Paul Ryan Caves to Wingnuts: He's Already Looking Like a Hostage of the Insanity Caucus

Much ink was spilled over the conditions Ryan demanded of the Republican caucus before he would agree to run for the speakership. Those included the endorsement of the House Freedom Caucus, that group of 40 or so far-right representatives. It’s fair to wonder how Ryan is going to deal with this list of insane demands for the next Speaker that the HFC put out back before Kevin McCarthy took himself out of the running by putting his foot in his mouth and chewing it off at the ankle. The changes the HFC wants would make the House even more dysfunctional than it is now, a state some might not believe possible. If Ryan’s compromise with himself to hold the Speaker’s gavel involves allowing the right wing to continue running wild and wreaking havoc, his tenure will be even rockier and worse for the country than Boehner’s has been.