Christian Schneider

Opinion columnist

CBS News Chief White House Correspondent Major Garrett has put his finger squarely on what makes covering President Trump so difficult: It is the challenge of "separating the interesting from the important."

In a recent podcast, Garrett noted that there are plenty of things that happen in the Trump White House that are "fascinating," "interesting" and "great clickbait." He added there are other more important, long-lasting things happening in federal agencies — yet boring appointments and regulations are difficult to cover with the "velocity and volume" of what comes out of the Trump White House.

House Speaker Paul Ryan dreams of a world in which the important and the interesting merge into one. Rather than being dogged by questions about Trump's inexplicable behavior on an hourly basis, he'd prefer explaining all the House bills that would make an actual difference in citizens' lives.

Oh, Trump has said there were "very fine people" at a Nazi rally? Ryan would be happy to tell you about the bill the House passed providing aid to those addicted to opioids. What's that you say? Trump slandered an early 20th century American general in a tweet that approved of shooting Muslims to send terrorists a "message?" Perhaps you'd like to hear Ryan's thoughts on the need to repeal and replace Obamacare. Honestly, rather than talking about why the president spells the word "heal" as "heel," wouldn't you rather hear Ryan's thoughts about the need for tax reform?

Certainly the exchanges in which Ryan refuses to directly condemn Trump can be excruciating. Pressed once again to criticize the president at a recent CNN town hall, Ryan again mostly demurred, saying Trump "messed up" when attributing racial violence in Charlottesville, Va. to "both sides." But Ryan squirmed as he sidestepped directly criticizing Trump, leaving viewers at home wishing there was something on television more comfortable to watch, such as a live human birth.

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Ryan is betting his career on Trump's appeal being ephemeral. He no doubt hopes Trumpism, like fidget spinners, will soon become a historical curiosity.

Ryan knows that laws passed by Congress are etched on the nation forever, or until a new legislature changes them. They are printed right there, in the federal code, in black and white. There is no asterisk next to a federal law warning that "this provision was signed by a president who mocked a cable news host's plastic surgery, so best of luck with that." Ryan knows that the bills he can get Trump to sign might outlive them both.

And, of course, if Ryan were to awaken the grumpy orange giant, Trump might go to war with him, as he has with other natural allies like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Thus brings into play the "Ryan Paradox" — the conservatives who most want to see Ryan's conservative agenda enacted are also the most likely to want him to excoriate his party's toddler president. Yet the tighter Ryan squeezes Trump on the interesting, the looser his grip gets on the important. (Trump's critics believe, for instance, the president's decision to re-litigate the Civil War is certainly important, as well.)

Ryan clearly knows that full GOP control of the federal government is a precious thing, so he continues to play the long game. He's willing to suffer the humiliation wrought by his president in order to make lasting change, even if his equivocation damages his reputation with both pro-and-anti-Trumpers.

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Trump has made his political career being only slightly more popular than other things that are really unpopular — Hillary Clinton, Congress, the media and groping, for a start. As soon as Trump's popularity drops to the point where he's harming the electoral prospects of individual House members (which is a bit like gonorrhea worrying about catching hepatitis), Ryan may disassociate himself completely from the GOP president.

Until then, however, Ryan will have to continue executing the mundane duties of a job he never really wanted in the first place, as his public standing slowly sinks. He will focus on the important, hoping that future statute books reflect his accomplishments.

Then Ryan will need to cross his fingers and hope future history books are as kind.

Christian Schneider is a member of USA TODAY's Board of Contributors and a columnist for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Follow him on Twitter: @Schneider_CM

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