Peter Daou: This is Congressional Republicans realizing what's behind big bad scary Trump...

[iluvtennis]

Link to tweet

[regnaD kciN]

1. "Pay no attention to the Putin behind the curtain..."

[pinboy3niner]

2. NBC's whip count shows Republican 'NO' votes have INCREASED--up to 34 now

[iluvtennis]

4. Good news for the ppl of America who care about others and thier healthcare. nt

[Maru Kitteh]

3. BINGO. Furthermore, I think Ryan sought to weaken Trump with this bill

I do think he wanted to get it out of the House to die in the Senate, and he did himself some damage here by having it die on his own doorstep - BUT - I also think Ryan knew it would never make it to the Oval Office desk.

This bill was touted, not just by the media, but Trump's own people as a terrific test of his amazing awesome superhuman powers of "The Art of Making the Deal!"TM.

Trump, already weakening fast under the weight of the fallout from his poor impulse control, now looks like an amateur, a patsy, a dope and a complete fraud . . because of course he is all of those things. But for Trump, the damage goes much deeper than this one bill. The carefully crafted mythology of his prowess as a singular force, a master of negotiation - is now in tatters on floor. He has been exposed as a man who really has no special skills applicable to the complicated demands of governance.

A weak Trump is beneficial to Ryan.

In the short term, Ryan got more fertilizer on himself than he intended, to be sure, but I think the long-term damage to Trump, his weakness now exposed, is far greater.

[iluvtennis]

5. I hadn't thought of this scenario about Ryan - very likely indeed. thanks for sharing nt