See, Hamlet wouldn't have made much of a play if, after his long, dark night of the soul, Hamlet told his father's ghost to screw and took a job with Uncle Claudius.

Moody and morose, Paul Ryan has stalked the parapets of his own ego ever since it became clear that He, Trump would be the nominee of the Republican party for president of the United States. (It's helpful to write it out that way a couple of times a day just to make sure you haven't subconsciously blotted the reality out of your memory.) He invited several of his more prominent acolytes in the elite political press to join him in his lengthy walks along the fogbound ramparts of his carefully cultivated public persona. What is a policy wonk, public intellectual, numbers guru, sympathetic friend of the working poor to do?

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of an outrageous charlatan, and take arms against a sea of playground insults and, by opposing them, end them…

…or you can just take to the pages of The Janesville Gazette and surrender so abjectly that you ought to be hanging on the wall in the game room at Mar-A-Lago.

Six months earlier, in October, as I was taking the job as House speaker, my colleagues and I were discussing an equally important question: What could House Republicans do to give Americans a clear choice about the future of the country? Sure, count us among the majority of Americans upset with the direction our country is headed. But that's not enough. We agreed that we must focus less on what we're against and more on what we're for. So, long before we knew who our nominee would be, we decided we would present the country a policy agenda that offers a better way forward. We know what we believe in, so let's bring it to the country.

And then, I looked across the table and I saw the Freedom Caucus guys playing with the mason jar in which my balls are presently stored and I needed a bourbon the size of the Caspian Sea.

That's how I've always looked at it. I've spent most of my adult life pursuing ways to help protect the "American Idea"—the notion that the condition of one's birth does not determine the outcome of one's life. The first step is always putting it on paper and having a real debate. And with the Obama presidency nearing an end, we have a real opportunity to get big things done the next four years.

Of course, it helps if you have Social Security survivor's benefits to get you through high school and college, and then you can draw a government salary for most of your adult life. Then you can achieve your life's dreams by block granting everyone else's dreams back to people like Greg Abbott and Sam Brownback. But let's get to the real business of the day, shall we?

Donald Trump and I have talked at great length about things such as the proper role of the executive and fundamental principles such as the protection of life. The list of potential Supreme Court nominees he released after our first meeting was very encouraging.

Shoe polish is very tasty when used as a condiment on this delicious Trump steak.

But the House policy agenda has been the main focus of our dialogue. We've talked about the common ground this agenda can represent. We've discussed how the House can be a driver of policy ideas. We've talked about how important these reforms are to saving our country. And we've talked about how, by focusing on issues that unite Republicans, we can work together to heal the fissures developed through the primary. Through these conversations, I feel confident he would help us turn the ideas in this agenda into laws to help improve people's lives.

We talked. I said, "This is the House policy agenda." He said, "Get me another mojito, Sparky."

That's why I'll be voting for him this fall.

I am not a tool.

For me, it's a question of how to move ahead on the ideas that I—and my House colleagues—have invested so much in through the years. It's not just a choice of two people, but of two visions for America. And House Republicans are helping shape that Republican vision by offering a bold policy agenda, by offering a better way ahead.

OK, we really haven't proposed one yet, but I'll get to it as soon as I finish carrying this loop at Carnoustie.

Donald Trump can help us make it a reality.

Also he has promised us all no swirlies until after the election.

Biggest. Fake. Ever.

Click here to respond to this post on the official Esquire Politics Facebook page.

Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io