While most of the Republican politicians who take big bucks from the NRA are offering the usual empty thoughts on the latest mass shooting for "prayer" rather than action, the self-proclaimed "wonk" and genius in charge of the House isn't even pretending to care one way or another.
No sir. Paul Ryan is literally the honey badger of inaction on gun violence:
House Republicans made it clear Thursday that they will not be moving quickly to bring up new gun control legislation in the wake of Wednesday's shootings in San Bernardino, Calif.
Speaker Paul Ryan said Thursday there are still too many unknowns about the San Bernardino shootings, but the said one common theme among many mass shootings is mental illness, an issue he says Congress has already been working on with legislation.
"People with mental illness are getting guns and committing these mass shootings," Ryan said on CBS This Morning. Ryan made the same point earlier this week in reaction to the post-Thanksgiving shooting at a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic.
The Wisconsin Republican said part of the discussion surrounding mental health legislation is who should and shouldn't have access to guns, but he signaled that barring gun purchases by people on no-fly terror lists — as President Obama urged Wednesday — is not an option.
Ryan said government officials put people on such lists without any due legal process and so denying those listed the right to bear arms would violate their rights.
"Wonk" that he is, how brave of him to diagnose every shooter with a mental illness from afar to deflect any calls to actually do his job and legislate concrete solutions, especially when he's working so hard to repeal the ACA, which covers mental health treatment for those who need it.
It takes real "leadership" to tell Americans you not only won't be doing anything to make it harder for the average guy on the street to get his hands on a gun, but to tell them that you're also leveling the playing field for any terrorists right here at home while you're at it goes well below the sewer levels we've come to expect from the GOP. Well done Speaker Ryan, you've managed to make John Boehner's tears look downright sincere.
It's also quite a contrast to take a stand for the rights of terrorists on the same day that the bust of Dick Cheney, the party's mother of all "civil rights lovers," is unveiled in the Capitol.