOT of voters are sick of it and want a real change.

I have said many times over I am not a fan of Trumps and so wish there was a better choice to represent my desires….but he is it. For me and many other voters including Mr. Ryan, Hillary is simply not an option and neither would be Bernie. So it boils down to which candidate will do something different, truly different that will break the cycle of a do nothing Congress? Ryan is acknowledging he has the unfun task of promoting the candidate that his constituency elected in essentially a land slide against the establishment Republican Party. Ryan I am sure detests this task but at the same time recognizes that continuing down the path of the status quo is not what his voters and even voters within the Democratic party want anymore as evidenced by Sanders immense popularity.

I guess I am both surprised and not surprised so few recognize as to what truly is at play here. Instead they choose to focus on sound bites and not substance of what American voters want and need. I would love to have that discussion.