Christian Schneider

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

In William Shakespeare's Othello, Cassio warns of the dangers of alcohol, saying he "would not put a thief in my mouth to steal my brains."

Evidently, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan was drinking too much Trump Vodka on Thursday, as The Donald absconded with Ryan's reputation as one of the few remaining conservatives of principle. Citing the need for party "unity" going into the fall election, Ryan ended his holdout and finally endorsed Donald Trump for president,

Perhaps this endorsement was inevitable, but it was jarring to see the sellout executed for free. Trump today is just as unfit to hold public office as he was when Ryan announced his pyrite protest. Perhaps Trump is the master negotiator he claims to be — he actually made Ryan tear down the wall between them, and Republicans are ultimately going to pay for it.

During Ryan's holdout, Trump made no progress toward the goals Ryan said he needed to see from the presumptive GOP nominee — in fact, just in the 10 days before the endorsement, Trump floated discredited conspiracy theories about former Clinton adviser Vince Foster's death and attacked the ethnicity of a judge overseeing the Trump University case. Are these what pushed Ryan toward capitulation?

Now Ryan becomes like San Francisco Giants fans who cheered on Barry Bonds during his desecration of America's pastime. Normally sane fans defended Bonds simply because he wore the right color jersey.

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Now that Trump is wearing the Republican jersey — one that still has the price tag on it, incidentally — conscious conservatives are losing their minds defending someone who is uniquely unqualified to lead the nation. If there existed an organization called "People Named Donald Trump," Trump wouldn't be cognitively stable enough to serve as its president.

And there will be a long-term price to pay. Any time Ryan stands before reporters detailing his positive agenda steeped in conservative principles, the podium should feature a giant asterisk — that is, House Republicans believe in the pillars of conservatism right up until the point when a puzzlingly hirsute man-baby decides to mock women, minorities and the handicapped. When Ryan espouses political civility, ask him about his endorsement of America's most prominent Obama birther. We now know that no person exists who is so disgusting that he is below Republican appeasement.

In fact, it is this complete lack of political conviction that is driving people away from conventional politicians and toward a bottom-feeding vulgarian such as Trump. We all know the stereotype of the typical politician who believes in issues only as deeply as it allows him or her to further a career. Trump, on the other hand, seems authentic — he has convictions, even if they are about items of national security such as whether certain women truly can ever be "10s."

But now Republicans are hoping that supporting Trump is like breaking the speed limit — if everyone does it, nobody will get busted. Sure, Republicans may say their ultimate goal is to stop Hillary Clinton, but to replace her with what? A Clinton donor who opposes reforming Social Security and has publicly waxed poetic about single-payer health care? As president, Trump is just as likely to hold a news conference to sell Trump Tangy Barbecue Sauce as he is to announce a plan to rein in government.

And exactly what was the purpose of Ryan's several-week non-endorsement period? Why were we glued to our televisions as cameras buzzed around the Ryan-Trump summit a few weeks ago as if a high-level hostage negotiation was taking place? (Especially when we now know Ryan was the hostage all along?)

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Ryan's holdout wasn't even long enough to earn him credit in the footnotes of future history books. He'll earn plaudits for delaying his Trump endorsement in the same way an arsonist will get credit for waiting three weeks to burn down a library out of respect for the Dewey Decimal System.

In 1984, George Orwell writes that in his dystopia, "Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimeters inside your skull." Conservatives were hoping Ryan would continue to own his own gray matter in the Era of Trump, but that dream has been incinerated.

Trump is now the proud owner of the Republican Party's great minds. Let's just hope he kept the receipt so he can return them to their rightful owners after his November decimation.

Christian Schneider is a columnist and blogger for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, where this op-ed first appeared. Follow him on Twitter @Schneider_CM.

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