Yglesias: Paul Ryan is no coward!

 Last night on Vox's The Weeds podcast (at the 20:30 mark), Matthew Yglesias launches into an epic defense of Paul Ryan against charges that he is being a coward in not standing against Trump.

I think it's worth quoting at some length what Paul Ryan had to say back in March of 2014, when Russia originally invaded Ukraine. He said,

[Recording of Paul Ryan] Well I think it's one more chapter in what happens when you project weakness abroad, through your foreign policy, through your defense policy, and aggression fills that vacuum -- and I think we're seeing that. The fear I have is that all the domestic problems the President's created [that was Obama -MY] I know we can fix those. I know we can fix the budget, the economy, healthcare, if we win elections and put these good ideas we're offering in place. It's the lasting damage to foreign policy and world affairs that's going to be a deeper hole we'll have to dig out of as a country. And I really worry that he has put our foreign policy and our defense policy on such a bad trajectory that it's going to be -- it's going to have huge consequences that are going to last a long time in this world.

And I think the moral of that is: Paul Ryan is not cowardly. Paul Ryan is courageous. Paul Ryan for years has worked -- he has worked tirelessly -- to make it so that rich people have more money, and poor children have less food and medicine. He loves those causes, and he believes in them really passionately.

And so to advance those causes he does amazing things, right? He says at one point, "I am going to have the United States government default on the national debt to advance my agenda of helping rich people get richer," right? He says, "I'm going to write a healthcare bill that's going to poll at 27%, but I'm going to push it through because I've been dreaming, since we were doing keggers in college, of making it harder for poor kids to get medical care."

In 2014, when Russia invades a foreign country, he says, "I'm going to launch a partisan attack on the President of the United States to help win the election, but my whole view on this is bullshit, because when the President comes in from my party -- at the behest of the Russians, refusing to any sanctions policy -- I'm not just going to say nothing. I'm going to actively, daily involved in a massive cover-up. I'm going to time and time again block floor votes on disclosure of the President's tax [returns]. I'm going to set up new House investigative committees to go after Hillary Clinton." Right? He did that, last week, right?

So it's just not that he's dodging these question. When he goes on the radio, people are like, "What do you have to say about this?" he's like, "Oh, I got nothin' to say." But he has a lot to say about it, right? He's working with Trey Gowdy -- he's plotting -- he's like, "How can we muddy the waters on this? How can we help build the rationale for firing Bob Mueller," right? He's doing it.

And it's because he really, really, truly believes that it's sad -- it's a gross injustice -- that rich people do not have more money. And like, it's not cowardice, it's amazing acts of boldness, and like vision, creativity like the likes of which -- it's hard to comprehend. 

And I think -- to me that's just like -- it's fundamental, you know. Like there are cowards out there, but there is no downside risk to Paul Ryan saying, "Trump shouldn't fire Bob Mueller." He would be widely and universally acclaimed. He is taking the risky, all-downside course of action because he's taking a stand for something he believes in.