There was something like fire in House Speaker Paul Ryan's eyes when he paused at an early-December press conference, pointed his finger in the air and denounced his party's presidential front runner. "This is not conservatism," Ryan said, facing microphones set up before him. "What was proposed yesterday is not what this party stands for, and more importantly, it's not what this country stands for."
His target, of course, was Donald Trump, who had just proposed a blanket ban on Muslims entering the U.S. Ryan's move, standard fare for most politicians that day, was nonetheless not one his predecessor, the chain-smoking, dealmaking John Boehner, would likely have tried. Where Boehner had shrunk from the spotlight, Ryan was quick to present himself as a Republican unafraid to speak truth to power.…
