Paul Ryan is learning quickly that John Boehner had good reason to cry all the time. The Speaker of the House of Representatives is the leader of his or her party. The third most powerful person in the free world. Speakers enjoy visibility and influence above and beyond any other representative in the chamber.That s how it used to be, anyway, when the speaker was a position respected by their own party. From the days of Tip O Neil and Tom Foley to Dennis Hastert and even Newt Gingrich, the Speaker of the House commanded respect.Unfortunately for Republicans, their base began to die off and they needed to replenish, so they decided to go ahead and back the super-zealots of the Tea Party, who have now morphed into the  Freedom Caucus,  and things will never be the same. There have always been fringe-right congressmen and women. Michele Bachmann wasn t the first complete moron to deny science on the house floor, but she was one of the first to be counted among dozens who have actually come together to mold the Republican party platform into something even more conservative and stubborn than we re all used to.They pushed John Boehner right out of office and back to Ohio. They held the seat hostage until they found someone they could agree would do as much damage as possible. They grudgingly allowed Ryan to be elected, lest Nancy Pelosi steal the seat out from under the party, but promised that the honeymoon wouldn t last long.So far it s been easy for Ryan. Everything coming down the pike has been party-line and cut-and-dry. All of that will change when the budget process comes around again and the deal struck last year to pass the omnibus package has to stay glued together. The last thing Ryan and the Republicans want is for the Democrats to be able to point at them and laugh, yet again, because they couldn t be bothered to put aside their internal differences and govern. To quote William Wallace in Braveheart,  Paul Ryan said on Wednesday morning,  we have to unite the clans.  It was the single sound bite he released to the press before a meeting of congressional conservatives. Uniting the clans, as he is finding out, is going to take a lot more than condescending looks towards the President during State of the Union addresses.He was fresh out of a meeting just half a day earlier that the Huffington Post said  did not go well  with those Freedom Caucus members whose entire purpose in Washington is to return the United States to 1789 and force a do-over, with the several states ruling themselves and the Federal government being a non-existent figure-head good for dinners with world leaders and state funerals.Ryan probably expected a long run when he accepted the job as speaker. If he can t gain control of his own party, he may be looking for a new job sooner than later.Featured Image by Gage Skidmore 