Speaker Ryan Takes On You-Know-Who
"Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling strongly objects to those who compare Lord Voldemort, the "Dark Lord" who is Potter's archenemy in Rowling's novels, to Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump.
As Potter fans know, Voldemort strikes so much fear into the hearts of other wizards that they refer to him only as "You-Know-Who" or "He Who Must Not Be Named."
Some Twitter users compared Trump to Voldemort in December after the billionaire developer and TV reality show star proposed a ban on Muslims entering the United States.
"How horrible," Rowling responded in a tweet of her own. "Voldemort was nowhere near as bad."
Grant this much to Ms. Rowling: She has standards.
Yet, the Trump/Voldemort comparison seemed to take on new life last week after an important "address on the state of American politics" by House Speaker Paul Ryan.
Ryan is the highest ranking Republican in our government and a rising leader in the GOP establishment whom many Republicans and independents would like to see the party nominate for president.
Many, including me, hoped to see Ryan push back boldly against the wave of name-calling and racist demagoguery that has polluted the presidential race.
But, no. Ryan's critique, delivered to interns from both parties on Capitol Hill while Congress was in recess, stopped short of actually naming the principal cause of this season's demagoguery: GOP frontrunner Donald J. Trump.
Instead, Ryan offered an inspirational alternative to the inflammatory racial, ethnic and gender-baiting rhetoric of He Who Must Not Be Named.
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